Mrs. Freshley's Fudge Bake: Brownie (candy topped)

Product name: Mrs. Freshley’s Fudge Bake: Brownie (candy topped)
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 78g brownie (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 330 per brownie
Country of origin: USA 

I’ve loved seeing all the new American baked goods in A Quarter of Sweets recently and, at fewer calories than some of the other offerings, this Mrs. Freshley’s Fudge Bake: Brownie (candy topped) was a product I decided to purchase. I’d not heard of the brand (let alone the product) before but the combination of the words ‘fudge’ and ‘brownie’ caught my attention as it sounded like a great texture – I hate dry brownies! 

I have to say that the packaging wasn’t the most exciting in the world, but I did like how the words ‘Fudge Bake’ were written in different coloured letters which reflected the colours of the candy topping. These candy pieces were unevenly scattered over the top of the brownie and were so bright and colourful that they reminded me of wax crayons! The brownie itself was covered in a fudgy-looking coating and, when looking inside, it was evident that the cake’s dark colour gradually lightened in texture. (The coating hadn’t really cracked by the way – I was just careless and it broke in my bag!)

This Fudge Bake had a good, cakey smell, but also the slightly odd element that I’ve noticed with a lot of American baked items. To be honest, I don’t know quite what that is! 

What I found slightly strange about the product name and description was that there was absolutely no mention of it being chocolate flavoured. However, the ingredients showed that it contained ‘dark chocolate flavoured chips’ (these were the candy pieces on the top) and chocolate liquor. I couldn’t believe that I’d ended up with another product containing alcohol (although under 2%) but I guess I’m learning that such small quantities in sweet food products are ok and I’ve probably been consuming it accidentally for years without realising!

The amazing thing about this brownie was the texture. Outside of the mouth, it had the most realistic feel of an imported mass-produced baked product that I’ve tried – it was quite weighty and dense, but also slightly moist. The only downside was that the coating felt quite waxy. When eating the brownie, though, it was properly doughy and squidgy and definitely had the desired moist brownie texture over the dry one. It was certainly fudge-like and provided the great sensation of sticking to the roof of the mouth. As a contrast, the candy topping provided some crispiness, although I did feel it was a shame that there were no further chocolate chips in the brownie itself – as pleasant as the soft texture was, I think it would have benefitted from a few chocolatey chunks here and there. The only other brownie feature which, for me, was missing, was the fact there were no crispy, crumbly edges.

As for the taste, it was as expected, really. It did provide a chocolatey flavour but, to be honest, because of the texture, I found it tasted more like a better-than-normal chocolate flavoured fudge rather than a more cakey-like brownie.

I didn’t expect this Fudge Bake to be so nice and with such a good texture. Having looked at the Mrs. Freshley's website, I’m pleased to see that they make a great variety of yummy-looking products so hopefully I’ll manage to get my hands on some more delights soon. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 7.5/10