Fox's Party Rings: Raspberry ripple

Product name: Fox’s Party Rings: Raspberry ripple
Purchase details: £0.50 for a 125g packet (Asda)
Calories: 27 per biscuit
Country of origin: UK

I was really excited when I first heard about the ice cream-inspired limited editions of some of Fox’s classic biscuits but it took me ages to track them down. Thankfully, I managed to find them all at an amazing £0.50 a packet in Asda, and the first variety I’m reviewing is the Party Rings: Raspberry ripple.

These excitingly-flavoured ‘iced shortcake rings’ came in colourful raspberry and baby pink packaging which was less ‘busy’ than the standard version but also contained Vinnie the panda. I’ve mentioned before that I found his image a bit unappetising (see here) but he’d had a bit of a makeover, here, and actually looked quite cute with a drop of melted ice cream on his ear!

The packet contained around 20 biscuits that were free of artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. There was no specific mention of raspberries on the ingredients so, what the flavourings contained, I’m not sure.

The rings looked almost identical to one of the standard Party Rings but seemed a tiny bit smaller – I’m not sure if I’m going mad?! To my delight, they genuinely smelt of Mr Whippy ice cream with raspberry sauce, and I couldn’t wait to tuck in.

I was impressed that the flavour was pretty realistic and did taste like raspberry ripple ice cream, although it was so sweet that there was a slight sherbet element too. They were absolutely full of flavour but also pretty sugary so, unusually for me, I would have liked a little bit more focus on the cream rather than the sugar.

Texturally, these biscuits were as standard for Party Rings, but the icing’s surface was a bit rougher on the tongue, and it seemed to add a juiciness to the flavour too.

This was such an interesting twist on a classic and it’s such a shame that it’s only intended to be a limited edition!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

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

Frijj Supreme: White choc raspberry swirl

Product name: Frijj Supreme: White choc raspberry swirl

Purchase details: £1.00 for a 375ml bottle (tesco.com)
Calories: 266 per bottle
Country of origin: UK

Yesterday I reviewed a white chocolate and strawberry combo which tasted like milkshake (Lindt Lindor: Strawberries & cream), and today I’m reviewing an actual white chocolate and berry milkshake – Frijj Supreme: White choc raspberry swirl.

I love this kind of flavour combination and I’ve been wanting to try this particular product for a while but I was waiting for it to be on offer as I’m watching the pennies. I quickly snapped it up when I saw it for £1.00 online but, when it arrived, I realised its cheaper price was down to a smaller bottle than normal (by nearly 100ml). I actually saw this as a good thing, though, as I’ve previously found other Frijj milkshakes a little too large, and this made the treat less calorific whilst still allowing me to save money despite it not being as good value as I’d originally thought.

As part of the Supreme range of milkshakes, this bottle had the same overall design as the Sticky toffee pudding variety, but with purple and white splodges instead of brown ones – I thought it looked gorgeous. It carried the same general promises and was described as ‘fresh milk combined with indulgent flavours – a source of calcium and vitamin B12’. It contained no artificial colours or flavours and no gluten, and I was surprised to see that the ‘high temperature pasteurised’ drink was also low in fat – it contained 1.3g of fat per 100ml, with 0.8g being of saturates.

I was a bit confused by this shake on the basis that it contained 70% skimmed milk and 22% whole milk which was almost the same as the standard Fudge Brownie and Cookie Dough varieties. Since this was marketed as being more indulgent, I didn’t understand why it didn’t have the higher whole milk content that the Supreme: Sticky toffee pudding had.

Despite my concerns, I carried on, shaking my chilled bottle well before opening. The liquid’s appearance looked exactly like milk but it was visibly thicker and heavier to pour. It had a fantastic, gentle scent of Mr Whippy ice cream with raspberry sauce, and the base flavour was essentially sweetened milk with a bit of vanilla. However, the main taste element was the raspberry which was bang on what the aforementioned ice cream sauce is like. My brain actually found it hard to process because it tasted so much like ice cream but there was no raspberry ripple to look at!

As delicious as these flavours were, I found it a shame that I couldn’t taste the white chocolate at all, despite it being an actual ingredient rather than just a flavouring. However,  I wasn’t all that surprised by this as I remember once getting a Nestlé Milkybar milkshake from Sblended Milkshakes and finding I couldn’t taste the white chocolate there either, despite there physically being bits of it throughout! I guess it’s a flavour that’s easily overpowered...

Not to end on a downer, the drink’s texture was nice and thick and smooth. I had been feeling a bit dehydrated but it was wonderfully refreshing and, as I said, it did taste fantastic despite the absence of a noticeable white chocolate flavour. A very enjoyable treat.

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10

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