Nakd Berry Cheeky

Product name: Nakd Berry Cheeky
Purchase details: £0.60 for a 30g bar or three for £1.20 (tesco.com)
Calories: 100 per bar
Country of origin: Britain

Next up in my reviews of the Nakd range from Natural Balance Foods is this ‘yummy’ Berry Cheeky bar that was made from raw fruit, oats and nuts. As with the Strawberry Crunch and Banana Bread, it contained no wheat or dairy.

The wrapper had the same design as the Banana Bread but used a red theme and pictures of a strawberry and a close-up raspberry. On reading the ingredients, I decided that it had been named ‘Cheeky’ because it was a bit misleading! The only berries in the bar were raspberries and strawberries which each contributed to 2% of the overall vegan product. In contrast, 37% of the product was dates, 26% was oats, 12% was raisins, 9% was peanuts, and even apple juice concentrate took up 8%. Almonds and walnuts also provided another 2% each, and there was some natural flavouring too. I don’t know about you, but that didn’t sound like berries were the main feature to me! On the plus side, I was pleased to see the different varieties of nuts that had been included.

The healthy snack was, again, brown in colour, and this variety looked more bitty and less pre-digested than the others – the nuts, in particular, were very evident through the baste of the bar. It also looked and felt a bit dry. It produced an earthy scent and, although there was an added ‘zing’, I didn’t find it very appetising.

As suggested by the appearance, the Nakd Berry Cheeky had a very different texture from the other types I’ve tried so far. It was soft and dry with a slightly rubbery crumble, but I liked how this was broken up with little chunks of nut, as well as the odd raspberry seed!

My initial thoughts on the taste were not good but, after a couple of chews, I found that the tangy berries really did make an impact on the flavour. Furthermore, the nuts all made a contribution, and I particularly enjoyed how the the almonds combined with the berries. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as keen on the aftertaste, as this left a bit of a muddy taste in my mouth.

As you’ve probably gathered, this wasn’t my favourite Nakd snack, although it was perfectly edible. I wouldn’t buy it again because there are so many other tastier flavours on offer in the range but, if that weren’t the case and I were in need of a healthy treat, I wouldn’t need much convincing to have another one of these!

Appearance: 6/10
Aroma: 4.5/10
Taste: 6.5/10
Texture: 6.5/10
Overall score: 5.88/10

Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted bustin' berry

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted bustin’ berry
Purchase details: £1.49 for a box of eight tarts (Home Bargains)
Calories: 200 per tart (400 per pack of two)
Country of origin: UK

 

This box of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted bustin’ berry was the variety I was actually buying when I ended up getting the Frosted apple blast ones too.

The product was very purple in terms of the branding, frosting and, to an extent, the inner ‘berry flavour fruit filling’. However, the icing certainly wasn’t a natural shade of purple for food, and it was also a shame that it had succumbed to the greasy effect Pop Tarts sometimes get. However, the jammy-looking filling (with a red tint) looked deliciously moist and plentiful within the golden, albeit cracked, pastry.

When cold, these Pop Tarts, like with the Frosted blueberry kind, smelt like Go Ahead! Fruit Bakes. I was pleased that the pastry had the seemingly-improved UK flavour that was evident in the apple blast Pop Tarts, too, with a combined buttery and salty taste. The filling did mainly taste of berries (4.5% of the overall product was strawberry) but there was also a slight tangy apple flavour mixed into the general sweetness...it turned out apple was also listed on the ingredients! As usual, the texture was slightly crumbly but with a crispy element from the frosting, whilst the moist filling softened the pastry nicely. Overall, the experience reminded me of sweeter fig rolls.

This was another box that stated that the pastries couldn’t be microwaved so I only warmed the tarts in the toaster. This turned the pastry itself to a lovely shade of golden brown and caused the frosting to appear slightly molten. The baked berry aroma was also delicious, and I loved the added crisp that was given to the pastry when toasted. The flavour was also a bit richer, warmed, but sicklier too.

All in all, this was another tasty fruity variety of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, once again proving that not all the nice stuff has to be imported! 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

The Custom Cupcake Company Berries & Cream Cupcake

Product name: The Custom Cupcake Company Berries & Cream Cupcake
Purchase details: £2.00 for one cupcake (The Custom Cupcake Company)
Country of origin: England

When I reviewed The Custom Cupcake Company Peanut Butter Brownie, I said I was sure I’d be back – and it didn’t take me long! I knew I wouldn’t be doing my diet over the extended Easter weekend so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to treat myself to another one of their filled cupcakes.

Since it was Easter, I deliberately steered away from chocolate, and went for this Berries & Cream Cupcake instead. I must say that the in-store description that included a white chocolate icing was part of the reason for this but since, technically, white chocolate isn’t real chocolate, that didn’t count!

