Belgian White Chocolate & Raspberry Sauce Ice Cream Sticks (Tesco)

Hey, do you remember when I moaned (yes, I know I'm always moaning) a couple of weeks ago about Magnum's double raspberry ice creams, and more specifically about the fact that they'd chosen to coat them in milk chocolate instead of white? Well, I was in Tesco the other day when I spotted something that might just be the solution to said grumbles: a white chocolate and raspberry ice cream with raspberry sauce. Hurrah!

I had actually forgotten that until this summer Tesco sold white chocolate and raspberry ice creams that were pretty good rip offs of the white chocolate and raspberry Magnums - but now both Tesco and Magnum's versions have been sadly discontinued. Boo. Let's hope that Tesco have made up for it with these 2017 editions - which are slightly cheaper than Magnums At £1.50 for three sticks  (Magnum doubles are currently on offer in Tesco at £2 for 3).

"Vanilla dairy ice cream, covered with raspberry sauce, coated in Belgian white chocolate with freeze dried raspberry pieces."

Please agree with me that the raspberry flecked ice creams looked beautiful; to me they screamed luxury. However, I still find myself taken aback however at how small all these new 90ml sticks are (new Magnums are the same size). Biting into the stick revealed the shocking pink sauce that looked stunning against the vanilla ice cream and white chocolate. 

Unfotunately, it was one of those occasions where the taste just didn't quite live up to the looks. God damnit, I wish appearances weren't so deceptive. Perhaps I'm being harsh here, because the white chocolate was fairly good -it's no Magnum covering though- and the ice cream was creamy -it just lacked the real vanilla flavour that I longed for.

It was more the sauce that I was disappointed by. The sauce in the double Magnum had a real tang to it, more like a coulis, whereas this was more like a standard Askey's ice cream topping. I mean, it was just very sweet, and lacked the tartness that I'd hoped for. The raspberry flavour was a little lost actually, and I found myself wishing that they'd used a raspberry ice cream (as Magnum had) to really boost the contrasting flavours. 

These are great if you're after a pretty ice cream, but they're another case of style over substance. Considering the uncompetitive price-point, I probably won't bother with them again. 

7/10

Rhokett Caramel Cheesecake (Waitrose)

There's a dessert that's been haunting me for ages.. a cheesecake that's been on my mind since I first discovered it whilst researching Rhokett 16 months ago. The rarely spotted caramel slices has been supposedly stocked in Sainsbury's stores across the country, but Hereford didn't even get a sniff. I once found them, but it was in an extra store on a trip to Birmingham, and at the time I didn't think they'd survive the journey home -plus I was sure they were going to crop up sooner or later*. I guess I was right, it was just much much later, and in a different supermarket: Waitrose. At £3 for two 100g slices they're on the dear side, but I recall thinking that the Belgian chocolate flavour were worth the money and so I hope these would be too.

"A winning combination from Rhokett that really delivers on that traditional texture, raised to the next level by the Belgian chocolate chunks and the smooth caramel sauce that have been swirled through the mix before baking."

They were beautiful slices, l give Rhokett that, however they were very fiddly to retrieve from the packet -so please be careful if you buy them. 

I expected a rich toffee tone to the cheesecake, so was utterly perplexed when I tasted it and was met with a similar cheesecake batter used in the chocolate slices. That's to say it was creamy with a slight sour tang, but it was completely devoid of the caramel flavour that I'd longed for. Humf. What I hadn't realised was that the sole source of the caramel came from the toffee sauce, but unfortunately there wasn't a huge deal of it, and it certainly wasn't the generous pockets of thick dulce de leche that I had concocted in my imaginings. 

Oh the plus side, the chocolate chunks were both aplenty and delicious -although I can't help but feel that due to the lack of caramel that fudge pieces may have suited the slices better. 

I was also pleased that I'd saved the biscuit base until last as it was the only part I thought that Rhokett truly nailed. Thick and buttery with a classic digestive biscuit flavour, it held together enough to make it from fork to mouth, but crumbled easily upon munching. It just wasn't £3 worth of biscuit base. 

7/10.

* I even ended up sending poor Nat (author of Lot-o-Choc) on a hunt for them before my train arrived into New Street station when meeting her in Birmingham last month.

