Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla)

Product name: Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla)
Purchase details: £1.85 for a 100g bar or two for £3.00 (tesco.com)
Calories: 569 per bar
Country of origin: France 

I must confess that I only really bought this bar of Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla) as part of the offer I bought the heavenly crème brûlée bar on. However, I did also realise that I had no recollection of ever having had this ‘extra fine white chocolate with natural Madagascan vanilla aroma’ before, so I was intrigued to see how it compared to the Choceur Smooth White bar that I love so much, particularly as Lindt is so well known for its quality. 

This Lindt & Sprüngli offering was larger and flatter than other bars and came in a wrapper with a pale yellow colour scheme. The cardboard contained an illustration of the simple-looking chocolate, as well as vanilla pods, but there was no nutritional information provided so I obtained this from Lindt's website.  

The reality of the chocolate was much like the wrapper suggested, with 10 large but basic squares containing the Lindt logo and a few diagonal lines for decoration. Quite unusually, I thought, its colour was such a pale shade of yellow that it wasn’t that far off pure white. 

The chocolate was described as ‘a deliciously smooth and creamy white chocolate blended with a hint of Madagascan vanilla aroma’ and I thought it was interesting that this vanilla was only mentioned as a scent rather than a flavour. As a result, though, I was a little disappointed with the end result as I can’t say I found this element prominent at all. However, there was a subtle white chocolate smell which was still pleasant. 

Thankfully, the white chocolate’s taste was much stronger, providing a far-reaching sweet and milky flavour that wasn’t too sugary and actually did taste a little of vanilla! It was delicious. 

The texture was very good too. It had a thick, smooth melt that allowed the chocolate to cream on the tongue and, as a result, more flavour was released. The downside of this was the design of the bar meant the squares were too large to fit comfortably in the mouth and so it was easier said than done to fully appreciate this experience. 

Thankfully, the chocolate was still tasty, although not as powerful, when chewing, and I found it actually felt quite moist. Furthermore, the rigidity of the chocolate meant that, despite its shallowness, it managed to still feel chunky. 

You may be surprised that this Lindt Excellence: White (a touch of vanilla) didn’t score quite as highly as Aldi’s Choceur Smooth White – I certainly was. However, I must emphasise that this product did still taste great and that, if the squares were a little smaller and, perhaps, deeper, this would have allowed the flavour to be a little more far-reaching. As a result, I would highly recommend both bars. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Lindt Creation: Milk (heavenly crème brûlée)

Product name: Lindt Creation: Milk (heavenly crème brûlée)
Purchase details: £2.00 for a 100g bar or two for £3.00 (tesco.com)
Calories: 143 per 25g serving (573 per bar)
Country of origin: France 

Despite featuring the word ‘new’ on its packaging, I know this Lindt Creation: Milk (heavenly crème brûlée) has been around for a while because I’ve wanted to try it for a few months now! 

Made by Lindt & Sprüngli, the aim of the bar was to achieve an experience as ‘equally indulgent’ as the famous dessert it was named after. The wrapper certainly looked promising, with an enticing image of the delicious, caramelised topping of a real crème brûlée, as well as an illustration of the ‘extra fine milk chocolate with caramelised pieces of sugar and a creme filling’.  

This Creation variety was represented by the colour amber and, like the coconut version, was divided into 10 pieces. In contrast, though, these were thicker to allow for a deeper filling, and were more curved (though still angular) in shape. Each square had the brand name imprinted on it and, inside, contained a pale creme with quite pale sugar pieces that looked almost like biscuit crumbs. The reality of the product wasn’t dissimilar to the image on the box, although the illustration certainly suggested more of a caramel shade underneath the chocolate shell. 

The 10 pieces acted as completely separate chambers so none of the ‘creamy centre with caramelised sugar pieces’ seeped from one square to the next. Despite containing sugar as the main ingredient, the aroma the bar emitted was really milky with a slight shortbread element to it, although this could only really be detected up-close. 

This milkiness was just as present in the taste and I loved how the ‘delicate crème brûlée flavoured filling’ genuinely did have a kind of vanilla custard taste. As a result, this bar did a far better job of recreating the dessert’s flavour than the Wonka Crème Brûlée bar did. Furthermore, the caramelised sugar, which accounted for 4% of the product, produced a burnt sugar taste which added to the authenticity. 

The chocolate, containing a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 20% milk solids, was described as being ‘decadent’ and ‘smooth’ and I certainly thought it tasted good. Together with the creme filling, it melted well - it was just a shame that this left a mouthful (and I mean full!) of sugar pieces to crunch on as, alone, these were a bit intense in flavour. As a result, I chewed the majority of the bar, but this wouldn’t have been the case if it hadn’t been for the caramelised sugar. 

The bar had a lovely smooth and moist texture and the crunchy bits did work really well when all mixed together. I noticed on the ingredients that 1% of the product was made up of wafer so, presumably, this added to the crispness too. 

Unlike the Wonka attempt at this dessert, this bar was not overly sweet, but yet it was sweet enough to prevent the sugar pieces tasting too bitter.  

