Lindt Strawberry

Product name: Lindt Strawberry
Purchase details: £0.99 for a 100g bar (Home Bargains)
Calories: 496 per bar
Country of origin: Switzerland

I was very excited to see a range of Lindt chocolates in Home Bargains last week that I’d not seen before. Although most of them were boozy, I managed to pick out this Strawberry bar, along with one other appealing flavour for another day.

The red and silver wrapper of this wrapper was really attractive, slightly festive, and featured images of juicy strawberries and the ‘filled milk chocolate’ that was within. It was clear that the bar was an unusual shape since each of the 12 pieces was flat but with a pill-shaped dome that contained the filling. Whilst I was initially impressed that a piece of cardboard had been included within the foil to protect these pieces, this quickly turned to disappointment when I realised just how broken my bar was – I pieced it back together as best as I could for its photo shoot!

When I first spotted this Lindt & Sprüngli product, my first thought was of a previously reviewed product: E. Wedel Strawberry. Whilst this bar didn’t contain a cream layer, it did still contain alcohol (unfortunately) but, once again, I’d later find that this wasn’t noticeable in the taste.

Despite the image on the wrapper, the filling inside the Lindt logo-engraved pieces was like a very pale pink creme rather than a deep red goo. The chocolate contained a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 14% milk solids and had a really good colour about it and the bar also has a nice yet subtle berry scent.

There was no nutritional information on the packaging but I was able to obtain this from Lindt's website. The ingredients were present on the wrapper, though, so I knew that the flavour came from 1.4% strawberry powder which, despite sounding minimal, made a huge impact on the taste. Whilst the chocolate tasted as good as Lindt usually does, on its own, it had still picked up a hint of sweet berry.

When combined with the filling, the chocolate flavour was barely detectable at all because the dominant taste was a really sweet and tangy strawberry one which was just like Campino sweets and, therefore, hinted at cream too.

The chocolate had a nice melt and, despite not being a proper liquid, the filling did pop out of this under a little pressure. To chew, the thin chocolate had a really crunchy texture which went wonderfully with the lovely, soft centre too.

I think some people would probably find this bar a bit too sweet but I really liked it. Although it wasn’t my favourite ever flavour combination, it had been very well executed, so I’m glad I spotted it!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

McVitie's Digestives: Strawberry cheesecake creams

Product name: McVitie’s Digestives: Strawberry cheesecake creams
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 168g packet (Asda)
Calories: 67 per biscuit
Country of origin: UK

I really wanted to try these McVitie’s Digestives: Strawberry cheesecake creams as soon as they were released as they seemed more exciting than the vanilla version. However, although I bought them straight away, it’s taken me until now to open them!

Made by United Biscuits, there were around 13 ‘wheatmeal biscuits with strawberry and cream cheese flavour filling’ in each packet. The wrapper and sandwich biscuits were designed in exactly the same way as the vanilla variety but featured baby pink colouring, instead, which I really liked. I did also think the firm filling looked a bit thinner and more widely spread out but that may have just been the unlucky biscuit I attempted to dissect. (As you can see from my photo, the McVitie’s Digestives remained soft and crumbly which made the finished product practically impossible to pull apart in one piece!)

There was no mention of strawberries of any kind on the ingredients (just ‘natural flavouring’) but the biscuits did have a subtle yet noticeable strawberry scent – very much like flavoured milk. The ‘cheesecake inspired strawberry flavour cream filling’ also had a good strawberry flavour but without the sugar hit that I noticed in the Hill Biscuits Snack Packs: Strawberry creams. I was also pleased to find that the cheesecake concept was better executed, here, since there was a cheesy tang from the ‘dried cream cheese’ (2.5%) mixed in with the strawberry.

The biscuit itself was the usual, slightly sweetened kind, with a soft crunch and, even on its own, it had picked up hints of the berry taste. The nature of the sandwich design did mean that the proportions still weren’t right for an authentic cheesecake feel but I did think these Strawberry cheesecake creams were much more enjoyable than the vanilla ones.

I’d definitely buy them again!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 8/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

CFR Bitez: Assorted sticks

Product name: CFR Bitez: Assorted sticks
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 70g box or two for £1.00 (Poundworld)
Calories: 21 per 4.5g biscuit
Country of origin: Europe

When I spotted these CFR Bitez: Assorted sticks, I knew immediately that they were Mikado-inspired, and I just had try them. The three different colours of biscuit sticks, combined with the splash of milk, caught my eye in-store, and it was the ‘breadstick with strawberry flavoured coating’ that I particularly wanted to sample.

These ‘crispy biscuit snacks, smothered in a variety of delicious coatings’ were nearly twice as many calories as Lu Glico: Mikado (milk chocolate), but each one also weighed almost twice as much. To be perfectly honest, I was a bit dubious about whether each piece would feel substantial enough to warrant the extra calories, but they were most definitely longer and thicker.

As well as the strawberry variety, the sticks came coated in ‘chocolate flavour’ and ‘white chocolate’. Strangely, the ratio of biscuit to coating differed with each one – the milk chocolate contained 43% breadstick, the white chocolate had 46%, and the strawberry had even more: 48%. Unfortunately, all three varieties also contained an awful lot of vegetable fat, but this varied too – 36% for standard chocolate, 40.5% for white chocolate, and a smaller 35% for strawberry.

Before opening, it hadn’t occurred to me that the flavour combination would result in a Neapolitan-style appearance, but the pink one still looked the most exciting to me! It was also the only type which had any kind of individual scent, reminding me of pink wafer biscuits. When all the flavours combined, though, they had the general, sweet scent of the inside of a biscuit tin...I guess that was to be expected.

The chocolate flavoured biscuit contained 19% skimmed milk powder and also contained cocoa powder to provide the chocolatey taste. I was actually able to try this variety immediately after a milk chocolate Mikado and, I must say, it tasted very different. It had a very sweet and fake chocolate taste and there was no doubting that it was the lower quality product. It did have a thick and crispy texture but the use of the term ‘breadstick’ suddenly became clear as it certainly had a different feel to other biscuit sticks – there was a slight chew at the end of each mouthful which was a bit unusual for this style of product. In fact, they reminded me of matzo crackers.

As a big fan of white chocolate, I’d been really pleased that this variety was also included in the pack. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a white chocolate Mikado to compare it to, this time, but I didn’t need this to know that, once again, the Bitez were an inferior product. I couldn’t get a sense of white chocolate from the flavour at all. Instead, it was just really sweet with a stale biscuit kind of taste, although the crispy/chewy texture remained – at least they weren’t soft!

Thankfully, the biscuits that contained both natural strawberry powder and flavourings, saved the day. These ones actually did have a white chocolate element to them but, most of all, they had a strong strawberry milkshake flavour. They were really nice (more creamy than sweet) and I would happily buy a box that only contained this variety in future. (I did see Poundworld were selling boxes of the chocolate flavoured sticks on their own but that was all!)

The box that these CFR Bitez: Assorted came in claimed that the product was ‘truly delicious!’. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this to be the case. The two chocolate varieties tasted cheap (which they were, to be fair!) and not-so-cheerful. On the plus side, the smooth coatings and crispy biscuits were texturally consistent throughout the flavour offerings, and the strawberry version did shine through as a product I’d want to eat again.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 6.5/10
Overall score: 7.13/10

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