NEW! Soft Centre Chocolate Macaroons (M&S)

M&S updated their 'Dessert Menu' collection this week. Well there's got to be an upside to the darker mornings and chillier days hasn't there? You might've noticed that most of the supermarkets have also launched Christmas sections too - but don't worry, I've not been struck by mince pie mania like last year. Yet. Giant chocolate macaroons though? Count me in!

"French almond chocolate macaroons - just warm for a soft chocolate ganache centre."

The new desserts in the range are all part of a 20% introductory offer. This double pack was still a pricey £3.20 though. Macaroons are always expensive but can they be spectacular enough to warrant the £3.80 (non-offer) price tag? Let's find out...

Each macaroon was about 10cm ish in diameter, and could be eaten warm or cold. To be honest, it was the idea of the molten middle that persuaded me to prise apart my usually tight purse strings. Call me simple but I really don't understand the fascination with macaroons. 25 seconds in the microwave and it was ready to go.

Microwaves have a habit of making crispy food soggy but the shell remained crispy on the outside and soft on the insider. There was a fair amount of cocoa flavour to it too, with the almond aftertaste following through. As for the ganache, it was, of course, undeniably decadent due to the dark chocolate (11%) and whipping cream (19%) and once warmed became more like a sauce. In fact, the whole experience was like eating a lighter warm chocolate fudge cake. 

The new giant Macaroons are great for the novelty factor, however  I can't help but feel they pale in comparison to the Gold Bullion bars in terms of creativity and innovation. That said, I'd happily pick them up as part of the Dine In for £10 meal deal (if and when they're ever included) but would never pay the full price for them. 

8/10. 

NEW! Chocolate & Caramel Pyramids (M&S)

I couldn't help it, ok?

After I tried my luck with the banoffee semifreddos at m&s I went back to see if any of the other frozen luxury desserts would work in the Dine in for £10 promotion. They all looked delicious but it was these chocolate and caramel pyramids that caught my eye. Not because they were particularly ground breaking in terms of flavours, or elements, but just because they looked so damn pretty. Fancy clothes might not tempt me, but pretty food? Always. 

"A cocoa sponge base topped with a Belgian dark chocolate pyramid mousse, a caramel ganache centre and caramel decoration."

I found myself thanking M&S once again for their clever packaging and thankfully, unlike their fresh banoffee cheesecake slices, the pyramids had remained perfectly intact - please ignore the freezer burn caused by my freezer blip. M&S suggests that they require defrosting for 5 hours, but I hadn't been that well organised and took mine out of the freezer a couple of hours before serving. 

That cocoa mousse was rich and fluffy with a deep flavour that I imagine would please most dark chocolate lovers, whilst remaining sweet enough to avoid offending us who prefer their chocolate milkier. Where was that sponge base at though M&S? I thought Waitrose's version was stingy but this was none existent.

Things got worse as I hunted for that supposed caramel ganache. At first I refused to panic, having been initially disappointed when digging into the Waitrose salted caramel mousse (before finding the pocket at one end), but as I got towards the last spoonful I realised I'd been duped. At best there had been a slightly sweeter mouthful, but where was that oozy caramel sauce or sticky dulce de leche?

I thought perhaps I'd got a duff one - but if I did then so did Bert. He didn't even realise that it was meant to contain caramel, and actually asked me not to buy them again as he found them too rich. Admittedly, he's not as chocolate obsessed as I am though.  Meh. Another case of style over substance, that is, unless you're after a show stopping chocolate mousse - in which case, head to Marks and knock yourself out! 

7/10

White Chocolate & Cardamom, Mint Chocolate & Sticky Salted Toffee Goupies (Online)

A good few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to try some Goupie. 

Q: Goupie? What on earth is Goupie? 

A: A devilishly moreish chewy chocolate
confection with a hint of crunch.

Oh, clear as mud then. Still, I love chocolate, have an unrelenting sweet tooth and found out that they're a British family business. It sounded great to me... even if I wasn't entirely sure what would turn up. 

