Connoisseur Cadenza: Cookies and cream

Product name: Connoisseur Cadenza: Cookies and cream
Purchase details: £0.89 for a 200g tin (Home Bargains)
Calories: 123 per three wafer serving (41 per wafer)
Country of origin: Indonesia 

 

I bought this tin of Connoisseur Cadenza: Cookies and cream ‘luxury cream wafers’ months ago but have only just got around to opening them. Although it’s the kind of product that’s normally served with ice cream, I decided to consume them as a biscuit alternative. I bought two varieties of this Seasonal Supplies Pty Ltd product on my trip to Home Bargains and this Cookies and cream flavour was represented by the colour blue. 

I was expecting these ‘deliciously decadent, elegant, light textured wafers folded with smooth cookies and cream flavour’ (what a mouthful!) to be stored in a foil wrapper but, instead, I was greeted with a rather clinical-looking white plastic bag. Within this bag was around eight servings of the dark brown wraparound wafers and, whilst this colour hinted at a chocolate flavour, there was no mention of cocoa on the ingredients list. Instead, this shade seemed to be the result of ‘caramel colour’. As if to prove this, I found the wafers didn’t really taste of anything at all! 

 

The filling had a really strong and vanilla-like cookies and cream smell which was noticeable before the bag had even been opened. However, I did feel let down by its appearance since I didn’t feel it had been represented accurately by the image on the front on tin. The wafers were only partially filled meaning that the tubes remained hollow, and the centre was a rather unappetising shade of grey, rather than the fresh white hue that had been suggested. As a result, it looked more sugary than creamy. 

 

Despite my reservations, the taste of the cookies and cream filling did redeem the product. It provided a good vanilla flavour and, thanks to the milk and dairy creamer it contained, there was a slight creaminess too. 

I also enjoyed this product’s texture. The wafer itself was as crispy as I’d expect, and the relatively thick and soft cream blended nicely with this, providing no resistance. 

I can’t say this felt like a luxurious product, despite its claims, but then I wouldn’t have expected anything outstanding for the low price of £0.89 - it actually did well in the circumstances!

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

Müller Corner: De luxe (crème praline)

Product name: Müller Corner: De luxe (crème praline)
Purchase details: £1.00 for a pack of two 130g yoghurts (tesco.com)
Calories: 238 per yoghurt
Country of origin: UK 

 

I’ve wanted to try a ‘new’ Müller Corner: De luxe for a while but, if I’m honest, I’ve been put off by the standard prices so have been waiting for them to be on offer. (We did have a different variety in our house a couple of months back but they contained alcohol so I decided against trying those ones!) 

I mainly associate Müller Corners with my childhood Summer holidays – it used to be a treat to be able to mix a crunchy or fruity (if I was slightly less lucky!) ingredient in with the main yoghurt section. The packaging and name of this crème praline variety, though, made it clear that this particular yoghurt was a bit more up-market. 

I loved the sophisticated black and brown design of the packaging (even the plastic pot was black instead of white), and the images of a cream-topped tower of chocolates, as well as a spoon containing all three layers of the product within. I couldn’t wait to tuck into what was described as a ‘velvety smooth praline flavour’ yoghurt that contained 15% whipping cream. Beneath this yoghurt I was supposed to find ‘an alluring hidden dark chocolate layer’ but, on peeling off the foil lid, this was already partly on show. For this particular Corner, the accompaniment I would be mixing into the main yoghurt was ‘crispy fancies coated with milk chocolate’, and these contributed to 8% of the product. 

I’d never had (or even heard of) praline yoghurt before but this dessert really did both smell and taste of hazelnuts, although a tangy yoghurt element was also present in both. (Bizarrely, whilst the health warnings confirmed a presence of nuts, these weren’t actually listed on the ingredients.) Claiming to be indulgent and a ‘creamy heaven’, the yoghurt did have a lot to live up to, but the very pale beige element of this product really was incredibly creamy. It was also beautifully thick and smooth. 