All things considered, I thought the proportions of chocolate, creme and sugar used for this heavenly crème brûlée version of Lindt Creation was pretty close to spot on. 

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

Storck Toffifee

Product name: Storck Toffifee
Purchase details: £1.50 for a box of 12 pieces or two for £2.00 (tesco.com)
Calories: 43 per piece
Country of origin: Germany 

I think I’ve subconsciously been aware of Storck Toffifee all my life but, for some reason, I’ve never really taken notice of the product, let alone tried it.  

I tend to be wary of hard toffee products which is what I feared this product would be. However, on closer inspection, I realised that the dome-shaped pieces weren’t entirely made of caramel but, instead, were simply cups that contained whole hazelnuts and a hazelnut chocolate filling. The latter two contributed to 10% and 37% of each piece, respectively, whilst the ‘chewy caramel’ only accounted for 41% (the other 12% was made up of the chocolate topping). Realising this was a lot more different from chocolate eclairs than I’d realised, I decided it was time for me to sample Storck Toffifee! 

The Toffifee box was an attractive shade of orangey-brown with a prominent illustration of the unusual-looking product within. I also liked how the back of the box depicted the different stages of each cup’s production.  

Despite knowing the box was relatively small, yet contained 12 low-calorie pieces, I was surprised at just how small they were. However, having cut into a piece (very easily, I must say), I was impressed at just how much was going on with the different layers. I also liked the smooth, neat finish of the ‘creamy nougat’ filling, even though it was this that initially fooled me into thinking this would be a solid toffee product – it was only when looking at the base of a cup that it became clear that the caramel was more of an orange colour compared to the hazelnut filling’s pale shade of brown.  

On first removing the cellophane, I could smell a pleasant hazelnut scent, but this seemed to fade away very quickly. Thankfully, though, the box promised a ‘delicious’ flavour combination that was ‘guaranteed to satisfy every taste’. 

The chocolate topping was dark and pretty standard in taste. It was also a bit soft and grainy, texturally, so it didn’t appear to be very high quality. However, this wasn’t noticeable when combined with the other elements. 

The praline filling had a good hazelnut flavour and was very creamy. Like the chocolate, it was slightly grainy, but I still enjoyed its flavour. 

As promised, the sweet caramel was chewy but, due to being spread thinly, this wasn’t problematic. I actually quite enjoyed its flexibility as, if I wanted, it was possible to bend and bite it away from the rest of the product. The caramel did linger after the other ingredients had been swallowed, since it took more work to break down and, although this wasn’t ideal for me, it was far preferable to the teeth-breaking prospect I’d originally been concerned about. 

The ‘crunchy hazelnut’ was just that and it also added an incredible amount of additional flavour and prevented the fudgey-tasting product becoming too sweet (sugar was the main ingredient, after all). 

I can’t deny that the four elements that made up Storck Toffifee worked well together. What I liked best, though, came as a surprise – there was a very creamy aftertaste!  

So, what have I learnt? Not to assume I won’t like something without at least reading the product description first! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 6.5/10
Overall score: 6.88/10

Subway White Chip Macadamia Nut Cookie

Product name: Subway White Chip Macadamia Nut Cookie
Purchase details: £0.50 for a 48g cookie (Subway)
Calories: 218 per cookie 

I love Subway’s cookies so I wasn’t going to turn down a free one in return for providing some online feedback after my last lunch visit. I decided to get my favourite variety for the purpose of this review: White Chip Macadamia Nut. I’ve loved this version for years but, to be honest, all of their cookies are good, with their soft centres and not-too-crispy edges. 

Whilst it’s well-known that Subway sandwiches are made fresh in-store, I’ve never actually noticed where their baked goods come from. However, I assume that, even if they are brought in from elsewhere, they are still made in the UK. Although they are simply sold in a generic paper bag, thankfully, the nutritional information can be found on their website.

This slightly sweet-smelling cookie was fairly large with a bumpy top and smooth, flat base. Its centre was quite greasy in appearance (and to the touch) but this was a feature I love since it made for a doughy texture – the cookie could be torn apart rather than snapped because it was so soft! The macadamia nuts and white chocolate were scattered through the cookie in large chunks with the chocolate being a little smaller and less rounded than the nuts. 

Due to the fantastic texture, I always nibble the edges of Subway cookies and leave the middle until last. As expected, this cookie’s edges were slightly crispy but gave way easily when bitten into. The white chocolate taste was also noticeable from the first bite despite, by nature, not being the strongest flavour in the world.  

The cookie’s middle was deliciously soft and moist, with the sweet dough blending beautifully with the great chocolate flavour provided from the white chocolate chips. I can’t say I’ve ever eaten a macadamia nut that wasn’t in a Subway cookie but my impression of them is they’re quite bland when competing with other elements. However, they did provide a slightly nutty flavour here which wasn’t dissimilar from Brazil nuts, and they also delivered a great crunchy texture which went fabulously with the doughy cookie and chunky chocolate. 

What a treat! 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 9.5/10
Overall score: 8.13/10