The Custom Cupcake Company Chocolate Decadence Cupcake (white chocolate)

Product name: The Custom Cupcake Company Chocolate Decadence Cupcake (white chocolate)
Purchase details: £2.00 for one cupcake (The Custom Cupcake Company)
Country of origin: England 

I think The Custom Cupcake Company has become my guilty pleasure – as soon as I have a non-diet day, I’m there!

Two of the apparently staple varieties that have been available on all my visits so far are the Chocolate Decadence Cupcakes that come in both milk and white chocolate. Since I’m a white chocolate fiend, I thought I’d opt for the latter on this occasion.

This cake was quite simply decorated but still looked beautiful. The yellow sponge was topped with a thick, swirled cream-coloured frosting and finished with three giant white chocolate buttons, a drizzle of melted white chocolate, and a sprinkling of edible glitter. The girl in the shop had told me that the treat was filled with a white chocolate ganache and this pale filling flowed almost seamlessly into the frosting.

As much as I love white chocolate, I often find that when it’s used in other things, its own flavour gets lost. However, on opening the carry box, I was surprised to be greeted by a white chocolatey scent. Having actually bought the cake two days in advance, I was also delighted to discover that the sponge wasn’t dry, and its sweet and creamy taste led me to believe that white chocolate had actually been incorporated into the mixture.

The generous frosting had a slightly crispy outer layer which gave way to a soft, grainy depth. As I’ve found previously, it was very sweet but, combined with the mellower elements of the Cupcake, I didn’t find this as extreme as the Berries & Cream Cupcake. The frosting and inner ganache also provided a lovely moisture, with the latter tasting gorgeously of white chocolate and having a fantastic smooth and partly solidified texture.

I’d definitely say that this was another treat for the sweet-toothed but the inner creaminess did offset this. As I’ve said, the subtle white chocolate flavour can be hard to pull off, and the sugary frosting did take away from this at times, but the desired taste was never completely lost and I think the addition of the fantastically sweet, creamy and chunky buttons played a part in this.

If I were to suggest an improvement, it would be to make the ganache a bigger feature – it was so delicious that it was a shame there wasn’t more of it! However, there is no denying that this was an indulgent treat exactly as it was.

I can’t wait for my next visit!

Appearance: 8.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Cadbury Dairy Milk: Marvellous mix-ups (Oreo)

Product name: Cadbury Dairy Milk: Marvellous mix-ups (Oreo)
Purchase details: £1.00 for a 111g bag (Asda)
Calories: 561 per bag

Cadbury are making new products faster than I can eat them these days! Still, I try, so here’s my review of the Dairy Milk: Marvellous mix-ups (Oreo).

This bag was made by Mondelez for the UK and Ireland market and, like the Marvellous creations range, had a purple and white striped circus theme. What I particularly loved was the gorgeous aqua colour but the packaging also contained illustrations of the pieces inside.

The ‘assortment of milk chocolates, white chocolates, and chocolate flavour sandwich biscuits’ consisted entirely of existing products but in a brand new combination. I wasn’t quite sure what I’d think because, although I knew I loved all the individual components, I don’t tend to like mixing my foods – give me a roast dinner and I’ll always eat the vegetables, then the meat, then the potatoes, and then the stuffing!

There were four separate ‘ingredients’ in this bag. First up was Dairy Milk: Buttons (giant) which were, believe it or not, the same as the Dairy Milk: Buttons I’ve previously reviewed – they were just a bit bigger! This larger size did provide a better melt but, with this product, it hardly mattered.

There were also regular-sized white chocolate Buttons. These emitted a lovely white chocolate scent and had a sweet and milky taste that made for a decent version of my favourite ‘colour’ of chocolate. It also had a thick and slightly grainy melt.

Providing a completely different flavour and texture was the inclusion of Nabisco Oreo: Mini. I’m a big fan of these ‘chocolate flavour sandwich biscuits with a vanilla flavour filling (29%)’ although, so far, I’ve only reviewed the Peanut butter creme version, as well as the Kraft Handi-Snacks. I used to have a bit of an addiction to this miniature variety which is why I don’t tend to buy them anymore so I was pleased to be reunited with them. Containing 4.6% reduced fat cocoa, the biscuits had a slightly bitter chocolate taste, and the sweet vanilla creme was delicious. Texturally, the creme was soft and a little grainy, whilst the biscuits had a great crunch.

Finally, the bag contained purple and yellow Dairy Milk: Pebbles which added colour as well as an additional crispy texture.

Combined, these elements looked great together. Dust from the Oreos did transfer onto some of the other pieces but this didn’t make too much of a difference to the appearance and I was pleased to see a variety of shades. The aroma of the united components was also lovely – a decent mix of cocoa and creamy vanilla.

I did have to delve a bit to get a good variety in each handful since the Oreos had a tendency to gather at the top of the bag. However, this was totally worth it, and the result was a lovely mix of thick textures, and a great creamy taste. The product felt like a great novelty and I enjoyed how she stronger flavours were mellowed by the creamier ones. Even better was the way that even the white chocolate’s taste didn’t get lost in the mix – every element brought something noticeable and different.

The packaging hadn’t suggested what a recommended serving was and, since I figured it wouldn’t be the easiest product to measure anyway, I went ahead and ate the whole bag. As a result, its resealable element seemed completely unnecessary, although any really self-restrained people may find it useful! If I’m honest, I hadn’t thought the bag looked very full at all, but it did take longer than I expected to polish off its contents. Thankfully, this didn’t result in a sickly feeling either – the only negative was the coating of Oreo dust over my fingers!

I have to say that these Marvellous mix-ups lived up to their name. Bravo, Cadbury!

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8.5/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 8.25/10