Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted brown sugar cinnamon

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted brown sugar cinnamon
Purchase details: £0.99 for a pack of two tarts (americansoda.co.uk)
Calories: 420 per pack
Country of origin: USA

I was delighted to receive this two-pack of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted brown sugar cinnamon as part of my recent order at American Soda (see here). Although I was yet to be blown away by the Pop Tarts brand, something told me that my experience with this variety would be different.

I have to say that the tarts’ appearance didn’t raise my hopes – they were far paler than I expected and, if I’m honest, the frosting’s shade of beige was one I only associate with elderly people! However, these pastries had a fabulous, mouth-watering aroma which was a perfect mix of cinnamon and baked goodness. They also smelt less artificial than the other flavours I have previously tried. I should also add that, inside, the tarts looked far more appetising, with a lovely deep brown and moist-looking sugary centre.

Since I only had two tarts, but three methods of eating them, I decided to try half a tart cold, half toasted, and the other one microwaved.

The first thing I noticed when eating the cold half was that, unlike the chocolate chip cookie dough variety (see here), the pastry of these tarts was salty rather than sweet. I found this to be far preferable and it really worked well with the sweetness of the filling. In addition, the desired cinnamon flavour was very noticeable, and offset nicely by the sweetness of the brown sugar. The texture was also improved – not too dry with a bit of moisture and some added crunch from the icing. To my surprise, I would happily have eaten the rest of the pack cold.

After fishing the second half of my Pop Tart out of the toaster, I was aware a of a stronger bakery smell than before, with a specific doughy element. The texture of the pastry had become slightly crispy and the warmed centre was absolutely delicious and really quite comforting – I’m sure it would be particularly special in Winter. I found the brown sugar slightly more granular in this form, but I really enjoyed it.

I chose to microwave my remaining whole pastry for 10 seconds following my experience with the Frosted chocolate chip cookie dough variety. Cooked this way, the smell was similar to the tart that had been toasted, but the pastry became softer and drier (although it did retain some moisture), and the sweetness of the frosting seemed more apparent.
I’m pleased to report that my hope of these Pop Tarts being a bit special was well-placed. I thought this variety was a great improvement on my previous experiences and the combination of flavours coming from the salty pastry, sweet brown sugar, and the cinnamon, was fantastic. Although delicious cold, I highly recommend warming these tarts and, in this instance, I think toasted is the way to go!

This is definitely my favourite variety so far and I’d have no problem buying them again.
Appearance: 6.5/10
Aroma: 8.5/10
Taste: 9/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.75/10