Vrettos Snappy (honey)

Product name: Vrettos Snappy (honey)
Purchase details: £0.75 for a 50g pastry (Tesco Superstore)
Calories: 165 per pastry
Country of origin: Greece

For years, I had a childhood memory of eating some unknown but delicious pastry product at a buffet. Having never come across it again, I began to wonder if I’d made it up, until my friend brought her Mum’s homemade baklava into school to celebrate Eid. Despite that now being years ago, I’ve not had it since, so I couldn’t resist trying this shop-bought version. As it happens, the wrapper of the Vrettos Snappy (honey) didn’t include the word ‘baklava’, but Tesco's website confirmed that that’s what it was.

The ‘crispy snack with honey’ came in an orange wrapper that had a honeycomb design and showed an image of the pastry product sitting in a pool of honey. I had been worried that the long shelf-life would have caused the baklava to dry out but the treat was actually served in a little tray in an attempt to keep it moist from the runny ‘flower honey’ (4%) that was visible on the inside of the wrapper. It would have been rude not to have sampled this and I thoroughly enjoyed its deliciously sweet yet floral flavour.

The roll looked nice enough from the outside – the pastry made up 27% of the product and provided a crispy shell to cut through before the tougher filling which accounted for 10%. This centre looked a bit off-putting, in comparison. The translation wasn’t great but I could see it at least contained almond, clove, nutmeg and cinnamon so, arguably, that’s where the main flavours were. For some reason, though, the combination looked a bit like meat!

One of my main memories from previously trying baklava was its sweetness and this version contained 19% Greek sugar in addition to 20% glucose. With the honey, it was sticky to the touch, and all these sweet aspects provided a lovely juiciness in the midst of quite a chewy product.

I found this Snappy to be quite festive. Its scent was like a mild marzipan with a hint of the inner spices and, in the taste, I could really taste the nutmeg and cinnamon. The pastry was quite buttery and I liked the novelty of the crunchy nuts here and there too.

Whilst the product was full of flavour, I did find it a little dry in places on the outside. It wasn’t awful but the texture just wasn’t quite right. There was quite a lot of honey on the base which provided a fantastically sweet flavour and moisture and I would have loved this to have encapsulated the whole roll.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable treat which I’m glad I found. I was actually impressed that it didn’t contain more calories than it did as, what with all the sugar and greasiness from the honey, it didn’t feel particularly healthy!

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Metcalfe's Skinny: Topcorn (sweet cinnamon spice)

Product name: Metcalfe’s Skinny: Topcorn (sweet cinnamon spice)
Purchase details: £1.58 for a 75g bag (Asda)
Calories: 117 per 25g serving (351 per bag)
Country of origin: UK

Metcalfe’s Skinny is a brand of popcorn (or ‘Topcorn’) I’d never tried before but that I wanted to give a go. I much prefer sweet popcorn to savoury so it was this sweet cinnamon spice flavour from ‘the lovelier, lighter snack tribe’ that I decided to try.

This sharing bag (which I dutifully kept to myself!) featured a floral design and nice image of falling popcorn that promised to be light but filling. Confusingly, only 51% of the product was ‘popped butterfly popcorn’ so the ‘delicious natural flavourings’ obviously took up a lot of space! These consisted of sugar, cinnamon and full cream.

The Topcorn itself looked very much like the Tyrrell's Proper Popcorn: Sticky toffee pudding due to its pale colour, being coated in a powder rather than a glaze, and having a papery feel. There was also an element of cardboard to the scent but the hint of cinnamon still made the aroma a pleasant one.

In terms of the flavour, there was certainly no denying that it was sweet and tasted of cinnamon! The base popcorn flavour was like a creamier version of the type you get in the cinema, but this extra flavouring was very tasty indeed...I just would have liked it to be stronger. Generally, even the more thickly-coated pieces weren’t very powerful, although the ones nearer the bottom of the bag were far more delicious than the ones at the top.

 

As suggested by the Topcorn’s appearance, the texture was the same as the Sticky toffee pudding Proper Popcorn, but it wasn’t as powdery. The bag seemed to last for ages as well which was an added bonus.

