McVitie's Digestives: Slices (caramels)

Product name: McVitie’s Digestives: Slices (caramels)
Purchase details: £1.00 for a pack of six slices (tesco.com)
Calories: 130 per 24.7g slice
Country of origin: UK

 

My snack stash seems to be full of mini cake and biscuit bars at the moment so I thought I’d do a review of McVitie’s Digestives: Slices (caramels) tonight. This new product was described as ‘Digestives slices topped with caramel and delicious milk chocolate’ and was a similar concept to the Galaxy: Slices (cookie crumble) I reviewed a couple of weeks ago.

The individually wrapped slices came in an eye-catching yellow wrapper that featured the usual McVitie’s Digestives branding, along with an image of one of the bars, but it was the promise of the caramel layer (accounting for 19% of the product), that tempted me to buy this packet – I figured it would prevent dryness.

The slices weren’t exactly oozing with caramel but the golden layer was clearly visible – the only downside was it meant a thinner smooth chocolate topping (only 13% of the overall bar in contrast with the Galaxy's 23%!). However, I thought the ‘crushed Digestives’ (38%) base was more attractive than the cookie crumble alternative and it actually reminded me a little of the Subway White Chip Macadamia Nut Cookie.

These Digestives: Slices had quite a mild biscuit scent but, on eating, I associated the experience more with flapjacks than biscuits. I didn’t find the caramel or chocolate were noticeable as separate entities but the caramel, at least, seemed to make a difference to the overall flavour and texture.

I had expected a slight chewiness from this layer but this wasn’t the case. Instead, the whole base was moister and softer than the Galaxy: Slices (cookie crumble), contributing to the flapjack feel, but with tiny pieces of crunchy biscuits to remind of the crushed Digestives.

If I really thought about it, I could associate the product’s flavour with Digestives but I don’t think I would have necessarily made the connection in a blind taste test. However, I loved the syrupy taste that was on offer and the way this combined with a slight salty element too. It’s just a shame there wasn’t more chocolate...

Once again, I was pleasantly surprised by this McVitie’s product – a great-tasting, low calorie snack at a great price! 

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

Gardners Candies S'mores

Product name: Gardners Candies S’mores
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 42g bar (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 186 per bar
Country of origin: USA

Since my review of Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted s'mores, I’ve still not tried the real thing, but I was intrigued by Gardners Candies’ chocolate bar version of the product so I decided to give it a go.

The bar came described as marshmallow and ‘graham cracker covered in our creamy milk chocolate’ and came in quite an unusual wrapper that combined fake with real. The background featured close-ups of real graham crackers, as well as drawings of chocolate, marshmallow, and a fire (the latter to remind of the campfire aspect of real s’mores). I also liked the way the letter ‘O’ of the brand name was made of a chocolate-topped marshmallow.

I was surprised at just how good-looking the S’mores bar was. It wasn’t huge but it was pretty chunky and had a thick chocolate shell – I could see how this was the main ingredient! The drizzled chocolate  was a nice finishing touch too. Inside, the decent-sized biscuit base was topped with another (much thinner) layer of chocolate, and then a slab of smooth, white marshmallow that looked like a creme filling. It was this marshmallow that seemed to provide the sweet and creamy scent that was noticeable on opening the wrapper and was even more evident up-close.

 
The chocolate was very milky, if a little on the sweet side, but I figured this was partially down to its contact with the marshmallow. This soft centre was very chewy and provided a vanilla flavour that blended nicely with the digestive biscuit-like taste that came from the graham cracker. This biscuit was, unusually, more soft than crunchy, and I found the contrast in textures, generally, made the bar slightly difficult to eat as the chocolate and biscuit crumbled as they sunk into the marshmallow on biting.

For textural reasons, marshmallow isn’t one of my favourite foodstuffs, but I was pleased that the thick chocolate shell was the stand-out aspect of this product. It wasn’t the best bar I’ve ever tasted but it was an interesting concept – I had been concerned it would taste like Wagon Wheels (I don’t like those!) but it didn’t so that was a bonus. Despite being served cold, the S’mores bar offered a good combination of flavours, but I imagine a real s’more would be a bit more special! 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Recipe: Chocolate salted caramel marble cake

Recipe: Chocolate salted caramel marble cake
Source: Heat (Issue 776, 5^th–11^th April 2014)

Growing up, a feature of Easter day in our family was always my Mum’s Springtime marble cake. This was a marble effect ring-shaped cake that was coated in chocolate icing, and filled in the centre with mini chocolate eggs, giving the impression of a nest. It’s been a few years since we’ve had this, now, so when I stumbled across this recipe in Heat magazine (of all places!) on a Stork promotional page, I just had to make it our Easter dessert this year.

The Chocolate salted caramel marble cake was always going to be a richer option than my Mum’s more traditional recipe. The white part of the sponge contained white chocolate rather than being plain, it had an inner salted caramel sauce, and it was topped with truffles. I couldn’t wait to ‘make this Easter marble-ous’ (Stork’s words, not mine!).

 

Although I followed the recipe printed in my magazine, a version of it can also be found on Stork's website where there is also a useful video (I did watch this prior to baking but not immediately before so I may well have done things differently!).

 

The only change I made to the recipe was using two types of caster sugar. About half of the quantity I used was the normal kind but I did mix golden caster sugar in to make up the amount as that’s what we had in stock.