Macabella Doughnut (The Tandem Bakery)

And so we come to the end of Doughnut week, and I thought I'd be save the best until last. Unfortunately it's one that's not so easy to get hold of, but I promise you it's worth the effort....

Hereford, as I've mentioned many a time on here, is sleepy and very rural. It's technically a city due to the Cathedral, but it's more like a large town and until fairly recently even had the cattle market in its centre (no-one apart from farmers went to town on a Wednesday). Hereford hit the headlines during the 2007 recession for having one of the emptiest high streets in the country; yet fast forward a decade and we're fortunate to have both a new retail marketplace and (more excitingly) a thriving hubbub of independent food outlets. 

Whilst The Beefy Boys have gained interest from far and wide for their burger fame, it's of course a far sweeter Hereford hotspot that has gained my interest (and loyalty). Heather opened the The Tandem Bakery in September 2015 and it has since become a veritable Mecca for fresh delicious drool-inducing homemade cakes, brownies, baguettes, quiches, and salads using high quality locally sourced ingredients wherever possible (just take a look at their Instagram if you want a better idea). The team are always welcoming and make the effort for their customers, meaning that I am only one in the army of Tandem regulars.

But if you make the trip to Hereford, try to do so on a Wednesday - Doughnut day. 

Every Wednesday the Tandem produce two flavours of fresh doughnuts, which I now pester poor Heather about early on a Wednesday morning... You see, if I don't reserve some before (yes, Bert and my sister often put their requests in too) then I'm out of luck by the time I reach the bakery mid-afternoon. You better be quick when it comes to Tandem doughnuts, they don't hang around.

At £2.20 each the Tandem doughnuts are exactly the same price as a Krispy Kreme, however they are handmade and clock in at about 2.5 times the size (no exaggeration). Last week I was kindly sent some jars of Macabella to experiment with, and so I offered a jar to Heather -putting in a special request to the Tandem for a Belgian chocolate and macadamia doughnut, because I'm cheeky like that! 

Christ alive. Just look at those beauties! Filled with a combination of Macabella and whipped cream, and topped with more spread and chopped Macadamias...
I hope you're salivating by now, because I am at the memory. 

The outside edges were slightly crisp from the frying, whilst the dough itself was so soft that it almost fell apart in my mouth. Plenty of lip smacking was a necessity here due to the generous caster sugar coating, but that's surely the mark of a good doughnut? 

As for that filling, it was every bit as decadent as expected. Heather herself described it as 'adult angel delight' and I think the description hits the nail on the head. If I was to be picky I'd have liked a touch more chocolate in the spread:cream ratio, but I'm splitting hairs here. 

I thought I'd be sick of the sight of doughnuts by now, when in reality I'm looking forward to Wednesday already -particularly as a little birdie has let slip that pb&j might be on the cards... I hope you've got your calendars out and are scheduling a Wednesday trip to Hereford, but please don't nab the last doughnut from me! 

10/10 

Irresistible Mississippi Mud Pie Cookies (Co-Op)

I've gone cookie crazy! In the last week I've eaten at least ten and I'm not talking biscuit sized ones with either. Let's just call it research, eh? Anyway, I spotted these Mississippi Mud Pie Cookies on a rare trip to a large Co-Op last week. To be honest it was the orange reduced label that really called to me -yep, I still can't ignore a bargain. They were half price despite being long life and having until the 18th on them. I'm hoping the Co-Op just reduce their long life items when they've got less than a month on their best-before date, otherwise I'm telling you about a products that's been discontinued. 

The four pack of 'irresistible' cookies came in a resealable bag and I think they cost £2.50 full price (I paid about £1.60 if I remember rightly). 

For me, fresh bakery cookies always win, and that's because of the texture. Fresh versions have that lovely soft chew to them that never seems to be replicated in their hard baked, biscuity, long life counterparts. The Co-Op claimed that these were both soft and chewy however, so I was intrigued to find out if they'd mastered the seemingly impossible. 

"Soft baked cookies with chocolate fudge brownie pieces made with Belgian milk chocolate chunks."

