Cathedral City Baked Bites

Product name: Cathedral City Baked Bites
Purchase details: £0.25 for a 35g bag (Home Bargains)
Calories: 173 per bag
Country of origin: UK

I was really pleased to find these Cathedral City Baked Bites in Home Bargains so cheaply recently. I usually only eat reduced fat cheddar but, as a treat, Cathedral City’s ‘real’ cheese is one of my favourites. I only recently became aware of this spin-off product and was interested to see how they compared to McVitie’s Mini Cheddars.

The ‘mini biscuits baked with real cheddar’ from ‘the nation’s favourite cheese brand’ were made by Burton’s Biscuit Co under licence from Dairy Crest Limited. The burgundy and pale yellow bag reflected the colour scheme of the block cheese, and I was pleasantly surprised that the crackers contained 20% cheese as well as 2.9% cheese powder.

The golden biscuits were oval in shape and featured the Cathedral City logo. This wasn’t always that clear in person but it did show up well on my photograph! The aroma they gave off was divine – a simply delicious cheese-infused cracker scent.

I couldn’t believe just how good these tasted. They had a mature cheddar flavour throughout and, whilst this wasn’t as strong as if I’d been munching on a hunk of cheese, it was still very, very good. I also liked how they weren’t really salty – there was just a slight lick of it in the aftertaste.

As for the crispy biscuits themselves, I really appreciated how these didn’t feel dry. Instead, the crumbs gathered together in the mouth, allowing them to moisten before swallowing.

It was only as I was eating these that I realised it’s actually been a few years since I last ate some Mini Cheddars and, as a result, it’s difficult to accurately compare the two brands. However, these Baked Bites definitely reminded me of the McVitie’s competitor, but my memory resulted in the conclusion that the Cathedral City version had a more genuine cheese flavour.

The other good thing about this bag was that it contained a generous portion, making the product a nice alternative to crisps. I’ll definitely be buying these again.

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 9/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 8.63/10

Frijj Fudge Brownie

Product name: Frijj Fudge Brownie
Purchase details: £0.50 for a 471ml bottle (Asda)
Calories: 367 per bottle
Country of origin: UK 

A few days ago I saw, via Asda’s Twitter page, that their bottles of Frijj ‘thick and smooth’ milkshakes have been reduced to an amazing £0.50 each. I only rarely buy indulgent drinks but I couldn’t turn my nose up at that price so I decided to make a special trip to buy a couple of the more interesting flavours that I’ve not previously had before. 

Initially, I thought this Fudge Brownie flavour was boasting about containing less than 12% fat, but then I noticed the decimal point – 1.2% was much better! In addition, it contained no artificial flavours or colours, and contained a lot of ‘fresh milk’ (69% skimmed and 22% whole) which meant the product was a source of calcium (132mg) and vitamin B12. Other ingredients included sugar (12.9g), buttermilk powder, cocoa powder and natural flavourings.

Made my Dairy Crest, this bottle of Frijj had a basic white and black theme and was covered in splodges, to mimic a cow, but these splodges were a shade of mid-brown to represent the brownie variety. There was also a nice caramelly swirl at the bottom of the bottle and I loved the funky zip design at the side which drew attention to where the label could be torn off in order to recycle the bottle itself.

As recommended, I enjoyed the Fudge Brownie version of ‘Britain’s favourite milkshake’ shaken and chilled. It had a chocolate milk smell and it certainly looked thick – not as thick as ice cream-containing shakes but thicker than normal milk.

To drink, the liquid was very milky and smooth. It had more of a fudge element than I’d expected and this depth went well with the chocolate flavour. I didn’t find the latter had a specific brownie taste but it was very similar to a caramel chocolate. I found the consistency to be good, although I did think it would have had a more fudgy feel if it could have been a little thicker. However, this probably wouldn’t be possible with the ingredients used!

Overall, I enjoyed this milkshake. It was very rich, and a bit sickly, but it was nearly half a litre of milk so I’m not really surprised! I would happily drink it again. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.63/10