Milka Lila Pause: Erdbeer-Joghurt

Product name: Milka Lila Pause: Erdbeer-Joghurt
Purchase details: £1.09 for a 38g bar (monstersweets.co.uk)
Calories: 210 per  bar
Country of origin: Germany
 

It’s been a while since my last Milka review so I ordered this Lila Pause: Erdbeer-Joghurt bar from Monster Sweets last week. Having previously enjoyed the Nougat-crème, I was interested to see how this strawberry yoghurt version would compare.

The wrapper was designed in the same way as the Nougat-crème but had a lovely shade of red, rather than orange, and also contained images of a strawberry and a swirl of cream.

 

Made by Kraft Foods, Monster Sweets described this bar as a ‘strawberry yoghurt cream with crunchy crispies’, coated in milk chocolate. Its outer appearance was identical to the Nougat-crème with a really cute mountain scene decorating the glossy chocolate’s surface. Inside, though, things were pretty different and certainly not as gooey. The yoghurt cream was pale pink in colour, with darker pink flecks, and this did look attractive. However, I did think the crispy pieces slightly let down the appearance as they just didn’t seem to fit the otherwise neat appearance.

This bar had a strong strawberry aroma which was also yoghurt-like and it was certainly the strawberry flavour that came through the most in the taste test. As I’ve often found is the case with this kind of filling, it did remind me a bit of ice cream. The chocolate was Milka’s usual, milky self and was lovely and silky, when melting, making way for the thicker strawberry filling. The crispy pieces did add some texture which, whilst nice, I wasn’t convinced was necessary. That said, I did find that, combined with the sharp flavour, they tricked my mind into thinking they were little seeds (although I associate that characteristic with raspberries rather than strawberries!).

Once again, I was pleased with this delicious Milka product. I just don’t understand why they’re not available in the UK! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Milka Toffee Ganznuss

Product name: Milka Toffee Ganznuss
Purchase details: £1.09 for a 43g bar (monstersweets.co.uk)
Calories: 240 per bar
Country of origin: Germany 

This bar of Milka Toffee Ganznuss was 2g lighter than the Milka Leo but, aside from that, it was presented in a similar way when it came to the wrapper, size and shape.

Like the Lila Pause: Nougat-crème, the Toffee Ganznuss teamed orange with the purple wrapper, but it seemed to work better here since it matched the toffee theme, and the imagery of a toffee and milk stream dotted with nuts looked really attractive. I also thought the picture of the bar itself looked appealing and appeared to have a similar filling to the Milka Caramel Cream but with added nuts. 

Since this bar’s wrapper wasn’t written in English, I once again relied on Monster Sweets' product description which said the milk chocolate contained a ‘milk cream, caramel cream and whole hazelnut filling’. 

This product’s wrapper was another that featured an ‘easy’ opening design but, this time, I didn’t struggle with it! However, because I was expecting it to be tough, I pulled a bit too hard which caused the chocolate to shoot out of the wrapper in two pieces – oops! As expected, the bar’s appearance was similar to the Leo, although it had deeper crevices between the squares and so it was more curved than angular. The nuts were visible through the base of the bar (as was a bit of leaked toffee!) and I couldn’t believe it when I looked inside and discovered some of the nuts still had their skins on – definitely whole, then! As for the milk cream, this was a very pale beige colour and was topped with a thick layer of rich and gooey-looking toffee that, having cut the bar open, I’d discovered to be sticky and difficult to wipe off the knife! (Just as a warning, the toffee was also stringy when breaking the squares apart so, if you have long hair, you may want to keep it away...not that I had this issue *cough*.)

I could smell a mild buttery toffee through the chocolate but, unfortunately, this was the extent of the product’s aroma. However, I’m pleased to report that the flavour was far stronger than the scent. As I’d guessed, this bar was similar to the Caramel Cream bar, although the proportions were different and so the Toffee Ganzuss had more cream and, possibly, less toffee. Of course, the Toffee Ganznuss had the added bonus of the hazelnuts, and this strong nutty flavour could be detected even when taking a nutless bite. The combination of these nuts with the caramel-like filling reminded me of Nestlé Quality Street: The purple one which, let’s face it, wasn’t a bad thing! The hazelnuts were understandably crunchy, but also had a slight chewiness to them, and I loved the way they were enveloped by the soft but slightly solidified milk cream.

I have to admit that the chocolate itself didn’t emit a strong flavour in this product but, when persisting and letting the bar melt on the tongue, it gradually unleashed a creaminess which then gave way to the cream itself which was, obviously, even creamier.