The chocolate layer was very watery in consistency and, although it introduced a slight bitterness to the overall experience, it seemed to have picked up a lot of the yoghurt’s tang over anything else. I actually felt a little let down by this sauce since it seemed to take away from the fantastic creaminess that was so present when trying the praline yoghurt aspect of the product alone. 

The knobbly fancies had a noticeable chocolate aroma and, taste-wise, were the same as the other cereal-type crunchy pieces used in different Müller Corners. As expected, they were very crispy, and I also found they tasted more chocolatey than the actual chocolate layer beneath the yoghurt. 

As tasty as this yoghurt was, for me, it didn’t compare to an actual praline-containing chocolate. However, for a yoghurt, it had a great flavour – I genuinely would have been happy for it just to consist of the yoghurt and fancies, though, and I think, if that had been the case, it may even have resulted in a higher score! 

Appearance: 8/10

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

Cadbury Creme Egg: Biscuits

Product name: Cadbury Creme Egg: Biscuits
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 106g pack (Poundland)
Calories: 80 per biscuit
Country of origin: UK

I’ve been dying to try these new Cadbury Creme Egg: Biscuits made by Burton’s Biscuit Co ever since I found out about them.

This pack contained six ‘sumptuous Cadbury milk chocolate biscuits with delicious Cadbury Creme Egg filling’ served on a plastic tray within an attractive wrapper that featured the Creme Egg colour scheme that I love – metallic red and purple with a yellow splat. 

The image on the front of the pack depicted round chocolate biscuits with a smooth chocolate coating and the famous ‘white and yellow fondant filling’ that clearly mimicked an egg’s yolk and whites. Pleasingly, the real-life biscuits were almost identical in appearance, although I thought the filling looked runnier than the centres of actual Creme Eggs. However, I put this down to the layer being comparatively thin. 

The milk chocolate coating accounted for 39% of each biscuit. This was a higher percentage than I’d expect but it did result in a slight creamy chocolate aroma. The fondant (that made up 25% of the product) also contributed to the scent by providing a hint of sugariness. 

The cocoa-containing biscuits had a good crunch to them. They were pretty much standard chocolate-coated biscuits but the silky smooth, sugary filling made them unique (as well as slightly messy to bite into!). 

I found the fondant to be a little different to the centres of real Creme Eggs since it wasn’t as thick or grainy. I even thought it tasted a little different, although the overall idea was there. As a result, I can’t say these biscuits were exactly as I expected, but they were still pretty darn good. It’s just a shame you don’t get more in a packet! 

Appearance: 9/10

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

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups: Miniatures

Product name: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: Miniatures
Calories: 220 per five Cup serving (44 per Cup) 

Just a quick review tonight since the majority of what I said in my reviews of the standard Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and the Reese's Big Cup is also true of these Miniatures. I just wanted to give them a mention, having received a handful of them in one of my Christmas stockings, since I knew the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate coating would make a slight difference to their score.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups: Miniatures hold a special place in my heart since it’s the first Reese’s product I ever tried. Since I didn’t have the main wrapper for these particular Cups, I obtained the nutritional information from Reese's website, and I’d also assume that these were made in the USA and then imported but I don’t have proof of this!

Size aside, the Cups were identical in appearance to the other ones I’ve reviewed, although they came individually wrapped in pretty gold wrappers featuring the orange Reese’s logo. They even still had their own paper cases – I initially thought this was a waste of packaging but then realised it was needed for the chocolatey coating’s ridged edges!

The Miniatures’ aroma wasn’t quite as appealing for the simple reason that the peanut butter wasn’t as strong, but there was still a deeper filling in each Cup than you’d probably expect. They provided the same great flavour and texture that I love about Reese’s but I particularly loved how their size meant you could get a decent mouthful of both the peanut butter and the chocolatey coating in one bite. 

I’m so glad products like this are becoming more and more readily available in the UK. 

Appearance: 7.5/10

Aroma: 7/10

Taste: 9/10
Texture: 9.5/10
Overall score: 8.25/10