I served up my cookie with a good helping of the Co-Op's PB&J ice cream, but refrained from warming it up like o normally would so that I could test that promised consistency. They smelt incredible though and although I would dispute their 'giant' status,  I immediately spotted a generous and even smattering of large fudge brownie pieces (16%) and Belgian chocolate chunks (16%). 

I bit into the cookie and thought that the Co-Op had fibbed about the soft chew. It was hard, and before I'd even asked Bert if his was the same he moaned that the cookie has hurt his teeth. Boo. As I reached the middle though I found a consistency much more akin to fresh cookies -hurrah! 

Let's be honest, It's not all about the texture though is it? Mississippi Mud Pie conjures up images of the ultimate in chocolate decadence, and these cookies certainly delivered on that front. From the deep cocoa flavour in the cookie base through to the squidgy, slightly sweeter brownie pieces and silken chocolate chunks, the Co-Op have created a chocoholic's dream! Yum.

Whilst the texture might not be perfect, the flavour is delicious. These irresistible cookies are indeed irresistible.

8/10

NEW! Extra Special Belgian Chocolate & Almond Dessert (ASDA)

I'm not happy with ASDA. They've pulled their amazing peanut butter millionaire's desserts from shelves. What's a girl to do? Fortunately they've replaced it with something that sounded almost as good: a Chocolate and Almond Dessert. The pots are £1.50 each or two for £2 (mix and match with the Strawberry Senga Trifle and Triple Chocolate Dessert.

"Layers of almond flavoured sauce, brownie slices, dulce de leche and dark chocolate ganache."

Chocolate and almond is vastly under appreciated in the U.K., in fact the only time I usually have the combination is when I make chocolate truffles at Christmas time (and even then they tend to be heavy on the rum). It's a gorgeous pairing though and so I hoped ASDA had done it justice.

It was hard to tell which layers were which from the container, but I rightly guessed that the topping was the ganache. As to be expected it was rich and silken; perhaps a touch too sweet for those with a preference for bitter dark chocolate -i.e it was perfect for me. 

Next up was a golden sauce which I presumed was the dulce de leche, however it had a very strong almond flavouring. I ended up confused, was this the almond sauce? I couldn't see anything else that remotely looked like caramel, so I guess the almond flavours had leeched out and overpowered the leche. This wasn't necessarily a problem, it just wouldn't have passed Ronseal's mark of approval. 

Underneath the golden layer was a couple of mixture of brownie pieces and darker sauce. Now this, ladies and gents, was where the magic happened; a recurrence of the peanut butter millionaire's dessert pleasure groans. The combination of soft but squidgy chocolate cake pieces strongly flavoured with what I can only describe almost amaretto made my tastebuds dance with glee. It was sheer heaven. Fortunately there was an ample supply of this final tier. I eeked out every last mouthful, not wanting it to end, and thereby making the small 105g pot last a full ten minutes. 

Well done ASDA, another full mark dessert!

10/10

NEW! Häagen-Dazs Salted Caramel Ice Cream Bars (ASDA)

There's one flavour of Häagen-Dazs that appears to be the clear favourite amongst fans, and that is salted caramel. As a recent newbie to the world of HD, and still an avid fan of Ben & Jerry's, I couldn't see how this could be so amazing. I mean it's just a caramel ice cream with caramel brittle. Surely it can't compete with B&Js incredible Karamel Sutra? I mean it doesn't have the chocolate ice cream, nor the chocolate chunks, let alone the almost-orgasmic caramel core. 

Yet I inadvertently ended up trying a mini tub of H-D's salted caramel when I bought their new caramel collection (for the speculoos flavour), and was struck dumb. Eating my words in conjunction with every mouthful, I found myself revelling in the sheer indulgent creaminess. Then I discovered the salt caramel brittle and my world slipped off its axis. It's unbelievably good: salty, sweet, soft, yet crunchy. If it's not part of your life at the moment, you need it to be.  

After that singular experience I found my original indifference towards the new H-D sticks polarised. I now needed to try their Salted Caramel sticks, ASAP. Luckily ASDA have them on offer for £2 for 3 bars, so I didn't need to remortgage the house either. 

"Our signature salted caramel ice cream enrobed in a rich Belgian chocolate coating for a truly indulgent treat."