Once again, I enjoyed this Milka chocolate bar and it certainly delivered on flavour when it came to the hazelnuts. However, I did think it was a slight shame that this flavour was so predominant that the other tastes weren’t really apparent when chewing the bar (although the texture was still a good one). I found that, to really appreciate the different flavours on offer, time needed to be taken to allow each piece to melt slowly in the mouth, before crunching on the remaining nut. 

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Milka Leo

Product name: Milka Leo
Purchase details: £1.09 for a 45g bar (monstersweets.co.uk)
Calories: 240 per bar

What’s this? Another Milka product for me to try? Oh, go on then!

Tonight I bring you the Milka Leo bar which seemed to be another product manufactured in Germany or Austria but, again, I can’t be sure about this. The bar was chunky to hold and came presented in an attractive wrapper which combined a deep pink with the purple of Milka’s brand. (It also had the same opening mechanism as the Lila Pause: Nougat-crème which I, again, struggled with!) 

Monster Sweets' website described this product as ‘crispy wafer filled with a delicious cocoa cream’ and coated in milk chocolate, so it seemed to be the same basic concept as the Nussini bars I have recently reviewed, minus the additional flavours.

On opening the product, I was greeted by a shiny chocolate bar with a slight decoration on the top. Inside, the layers of wafer were only marginally lighter than the very pale cream, and this contrasted well with the outer layer of chocolate. This chocolate coating was surprisingly thick which caused me to readjust my expectations to something more in line with a Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky. I also realised that the depth of this chocolate was the main reason why the bar weighed in at 45g despite containing so much wafer.

The chocolate emitted quite a strong cocoa smell and it also tasted a lot stronger than other Milka products I’ve tried to the extent that, on its own, it almost tasted of dark chocolate. However, the creaminess of this came out when combined with the wafer.

The wafer was really crispy and, thankfully, not fluffy like the Nussini bars had been. I found that the cream between the wafer layers wasn’t really obvious, but it was noticeable enough to not be too dissimilar from other wafer bars like Kit Kat. (Interestingly, I have since Googled the bar and discovered that it is also available in four-finger versions!)

Whilst I acknowledge that the concept of this product was not the most exciting one in the world, I loved the chunkiness of the chocolate on this bar and was pleasantly surprised by just how strong the flavour of it was. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Milka Nussini: Cocos

Product name: Milka Nussini: Cocos
Purchase details: £0.80 for a 40g bar (monstersweets.co.uk)
Calories: 220 per bar
Country of origin: Poland

Following on from my review of Milka Nussini: Haselnuss, now is the turn of the Cocos variety which I deemed to be a more exciting prospect due to it containing white chocolate and coconut which are two of my favourite ingredients. (A glance at my review of Ritter Sport Weisse Cocos shows just how well these flavours can go together.)

The Monster Sweets website described this bar as ‘crunchy wafers sprinkled with coconut pieces, filled with a coconut cream and coated in delicious Milka white chocolate’. I realised that this product would be my first experience of Milka’s white chocolate and, whilst it didn’t have the strongest flavour in the world, it was nice enough. Like the milk chocolate on the Haselnuss bar, the coating seemed to be melting for no apparent reason but, whilst the layer of chocolate was still thin, it was the right colour for white chocolate and had a thicker layer on the base of the bar. The only downside about the appearance of the chocolate was that there was almost no differentiation between its colour and that of the wafer and so it was quite a plain-looking product.

The Nussini: Cocos was 3g heavier than the Haselnuss variety, but appearance-wise, it was the same size and shape. The coconut aroma wasn’t as strong as the hazelnut one had been but I did find it to be more pleasant. I also felt that the sweet white chocolate and coconut flavours worked well together and were a better match for the wafer than the Haselnuss variety had been. I think this may have been due to the wafers once again being like those that go with ice cream – although it did not appear to be listed on the ingredients, the chocolate seemed to have an enjoyable vanilla flavour to it which is obviously a common taste associated with ice cream. In fact, I found that the more I ate, the less I noticed the coconut flavour.

Texturally, the wafers were still fluffy but, thankfully, they were also not as dry. In addition, the texture was improved by the tiny flakes of coconut which added that little bit of extra crispiness to munch on. Even so, I would have liked a little bit more chocolate since this had an initially nice texture that almost immediately disappeared as the wafer took over.

If I’m honest, the impression I got of this bar was that it was pretty basic. However, I did still enjoy it and it was an improvement on the Haselnuss version. 

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