Mrs Freshley's Frosted Strawberry Mini Donuts (A Taste Of The States)

Isn't it odd that I've reviewed more Mrs Freshley's products on the blog than Mr Kipling? I'm not sure it's because they're that much more innovative, but probably just because they're American and I haven't had them before. Actually, I've changed my mind. Frosted strawberry doughnuts are infinitely more exciting than Viennese Whirls. IMO. 



Anyway, I've already tried the crunch and Cinnabon Mrs F's mini ring donuts with relative success so couldn't help ordering this variety from A Taste Of The States too. Strawberry doughnuts of course aren't a new thing, but I'm used to them being plain donuts topped with pink icing (Bert's favourite), strawberry jam filled, or a combination of both. Never have I tried a strawberry flavoured doughnut. 

The pack contained 6 "confectionary coating" covered rings, which were all evenly coated with a chocolate-esque coating. Of course it's not real chocolate, it's made from sugar, palm oil, cocoa, soy, salt and artificial flavouring -just a handful of ingredients on the epic list.  I can't tell you that it tasted all that great either. Fake chocolate just isn't my bag I'm afraid. Unfortunately, the doughnuts were a bit of a let down too. The dough was extremely dry and cloying, but there was -at least- a sweet strawberry flavour to it.  

Meh, sorry Mrs F but you haven't quite scored a mini doughnut hat-trick here. However, if you fancy trying these unusual creations, or perhaps the nicer Cinnabon or crunchy doughnuts, or even some Hostess Donettes then please head over to A Taste Of The States where you can benefit from 20% off with the code AMYSEEKS20.

5/10

Thanks to A Taste of The States for providing me with a gift card to order these with!

NEW! Hershey's Cookies'N'Creme Dipped Pretzels (A Taste Of The States)

I told you I’m obsessed with pretzels at the moment! I actually had my greedy eyes on the brand new Snyders Reese’s pretzels, but A Taste of The States hadn’t had any in when I placed my order. I can’t moan at all though, I had the Good Health pretzels to munch through and have an affinity towards anything cookies and cream. I’ve had sweet (S'mores flavoured) Snyder's pretzels once before, but I wasn't overly impressed with them

I can’t help but feel that It’s such a shame that pretzels aren’t given the recognition they deserve here in the U.K. I love their salty crispness, which is perhaps odd considering that I rarely crave potato crisps. Hey, I’m just contrary like that. Thank goodness for America!

The packet contained roughly 25 traditionally shaped, generously coated pretzels. There was  a good amount of cookie crumb poking about in the bag’s corners too -a good sign for those cereal dust fans* out there, you know who you are. I’m not sure how big Snyder’s mouth is but I didn’t agree that they were bite size. Well, you could fit a whole one in your mouth in I guess, but I’m more ladylike than that.

That’s a lie, I just like to savour my pretzels.

They were utterly delicious though; I mean seriously good. Despite loving the Hershey’s Cookies ’N’ Creme bar, I’ll admit that you need to be in a sugary mood to crave one as they are  sickly concoctions. I was therefore relieved to find that Snyder’s hadn’t done away with the salinity in these pretzels completely, as the salt was required to counteract the sweetness. The resulting combination was tantalising on the tastebuds: a journey of sweet vanilla with a touch of cocoa, followed by that wonderful salty hit. All that chocolate luckily hadn’t hampered the crunchiness of the pretzel dough either, and I enjoyed every single nibble. 

I’d like to say that my pretzel cravings have been satisfied, but actually I’m now even more desperate than ever to try the Reese’s covered Snyder’s Pretzels, which are now in stock at A Taste of The States. Don’t forget, you can get 20% off the new pretzels -and anything else that takes your fancy- from A Taste of The States by using the code AMYSEEKS20 at checkout.

Thank you to A Taste Of The States for sending me the new Hershey’s Cookies ’n’ Creme pretzels!

9/10 

*you know, the people who love the end of the bag of cereal? I’ll admit here that we normally give ours to the dog, which I know some of you will deem heretic! 

White Chocolate M&Ms (A Taste Of The States)

M&Ms, another one of those global brands that believes that us Brits prefer safe flavours. Crispy, standard or peanut. That's our lot. Over in America it's a completely different kettle of fish however, with new releases including Coffee Nut, Strawberry Nut, Caramel and White Chcoolate. Now the latter aren't particularly groundbreaking and so you'd think we'd be trusted to buy them and therefore make them commercially viable in the U.K... but apparently not. Fortunately for us, A Taste of The States is more understanding than M&Ms and has imported them on our behalf. 

I've long been convinced that American M&Ms are bigger than the British ones, and I certainly thought this was the case with these white chocolate versions. The sugar coating was the same colour spectrum though.

I'm glad I didn't expect luxury white chocolate, because I'd have been disappointed if I had. The insides of the M&Ms was wonderfully, albeit slightly sickly, sweet but that's what M&Ms are about. I mean, they've take on white chocolate and covered it in crispy sugar. They're not meant to make you delight in the depth of flavours, but instead aim make you smile from the sugar hit (and perhaps from the artificial colours) and it that way, they've succeeded. 

Please bring these to the U.K M&Ms! In the meantime though, you'll have to get your fix from A Taste of The States, but thankfully the kind souls there are offering you 20% off with the code AMYSEEKS20. Life isn't so bad, eh? 

8/10