Lovetub Triple Choc Pud

Product name: Lovetub Triple Choc Pud
Purchase details: £1.35 for a 90g tub (Sainsbury’s Local)
Calories: 356 per tub
Country of origin: England 

Several months ago I had a voucher for a Lovetub dessert but, unfortunately, I was unable to track one down. Since then, I’ve been dying to try one, so I was delighted when I accidentally came across this Triple Choc Pud when I was looking for the new Cadbury Creme Egg: Pots of joy (which I didn’t actually find!). 

Presented in a brown pot, this product screamed ‘CHOCOLATE!’ and came described as a ‘sumptuous choc sponge and rich chocolate sauce sprinkled with cute choc hearts’. I loved the brand’s logo which involved a spoon holding a heart-shaped scoop of sauce too. 

The dessert was designed to be eaten hot from the tub having been microwaved for 30 to 35 seconds. After this point, the packaging promised a ‘hot’ and ‘saucy’ product. 

On peeling back the film lid, I was pleased to see the milk and white chocolate hearts on the pudding’s surface – I’d secretly been looking forward to these. However, I was a little disappointed that they only contributed to 1% of the overall product and, as a result, weren’t scattered throughout. 

On the plus side, the chocolate sauce (35% of the pudding) became very gooey when melted, and produced a pleasant hot chocolate aroma. This liquid sauce was beautiful, achieving a great balance of creamy and chocolatey – it contained whipping cream as well as Belgian dark chocolate (14%). The hearts melted into this quickly which, whilst would have added to the overall experience, meant they didn’t make a noticeable impact – they were simply included as a decorative feature. 

The chocolate sponge was very tasty too. Also containing Belgian dark chocolate (9%), as well as cocoa, it had a really dense and doughy texture. It was more moist near the top where it had been in contact with the sauce but, as I dug deeper, it didn’t become dry at all and I was surprised at just how well it retained its heat. 

I have to say that this was a great little instant dessert and provided a decent chocolate hit. Now I just hope it won’t take me quite as long to find the Sticky Toffee Pud version! 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Lindt Lindor: Coconut

Product name: Lindt Lindor: Coconut

Purchase details: £4.50 for a 200g box (Sainsbury's)
Calories: Unsure – estimate 77 per truffle
Country of origin: Italy 

Despite my previously voiced apprehension surrounding Lindt Lindor truffles (see here), I’ve actually been searching for this limited edition Coconut variety for ages. In the end, I had to call in reinforcements, so tonight’s review is thanks to my sister who finally managed to find me a box! Due to my love of coconut, I expected these truffles to be another exception to the rule in terms of my enjoyment of the brand, although I was slightly disappointed that they consisted of milk chocolate shells rather than white chocolate.

I absolutely loved the colour used for the box and foil wrappers of these ‘milk chocolate truffles with a smooth melting coconut filling’ and, due to the icy shade and white floral decoration, I actually thought they looked quite Wintry and snow-like. I do wish Lindt would put the nutritional information on the packaging, though, since I've again had to rely on MyFitnessPal for the calorie count.

These truffles had the same outer appearance as the Caramel variety and emitted a deliciously strong, milky coconut smell. On cutting into a ball, I found that the chocolate shell was nice and thick, and the white filling contrasted well with this.

When biting into a truffle, the aforementioned thickness of the milk chocolate was immediately apparent and it tasted as good as Lindt normally does, with a minimum of 31% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids.

Whilst only 1% of the product was coconut powder, this flavour was strong and tasted lovely and sweet, although the nutty element was also present. Despite my initial concern, I found that this did actually go really well with the milk chocolate and, to be honest, white chocolate probably would have been a little bit too sweet.

Aside from the flavour being really good, I was pleased that it wasn’t actually that Lindor-like in that I didn’t find it at all sickly. Maybe the curse is broken?!

I found these truffles quite greasy to touch but, in the mouth, they did have a great texture. They weren’t as silky smooth as the Caramel ones in that the coconut centres didn’t turn into puddles in quite the same way due to a slight graininess. However, the balls did still melt well and the truffle aspect did have its anticipated cooling effect.

On the whole these truffles were so milky and smooth that eating them wasn’t that dissimilar to drinking a glass of milk – they just had a more awesome flavour. I think I’m in love. 

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

Cadbury Dairy Milk: Marvellous creations (cola pretzel honeycomb)

Product name: Cadbury Dairy Milk: Marvellous creations (cola pretzel honeycomb)
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 200g bar (Sainsbury’s Local)
Calories: 125 per 25g serving (505 per 100g)
Country of origin: UK 

Like with any new products, I was really excited when Cadbury launched the Dairy Milk: Marvellous creations range a few months ago. I tried the first two varieties as soon as they were released and, whilst I particularly enjoyed the cookie nut crunch, I didn’t find either bar to be incredible. For that reason, I wasn’t that bothered when this cola pretzel honeycomb version was announced since the combination just seemed bizarre. I spend my life drinking Pepsi Max but I’ve never had the desire to combine the flavour with my precious chocolate! Even so, I felt I should try it and, having come to the realisation that there’s been absolutely no sign of a single serving bar, I finally caved in and bought the 200g slab which even I wasn’t going to attempt to eat in one go.