I couldn't tell whether the chocolate coating was milk or dark from either the description or its colour. I soon realised that it wasn't very thick though when I tried to snap a small segment off for the photo and a whole side came off! 

The ice cream was every bit as delicious as I remember it being in the mini tub. I love the contrast in textures, and the luxuriousness of it is undeniable. Unfortunately the chocolate wasn't my cup of tea, it was darker than a milk chocolate* and very thin. I would've much rather a thicker coating made from milk chocolate studded with the caramel brittle. Now that might be enough to convert me to H-D for life. 

As it stands, these are delicious bars, but I just about prefer the tub version of H-Ds salted caramel ice cream. Perhaps I should try the white chocolate and almond bars next time... Have any of you bought them yet?

9/10

*but probably no darker than Bournville, I just don't like dark.

NEW! Dessert Menu Milk Chocolate & Peanut Ice Creams (M&S)

Peanut butter, chocolate and ice cream are my three favourite foods, so a product that combines all three just screams to be tried. These new ice cream sticks at M&S form part of their "Dessert Menu", which I've had success with in the past*. I think they're approximately £3 per pack, but my local store had messed up the labels and so I was lucky enough to buy my box of three for the price of a single, at just £1.20. I do love a good bargain.

"Peanut butter ice cream with a toffee ripple 8% coated in Belgian milk chocolate (3%) and roasted peanut pieces (3.5%)"

There was none of the so-thin-you-can-see-through-it chocolate to be found here. Cough. Iceland. Cough. The Belgian milk chocolate was generously flecked with sizeable peanut chunks too - looking good Marks & Sparks! 

The chocolate was damn delicious. It's luxuriously rich with a good melt, and it's thick enough to crack pleasingly when you bite into it. The larger nut pieces worked well too; they were big enough to administer a robust flavour as well as the added texture. 

Unfortunately the peanut flavoured ice cream didn't pack the same punch. The nuttiness was mild at best, and was overpowered by the sweet toffee sauce, reminding me of the issues with the Magnum Double Peanut Butter. It's a shame really because the quality of the ice cream is good - it just requires more peanut! 

As far as peanut butter ice cream sticks go Marks & Spencer's don't rival ASDAs, which I guess is a bonus for my bank balance! 

7/10

*you can find my review of their hazelnut sticks here & their salted caramel sticks here! 

NEW! Creightons 'Spoon of Cereal' White Chocolate Bar (Online)

It's the Easter weekend, and one of two annual occasions when it's perfectly acceptable (if not required) to eat chocolate for breakfast - the other being Christmas Day. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, which of course, can only be improved by a hearty dose of chocolate. If you feel similarly, you might want to check out Creighton's' new range. The British hand-made chocolate company's new summer collection is called 'chocolate for breakfast' and consists of three very unusual sounding bars: 'Maple Bacon', 'Coffee & Crumbs' and 'Spoon Of Cereal'. I've been following Creighton's for a long time on Instagram, and so when they kindly offered to send me a bar to review, I gleefully accepted. If you haven't heard about Creighton's before, I'll give you a little background information..

Creighton's was created in 2010 by mother and daughter duo Andrea & Lucy. All of their products are created in small batches by their in-house team in Leighton Buzzard using the finest quality Belgian chocolate.  Lucy & Andrea regularly change their collections 'much like a fashion brand', and say that they are they approach everything with a light-hearted British sense of humour. 

I wasn't sure which bar would arrive, but as a white chocolate lover and cereal addict I hoped for the 'Spoon of Cereal'. Monday, as it turns out, was my lucky day! 

"Don't Grow Up. Marshmallow flavoured white chocolate bar crammed with cereal hoops - a scent of caramelised mallow wafts from the wrapper as you unwrap this bar!"  

Isn't the packaging exquisite? I hoped the beautiful pop-art-esque design would pave the way to delicious chocolate as it had with Choc Affair's rhubarb bar. 

The slab didn't have as many cereal hoops in as I thought it would, but the sweet caramel scent was immediately evident, just as Creighton's promised.

