Krispy Kreme Strawberry Gloss

Product name: Krispy Kreme Strawberry Gloss
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 62g doughnut (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts)
Calories: 253 per doughnut
Country of origin: UK

I had a lovely e-mail from Krispy Kreme Rewards this week to say that they missed me, and offering me a free doughnut if I went back. Well, I didn’t need any convincing, so I thought I’d try a variety I’d not had for a while: the Strawberry Gloss. (For the record, my recent lack of visits has been down to having a stupidly large existing snack stash and a house to buy, rather than anything against Krispy Kreme!)

If memory serves me right, when this doughnut was first launched, it was part of a promotion with a women’s magazine, since the shimmery appearance of the topping looked like lip gloss. Unfortunately, my pictures just don’t do the original elegance of the treat justice, so you’re best looking at the website image to see what it looked like prior to me taking it home! The man who served me was lovely and warned me to careful as the gloss was ‘very sticky’, and advised me not to swing the bag around my head. I can honestly say I held it flat all the way home but it was no use...the majority of the topping stuck to the bag, as you can see!

I won’t say too much about the doughnut itself as it was basically an Original Glazed that had been ‘hand-dipped in a sparkling red berry glaze’.

The bonus of a lot of topping sticking to the bag was that it gave me an excuse to eat it with a spoon and get a proper idea of what it tasted like. Its consistency was like a gloopy gel and it had a deliciously sweet flavour with a hint of berry. It contained ‘strawberry compound’ which was mainly sugar but also had 27% strawberry listed on the ingredients. It really reminded me of ice cream sauce and, in terms of its sweetness levels, I felt it was on a par with fruity lollipops. The bloke who served me wasn’t lying either...even with a spoon, my hands ended up sticky!

Combined with the Original Glazed base, the topping added no additional aroma, and it didn’t have a huge impact on the flavour either. There was a slightly tangy element but it was the sugary doughnut itself that remained prominent. The smooth, gooey texture was a more noticeable extra but, to be honest, I preferred the purity of the plain doughnut as it felt less artificial.

On the basis that the Krispy Kreme Strawberry Gloss had all the qualities of the classic Original Glazed, this was another beautiful offering from the doughnut experts. The added berry flavour was a nice touch but I would have liked it to have played a bigger part.

Krispy Kreme, you may have missed me, but I missed you more...

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 8/10
Taste: 9.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8.75/10

Krispy Kreme Raspberry Chocolate Truffle

Product name: Krispy Kreme Raspberry Chocolate Truffle
Purchase details: £1.75 for a 59g doughnut (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts)
Calories: 372 per doughnut
Country of origin: UK

With the Krispy Kreme Choco Mania doughnut range coming to an end at the end of the week, I couldn’t not grab a Raspberry Chocolate Truffle whilst I still could!

I’ll let Krispy Kreme's website describe this offering: a ‘chocolate dough shell, dipped in dark chocolate icing, filled with a raspberry truffle kreme, topped with dark chocolate curls and finished with a delicate raspberry drizzle’. It certainly looked good on paper (well, screen!) and it looked just as appetising in the store’s display cabinet. You’ll have to take my word for it or have a look at the website's stock image, though, as the thick icing was so sticky it clung to the paper bag I transported it home in! I particularly liked the chunky chocolate flakes that sat atop the dark topping, and the glossy pink drizzle reminded me a little of lipstick.

Since there was a lot of sticky icing left behind on the packaging, I thought it would be rude not to tackle this with a spoon. And oh. My. Days. The nutritional information told me that 37% of it consisted of Belgian dark chocolate and, I must say, it was divine – just like a rich chocolate fudge cake icing.

The doughnut itself had a dark chocolate aroma mixed with a milder-than-normal sweet Krispy Kreme element. There was also a slightly tangy afterthought to this scent which came from the inner kreme. Speaking of which, I don’t think I’d ever seen a doughnut so full of filling – things got a bit messy when I cut the treat in two!

Bizarrely, when comparing the colour of my doughnut’s dough to the Peanut Butter Kreme, it became clear that it was the standard recipe rather than the chocolate one. This didn’t bother me since I do prefer the lighter version of the dough but it did mean my experience wasn’t of exactly the same doughnut described above!

Anyway, the brown kreme was light and chocolatey with a gentle tartness that was similar to some kind of berry chocolate torte. Combined with the richness of the chocolate icing, the hints of raspberry also reminded me of selection box chocolate fondants, although a much milder and less sickly-sweet version. Of course, the usual Krispy Kreme elements remained, and the chocolate flavours provided by the kreme, icing and flakes were lovely. As for the pink drizzle, this was only really for decoration. I know it was meant to taste of raspberry but, on its own, it was just sugary.

