Cadbury Dairy Milk: Milk chocolate coins

Product name: Cadbury Dairy Milk: Milk chocolate coins
Calories: 316 per 59.6g bag
Country of origin: UK 

Yeah, so I still have quite a few Christmas items left, so you might find reviews popping up at seemingly random times! 

Tonight it’s the turn of the second bag of chocolate money I received from Father Christmas last year and, this time, they were made from Mondelez UK’s Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate. Whilst this type of novelty product is a pretty traditional stocking filler in my family, I’m struggling to remember ever having had this version before! In keeping with the brand, the net bag was coloured purple which I thought was a different but nice touch. 

These coin-shaped chocolates came in three different sizes. They all contained a variation of Cadbury’s name or logo, as well a value (one, two or five). Unusually, in my experience, the bag contained both gold and silver foil wrappers. However, unlike with the Dairyfine Coins: White chocolate I’ve previously reviewed, all of these coins were milk chocolate and so the silver colour wasn’t quite as exciting for me. 

Although these coins were made from the usual Dairy Milk recipe, consisting of 23% milk solids and a minimum of 20% cocoa solids, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it quite as much as normal due to it being presented in the form of well-moulded, thin discs rather than chunky blocks. They certainly had the usual milky quality in their aroma but, unfortunately, this wasn’t quite as strong as Dairy Milk bars. 

On trying the product, I found the familiar creamy and chocolatey taste was still present but, as feared, wasn’t quite as satisfying as normal simply because the shape didn’t quite allow the flavour to fill the mouth in the same way. However, the coins did still melt well and, due to their thinness, more quickly. They obviously weren’t as chunky to chew but there was still a satisfaction there on that level as they weren’t too thin– even the smallest size packed a decent chocolate punch. The largest coins were my favourite, though, because when eaten at once, the deliciously thick but smooth melt of Dairy Milk chocolate was more prominent. 

If these Cadbury Dairy Milk: Milk chocolate coins were available all year round, I can’t say I’d pick them over the more traditional formats. However, when it comes to my annual chocolate money, I’d be more than happy to have this higher quality version again. 

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

Lovetub Triple Choc Pud

Product name: Lovetub Triple Choc Pud
Purchase details: £1.35 for a 90g tub (Sainsbury’s Local)
Calories: 356 per tub
Country of origin: England 

Several months ago I had a voucher for a Lovetub dessert but, unfortunately, I was unable to track one down. Since then, I’ve been dying to try one, so I was delighted when I accidentally came across this Triple Choc Pud when I was looking for the new Cadbury Creme Egg: Pots of joy (which I didn’t actually find!). 

Presented in a brown pot, this product screamed ‘CHOCOLATE!’ and came described as a ‘sumptuous choc sponge and rich chocolate sauce sprinkled with cute choc hearts’. I loved the brand’s logo which involved a spoon holding a heart-shaped scoop of sauce too. 

The dessert was designed to be eaten hot from the tub having been microwaved for 30 to 35 seconds. After this point, the packaging promised a ‘hot’ and ‘saucy’ product. 

On peeling back the film lid, I was pleased to see the milk and white chocolate hearts on the pudding’s surface – I’d secretly been looking forward to these. However, I was a little disappointed that they only contributed to 1% of the overall product and, as a result, weren’t scattered throughout. 

On the plus side, the chocolate sauce (35% of the pudding) became very gooey when melted, and produced a pleasant hot chocolate aroma. This liquid sauce was beautiful, achieving a great balance of creamy and chocolatey – it contained whipping cream as well as Belgian dark chocolate (14%). The hearts melted into this quickly which, whilst would have added to the overall experience, meant they didn’t make a noticeable impact – they were simply included as a decorative feature. 

The chocolate sponge was very tasty too. Also containing Belgian dark chocolate (9%), as well as cocoa, it had a really dense and doughy texture. It was more moist near the top where it had been in contact with the sauce but, as I dug deeper, it didn’t become dry at all and I was surprised at just how well it retained its heat. 

I have to say that this was a great little instant dessert and provided a decent chocolate hit. Now I just hope it won’t take me quite as long to find the Sticky Toffee Pud version! 

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

Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky (mint)

Product name: Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky (mint)
Purchase details: £0.19 for a 48g bar (Home Bargains)
Calories: 246 per bar 

The Nestlé Kit Kat: Chunky has been a favourite of mine for a long time so I can’t quite believe that this is my first one since I started my blog nearly six months ago! The peanut butter and white chocolate varieties are, probably unsurprisingly, my absolute favourites, but I couldn’t turn down the bargain price that this mint one was on sale for. (In fact, they’re currently three for £0.50 in Home Bargains, but I decided my snack stash was big enough without buying extras!)

Although I’m very used to mint-flavoured Kit Kats, having been an offering of the two-finger variety for a long time, I’ve only had this Chunky form a handful of occasions. It was the winner of the most recent ‘Chunky Champion’ contest and, as enjoyable as I’ve found it, I have previously felt that the extent of the minty flavour in this larger bar bordered on becoming sickly towards the end.

It is the thick chocolate layer that the Chunky bars are famous for that makes me love them so much. As a teenager, I regularly bit off all of the chocolate before proceeding to eat the wafer on its own – a bit messy but worth it! These days, I tend to alternate between eating these bars in a ‘normal’ way, and nibbling off some chocolate and eating that section of wafer before moving down the rest of the bar in the same manner.