Marshmallow is a remarkably difficult flavour to play with, after all it's essentially pillowy sugar, but the white chocolate delivered a nostalgic hit of caramel tones, reminding me of butterscotch. Indulgently creamy, the chocolate was sheer heaven. Unfortunately the cereal hoops tasted a little stale and had lost most of their characteristic crunch. I can't be sure that Creighton's are to blame though because I store my chocolate in the fridge -I know, I know, utter heresy! 

Despite my grumbles the Spoon of Cereal bar was utterly delicious. I'm now craving their new Coffee & Crumbs bar (Milk chocolate bar with a dose of finely ground espresso and crisp cinnamon sour dough toast crumbs) as well as many of their core range -especially the peanut nutter, rhubarb and custard and custard cream. Mmm. Creighton's range contains more than 30 different flavoured bars, as well as truffles, bonbons and lollipops, so please do head on over to their website for the ultimate in chocolate temptation.

9/10

Thank you Creighton's for the sample!

The Chocolate Smiths Birthday Cake Bizarre Bar (Online)

Normally I like to hide from my Birthday and pretend that I'm not really getting any older. It helps that I spend most of my week at uni with my fellow students who are mostly 8 years younger, and can forget that I've got a mortgage to pay (until I come home to the bills). This year however has been an exception, and I've managed to extrapolate my celebrations for a full week and counting. Well, the Birthday food anyway.

So what could be better than Birthday Cake? A Birthday Cake chocolate bar of course! It's not just me who has cause for celebration, gourmet chocolatiers and creators of the Bizarre Bars The Chocolate Smiths are turning 3 this year and have such brought out a special Bizarre Bar, and I was lucky enough to receive one to review. Thanks guys!

"It’s our Birthday, so it’s time to celebrate! Delicious crumbly milk chocolate with a chocolatey filling, topped off with white chocolate and sprinkles. Yum! We’ve supplied the cake AND it’s your chance to win a party! If you find a lucky ticket inside the bar, you will win an amazing chocolatey party pack!"

Now my only experience of The Chocolate Smiths thus far hasn't been great; if you'll remember, I reviewed the Cookie Dough Pie bar last year. The Pudding Parlour did admit though that the bars had been kept in warm temperatures however, which had led to the blooms and spoilage on the bar. I really hoped the scrummy sounding Birthday Cake Bar would fair better.

What a beautiful looking slab! Given my recent disappointment at not being able to rekindle my nostalgia and buy Cadbury's Top Deck in Kuala Lumpur, I was extremely happy to discover that The Chocolate Smith's bar was similarly layered with white and milk chocolate. There wasn't any white spots of death to be seen either. So far, so good.

At first my tastebuds were confused by the combination of chocolate. The flavour was just a very sweet milk chocolate with crunchy bits in. But then, I realised that I could peel the top from the bottom and that's when things got really interesting.

On their own, both types of Belgian Chocolate were delicious, and I especially loved the white. What I hadn't acknowledged beforehand was the canals of chocolate sauce that ran between the layers. Once apart I was able to taste it on its own, and it was good, but I think a praline would've been punchier and therefore more noticeable when the bar was intact.

Dear The Chocolate Smiths, you have more than redeemed yourself. I now desperately want to try all of the other bars in their range - especially the Americana (peanut butter & pretzel), Cheese & Cracker and Maple Bacon Bizzares. All of the bars are available to purchase from their online shop, and you can even mix and match 3 bars for £10.50. What are you waiting for?

9/10

Thank you to The Chocolate Smiths for my Birthday bar! 

NEW! Extra Special Black Forest & Amaretto Desserts Review (ASDA)

I've recently outed my addiction to buying chocolate and ice cream on instagram in an attempt to remind myself that I really need to stop buying more and instead work through my admittedly impressive collection. The trouble is, whilst I love both chocolate AND ice cream, occasionally I'm just not in the mood for either, or I spot something different that I'd rather have. This is especially true when it comes to ice cream, and since promising myself that I'd not purchase any more, my non-frozen dessert cravings have fully kicked in. BAM! All of a sudden I just needed to have the Black Forest & Amaretto Pots that I've been contemplating for weeks.

Even my price conscious nature gave way to the compulsions to try these little desserts. In ASDA Gü are currently on offer for £1.50, yet I still chose their own brand desserts. I must be mad. In my defence, previous experiences with ASDA's Extra Special desserts* have thus far been remarkably positive.