The texture was just as delicious as the taste and provided a fabulous combination of moistness, softness and smoothness.

All in all, this was a really indulgent doughnut – it felt more like a dessert than a cake. If you fancied a giant profiterole and ate this instead, you wouldn’t be disappointed!

Appearance: 8.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8.13/10

Krispy Kreme Chocolate Cookie Crunch

Product name: Krispy Kreme Chocolate Cookie Crunch
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 73g doughnut (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts)
Calories: 292 per doughnut
Country of origin: UK

I think the Krispy Kreme loyalty scheme is my new favourite! I received yet another free doughnut as a reward for filling in a short online survey so I decided to try again in getting the Chocolate Cookie Crunch.

This doughnut wasn’t earth-shatteringly innovative in that Krispy Kreme's website stated that it was a twist on the ‘popular’ Cookie Crunch. However, I’d had the older version a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I still wanted to see what difference its ‘chocolate dough makeover’ made. As part of the Choco Mania range, the ring doughnut also featured a ‘chocolate icing and cookie crunch’.

The Chocolate Cookie Crunch was the same in appearance as the Chocolate Iced – it simply had a darker dough and additional topping. I thought it looked great and the sprinkling of icing sugar was a nice touch too. On the downside, I found its delicious Krispy Kreme scent was a bit weaker than normal.

I had a little try of the cookie topping first. This was formed from large, black crumbs that looked like Oreos in style. Whilst crumbly, the cookie’s texture wasn’t crunchy, and I didn’t find it tasted of much either. Instead, the main chocolate flavour came from the icing which, the nutritional information showed, was identical to the Chocolate Iced's.

As a result, the taste of this doughnut was pretty much a repeat experience of the Chocolate Iced, although, all combined, it did seem to have a very slightly stronger chocolatey taste. However, as with the Peanut Butter Kreme, I found the dough tasted a little oily and not really like chocolate, so this additional flavour did seem to be coming from the cookie crumbs, despite their initial apparent blandness.

Where this doughnut differed most from the Chocolate Iced was in its texture. Whilst it didn’t interfere with the soft dough, the crumbly topping added an extra depth, and I loved the ever-present crispiness provided by the moist glaze too. Once more, I really enjoyed the juiciness this created.

All things considered, this doughnut provided a good mix of sweetness from the dough and glaze, and a pleasant chocolate flavour.

Appearance: 8.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 9/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8.38/10

Krispy Kreme Chocolate Iced

Product name: Krispy Kreme Chocolate Iced
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 66g doughnut (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts)
Calories: 278 per doughnut
Country of origin: UK

I was delighted to discover that Krispy Kreme are keeping the Peanut Butter Kreme long-term but it does mean I need to try the other Choco Mania doughnuts before they disappear at the end of the month! This review was meant to be of the Chocolate Cookie Crunch but, unfortunately, the store had sold out by the time I got there after work. I couldn’t possibly leave empty-handed, though, and since I was limited in choice by calories, I opted for the simple Chocolate Iced instead.

Krispy Kreme's website described this as their ‘signature ring doughnut hand-dipped in chocolate icing’ so, unsurprisingly, its main features can be read about in my review of the Original Glazed!

I did have this variety several years ago but, for the simple reason that there are more exciting options on offer, it’s not one I’ve bought since. It had exactly the same scent as the Original Glazed and the only difference in appearance was the smooth, thin chocolate icing that sat neatly on top of the ring (although mine was smudged by the paper bag!).

The chocolate icing had the same sugary-shell type texture as the glaze and tasted a bit like a slightly watery cake frosting. I realise I’ve just made it sound horrible – it wasn’t – but it was by no means an indulgent chocolate icing either. On checking the nutritional information, I wasn’t surprised to see that, despite containing 32% reduced fat cocoa powder, the two main ingredients were sugar and water.

In terms of the icing’s overall impact, it perhaps added a slightly darker and sickly taste to the sweet and juicy doughnut, but not in a big enough way to affect its taste score either way. The texture remained highly enjoyable too – I just found the way the topping tended to slide away from the rest of the doughnut a bit distracting as I was chewing!

Once again, this was a delicious treat from Krispy Kreme. However, I’d probably be more tempted to stick to the Original Glazed when opting for one of the plainer varieties, in future.

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 8/10
Taste: 9/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8.38/10