Cadbury Picnic

Product name: Cadbury Picnic
Purchase details: £1.00 for a multipack of three bars (Poundland)
Calories: 230 per 48.4g bar
Country of origin: Europe

The Picnic seems to be one of Cadbury’s lesser known products – it’s not a bar I see around all that often and it must have been over a decade since my last one so I could barely remember what they were like!

The purple wrapper boasted ‘a feast-full’ of caramel (32%), peanuts (12%) and raisins (7%) and these three ingredients were each represented around the brand name – I particularly liked the way the caramel was used as a border. However, beneath the chocolate that contained a minimum of 14% milk solids, lurked another significant ingredient: ‘crispy’ rice cereal (10%).

This particular multipack had been produced by Kraft Foods and I couldn’t believe how huge each bar felt on removal from the main packaging. However, on opening the individual wrappers, I realised that, whilst the bars were very long, there were also relatively thin. That said, they had a very rugged appearance, and the caramel was clearly holding the individual elements together. Despite not being mentioned in the main product description, the cereal was definitely a big feature, whilst the raisins were a lot less visible and nowhere near as big as the Nestlé Yorkie: Raisin & biscuit.

The Picnic mainly smelt of sweet chocolate but the aroma did hint at the fact there was more going on beneath the surface and I was pleased to find that each ingredient made its own significant contribution to the whole. The peanuts provided flavour (although not lots) and a bit of a crunch within the crispy chewiness provided by the cereal and caramel. (For the record, this overall texture was perfectly balanced so that the bar wasn’t hard work to eat.) As for the raisins, I found there were more of these further down the bar than first appeared, and they produced an extra chew and an occasional additional sweetness.

Thinking of the Picnic as a whole, I realised that it was essentially a cereal bar in reverse, with a proper chocolate coating rather than the silly drizzles some brands include in an attempt to make a seemingly healthy product a bit more exciting. In this case, though, the overall flavour was a general sweetness that came from the individual components, and the thicker-than-normal chocolate layer provided an alternative method of consumption since the bar was also enjoyable to let melt, and it added a nice juiciness to combine with the raisins and caramel.

This was certainly a decent product but, although individual elements were noticeable, the main flavour wasn’t particularly exciting and, I guess, it felt a bit too healthy for my liking, bearing in mind it was an unhealthy snack!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Nakd Rhubarb & Custard

Product name: Nakd Rhubarb & Custard
Purchase details: £0.75 for a 35g bar or four for three, cheapest product free (tesco.com)
Calories: 128 per bar
Country of origin: Britain

I was really intrigued by this variety of Nakd as I loved rhubarb crumbles with custard when I was a kid, but also knew that I don’t like rhubarb to be too tart, and that part of the joy of custard is the texture. I wasn’t sure what angle this bar would take but, hey, I knew I at least liked its purple and yellow wrapper!

This Natural Balance Foods bar was along the same lines as the Strawberry Crunch in terms of features but the variety contained the fewest number of ingredients out of the ones I’ve reviewed so far – it simply consisted of dates (55%), cashews (25%), raisins (19%), and a ‘hint of natural flavours’ which is presumably where the rhubarb and custard taste was going to come from!

The natural, fruity stick still wasn’t the most attractive in the world, but it had more of a dark pink appearance than the other ones I’ve tried. Its overall style was the same but I did like to see that the cashew nuts inside were pretty large. Its scent was slightly unusual but seemed to be a combination between raisins and jelly.

On trying this Nakd Rhubarb & Custard, my first thought was that it tasted a bit like purple Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles – my favourite type! However, I could also taste the nuts, and there was a mellow vanilla flavour that was a bit custard-like and built nicely into a more dominant feature. Thankfully, there was no tartness, but a nice, sweet fruity flavour at an attempt at rhubarb. I was actually quite surprised that the product was dairy-free and that there was no added sugar since there was a bit of a creamy flavour mixed in with the delicious sweetness too.

This soft bar with added crunch was definitely my favourite from the range so far and one I’d definitely want to buy again. Yummy!

Appearance: 6.5/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7/10

Nestlé Yorkie: Raisin & biscuit

Product name: Nestlé Yorkie: Raisin & biscuit
Purchase details: £1.00 for a multipack of three bars (tesco.com)
Calories: 270 per 53g bar
Country of origin: UK

I decided to treat myself to my favourite kind of Nestlé Yorkie recently – the Raisin & biscuit. I wasn’t even breaking the rules because the packaging didn’t carry the irritating ‘It’s not for girls!’ slogan...and the wrapper was even a lovely shade of metallic pinky-purple!

