General Mills Lucky Charms

Product name: General Mills Lucky Charms
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 49g pot (Poundland)

Calories: 190 per pot (232 per pot with 125ml skimmed milk)
Country of origin: USA

 

General Mills Lucky Charms is another cereal that, like Kellogg's Froot Loops, I’d always wanted to try but never had. For that reason, I was really pleased to find this single-serving  tub that still managed to contain 19g of whole grain within its ‘frosted toasted oat cereal with marshmallows’. I’d never actually realised that this was a frosted cereal so this aspect increased my interest and, what with the marshmallows, I couldn’t think of ever having tried a similar product.

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes take words for granted, so I’d never made the connection between this cereal’s name and what it actually was! However, I quickly realised that the red pot featured things that are often considered to bring luck, such as a leprechaun. This theme continued with the tiny, shaped Cheerio-like cereal and colourful marshmallows – these featured horseshoes (which I initially thought were fish!) and shooting stars, as well as other more general items like hearts. (If anyone can figure out what the shape on the bottom right of my picture is, I’d love to hear from you!)

Imported by Innovative Bites Ltd, there were some negative aspects of this product too. The corn it contained was genetically modified, and the ‘adverse effect’ the colours could have on children was also highlighted – not great but I couldn’t let that deter me!

The overall scent from the tub was gorgeous. It was like a cross between Kellogg’s Rice Krispies: Squares and real toasted marshmallows. The cereal had a slightly sticky glaze that possibly contributed to this but, on the whole, it seemed to be from the hardened ‘charms’ that were also a little sticky. I was impressed to see that the colours of these marshmallows went throughout each piece too – they weren’t just for show on the surface.

I did try a tiny dry sample of the product, out of matter of interest, and found the cereal to be nicely sweetened and the marshmallow to be very sugary with a slight crisp. The different colours used didn’t impact the flavour. They all tasted like toasted marshmallows – it was just a shame they didn’t have the warm, gooey centres to accompany the flavour!

I figured the idea was to pour the milk into the tub so this is what I did...only to find it all went to the bottom (don’t ask what I thought would happen!). This ended up being fine, though, as the cereal still got a good moistening. The only problem I found was that the bits at the bottom did go soft and slimy pretty quickly but, on the whole, the cereal was quite chewy and I adored the sugary hits from the marshmallows. The flavour combination really reminded me of something which I couldn’t work out until I remembered I had actually had this cereal in bar form a while ago so it was probably that!

Once the cereal had gone, I enjoyed using up the remaining milk. It didn’t look very appetising as the blue food colouring had leaked and created a grey appearance, and its texture had also become a bit starchy, but it did have a slightly sweetened taste.

Aside from this cereal’s deliciousness, what impressed me most was the good balance between the two elements – there was no shortage of either the oats or the marshmallows and they were both very enjoyable. If I’m honest, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this so much...I just wish it was healthier!

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

Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted bustin' berry

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted bustin’ berry
Purchase details: £1.49 for a box of eight tarts (Home Bargains)
Calories: 200 per tart (400 per pack of two)
Country of origin: UK

 

This box of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted bustin’ berry was the variety I was actually buying when I ended up getting the Frosted apple blast ones too.

The product was very purple in terms of the branding, frosting and, to an extent, the inner ‘berry flavour fruit filling’. However, the icing certainly wasn’t a natural shade of purple for food, and it was also a shame that it had succumbed to the greasy effect Pop Tarts sometimes get. However, the jammy-looking filling (with a red tint) looked deliciously moist and plentiful within the golden, albeit cracked, pastry.

When cold, these Pop Tarts, like with the Frosted blueberry kind, smelt like Go Ahead! Fruit Bakes. I was pleased that the pastry had the seemingly-improved UK flavour that was evident in the apple blast Pop Tarts, too, with a combined buttery and salty taste. The filling did mainly taste of berries (4.5% of the overall product was strawberry) but there was also a slight tangy apple flavour mixed into the general sweetness...it turned out apple was also listed on the ingredients! As usual, the texture was slightly crumbly but with a crispy element from the frosting, whilst the moist filling softened the pastry nicely. Overall, the experience reminded me of sweeter fig rolls.

This was another box that stated that the pastries couldn’t be microwaved so I only warmed the tarts in the toaster. This turned the pastry itself to a lovely shade of golden brown and caused the frosting to appear slightly molten. The baked berry aroma was also delicious, and I loved the added crisp that was given to the pastry when toasted. The flavour was also a bit richer, warmed, but sicklier too.