Goupie's product selection is large, including many gluten free options and some of which are vegan too. Marketing manager Grace (daughter of owners Janet and Joe) asked me which flavours I'd like to try, but I just replied with the couple that didn't sound quite as appealing and looked forward to seeing what would turn up.

Not just one, but three flavours of Goupie arrived shortly after. Goupie you spoil me! I just had to open them all up in quick succession to discover what the confections where all about...! 

Chocolate Mint Goupie

"This flavour is the natural favourite of any mint chocolate lover. A beautiful fresh peppermint flavour amongst the chewy Goupie goodness and fully enrobed in a 54% Belgian chocolate. It’s dairy free and completely vegan friendly. A great gift to share amongst friends after dinner…if you don’t eat it first!"

This sharing sized (180g) box contained a good supply of dark coated covered tiffin-esque triangles. The ingredients included chocolate, biscuit, and rice crispies. That's got to be a good sign, right? 

Wowzer. I wasn't expecting that. The flavours were spot on. Now if you're a regular reader you'll know that I'm more of a milk & white chocolate fan, so 55% is high for me, but this was far from bitter. The chocolate and mint reminded me of After Eight mints, whilst the crunchy yet crumbly texture was both interesting and comforting. Seriously moreish.

9/10

White Chocolate Cardamom

"Sweet, exotic and pure class. Often confused with a light gingerbread, the cardamom in the base nicely balances the rich white chocolate topping."

Hmm. Cardamom can be utterly overbearing. In fact I once remember Buying a prawn curry from M&S that was inedible due to the littering of cardamom pods. Could Goupie manage to avoid the pitfall? 

Yes, they really could. I really enjoyed the dark chocolate mint, but these were something else. They were sweet but spicy too, with the gingery undertone they mentioned throughout. The white chocolate was good quality too, and I revelled in the unusualness of this delicious snack. Top marks from me.

10/10

Salted Sticky Toffee

"The ultimate in devilish treats – Salted Sticky Toffee Goupie is an uber gooey chocolate confection, topped with flakes of Maldon Sea Salt."

This Goupie was gluten free and therefore wasn't a biscuity concoction like the other two. I expected a tooth-pulling, filing-ruining jaw workout, but I couldn't have been more wrong.

Of course, a fundamental element of the sticky toffee pudding is dates, and thats where Goupie have been smart. Sticky toffee is so often used as a synonym for caramel, but these were a true representation of the classic dessert. Encased within the milk chocolate was a delectable combination of soft toffee and fruity dates, meaning that it refrained from being too sickly. Another bonus came from the sea salt crystals on top, which boosted the flavours from the contrast of salty-sweet. Genius. As a bonus, this flavour is dairy-free and vegan to boot. 

9/10

I can now comprehend why it's difficult for Goupie to explain exactly what it is that they're selling, for their brand encompasses a selection of innovative sweet treats that are completely different to anything I've tried before. They're innovative, creative and delicious -what's not to love? 

Please pop over to Goupie's website where you'll find other delicious sounding Goupies including lemon meringue, cherry Almond and espresso Goupies as well as chocolate and orange discs. You can get 15% off with the code gbg15 too. Nom. 

Thanks to Goupie for the samples! 

NEW! Banoffee Brownies (Co-Op)

I'd vowed not to by any more baked goods. My cupboards are brimming with all kinds of biscuits, and I've recently started baking again (which I'm thoroughly enjoying). I thought I was doing well with my oath, even not giving in to my doughnut cravings (largely caused by The Tandem Bakery's Instagram feed).  My self-restraint caved completely though this week when I saw a story by the lovely Emma (@EmmasFood) which featured banoffee brownies. I hope you agree this constituted a cake emergency, although I did manage to abstain from heading to the Co-Op in my pyjamas that evening, and indeed managed to wait until I was on my way home from the gym the next day. 

"Banana and toffee flavour chocolate brownies topped with salted fudge pieces."

The pack cost £1 and included 8 square brownie chunks. Despite them being sat with the fresh cakes they had a reasonably long shelf life of about a month. Upon opening the bag I was greeted with a rich cocoa aroma, followed by a lingering artificial banana scent.  Uh oh. I hope that wasn't a precursor for a chemical taste. 

