After over a year of reviewing snacks and recipes, I've decided to call it a day. Although I've had more notes to turn into reviews, I haven't posted for a few days due to being busy with a new job and a house purchase, and I've found I've felt more relaxed without having to think about writing reviews as well. As a result, I've made the difficult decision to stop posting to my blog.
I really enjoyed maintaining this site, while it lasted, and it's been lovely being part of a little community of other foodie bloggers. However, it's not totally 'the end' as I'm still going to be enjoying my snacks and reading other blogs for inspiration, so I'll keep in touch through comments and Twitter.
Finally, thank you to all my readers for your kind words over the last year and a bit - it was great fun seeing which posts were the most popular, and I hope you continue to love your treats as much as I do!
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Monday, 17 November 2014
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Lindt Strawberry
Product name: Lindt
Strawberry
Purchase details: £0.99 for a 100g bar (Home Bargains)
Calories: 496 per bar
Country of origin: Switzerland
Purchase details: £0.99 for a 100g bar (Home Bargains)
Calories: 496 per bar
Country of origin: Switzerland
I was very excited to see a range of Lindt chocolates in
Home Bargains last week that I’d not seen before. Although most of them were
boozy, I managed to pick out this Strawberry bar, along with one other
appealing flavour for another day.
The red and silver wrapper of this wrapper was really
attractive, slightly festive, and featured images of juicy strawberries and the
‘filled milk chocolate’ that was within. It was clear that the bar was an
unusual shape since each of the 12 pieces was flat but with a pill-shaped dome
that contained the filling. Whilst I was initially impressed that a piece of
cardboard had been included within the foil to protect these pieces, this
quickly turned to disappointment when I realised just how broken my bar was – I
pieced it back together as best as I could for its photo shoot!
When I first spotted this Lindt & Sprüngli product, my
first thought was of a previously reviewed product: E. Wedel Strawberry.
Whilst this bar didn’t contain a cream layer, it did still contain alcohol
(unfortunately) but, once again, I’d later find that this wasn’t noticeable in
the taste.
Despite the image on the wrapper, the filling inside the
Lindt logo-engraved pieces was like a very pale pink creme rather than a deep
red goo. The chocolate contained a minimum of 30% cocoa solids and 14% milk
solids and had a really good colour about it and the bar also has a nice yet
subtle berry scent.
There was no nutritional information on the packaging but I
was able to obtain this from Lindt's website.
The ingredients were present on the wrapper, though, so I knew that the flavour
came from 1.4% strawberry powder which, despite sounding minimal, made a huge
impact on the taste. Whilst the chocolate tasted as good as Lindt usually does,
on its own, it had still picked up a hint of sweet berry.
When combined with the filling, the chocolate flavour was
barely detectable at all because the dominant taste was a really sweet and
tangy strawberry one which was just like Campino sweets and, therefore, hinted
at cream too.
The chocolate had a nice melt and, despite not being a
proper liquid, the filling did pop out of this under a little pressure. To
chew, the thin chocolate had a really crunchy texture which went wonderfully
with the lovely, soft centre too.
I think some people would probably find this bar a bit too
sweet but I really liked it. Although it wasn’t my favourite ever flavour
combination, it had been very well executed, so I’m glad I spotted it!
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
Lotus Biscoff: Spread (crunchy)
Product name: Lotus
Biscoff: Spread (crunchy)
Purchase details: £1.79 for a 380g jar (tesco.com)
Calories: 572 per 100g
Country of origin: Belgium
Purchase details: £1.79 for a 380g jar (tesco.com)
Calories: 572 per 100g
Country of origin: Belgium
Although I’m not generally familiar with the brand of Lotus
Biscoff biscuits, I’ve been wanting to try their spreads for a while and have
even seen positive comments from my non-blogger Facebook friends about them. I’m
not surprised, though...they’re essentially liquidised biscuits!
Due to the usual high store prices, I’d always assumed that
these Lotus Bakeries jars had been imported from America, but they were
actually from Belgium. Either way, I’d been waiting for an offer to come along
and I immediately snapped up a jar of this crunchy spread, as well as a smooth
one, as soon as that happened. As it turned out, I wasn’t the only one
who was keen try these spreads – I’d fully intended to review the smooth one
first but, when I took off the lid, I discovered that some nasty shopper had
stuck their finger through the foil layer in-store and helped themselves to
some – thanks to Tesco for refunding me for this...I’ve been able to pick up
another jar before the offer runs out!
Anyway, this crunchy variety of ‘the original caramelised
biscuit spread’ was represented by a yellow lid and I loved the visualisation
of a Lotus biscuit being turned into the spread. Although not relevant to me, I
was impressed to see that it was both vegetarian and vegan, and the spread also
contained no added flavours or colours, and no hydrogenated fat. What it did contain was 65% biscuits which
resulted in a product that looked like a slightly darker-than-normal peanut
butter.
Whilst nutritional information was provided, there was no
suggested serving size, so how calorific or not a snack it was fully depended
on how much was used and what it was served with! So far, I’ve only consumed it
on ‘naughty’ days, and I think I might have to keep it that way because it was
just so good – who needs bread when you’ve got a spoon?!
The spread was pretty thick and, whilst the crunchy bits
weren’t really visible, they could be felt easily with the knife. The deep
scent incorporated both caramel and biscuits but also hinted at ginger snaps –
although it was very good, it was also on the verge of being a bit much.
On trying the spread on its own, it was very crispy but with
the fabulous thick texture I’ve come to associate with peanut butter. In terms
of flavour, it was quite like digestives but with a sweeter yet darker caramel
element.