"Amaretto-infused sponge layered with black cherry compote and Belgian dark chocolate ganache."

C'mon ASDA, you seem to have fallen foul of Cadbury's usual trick here and only half filled the pots! The Peanut Butter Millionaire's Dessert was full to the brim, and had much more distinctive layers too.

Digging in to the top I first tasted the dark chocolate ganache, which was as silky and as delicious as expected -there just wasn't very much of it. The little that there was had kind of sunk into the custard below. Talking of which, the custard was a bit of a let down. The flavour was weak against the ganache and so I wished that ASDA had just done away with it and filled the tub with more of the good stuff.

Fortunately the black cherry compote was delicious, offering a sweet tartness against all the chocolate, but again the pot could have done with more. Boo.

The final layer was the main reason why I wanted to try these desserts so badly - the amaretto soaked sponge. The cake was in keeping with the Black Forest theme and was therefore chocolate flavoured. It was a good sponge with a decent amount of cocoa -but I just couldn't taste the amaretto or even almond. Now this might be partly because I was drinking a glass of red wine alongside it, but nonetheless I was disappointed.

I'm aware that I've done a lot of complaining in this review, and perhaps it's not entirely necessary considering I scraped the sides of the tub and really enjoyed it. The trouble is, I know that ASDA sell a much better version of this, and it's cheaper too: their Black Forest Velvets.

7/10

*such as their White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake which was one of my first reviews, and remains my favourite supermarket cheesecake!

White Chocolate Cote d'Or Bouchées (Kingdom of Sweets)

I've been on the hunt for these little white elephants for an extraordinarily long time. It must be almost a year ago that I was told that Cote d'Or make my favourite chocolates in the entire world in a white version too. White chocolate covered Bouchées? You've got to be kidding me! Could I find them for love nor money though? You bet your bottom dollar I couldn't. Every family member travelling to Europe was sent on a mission to hunt for these Belgian chocolates, and every one came back fruitless (or chocolate-less I should say). I had just about given up hope when I spotted Kingdom Of Sweets on Oxford Street the week before Christmas, and begged my friends to let me go and ogle at the many different varieties of Oreos and Reese's products that I could see through the window. Inside the store was a veritable heaven for sugar addicts and chocoholics. Floor to ceiling was rammed full of every kind of sweet laden treat you could imagine and I started to expect that Willy Wonka himself was going pop out from the staff room. I wanted to move in.

"White chocolate with hazelnut cream filling"

It's not the cheapest store, but my scroogy student ways were almost completely forgotten the moment I spotted the Cote d'Or stand. There they were: individual white chocolate elephants or a pack or 8 for £6, next to the FudgeNuts that I reviewed a while back. I should explain for a second that they had a very short date on the Bouchées, my fridge at home was already full of chocolate, I was bound to receive some more Reese's treats in a week and I'd just been given a huge box of Thorntons from my colleagues -i.e, I didn't really need any more chocolate. But, I had been searching for so long, and I knew that Bert was unlikely to buy me food for Christmas, so I decided that he could treat me as part of my stocking -thanks Bert*! To the till I went with our joint account card and a pack of 8.

Each little truffle -which admittedly don't bear much resemblance to elephants- was individually wrapped. It's a good job really otherwise the temptation might be too much to bear! Peeling off the covering revealed the snow-white chocolate in all it's glory, and the excitement mounted. 

Biting into the bouchée was a celestial moment. The sheer joy of creamy sweetness against the nutty filling was true chocolate perfection. I pity those of you who have never tried Cote d'Or's Bouchées, they're simply wonderful. I didn't think they could improve on the original, but the white chocolate version is my new favourite.

The ratio of chocolate:praline is spot on and the quality is inarguable. I'm surprised they haven't been meddled with considering these are in fact made by Cadbury's wreckers Mondelēz, but it seems that the Bouchées are safe, for now. 

10/10

*I knew he wouldn't mind, and of course he didn't, the good egg.

NEW! Guylian Caramel Belgian Chocolate Bar

Happy New Year all! I know many of you are glad to see the year out, although I must admit that I've had a blast over the past 12 months. I hope 2017 is full of mischief, fun and adventures for you and I both! Cheers!