The familiar red wrapper didn’t specify where this ‘crispy wafer finger covered with mint flavoured milk chocolate’ had originated from but the only contact details provided were for the UK and Ireland so it didn’t appear to have travelled far. I liked the freshness of the green section on the packaging, and I also thought the unusual choice of an image depicting actual mint leaves was a nice touch, rather than making me think that the product might not be very sweet.

The angular bar was divided into three sections which each featured the Kit Kat logo. The chocolate coating looked and felt lovely and smooth and it also produced a beautiful minty smell without being too strong. I was excited to see that this chocolate accounted for a whopping 67% of the bar, although also surprised that it didn’t look quite as thick as the chocolate on the Milka Leo. However, I do tend to find that the chunkiest bits of chocolate on these bars are at the two ends.

Although difficult to make out on my picture, the standard Kit Kat-style wafer consisted of five very thin layers interspersed with four sections of some kind of chocolatey crème. The resulting sweet finger was incredibly crispy whilst avoiding the trap of being dry.

As for the infused chocolate, this had an incredibly fresh flavour with only a slight bitterness, and I’m very grateful that Nestlé chose to use milk chocolate, rather than dark, for this reason.

There’s no denying that the concept of the Kit Kat: Chunky is a simple one but, when the resulting product is so tasty, who cares?! In this case, the mint flavour was delicious, and I also found that, despite my previous experiences, it wasn’t sickly on this larger scale. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 8/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.88/10

Cartmel Sticky Toffee Apple Crumble

Product name: Cartmel Sticky Toffee Apple Crumble
Country of origin: England 

To my knowledge, this Sticky Toffee Apple Crumble is a relatively new addition to the Cartmel Village Shop – I certainly don’t remember it being around a couple of years ago. Either way, this was certainly my first ever experience of it. The nearest I’ve got is my sister’s homemade banoffee apple crumble where she does actually use a jar of their Sticky Toffee Sauce. 

This particular 500g pudding was a gift from my parents and, as a result, I’m not sure of the purchase details. However, I suspect they got it in Booths as it’s possible I mentioned in passing (ahem) that it was on offer there at the time they bought it.  

The cardboard sleeve was very similar to the design of the Sticky Toffee Pudding and Sticky Toffee Chocolatesbut, this time, the bottom strip was an apple shade of green. Again, no nutritional information was provided, so I stored this dessert in the freezer until a day when I wasn’t following my diet plan.

Having been thoroughly defrosted, the ‘yummy’ crumble was supposed to be cooked in its takeaway-style foil container (minus the lid) in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes so I opted for the full 25 as I prefer more of a golden brown topping. 

Prior to cooking, the crumble topping that, among other things, contained the usual rolled oats and Demerara sugar, looked very pale, and there were actually some quite large bits in the mix. I have to say the pudding was very well-covered and it was only the buttery shortbread aroma of the topping that I could detect. After being removed from the oven, the very buttery scent remained, and I was also pleased to see a small section of bubbling sauce seeping through the browned crumble at the edge of the dish.

When breaking through the crunchy topping, the combination of apples and toffee sauce (together accounting for 60% of the product) felt really mushy, so I was surprised to see such large slices of sauce-coated apple inside. This rich brown toffee sauce even managed to look warming on a cold night! I also found that exposing the inside of the pudding released a very slight brown sugar smell, although I can’t say this was quite up there with the aroma that the original Sticky Toffee Pudding boasts.

The sauce contained butter, cream, sugar and vanilla flavouring – not exactly healthy but at least you get a portion of fruit (it counts, right?!) in a pudding like this! In normal circumstances, I always prefer the topping of crumbles to the insides, but I did wonder if the inclusion of Cartmel’s sauce would sway me on this occasion.

I have to admit I raised an eyebrow when I saw the packaging describe the ‘crunchy apples’ used in this product – I figured it meant they were crunchy at the point of manufacture! However, they really did have a crunch rather than the slimy, slithery pieces that usually feature in crumbles. That said, they were, of course, a lot softer than raw apples. They also, unusually, maintained the sweet tang of the fresh variety whilst the sauce, although not tasting specifically like Cartmel’s other Sticky Toffee products, added a lovely sweet dimension. The quantity of the sauce included did also mean that it was possible to have it on its own, here and there, and this resulted in a darker toffee taste.
 

The topping was just how I like it – the upper edge was very crisp with an almost caramelised, sugary biscuit taste, whilst the inner edge was soft, buttery and moist from being in contact with the filling.

The packaging suggested serving the pudding with a ‘big dollop’ of ice cream or cream, and I’ve always been a fan of allowing a basic, neutral-flavoured ice cream to melt into hot crumbles. As a result, and obviously in the name of research(!), I tried this too. As expected, this produced a lovely, smooth and cooling effect, with the vanilla offsetting the sweetness of the dessert.

Since this Sticky Toffee Apple Crumble served four to five people, I decided to share it for once, and I gather from my Mum that it was also ‘lovely’ cold. I didn’t sample it that way, on this occasion, but I did scrape out the foil tin, and the sauce, at least, was just as scrumptious!

This was definitely a hit and, whilst I can’t honestly say that I’d have recognised the toffee flavour as Cartmel’s, the resulting dessert was still fantastically delicious. Can they do no wrong?! 

Appearance: 9.5/10
Aroma: 8.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 8.5/10