Milky Way Bar: French vanilla and caramel

Product name: Milky Way Bar: French vanilla and caramel
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 48.8g bar (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 220 per bar
Country of origin: USA

I always have to remind myself that American Milky Ways are the equivalent of UK Mars bars. Bearing that in mind, this limited edition French vanilla and caramel variety, with its ‘rich chocolate’, ‘creamy caramel’ and ‘smooth nougat’ didn’t seem quite as unusual a concept as it would have done if compared to a British Milky Way!

 

Still made by Mars, I really liked this Milky Way Bar’s packaging, with the colour scheme reminding me of the Nakd Banana Bread, as I’ve previously mentioned. The product image’s luscious caramel topping, and the vanilla flower, were also easy on the eye.

I’ve only reviewed the UK Mars bar in miniature form as part of my Celebrations post, but I’ve eaten a lot of them in my time! As a result, I knew that the Milky Way, on the outside, looked very similar. It was slimmer, and a bit scuffed, but the inside looked incredible. The white nougat was really clean and fresh, whilst the amber caramel layer looked silky smooth.

As for the scent, there was a milky chocolate element to this, but it also smelt recognisably American in terms of the chocolate itself. Unfortunately, the vanilla aspect wasn’t incorporated into the aroma.

For me, the chocolate used on this bar wasn’t as nice as the British version – I can only assume that it was a different recipe! Aside from that, the vanilla nougat tasted immediately of ice cream and was almost floral. Whilst the bar was very sweet, it wasn’t as chocolatey as I would have liked. I did feel that the caramel was improved, though – it remained thick and incredibly gooey, but it was also as smooth as it had looked.

The combination of the chocolate and nougat ended up reminding me of the Charleston Chew Vanilla, although the Milky Way Bar: French vanilla and caramel was definitely a superior product – aside from the very inclusion of the caramel, I loved the way the chocolate shell cracked against the fantastically squidgy centre with every bite.

I’m certainly glad I tried this product but, to be perfectly honest, I much prefer the traditional, rugged and more chocolatey Mars bar!

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

McVitie's Milky Way: Cake bars

Product name: McVitie’s Milky Way: Cake bars
Purchase details: £0.99 for a pack of 10 bars (Home Bargains)
Calories: 120 per bar
Country of origin: UK 

I was attracted to this great value pack of McVitie’s Milky Way: Cake bars as, unlike most other cake bars, the sponge wasn’t chocolate flavoured.

Containing no artificial flavours or colours, and no preservatives, the bars were ‘baked under licence for Mars UK’, and came in packaging that featured the usual Milky Way branding.

The ‘individually wrapped light sponge cakes, with a creamy filling covered in milk chocolate’ were of a decent size and, outwardly, didn’t look dissimilar from standard Milky Ways. The smooth chocolate coating with a drizzle design made up a surprising but impressive 42% of the product and, inside, the pale yellow sponge looked very neat, topped with a deep, white creamy layer.

At the risk of sounding daft, the bars smelt like...well, cake and chocolate! That’s not to be confused with chocolate cake, though, as whilst both elements were present, the aroma wasn’t exactly special or enticing.

Despite its large quantity, the chocolate shell was quite thin and bendy, allowing me to pick some off to sample the different parts of the bar on their own. The chocolate itself was milky and sweet, whilst the soft sponge tasted very much like standard cake, with a slight vanilla element. It was the topping that stole the show, however, with its whipped cream feel and a taste that was quite like a standard Milky Way’s nougat.

All in all, there was no doubting that these light Cake bars were aimed at kids since they tasted very sweet and innocent. However, although I enjoyed the individual components, I did find that when eating the bars properly, they had a slightly strange aftertaste that I couldn’t put my finger on. Unfortunately, this did detract from their standalone enjoyability.

On the plus side, I really loved their soft and moist feel. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they had one of the best textures (if not the best!) I’ve ever had in a cake bar.

As far as the connection to the Milky Way brand goes, there was certainly an element of the familiar childhood taste there, but this definitely wasn’t as good as the real thing. Did I mention that I loved the texture, though?!

Appearance: 8.5/10
Aroma: 6.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Celebrations

Product name: Celebrations
Calories: 344 per 70g box

This mini box of Celebrations was the other food item in the goody bag I recently received.

Made by Mars for the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland, this ‘assortment of milk chocolates and a milk chocolate covered biscuit’ is my favourite mainstream variety box to receive as a gift since I think the combination of eight brands inside is the best one!

Despite being a small box, this pack still featured the usual red design and the great logo that incorporates the fonts used on the wrappers within – images of these were also printed on the cardboard.

The milk chocolate used for the bite-sized treats contained a minimum of 14% milk solids and 25% cocoa solids and each variety had a pretty thick and chunky outer shell which made me a happy bunny.

Galaxy

I’ve made no secret of the fact that Galaxy milk chocolate is my favourite kind. This glossy ‘G’-imprinted chunk came in the usual brown wrapper and was the basic kind that, when sold alone, is now called ‘Smooth Milk’.