So let me conclude 2016's reviews the same way I finished 2015's: with a chocolate bar of course. It's not a white chocolate one this year, although it is another bargain find -courtesy of Del Boy's market stall of course. I think these Guylian Caramel bars were 3 or 4 for £1, although I bought them a month or so back so please forgive my lack of clarity.

Guylian is one of those brands that always come out at Christmas (with the Terry's and Pringles), and although I've seen their plain praline bar before, I hadn't spotted this caramel version. 

"Belgian Milk Chocolate with Caramel Filling (42%)."

The bar comprised of 4 square shaped segments, each topped with classic Guylian designs. At only 36g, it was far from the biggest bar, but looked delicious.

Breaking a segment in two revealed a gooey golden interior, thinly cased by the chocolate outer. I'm not sure there's much point in me describing the taste of their chocolate, but for any of you who haven't tried it, it's extremely silky with an easy melt. 

Unfortunately the sheer sugariness of the inner caramel tipped the balance well into sickly territory. With more chocolate and less filling this might have worked better, but it's still a reasonably enjoyable bar.

7/10

See you all next year! 

Handcrafted Chocolate Log (Boots)

I've not held back when it comes to giving you my opinions on Boots' bakery style snacks. We've had the grim Cookie Dough Brownie, the awful Banoffee Flapjack and disappointing Red Velvet Cake Slice. More recently I've had better experiences however with their Carrot Cake Slice -which I've had a far few times since reviewing and am still quite happy with. Boots released a couple of Festive themed cake slices last month, at the same time as their festive Sammie range, and so I decided to take a punt as part of my Monday £1 meal deal on the Handcrafted Chocolate Log. 

"A chocolate sponge topped with chocolate buttercream, and a milk chocolate decoration."

I didn't have high hopes for the cake, not only because of my history with Boots' snacks, but also because I realised last year that I'm rather picky when it comes to Yule logs. Not even the highly exalted Tesco Finest Yule Log pleased my disgruntled tastebuds. Still, this little slice looked pretty and chocolatey, so I prepared myself to try it with fresh eyes.

I was forced to eat my hat. The cake was moist and soft, with a bold chocolate flavour that didn't border on bitter. I soon discovered an additional surprise too: the plentiful supply of dark Belgian chocolate chips which studded the mixture and added a lovely twist. The buttercream on top was also tasty, bordering on fudge-like in its thick, creamy softness. I had expected naff Kinnerton advent calendar quality from the fake 'flake' adorning the slice, but yet again I was stupefied and found it to taste rather good. Please don't get me wrong, we're not talking high end artisanal chocolate here, but it was crumbly, melted in the mouth, and left a pleasant aftertaste. Nom.

I'd certainly say that the Handcrafted Chocolate Log is as good as Boots' carrot cake, but there's just a couple of issues...

1) It's a YULE LOG Boots, so please don't be giving us that Christmas red tape nonsense.

2) I'm now faced with a weekly dilemma on a Monday morning: do I go for the Merry Mince Pie Flapjack or Chocolate Log to complement my festive sarnie?

I think I can cope.

8/10

Caramel Ice Cream Trees With Popping Candy (Iceland)

I recently mentioned that I'm on a quest to find and try the Christmas goods that I didn't get around to trying last year, so I figured that I wouldn't end up buying many of the same products -save for Reese's Trees which I'm currently devouring at a rather embarrassing rate (B&M are selling six packs for just £1.99 FYI). Anyway, the feature of today's review isn't exactly the same, but a twist on Iceland's Caramel Ice Cream Trees which I thought pretty highly of last Christmas. Iceland seem to have given their Trees a more childish approach in 2016; the White Chocolate & Strawberry Trees are also back - this time covered in sprinkles- and the caramel version has been updated with popping candy. Popping candy and chocolate is by no means a new idea (hundreds and thousands is hardly ground breaking either) but I was intrigued to discover how the combination worked against the caramel ice cream, and indeed how it compared to its predecessor.

"Caramel flavour ice cream trees with a Belgium milk chocolate coating with popping candy."