Unfortunately it was. On the positive side the brownies were soft in the middle, with a decent squidge and deep cocoa flavour.  Sounds great, right? Except for that damn banana. It wasn't even a pleasant foam banana sweet or milkshake kind of flavour; it was nasty and synthetic. I can't even see banana mentioned in the ingredients list. How can some companies get it so wrong? At least McVities got it right. 

What a shame! If only the Co-Op had chosen to use real banana instead of some artificial flavourings to make these brownies. They had so much potential. I guess I'll just have to make my own....

4/10

Cookie Dough Gourmet Edible Cookie Dough: Red Velvet, Chocolate Chip, Triple Chocolate Fudge & Funfetti Cake Batter (Online)

Have you ever made cookies and considered just not baking them? Just sitting and eating the entire bowl with a spoon? Please tell me that you have. Raw cookie dough is a wondrous creation, and must be on par with -if not even better than- warm cookies straight from the oven. We're not meant to eat it though are we?  I mean, the dough contains raw egg, but I also guess if that if our aim is to make cookies, we probably shouldn't fall at the first hurdle and eat the dough. 

Cue Gookie Dough: the love-child of Olly and Anja, who say that they came up with the idea of creating tubs of gourmet edible cookie dough from their life long obsession with Willy Wonka. The tubs are available in four drool inducing flavours: red velvet, gooey chocolate chip, triple chocolate fudge and funfetti cake batter. They're designed to be kept refrigerated (with a shelf life of about a month) but can also be frozen. That's if your self restraint allows, of course. I was utterly excited when I received an email from Olly asking if I'd like to review their products and immediately accepted, starting to think up ways to serve up the Gookie Dough (that's if I wasn't to eat it straight from the jar). I love a good food brainstorm, but if you're feeling less creative there's plenty of ideas on their Instagram page.

Gooey Chocolate Chip

"Is there anything better than fresh golden chocolate chip cookie dough? With a generous portion of luxury Belgian dark chocolate chunks swirled in a silky, buttery Madagascan vanilla dough, the original handcrafted Gookie dough recipe is to die for!" 

The first thing I noticed was the sheer amount of chocolate chips that were embedded within the dough. The batter was quite loose too, a similar sort of consistency to peanut butter or chocolate spread. A serving size is 75g (half a mini jar) and I chose to use it to top a protein cake in one of my late night snack bowls. 

The dough was tacky, and melted fairly quickly on top of the warm cake. As you can imagine it was very sweet, but it was also comforting too. The consistency of the dough is smooth, lacking the graininess of the cookie dough chunks that are commonplace in ice creams. I thought the serving size was a little generous as I found it quite sickly towards the end, but that just meant that there's more servings per tub. Bonus.

8/10

Funfetti Cake Batter

"Sprinkles make everything more fun and better right? Taking inspiration from the ultimate American childhood birthday cake flavour, this decadent and rich Madagascan vanilla dough is layered with handfuls of luxury Belgian white chocolate chunks. Just to make it ultra special, this party favourite is loaded full of rainbow crystal sugar sprinkles!"

If you've been reading this blog for some time you'll know that misleading names are a personal bug bear -despite being a marketing and advertising student. So let's get this straight, this flavour Gookie Dough was in fact a white chocolate version of the chocolate chip, there's not really any cake about it. I'll step down off my high horse now.

This time I sandwiched the batter between two Oatmeal & raisin flapjacked cookies, and I'm salivating just thinking about the combination. I used just 50g this time and loved the flavour and textural combination of the Gookie dough with the cooked cookie. If you decide to treat yourself to some Gookie Dough, I highly recommend that you try the pairing for yourself. 

9/10

Red Velvet

"Have you ever tried the world’s most famous & elegant cake flavour? Intertwining super moist, luscious red Belgian cocoa dough, and heavenly, creamy, melt in your mouth Madagascan vanilla frosting, this dough doesn’t disappoint when it comes to providing that signature light chocolaty flavour. It’s most certainly red velvet by name and red velvet by nature!"