The Galaxy website described the chocolate as ‘smooth and creamy’ that had been ‘lovingly created to melt in your mouth’. I couldn’t disagree with this since it featured the same scent and strong flavour I experienced with the Bubbles (milk chocolate egg) and a good melt that was slow, thick but smooth. It reminded me of the old adverts that me and my brother used to imitate! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 8/10 

Mars

I’ve always seen the Mars bar as being manly and basic but, at the same time, I’ve always enjoyed it. However, I’ve previously found that it doesn’t work quite as well on a smaller scale as the proportions aren’t quite right.

This miniature Mars came in its distinctive black and red wrapper but something seemed to have gone slightly wrong with the bumpy design on the chocolate shell! The Mars website described the product as ‘a delicious fusion of chocolate, caramel and nougat’ and I was pleased to see that the layer of nougat was far thicker than the caramel and its mid-brown shade suggested it would have a chocolatey flavour.

The Mars’ scent was not dissimilar to the Galaxy’s and it tasted very sweet and chocolatey. I didn’t think its flavour was of the highest quality but it was very tasty and I did enjoy the soft nougat and overall chewy but melting texture. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.25/10 

Bounty

As a big coconut fan, I do like Bounty bars, so I was pleased to see that the tropical desert island-themed white, green and pale blue wrapper was included in this selection. I did think the Mars website was being a bit overdramatic in claiming ‘the moist, tender coconut tempts your senses with the taste of paradise’ but I enjoyed this sweet nevertheless!

Unlike the Peter Paul Almond Joy, the coconut in this chocolate shell had a fresh white appearance, although it did still have a deep coconutty aroma.

The Bounty also had a strong, milky coconut flavour and I was pleased that the chocolate’s taste was also evident. The coconut’s texture lived up to the expectations raised by its moist and bitty appearance too. 

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

Galaxy Caramel

The Galaxy Caramel had the same outer appearance as the standard Galaxy chunk but, this time, it contained a fantastic-looking thick, amber caramel centre. The wrapper was also similar but it featured the colour yellow to distinguish it from the basic chocolate. (Thankfully there was no Honeycomb Crisp variety included here to confuse this with!)

Galaxy's website claimed the inner caramel was ‘luscious’ and I certainly did enjoy this treat more than Cadbury’s equivalent of Dairy Milk: Caramel – I found it to be more silky and less stodgy.

The caramel didn’t really add anything to the aroma (in fact, the scent didn’t seem as strong here) but I loved how it burst into the mouth with its smooth texture reflecting the chocolate’s. It was very sweet and quite sugary compared to other caramels, and I did prefer the flavour of the chocolate on its own, but this was still very tasty. 

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

Snickers

I’m not actually a massive fan of the standard Snickers bar as I find it a bit too bitty and chewy and, whilst there are actual peanuts, there’s not peanut butter! Like the Mars, I also think of this brand as male-orientated, and this was reflected with the chocolate-brown wrapper.

According to Mars' website, I was surprised to see that the Snickers is actually the world’s best-selling bar, whilst the Snickers site gave the product description of being ‘packed with roasted peanuts, nougat, caramel and milk chocolate’.

I was impressed by the neat inner appearance of this bite-sized piece. The caramel was the main feature and was full of chopped peanuts. The nougat was pale in colour and, on sampling it, there appeared to be nuts in there too. The nougat itself was slightly sticky but added a sweetness to the otherwise strong peanut flavour.

The chocolate tasted nice and creamy and I noticed that the toasted aspect of the peanuts was also evident. The caramel provided a chewy texture and I actually found I preferred this product in miniature form since the nuts were a lot smaller and, for me, more manageable.

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

Maltesers Teasers

This has always been my first choice in a box of Celebrations since, for so many years, it was the only Maltesers product like it – I was delighted when Mars released the separate Malteaster products and, now, the Teasers bars!

The red wrapper continued the theme of standard Maltesers and, whilst still long and narrow, this was the only miniature with a particularly curved appearance that featured a wave design. Inside, there were lots of tiny, crispy honeycomb balls to reflect the centre of normal Maltesers.

The scent, again, was similar to Galaxy chocolate – it was stronger than Maltesers but weaker than Galaxy chocolate itself.

Having eaten this variety after a Galaxy, I could tell that the chocolate tasted a bit less creamy than Galaxy but, in turn, it was more chocolatey.

The texture was very crispy and, despite the small size of the honeycomb pieces, I loved that it still managed to stick to the teeth and it also provided a mild honey flavour.

As expected, I enjoyed having a higher ratio of chocolate to honeycomb here since, whilst the flavour remained unchanged, the less rough texture was preferable.

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10 

Twix

I’ve reviewed the full-size Twix previously so I have nothing more to add here!

I’ve marked down its aroma score slightly since it wasn’t quite as strong but, other than that, everything else remained the same. 

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

Milky Way

The Milk Way featured its usual blue and Space-themed wrapper design and was described on Mars' website as ‘a light whipped centre covered in tasty milk chocolate’.

Its outer appearance was the same as the Snickers and its very pale beige nougat appeared to have the same texture as the Mars.

The Milky Way had a milky scent and I enjoyed the quite mild but nice and sweet flavour that its really soft nougat provided. I also liked how the chocolate shell tasted creamy against this sugariness. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.63/10

Overall, this was the enjoyable selection that I expected – I was just sorry I only had one of each variety to enjoy on this occasion!

Appearance: 7.44/10
Aroma: 7.31/10
Taste: 7.63/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.6/10