The trees aren't exactly the largest lollies on the market at 90ml, but they look sweet, and are still a damn site bigger than the silly mini size sticks that are doing the rounds.  All three trees had cracked slightly in the box, but we're still intact enough to hold their shape for the all important photo!

I remember being highly impressed by the quality and flavour of the ice cream last year, but the trouble is, I've tried a huge amount of ice cream in the mean time -including a fair few different caramel ice creams. What I mean is that I'm not sure whether the ice cream has got worse, or my tastebuds have merely become accustomed to the better products out there. It's not bad by any means, in fact it's rather good, but it's simply über soft and less creamy than the likes of Ben & Jerry's, M&S and even Daim.

The chocolate coating is still better quality than one might expect, with a good milky flavour. Every single nibble was full of popping candy, thus making for quite a strange -but ultimately fun- eating experience. It's not something I'd opt for every time, but it is quite novel.

I imagine that children would love to be given these at Christmas time, and at £1 for 3 they won't break the bank either. They're also a bit kitsch if you're an ice cream obsessed adult lover like me and fancy something a bit different.

7/10

NEW! Jude's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ripple Dairy Ice Cream (Sainsbury's)

As promised, today's review is the subject of last night's dessert porn: Jude's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ripple Dairy Ice Cream. The lovely One Treat messaged me a couple of weeks ago informing me of its existence in Sainsbury's, but to be honest I was a tad put-off by the lack of chunks and relatively high price. Then on Tuesday Emily sent me a message on instagram asking me if I had tried the ice cream, and with that I decided that there were just too many cues to ignore. I soon realised it was on offer so popped on down to Sainsbury's yesterday and forked out the £3.00 (usually £3.50) for the 500ml tub. It had better be good. 

"Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Pieces and Chocolate Ripple."

I haven't bought Jude's ice cream before, despite reading many positive reviews, so if -like me- you don't know much about him, here's a bit of background for you: 

"He wanted to create the world’s tastiest ice cream with milk from local cows. In his barn at home he set to work and soon the whole family joined in. In the winter of 2002 he carried the first tubs across the field to the village pub and Jude’s Ice Cream was born.
He lovingly named it after his wife."

Aww. I don't know about you, but I always appreciate a good back story and I hoped this admiration would continue once the striking looking stripey tub was open.

Crikey! The super-strong scent of salted peanuts saluted my nostrils the moment I peeled back the lid. Perhaps that should have been unsurprising considering that peanut butter is ranked number 3 on the ingredients list, and accounts for 10% of the total tub -a fact that pleased me greatly. I was a little taken aback at the lack of chocolate ripple immediately evident, but I soon uncovered it when I dug down.

The ice cream was dense, but I could easily and immediately spoon it out without too much of a struggle. I've mentioned a number of times how I'm not a fan of ice creams that melt quickly, but I knew from the thick consistency that I wasn't going to have to eat this against the clock for fear of becoming a sticky mess.

What I hadn't acknowledged in my eagerness to construct my cone was the sheer abundance of chopped peanut pieces that studded every single spoonful. I know this might sound odd considering that I'm a devout lover of the chunks in Ben & Jerry's -but I don't actually like nuts in ice cream! The walnuts in B&J's chunky monkey used to frustrate me so much that I rarely bought it despite adoring banana ice cream. Would this be the downfall of this Jude's tub that both looked and smelt divine?

No. In fact the peanut pieces were crisp, and added further flavour and welcome texture to the otherwise silken ice cream without becoming obtrusive. The flavour was sheer heaven for my peanut butter addicted taste-buds, delivering the true salty-sweet balance that so often gets lost in pb flavoured treats. Jude's have got the ratio spot on with the chocolate ripple, allowing the sweetness to occasionally crop up and cut through the nuttiness. Yum. 

Jude's Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Pieces and Chocolate Ripple is definitely worthy of the high price point -especially as the company donate 10% of their profits to charity. It's a cleverly thought out, indulgent ice cream that (even as a student) I won't mind paying the extra money for every now and then. For normal days, I'll stick to the childish (and cheaper) Co-Op PB&J ice cream.  

9/10

One Treat has written reviews on Jude's Salted Caramel, Brown Butter Pecan and Flat White flavours too, which you can find here.