 

The recipe for the cake itself was very easy – so much so that there’s nothing to really say about it! I followed all the instructions in the magazine and ended up with a decent cake. It did take five minutes longer to bake than had been suggested but that was the only issue at this stage. Once cooled, I did get someone else to slice the cake in two – I struggle to even cut a loaf of bread so I didn’t want to ruin my creation!

At the final stages of assembly, things did start to go a little wrong. When I added the inner caramel layer, it began too ooze out of the sides which made me nervous of adding too much. As a result, I think I used less than the recommended half of the mixture. This had implications on the truffles since the recipe said to make them from the left over ganache and caramel (the video on the website didn’t mention using the caramel in the truffles but this was part of the cake’s novelty for me so I just had to!). Since the caramel was runnier than the ganache and there was more of it, I didn’t want to mix everything in together and end up with a liquid mess that I couldn’t use. Instead, I tried chilling a teaspoon of the chocolate mixed with a teaspoon of the caramel and seeing how it worked...it didn’t!

By this stage, it was late on Saturday night and I needed the cake to be sorted ready for the next day (Easter!) so I didn’t have time to be patient. I’d left the separate bowls of ganache and caramel to chill so they were relatively firm so I decided to just go for it. I made a ball shape with the chocolate, drizzled some caramel over the top, rubbed the ball a bit more, and then plunged it into cocoa powder as I kept rolling the truffle. This was extremely messy as the mixtures were too soft, really, to be working with, but I did manage to get some kind of truffles out of the process. Ok, they looked a mess as they were squidgy rather than round (my family decided they looked like boulders!) but by the time they’d chilled in the fridge overnight, they were the perfect consistency! If I’d had the time to deal with them on Easter morning, I would have made them then instead, but that just wasn’t an option for me, unfortunately.

The main thing was that everyone absolutely loved the cake. I was told it was ‘a bit special’ and it was well received by all. Despite containing a lot of chocolate (particularly dark), it wasn’t too heavy, and the balance with the salted caramel was spot on. I always use my three year-old nephew as an indicator of the overall verdict and he ate the whole of his slice without problem...and this was straight after our roast lamb dinner!

The good thing about my caramel filling going, perhaps, a little wrong, was that I had a jug of the sauce left over which we could then pour over the top of the cake. This worked really well and, again, lifted the flavour to prevent it being too dominated by chocolate.

 

It may have looked a bit of a mess but this was a big hit and I’ve even been asked for the recipe. I’d definitely be happy to give it another go when I have a bit more time on my hands!

 

Ease of recipe: 9/10
Finished product: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8.75/10
Bake again? Yes

The Custom Cupcake Company Berries & Cream Cupcake

Product name: The Custom Cupcake Company Berries & Cream Cupcake
Purchase details: £2.00 for one cupcake (The Custom Cupcake Company)
Country of origin: England

When I reviewed The Custom Cupcake Company Peanut Butter Brownie, I said I was sure I’d be back – and it didn’t take me long! I knew I wouldn’t be doing my diet over the extended Easter weekend so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to treat myself to another one of their filled cupcakes.

Since it was Easter, I deliberately steered away from chocolate, and went for this Berries & Cream Cupcake instead. I must say that the in-store description that included a white chocolate icing was part of the reason for this but since, technically, white chocolate isn’t real chocolate, that didn’t count!

I did my best to carry this cupcake home carefully but the bright pink frosting did look a bit deflated by the time I reached my destination. I still thought it looked very impressive, though – I just wish you could have seen it before I moved it! As well as the thick frosting, the pale golden sponge cake was drizzled with the aforementioned white chocolate, sprinkled with a bit of pink edible glitter, and topped with a deep red, real strawberry. Inside was a berry compote and cream filling that resulted in an appearance similar to a Victoria sponge. The cupcake didn’t smell overly strong but it did have a fairy cake aroma.

Now, I know The Custom Cupcake Company can’t take credit for this, but the strawberry was lovely and juicy! I love strawberries but I do find them a bit hit and miss in terms of their sweetness. This one was good, though, and the white chocolate drizzle helped the sweetness levels too.

I tried the frosting next and this was a massive sugar hit. It tasted a bit lemony but there was a mellower berry aftertaste to it as well. I think there must have a been a lot of icing sugar in there as it was a little bit gritty but this texture wasn’t really noticeable when combined with the cake.

On its own, the sponge tasted quite basic but had a fairly rich buttery flavour. It was, perhaps, a little dry, but I ate this the day after purchase so it wasn’t as fresh as it could have been, and this certainly wasn’t the case when combined with the other elements.

The cupcake’s filling was beautiful. The cream seemed to have a deep vanilla flavour that tasted similar to the creme layers you find in sandwich biscuits. The berry compote was a deep red in colour but also added an extra depth to the flavour (it was more than your average jam) and was very enjoyable.

Combined, the different parts of the cupcake worked very well together. I have a very sweet tooth but I can’t deny that I winced when I first tried the frosting – it was so sweet that it was almost sour! However, the filling distracted from this, and the compote also contained a couple of chewy seeds that gave the treat a more authentic feel.

This Berries & Cream Cupcake wasn’t quite as I was expecting because I’d misunderstood the description in-store. I had thought the pink frosting also contained white chocolate but this certainly didn’t taste like the case. Whilst I did still enjoy the flavour, I would have preferred a smaller quantity of frosting, a larger amount of filling, or both! However, there is no denying that this was another well-presented and tasty offering from The Custom Cupcake Company.

Appearance: 9/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10