On bread, this crispy texture remained really noticeable and
the flavour was still good too. The best bit, though, was the way the gloopy
texture combined with the dough of the bread, making the roof of my mouth very
happy indeed.
Finally, I sampled some of the spread on toast. The heat caused
the spread to melt pretty quickly and the flavour and texture remained really
good (although it wasn’t really possible to differentiate between the ‘crunchy’
aspect of the spread and the toast). Despite forgetting to check the toaster’s
settings and subsequently cooking it for longer than I would have liked, the
sweetness of the spread really helped disguise the slightly burnt bits, so I
still enjoyed every mouthful...praise indeed.
This really was an excellent product and I can’t wait to eat
the rest of it! There are quite a few biscuit spreads on my wish list right now
and, if they’re all this good, I’m going to have to be keeping an extra-close
eye on my waistline in the coming months.
Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.75/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.75/10
Monday, 10 November 2014
Cadbury Picnic
Product name: Cadbury
Picnic
Purchase details: £1.00 for a multipack of three bars (Poundland)
Calories: 230 per 48.4g bar
Country of origin: Europe
Purchase details: £1.00 for a multipack of three bars (Poundland)
Calories: 230 per 48.4g bar
Country of origin: Europe
The Picnic seems to be one of Cadbury’s lesser known
products – it’s not a bar I see around all that often and it must have been
over a decade since my last one so I could barely remember what they were like!
The purple wrapper boasted ‘a feast-full’ of caramel (32%),
peanuts (12%) and raisins (7%) and these three ingredients were each represented
around the brand name – I particularly liked the way the caramel was used as a
border. However, beneath the chocolate that contained a minimum of 14% milk
solids, lurked another significant ingredient: ‘crispy’ rice cereal (10%).
This particular multipack had been produced by Kraft Foods
and I couldn’t believe how huge each bar felt on removal from the main
packaging. However, on opening the individual wrappers, I realised that, whilst
the bars were very long, there were also relatively thin. That said, they had a
very rugged appearance, and the caramel was clearly holding the individual
elements together. Despite not being mentioned in the main product description,
the cereal was definitely a big feature, whilst the raisins were a lot less
visible and nowhere near as big as the Nestlé Yorkie: Raisin & biscuit.
The Picnic mainly smelt of sweet chocolate but the aroma did
hint at the fact there was more going on beneath the surface and I was pleased
to find that each ingredient made its own significant contribution to the
whole. The peanuts provided flavour (although not lots) and a bit of a crunch
within the crispy chewiness provided by the cereal and caramel. (For the
record, this overall texture was perfectly balanced so that the bar wasn’t hard
work to eat.) As for the raisins, I found there were more of these further down
the bar than first appeared, and they produced an extra chew and an occasional
additional sweetness.
Thinking of the Picnic as a whole, I realised that it was
essentially a cereal bar in reverse, with a proper chocolate coating rather
than the silly drizzles some brands include in an attempt to make a seemingly
healthy product a bit more exciting. In this case, though, the overall flavour
was a general sweetness that came from the individual components, and the
thicker-than-normal chocolate layer provided an alternative method of
consumption since the bar was also enjoyable to let melt, and it added a nice
juiciness to combine with the raisins and caramel.
This was certainly a decent product but, although individual
elements were noticeable, the main flavour wasn’t particularly exciting and, I
guess, it felt a bit too healthy for my liking, bearing in mind it was an
unhealthy snack!
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: Satisfy my bowl
Product name: Ben
& Jerry’s Ice Cream: Satisfy my bowl
Purchase details: £2.24 for a 500ml tub (tesco.com)
Calories: 255 per 100ml serving
Purchase details: £2.24 for a 500ml tub (tesco.com)
Calories: 255 per 100ml serving
I seriously don’t know how I survived for so many years
without having tried the delights of Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
This Fairtrade Satisfy my bowl tub was a special edition to mark the 30th
anniversary of Bob Marley’s Legend
album, and also supported the 1Love Foundation which funds a youth-empowerment
programme in Jamaica.
I was really interested in this ice cream since it was
banana flavoured (it contained 4% banana puree) but also had cookie (6%) and
caramel (9%) swirls and ‘chocolatey peace signs’ (4%). To fit in with the Caribbean
theme, the usual green field of the branding was replaced with a sandy beach and
a cow playing a guitar. However, the pale blue sky meant the packaging was
still recognisably Ben & Jerry’s.
For this variety, a 100ml serving equated to 91g, and 23% of
the product was cream itself. The ice cream was pale in colour but did have
some visible caramel swirls. The chocolate chunks were presented as thick discs
with raised peace signs, although the visibility of this finer detail varied.
As usual for frozen products, this didn’t emit any kind of
smell, but the flavour was immense and felt like a full-on dessert. I allowed
my ice cream to soften a fair amount before trying it and it was ridiculously
creamy! Adding to this, the banana flavour was really strong, but then there
was also a lovely, sugary taste from the caramel. I can’t say I really noticed
the cookie swirls as a feature but, in contrast, the size and abundance of the
chocolate made a massive difference to the experience. It tasted just liked ice
cream chocolate sauce but its format meant it provided a crunchy texture amid
the juicy, thick, but not completely smooth ice cream.
Whilst this tub of Satisfy my bowl wasn’t quite up there
with the amazing Peanut butter cup,
it did feel really special and it’s a shame it was only a limited edition.
Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.13/10
Aroma: 5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.13/10