All in all, this was another tasty fruity variety of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, once again proving that not all the nice stuff has to be imported! 

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

Mrs. Freshley's Mini Donuts: Frosted

Product name: Mrs. Freshley’s Mini Donuts: Frosted
Purchase details: £2.50 for a 94g packet of six doughnuts (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 440 per pack
Country of origin: USA

It’s been a few weeks now since I reviewed the Crunch and Cinnamon versions of Mrs. Freshley’s Mini Donuts, but I’ve finally got around to trying the Frosted version too.

Distributed by Flowers Foods Speciality Group, I expected the coating to make them the heaviest variety, but they were actually lighter than the Cinnamon ones. However, they did contain the most calories!

The thick, generously distributed and very dark frosting looked like chocolate and, on reading the ingredients, I saw that it did contain cocoa but that its main ingredient was sugar. I loved how this had been allowed to fill the doughnuts’ holes, forming mini columns in their centres, and the contrast with the pale inner dough made the frosting look almost black in colour.

The product smelt very much like chocolate coated doughnuts as soon as I opened the purple-themed packet and I was hoping that the waxy-feeling coating would provide a Magnum-like crack. In reality, I liked the way the solidity of the frosting combined with the soft dough, although the two did just merge together rather than the frosting cracking apart.

Once again boasting a new and improved recipe, I was expecting the dough itself to remain unchanged. It certainly had the same good, sweet and doughy flavour, and this went nicely with the more bitter and chocolatey coating. However, I found that the dough felt pretty dry and had no spring to it, which was a shame. Thankfully, though, the smooth, cool frosting helped distract from this.

This was another decent experience with ‘long-life’ doughnuts although I’d definitely prefer a fresh one when given the choice!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 6.5/10
Overall score: 7/10

Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted apple blast

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted apple blast
Purchase details: £1.49 for a box of eight tarts (Home Bargains)
Calories: 200 per tart (400 per pack of two)
Country of origin: UK

It’s been a little while since my last review of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts so I thought it was about time for another. This time, though, it’s a little bit different since these Frosted apple blast Pop Tarts are the first UK ones I’ve featured on my blog. As a result, they were considerably cheaper!

I actually nearly passed up this flavour until it occurred to me that that the ‘apple cinnamon fruit filling in a pastry with a sugar topping’ might actually be a bit like apple pie.

The Pop Tarts came in the same type of blue box as the American varieties I’ve previously reviewed, and featured a photo of the inner product – a rectangular pastry with a fresh white icing topping and a centre that looked like an apple purée. The reality of the tarts was very much the same. The pastry was the paler kind and I noticed that, like with the Frosted confetti cupcake variety, parts of the icing looked a little greasy. The highlight of the appearance for me, though, was the moist-looking apple compote. Once again, the 50g pastries were stored in pairs in silver foil wrappers.

Surprisingly, this box specifically stated that the Pop Tarts were not to be microwaved and, since it didn’t state they could be eaten cold either (although they had been pre-cooked), I decided to play it safe and only eat them toasted on the lowest setting, as instructed. As a result, this review will be shorter than my other reviews of this brand!

The tarts had a gentle but fruity apple scent which was evident when they were both cold and warm. I also noted that the pastry tasted slightly buttery too and, pleasingly, this transferred to the flavour. I’m not sure if the UK pastry recipe is different to the American one but I certainly enjoyed this one more than normal – not only was it buttery but it was sweet and didn’t have the usual flavour I associate with stale biscuits. It had also absorbed a slight tang from the filling so it was a lot nicer than I’d expected.

The ingredients stated that 6.5% of the product was apple and, as a result, there a lovely sweetened but tangy apple flavour. What was particularly nice about this was the way that the sugary topping cut through the slight tartness. The butteriness of the pastry went well with these elements too.

Furthermore, the texture was great and, to my delight, just like the part of an apple pie’s pastry that has been in contact with the apple filling – it was moist and stuck to the mouth slightly. The pastry’s edges added a twist to the texture by being crunchy (without being dry) and the crispy sugar topping also provided some variety.

I couldn’t believe how flavourful this Frosted apple blast variety was. I genuinely thought it tasted more like a dessert than a Pop Tart. I’m so glad I added these to my shopping basket as an afterthought – it would have been a crime if I hadn’t! 

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