 

Although the image of the ‘chunky milk chocolate’ on the front looked basic, I knew the reality was more exciting since it contained 13% raisins and 4% biscuits. I do have a bit of a thing for raisins (most of my colleagues know that 11:00am is ‘raisin time’!) so any product that includes them is almost always a hit with me.

This bar was divided into five solid, angular chunks that were engraved with the Yorkie logo. Flecks of raisin were visible through the Cocoa Plan chocolate and there were also bumps of biscuit showing through the base. There were no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and the chocolate contained a minimum of 25% cocoa solids and 14% milk solids.

Considering the size of the chunks, I couldn’t believe how easily my knife glided through the chocolate. Looking inside, I could soon see why – it was full of juicy, sticky raisins that looked amazing. The distribution of ingredients did vary from piece to piece, though, so some bits contained more biscuit.

The chocolate gave off a good scent and, although not shaped fantastically for melting, allowing it to sit on the tongue did result in quite a juicy flavour with the cocoa flavour coming out gradually. Then, on reaching the raisins, more sweetness was added to the mix. The melt wasn’t particularly smooth anyway but, once the chocolate had dissolved, I really enjoyed the mouthful of biscuit and raisins that stayed behind. What I found particularly impressive was, although the biscuit was understandably rough, it didn’t cause me any pain which is something I quite often find with this kind of product.

A Yorkie is most definitely best enjoyed when chewing, of course, and this Raisins & biscuit bar was no different. The slightly tangy raisins were their chewy and delicious selves and, although they didn’t add much in terms of flavour, the biscuits provided a fabulous crisp too. The chocolate itself was fine, although nothing special, but it balanced really well with the other features – I just loved the mix of chunkiness, softness, squidginess and crunchiness!

Since doing my blog, it’s surprised me how many times I’ve noticed something new or different about a product I’ve eaten many times before. On this occasion, it finally occurred to me what made this bar so particularly appealing to me: chocolate, raisins, biscuits...it’s effectively tiffin isn’t it?!

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

Nakd Berry Cheeky

Product name: Nakd Berry Cheeky
Purchase details: £0.60 for a 30g bar or three for £1.20 (tesco.com)
Calories: 100 per bar
Country of origin: Britain

Next up in my reviews of the Nakd range from Natural Balance Foods is this ‘yummy’ Berry Cheeky bar that was made from raw fruit, oats and nuts. As with the Strawberry Crunch and Banana Bread, it contained no wheat or dairy.

The wrapper had the same design as the Banana Bread but used a red theme and pictures of a strawberry and a close-up raspberry. On reading the ingredients, I decided that it had been named ‘Cheeky’ because it was a bit misleading! The only berries in the bar were raspberries and strawberries which each contributed to 2% of the overall vegan product. In contrast, 37% of the product was dates, 26% was oats, 12% was raisins, 9% was peanuts, and even apple juice concentrate took up 8%. Almonds and walnuts also provided another 2% each, and there was some natural flavouring too. I don’t know about you, but that didn’t sound like berries were the main feature to me! On the plus side, I was pleased to see the different varieties of nuts that had been included.

The healthy snack was, again, brown in colour, and this variety looked more bitty and less pre-digested than the others – the nuts, in particular, were very evident through the baste of the bar. It also looked and felt a bit dry. It produced an earthy scent and, although there was an added ‘zing’, I didn’t find it very appetising.

As suggested by the appearance, the Nakd Berry Cheeky had a very different texture from the other types I’ve tried so far. It was soft and dry with a slightly rubbery crumble, but I liked how this was broken up with little chunks of nut, as well as the odd raspberry seed!

My initial thoughts on the taste were not good but, after a couple of chews, I found that the tangy berries really did make an impact on the flavour. Furthermore, the nuts all made a contribution, and I particularly enjoyed how the the almonds combined with the berries. Unfortunately, I wasn’t as keen on the aftertaste, as this left a bit of a muddy taste in my mouth.

As you’ve probably gathered, this wasn’t my favourite Nakd snack, although it was perfectly edible. I wouldn’t buy it again because there are so many other tastier flavours on offer in the range but, if that weren’t the case and I were in need of a healthy treat, I wouldn’t need much convincing to have another one of these!

Appearance: 6/10
Aroma: 4.5/10
Taste: 6.5/10
Texture: 6.5/10
Overall score: 5.88/10