I did my best to carry this cupcake home carefully but the bright pink frosting did look a bit deflated by the time I reached my destination. I still thought it looked very impressive, though – I just wish you could have seen it before I moved it! As well as the thick frosting, the pale golden sponge cake was drizzled with the aforementioned white chocolate, sprinkled with a bit of pink edible glitter, and topped with a deep red, real strawberry. Inside was a berry compote and cream filling that resulted in an appearance similar to a Victoria sponge. The cupcake didn’t smell overly strong but it did have a fairy cake aroma.

Now, I know The Custom Cupcake Company can’t take credit for this, but the strawberry was lovely and juicy! I love strawberries but I do find them a bit hit and miss in terms of their sweetness. This one was good, though, and the white chocolate drizzle helped the sweetness levels too.

I tried the frosting next and this was a massive sugar hit. It tasted a bit lemony but there was a mellower berry aftertaste to it as well. I think there must have a been a lot of icing sugar in there as it was a little bit gritty but this texture wasn’t really noticeable when combined with the cake.

On its own, the sponge tasted quite basic but had a fairly rich buttery flavour. It was, perhaps, a little dry, but I ate this the day after purchase so it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been, and this certainly wasn’t the case when combined with the other elements.

The cupcake’s filling was beautiful. The cream seemed to have a deep vanilla flavour that tasted similar to the creme layers you find in sandwich biscuits. The berry compote was a deep red in colour but also added an extra depth to the flavour (it was more than your average jam) and was very enjoyable.

Combined, the different parts of the cupcake worked very well together. I have a very sweet tooth but I can’t deny that I winced when I first tried the frosting – it was so sweet that it was almost sour! However, the filling distracted from this, and the compote also contained a couple of chewy seeds that gave the treat a more authentic feel.

This Berries & Cream Cupcake wasn’t quite as I was expecting because I’d misunderstood the description in-store. I had thought the pink frosting also contained white chocolate but this certainly didn’t taste like the case. Whilst I did still enjoy the flavour, I would have preferred a smaller quantity of frosting, a larger amount of filling, or both! However, there is no denying that this was another well-presented and tasty offering from The Custom Cupcake Company.

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

Swizzels Matlow Love Hearts

Product name: Swizzels Matlow Love Hearts
Calories: Unsure – estimate 120 per 26g pack
Country of origin: UK

You may well have established by now that I’m far more of a chocolate person than a sweets person. However, when Santa brings you a packet of Swizzels Matlow Love Hearts, you eat them! 

I think of Love Hearts as a childhood classic but I can’t help but thinking that they’re a bit grown-up when it comes to the messages on each one. This pack came in a simple plastic wrapper with a white label containing red writing and very basic illustrations of different coloured hearts. No nutritional information was provided so my calorie content estimate was obtained from MyFitnessPal.

These ‘fruit flavour fizzy sweets’ mainly contained sugar and they came in pastel colours that weren’t artificial. (I’m sure they used to be deeper shades!) Each round sweet had a dark purple border and a romance-related message such as ‘first love’. Of the 17 sweets in my pack, I was pretty impressed that 16 of them contained different phrases! As you can tell from my photo, the sweets weren’t really designed for cutting into, and there wasn’t much to see inside either.

The Love Hearts had a strong, unmistakeable sweet smell that was a bit like sherbet. I had a flashback, when I was about to try my first one, which told me that I preferred the white-coloured sweets. For some reason, though, it had never consciously occurred to me before that the different colours represented different flavours! However, all of the flavours were consistently tangy and sweet, with a particular sharpness when chewing, and a crunchy and slightly powdery texture.

The lilac sweets were pleasant and had a slight berry taste, whilst the yellow ones were a bit juicier and had a slight bitterness to them.

The green Love Hearts appeared to be lime in flavour as the sharpness they provided was slightly different to the others. They were also less sweet. I don’t actually remember coming across this flavour before but a quick look online seems to suggest that they’re not new! The peach-coloured sweets seemed to taste of orange since they had a slightly sweeter citrus taste.

As for my favourite white Love Hearts, these were a bit less tangy and more mellow, but there was still some interest there, with an extra sweetness seeming to come from the centre of them when chewing. I’m not quite sure if they were meant to emulate another flavour but that didn’t seem to matter!

Whilst these were fizzy sweets, this aspect didn’t interfere with their enjoyableness since it wasn’t extreme. However, I did notice that, a couple of minutes after finishing the pack, it felt like they were dissolving in my stomach!

As a chocolate fan, these Love Hearts didn’t thrill me, but they were certainly pleasant, and I’m sure people who are more inclined to choose sweets will like them even more than I did. 

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