There's no doubt about the flavour of this cookie dough given the colour of it. Red velvet is notoriously difficult to nail from both a colour and flavour point of view, so I was pleased to see that Gookie Dough had achieved at lest one of the objectives.

This time I decided to top my ice cream with some frozen Gookie Dough. However, I'm not sure if I didn't put it in the freezer for long enough (just an hour) but the batter didn't really solidify. I also didn't find that it had a particularly strong chocolate flavour, and although the swirls of vanilla frosting were evident in the appearance, they were lost in the resounding sweetness. It was tasty, but not the best flavour by a long shot.

6/10 

Triple Chocolate Fudge 

"Simply put, this is a choc-a-holic’s dream! Using not one, not two, but 3 different chocolate varieties, this fudgey 100% cocoa dough is heaped full of divine dark cocoa, Belgian milk chocolate fudge and white chocolate chunks. Prepare yourself for a chocolate coma!"

Coma me up. I needed a chocolate hit and decided to enjoy this flavour straight from the jar. Yes it was chocolatey, yes it was extremely sweet, yes it was sticky, and yes it was the ultimate in indulgence. It was a chocolate bomb and I felt it should be for reserved for really bad Monday evenings (or Sunday night blues).

Gookie Dough isn't for the faint hearted. It's made especially for us sugar addict. It's unique (as far as I'm aware) and I applaud Olly and Anja for their ingenuity. Gookie Dough is available in 150g mini tubs and 450g monster tubs. Prices start at £7.50 for two mini tubs and can be purchased directly from Gookie Dough's website. I really hope they consider creating peanut butter and snickerdoodle flavours in future....

Thank you for the samples Olly! 

NEW! PhD Smart Bars: Choc Peanut Butter, Cookies & Cream, Chocolate Brownie and Dark Choc Raspberry (CNSport)

Barebells aren't the only bars that are generating a lot of buzz at the moment. There's another player on the scene, and it's phD! I must admit that I've stayed clear of PhD since the peanut butter flapjack that I tried before I even started doing any weight training. Of course the protein bar industry has changed rapidly recently, and there's no space any longer for chewy/rubbery/ tasteless bars. Grenade led the way with the Carb Killa range, and now we're seeing an influx of bars that resemble chocolate bars. The lines are becoming further blurred - just look Mars' range! Texture, taste and nutritionals are all important; cue the PhD Smart Bars. Available in five flavours, the Smart Bars each contain 20g of protein, are low sugar and palm oil free. I was given four of the five bars to review when I was at BodyPower, so here goes...

Choc Peanut Butter 

The long, bobbly bar contained a protein nougat core, surrounded by caramel, then crispies, all covered by milk chocolate. Sounds good right? 

A delightful combination of textures awaited me; the nougat was soft with a gentle chew, the caramel gooey (so much so that it had escaped through the bottom of the bar like it had with the Warrior bar too) and the crispies of course offered crunch. Flavour-wise the chocolate and caramel were scrummy, BUT -and it's a big but for a reason- the peanut butter was non-existent. I made Bert smell the bar (he refused to even sample it) and he promised me he could smell peanut butter, but I really couldn't taste it. Such a shame.

Macros per 64g bar: kCal 239P20/C24/F10

7/10

Cookies & Cream

Ahh the go-to protein bar flavour. I loved the Barebells C&C, could phd compete with the Swedes? This Smart bar looked similar to the choc pb flavour, but was devoid of the caramel layer and instead contained a pale nougat. 

Fundamentally the bar was good with a sweet milky taste and contrasting textures, but It didn't really scream of Cookies & Cream. Even a couple of months ago I would've been mightily impressed, but the chocolate crispies on the outside and better macros of the Barebells bar mean that PhD fail to take the C&C crown.

Macros per 64g bar: 241kCal/P20/C24/F11

8/10

Chocolate Brownie

This coating of this Smart bar was a different colour to the previous two bars, and it was then that I realised that both this and the chocolate raspberry are coated in dark chocolate instead. This is a unusual choice in a market that's dominated by very sweet milk chocolate covered bars.

