Reese's Big Cup

Product name: Reese’s Big Cup
Purchase details: £0.99 for a 39g cup (americansoda.co.uk)
Calories: 200 per cup
Country of origin: USA

Regular readers will know that I am a he-yooge peanut butter fan. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups currently sit comfortably inside my top ten but, until now, and despite wanting to, I have never got my mouth around the deep-filled version of this fabulous product: Reese’s Big Cup. 

The bright orange wrapper specified that this monster was for peanut butter lovers so I knew I was on to a good thing and I was thrilled to see the words ‘milk chocolate’ above the product title. That’s right, no fake chocolatey coating – yay! 

There was an instant nutty smell on opening the wrapper. The overall concept of this cup was obviously largely the same as the standard-sized cups, and this certainly looked like no more than a deeper version. Granted, I didn’t take a ruler to it, but even the diameter seemed to be the same.

One of the elements I love about Peanut Butter Cups, as mentioned in my review, is the flexible texture of the chocolatey coating, and I was pleased that this remained here, despite the use of ‘proper’ chocolate. However, slightly disappointingly, I can’t say I noticed much difference in the flavour which was still more sweet than milky.

However, the best bit about this cup was obviously always going to be the peanut butter! This was the perfect mix of sweet and salty but I was glad the portion was no bigger as I think even addicts like me would have found that a bit too much. Surprisingly, I found the increased peanut butter texture more enjoyable than the flavour as the quantity really allowed it to stick to the roof of the mouth which is a sensation I love.

As a special treat, I loved Reese’s Big Cup, but I think the richness of the peanut butter would be hard to manage on a regular basis. If I were to suggest an improvement, it wouldn’t be to reduce the quantity of peanut butter (goodness, no!), but to have a slightly thicker chocolate layer just to counteract the strength of the peanut butter flavour whilst maintaining the wonderful texture. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 8.5/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 9.5/10
Overall score: 8.5/10

Cookie Dough Bites: Red velvet cupcake bites

Product name: Cookies Dough Bites: Red velvet cupcake bites
Purchase details: £2.39 for an 88g box (americansoda.co.uk)
Calories: 180 per 40g serving (360 per box)
Country of origin: USA

So far, I’ve had mixed experiences with the Cookie Dough Bites brand, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I picked up these Red velvet cupcake bites from American Soda.

Packaged in the usual 88g box, these ‘cupcake morsels in creamy red frosting’ were a beautiful, glossy shade of crimson with a nicely contrasting light-coloured centre. Whilst aesthetically pleasing, I was slightly concerned by just how unnatural they looked.

The outer red frosting had a sweet and creamy smell which seemed very similar to the Cupcake bites I tried in my pre-blog days. This sweetness was also evident in the taste, but then, it would have been odd if it hadn’t been, bearing in mind a box of these bites contains 40g of sugar! Colour aside, where this frosting differed from the Cupcake bites variety was in its texture – it was far smoother and not at all rubbery. My only criticism of the frosting is that, after a while, I actually found it became a little boring – there just wasn’t enough interest there for me.

As for the cupcake filling, I found this to be quite dry with no apparent flavour of its own. Even when I tried it separately, having bitten off the frosting layer, it just didn’t seem to taste of anything at all. Therefore, I couldn’t really describe it as cake-like.

However, the frosting and the cupcake morsels did work well together in that the outer layer provided moisture for the filling. Whilst the centres were flavourless, they did provide a contrasting texture and so I was greeted with the usual grainy innards having bitten through the softer icing of each bite. When eating the whole box (as I always do!), though, the slightly chewy middles did feel a bit like hard work on the jaw towards the end of the packet.

I don’t feel like I’m qualified to judge whether or not these Red velvet cupcake bites are good imitations of real red velvet cakes, having only ever eaten them twice myself. However, my memory suggested that the frosting of this product wasn’t dissimilar in flavour, particularly when it came to the after-taste.

The word I’d use to sum up these Red velvet cupcake bites is ‘fine’. They are inoffensive and pretty enjoyable, but they just didn’t excite me in the same way that their sister product, Cinnamon bun bites (see here), did. Would I eat them again, though? Sure.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

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

Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla)

Product name: Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla)
Purchase details: £1.49 for a 57g tub (americansoda.co.uk)
Calories: 150 per 30g portion (300 per tub)
Country of origin: Singapore

When American Soda (see here) recently had a free delivery offer in honour of Independence Day, I just couldn’t say ‘no’, and today’s review goes to one of the items I picked up in this order: Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla).

I had previously come across the Meiji brand in one of my local sweet shops and, as a result, have already tried and enjoyed the strawberry and vanilla versions of their Hello Panda biscuit snacks. Browsing the American Soda website, though, was the first time I’d come across this Yan Yan product which seemed to be an interesting alternative to the more familiar KP Choc Dip snack that’s widely available in the UK.

I’ve previously mentioned my love of vanilla so I had no problem opting for the creamy vanilla variety of this product. Being used to the short stature of Choc Dips, I was impressed, on receiving my delivery, at how big a tub these Yan Yan came in. However, on the flip-side, the packaging did suggest that it contained two servings which seemed a bit strange to me as I didn’t see how the ‘creamy vanilla dip’ could easily be preserved once the lid had been peeled off the tub. In addition, I didn’t regard it as a snack that could easily be shared, but maybe that’s just me!

On removing the lid, I thought the inner packaging was neatly presented and designed – despite the amount of miles they had travelled, not one of the biscuit sticks had broken! Whilst not emitting strong aromas, the vanilla dip did have a mild vanilla scent, and the biscuits smelt of a sweeter Rich Tea biscuit.

Each biscuit has a picture and name of an animal, along with a comment about said animal. Whilst I thought this was a bit odd, I admit it was a nice touch!

The snack itself was delicious. The biscuits glided easily through the sweet and silky vanilla cream. The biscuit sticks were obviously simple but this was all that was needed when combined with the dip. Alone, they didn’t taste of much and would have been a bit dry when eating them all, but the vanilla transformed their taste and added much-needed moisture.

Unsurprisingly, I really enjoyed the creamy dip and found that not much was needed on each biscuit to make a significant difference to the product experience. My only criticism of the dip is that I would have liked it to have had tasted a little more vanilla-like and a little less sugary.

Other than that, the only other issue I had with Meiji Yan Yan was that it was hard to judge how much dip to use on each biscuit. I quickly realised I needed to use a lot less than my photograph shows, but my early rookie mistake meant that I was running out of cream towards the end of the pack. Therefore, I don’t think it would hurt to provide a slightly larger quantity of the cream in each tub – there is certainly room for it!

I thoroughly enjoyed Meiji Yan Yan (creamy vanilla) and look forward to trying some more of Meiji’s products in the future.  

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.88/10