The bar came in a familiar, quality purple wrapper which contained the white stripes that are unique to Marvellous creations. Inside, it took the creative shape of the other large bars in the range. I don’t really ‘do’ random but I did find this visually appealing. I found it frustrating, though, since it made it difficult to break off the correct portion size. I could see dark flecks in the milk chocolate which appeared to be the ‘chewy cola flavour nuggets’ that filled 8% of the bar, whilst the ‘salted pretzel’ that made up 4% of the product was clearly visible in its lumpy base, although I was surprised to see that these pieces looked more like nuts.

The chocolate had the standard Dairy Milk aroma but there was also an extra sweetness present which seemed to be from the cola pieces. I still wasn’t sure what to expect though, particularly when I hadn’t enjoyed the chewy texture of the jelly popping candy shells bar – I was worried that this would deliver a similar experience, particularly as I could feel the cola bits stretch as I broke the chocolate apart, and it looked like there was a lot of them inside! At least I knew from Cadbury Choc Full Of...: Pretzels that the salty pretzels would work well with the chocolate (plus, it’s a flavour combination I associate with some American peanut butter products – yay!).

On finally tasting the chocolate, I was met with the usual creaminess of Dairy Milk but with a sweet tang from the cola and a saltiness from the pretzel. Unfortunately, I couldn’t detect the honeycomb (3% of the bar) in the flavour at all, but I was just relieved that the main flavour was still chocolate.

Of course, I tried letting a couple of pieces melt on the tongue and, in doing so, found that it allowed the cola flavour to be introduced with a slight tang at the end of each piece. Whilst I did find this slightly odd, it worked far better than I expected it to. Unfortunately, the pretzel pieces were quite sharp and painful to suck on and it wasn’t really worth persevering with as the end result was a mouthful of random shaped ingredients after the chocolate had melted away! Of course, what this did do, was make me realise just how much had gone into the bar...and there wasn’t actually as much cola as I’d feared.

The best way to enjoy this bar was obviously by chewing it. The cola pieces were like cola bottles but, thankfully, weren’t as chewy as the jelly pieces had been in the other variety. I think the fact that this was offset by the crunch of the honeycomb really helped. The pretzel also provided a lot of interest with a dull, crispy texture. I actually couldn’t believe how enjoyable the overall experience was.

On the back of the wrapper the following question was posed: ‘Who knew golden honeycomb, cola and crunchy pretzel pieces could perform so marvellously with delicious Cadbury Dairy Milk?’.  Well, I certainly didn’t! Cadbury, I’m sorry for doubting you. 

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 6.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

Lindt Hello My Name Is: Caramel brownie

Product name: Lindt Hello My Name Is: Caramel brownie
Purchase details:  £0.60 for a 39g bar (Sainsbury’s Local)
Calories: 214 per bar
Country of origin: Germany

It’s time for the last of my Lindt Hello My Name Is reviews and this one is for the orange-tipped variety: Caramel brownie.

Before reading the product description, and having glanced at the image on the wrapper, I’d assumed this would be a brownie/biscuit base topped with caramel and covered in the usual Lindt milk chocolate. However, the bar actually came described as ‘Filled milk chocolate with caramel (13%) and brownie cream (28%) with dark biscuit pieces (3%)’. I had no idea what brownie cream was but I couldn’t wait to find out!

The aroma of this bar was mainly of milk chocolate, although there was a slight cakey element which fitted the brownie theme. I was expecting the caramel to be really stringy and messy, especially as some of it had leaked out of the bar, but I was pleasantly surprised when my knife cut straight though the chocolate without ruining the appearance (although it was slightly more gooey when breaking the bar!). The colour of the brownie cream was only a subtly different shade of brown to the outer milk chocolate, and the golden caramel sat nicely on top of this. 

This bar had the strongest cocoa flavours of the Hello collection and I felt that the overall taste was probably about right for a brownie, with a slight bitterness but predominant chocolatiness. However, I did find this hard to judge when the main thing I associate with brownies is the texture rather than the taste. The caramel was less noticeable than I thought it would be but it definitely provided a slight sweetness.

I’ve already mentioned that, for me, the texture is the most important part of a brownie, and this obviously couldn’t be replicated exactly in a chocolate bar. However, I thought Lindt did a great job of reflecting the main qualities in this product. The caramel added a gooeyness that mirrored a brownie’s squidgy centre, whilst the biscuit pieces were the right consistency for the slightly crispy shell that a perfectly baked brownie has. The great thing, though, was that this bar was still very much a chocolate bar. The brownie cream had a truffle-like texture, and the caramel was really silky. This Caramel brownie flavour offered a slower melt than the other varieties in the range, but the biscuit pieces were also less bitty and so allowing the chocolate to melt was more worth the wait.

I did think that Lindt Hello My Name Is: Caramel brownie was the least innovative of the Hello range since it was effectively a fancier caramel chocolate but, as usual, Lindt did a good job in producing a great-tasting product. Whilst this was my least favourite of the four bars, I think it would be the safest option for a lot of people who are unsure which variety to try as it wasn't too sweet and it was certainly tasty. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.88/10