NEW! Extra Special Millionaire's Shortbread Cheesecake (ASDA)

Gu Zillionaire's cheesecake: the undisputed king of salted caramel desserts. Or is it?

I'm a devout fan of ASDA's extra special white chocolate and raspberry cheesecakes, and truly believe they're one of the very best supermarket desserts in the UK.* I went into store especially for said treat, when a new contender caught my eye. I didn't think anything could dissuade me from my white chocolate mission, but these millionaire's shortbread cheesecakes offered something even more superior: chocolate and salted caramel -they just begged to be eaten.

"Luxurious layers of salted caramel, Belgian chocolate glaze and buttery shortbread crumb, hand finished with chocolate shavings."

Oof. Doesn't that sound rather delicious? They looked as good as they sounded too -neatly packaged and surrounded by plastic to hold their shape. Their clean lines suffered somewhat as I clumsily removed the cheesecakes from their sleeves however -as you can see from the photo! 

Eager to tuck in, I scraped off a spoonful of the chocolate topping. It was rich and chocolatey -not quite as silky as Gu's ganache- but still scrumptious. 

The cheesecake beneath baffled me. It was a lovely baked cheesecake but there was no caramel to be tasted, just vanilla. Where was the layers the description promised of? Don't get me wrong, the fluffiness of the cheesecake worked well against the rich topping, but I was left feeling puzzled by the AWOL caramel. 

The shortbread biscuit bottom was a lovely addition to the cheesecake, and I felt it brought a better balance to the dessert than the chocolate flavoured base of Gu's Zillionaire. It was slightly moister than I'd have liked, but it was beautifully buttery.

I worked my way around the edge of the dessert (contemplating how ASDA could market it as millionaire's shortbread cheesecake without any caramel) when finally I hit the jackpot: a pocket of thick, dulce de leche style golden sauce. It was oozy, luscious and utterly delicious, containing just the right amount of salt to offset the sweetness. This was what I was hoping for! It wasn't long before the disappointment set in again -the pocket was only the size of a twenty pence piece- a mere mouthful of yumminess that was gone before I knew it. A check of the ingredients explained the problem -the salted caramel only accounts for 6% of the dessert.  

Have any of you tried the new Extra Special Millionaire's Shortbread Cheesecakes yet? If so, let me know what you think.

7/10 (It would be an easy 10/10 if they contained more caramel). 


* My experiences with ASDA's standard range hasn't been so positive, please feel free to browse my previous reviews of their rocky road, strawberry donut and chocolate dough & brownie cheesecakes.