I may have appreciated a stronger flavour from this sweet cinnamon spice Topcorn but it did have a nice level of sweetness. There was something really warming about it and I think it would be perfect for settling down to watch a Christmas film with.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7/10

Tyrrell's Apple Crisps: Smashingly cinnamony

Product name: Tyrrell’s Apple Crisps: Smashingly cinnamony
Purchase details: £0.15 for a 30g bag (Home Bargains)
Calories: 152 per bag
Country of origin: UK 

I don’t usually have fruit or vegetable crisps – not because I don’t like them but because they’re not as widely available as potato ones and they tend to be more expensive. I just couldn’t say ‘no’ to this absolute bargain bag of Tyrrell’s Apple Crisps: Smashingly cinnamony, though – I love cinnamon and the promise that ‘the light dusting of this thoroughly cockle-warming spice’ gave ‘the apple slices a rather, jolly apple pie-ish quality’ was just too good to refuse.

I was rather taken with the red and white gingham background used for the bag’s design since it gave the product a picnic feel. I also liked the use of the black and white photo at the top of the packaging which made it look like the man was using the big red apple as a golf ball. As with the Proper Popcorn: Sticky toffee, the information on the back was presented in a fun way. Due to using whole apples for the ‘cinnamon seasoned apple crisps’, it warned of pips and stalks, and it also suggested another alternative five a day.

The ‘delicately cooked’ crisps were presented as thin, dried slices with a ruby red skin. Their natural nature meant they were all different shapes and sizes, and they looked very rustic with their visible flecks of cinnamon. I could totally understand the connection with apple pie from the scent alone since this was one of deep cinnamon, slightly overtaken by the tangy apple.

At first, I didn’t think the crisps tasted of much – they were almost papery. However, the apple’s tang came through at the end of the first mouthful and I also became aware of the lovely cinnamon seasoning. I then found that, the more I ate, the more the flavours developed, providing a really warming experience. Even better was the way that the dry texture gave a pastry feel which, again, was reminiscent of apple pie. The crisps also had a delicious sweetness. I was hoping this was all natural but sugar was listed as a separate ingredient on the pack and I also found that some of the crisps nearer the bottoms of the bag had visible granules. Oh well...it was still fruit!

Texturally, the crisps were far crispier than I ever could have imagined when considering how juicy apples are when they’re raw. They were extremely satisfying although, combined with their thin nature, some of them did have sharp edges. There was also a slight chewiness mixed in for good measure which I think may have been provided by the rind. 

I guess the only thing left to say is that these Tyrrell’s Apple Crisps were thoroughly enjoyable and I’ll definitely buy them again!

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Mrs. Freshley's Mini Donuts: Cinnamon

Product name: Mrs. Freshley’s Mini Donuts: Cinnamon
Purchase details: £2.50 for an 85g packet of six doughnuts (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 360 per pack
Country of origin: USA 

At the time of purchasing my pack of Mrs. Freshley's Mini Donuts: Crunch, I also picked up this Cinnamon variety. I was a little bit more eager to try this version as it’s a spice I love and, although I think it’s a pretty common concept in America, I’d never actually had cinnamon on a doughnut before.

Again made by the Flowers Food Speciality Group, this product was exactly the same concept as the Crunch Donuts, but was more attractive due to its pale and speckled pinky-brown ‘cinnamon sugar coating’. The flavour was represented by a burnt orange colour on the familiar packaging and, as before, the recipe was apparently new and improved.

The Mini Donuts were soft and velvety to the touch and had a deep, warming cinnamon scent. The overall cinnamon flavour was the same kind of strength as Nestlé Curiously Cinnamon cereal and I found this developed on the rear tastebuds during each mouthful. The taste of the doughnut itself wasn’t as evident as with the Crunch version, although there was a baked sweetness there, but this hardly mattered as the cinnamon coating was so flavoursome and delicious!

The soft dough also didn’t feel dry this time – possibly as a result of the coating. I adored the texture as the powder was cooling and melted on the tongue like icing sugar. It felt like a thick layer and, for me, really lifted the whole experience.

I think it’s safe to say I have a new favourite product from Mrs. Freshley’s – fabulous!

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