The flavour was rich but the bitterness from the chocolate meant that the bar was far less sickly than the previous two. The chocolate was only about as dark as Bournville but it made a big difference. The nougat was chocolate flavoured and there was a chocolate sauce between the crispies too, which made it a very chocolatey bar. This might sound like perfection but so actually preferred the milk chocolate coating.

Macros per 64g bar: kCal237/P20/C22/F11 

8/10

Dark Choc Raspberry 

Finally! An unusual flavour combination from PhD, and the bar I was most excited about -especially having heard rave reviews from Conor at CNSport. The closest creations I guess are Quest's and Reflex's white chocolate & Raspberry protein bars. It's a strenuous link though because clearly the multi-layered  Smart Bar is very different to those classic protein bars. 

This bar comprised a chocolate core, crispies, dark chocolate coating and raspberry flavoured caramel. 

Jesus-F-Christ. 

PhD are genii! This is a bar to really rival the nougat chocolate bars on the market. I adored the juxtaposition of textures as I had with the other Smart Bars, but this combination of flavours was unreal. The slightly bitter dark chocolate worked wonderfully well with the sweet but zingy raspberry sauce, delivering an experience that was reminiscent of Black Forest. Throw in the milky, soft nougat and crunchy nibbles and you've got yourself a winner. I didn't have the patience when I was eating it through to sheer enjoyment, but I imagine that this bar would be amazing heated up - and even better warm with a side of ice cream. Oof.

Macros per 64g bar: 237kCal/P20/C22/F11

10/10

Thank you to PhD for the samples! Smart bars are available from PhD's website and CNSport.Have you tried them yet? What do you think? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram! 

Chococcino Muffins (M&S)

I've had such a mixed bag with M&S' cakes recently. Take their new Tiramisu cupcakes for example, which were pretty lacklustre, especially when you compare them to the amazing spiced carrot cake muffins. I found these chococcino muffins reduced to a very reasonable 15p and couldn't resist the bargain.

"Tasty two-tone chocolate & coffee flavoured muffins, studded with dark and milk chocolate pieces."

They were aesthetically pleasing muffins, but then M&S can always be trusted to deliver on the appearance front. Slicing on in two revealed a centre that was entirely chocolate cake. The way my knife cut through it so cleanly with little resistance did set off alarm bells however. 

Just as feared the cake was dry as a bone and I was thankful for my cuppa to help the mouthfuls go down. The flavour didn't save the day either, for it was mostly cocoa and didn't have the coffee kick I hoped for. As for the chocolate chips, they were far and few between and so added very little to these disappointing muffins.

Another miss from M&S' bakery department in afraid; I'd give these a miss if I were you.

5/10

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! McVities Jaffa cakes Chocolate & Orange Blondies (Morrisons)

I'm not sure that we can be friends if you don't like Jaffa cakes. In my books they must be eaten in one of two ways: 

1. Nibble off the chocolate, dunk the sponge in coffee and savour the orange jelly.

Or

2. Proclaim "full moon"... "half moon"..."total eclipse" in a silly accent whilst devouring the Jaffa cake in two bites. N.B. If you don't remember the iconic advert please google it so you don't make me feel old! 

I'm not sure either ritual can be applied to these new blondies though. McVities have also released chocolate jaminger* (sorry, Jamaican Ginger) cakes and chocolate brownies in the same range, but it was the Jaffas that took my fancy.

"Moist Sponge Cake with Orange Flavour Fruit Pieces, Dark Chocolate and an Orange Flavour Topping."

I love the combination of warm brownie/blondie with ice cream so jumped on the opportunity to try these with Tesco's Jaffa Cake ice cream; which incidentally I've fallen more and more in love with. Oh, silly me. Given the topping I'm not sure the squares would microwave all that well. Ambient blondies and ice cream it was then. 

The chocolate was very thin, there's no way I could even attempt to peel it off even if I wanted to. I'm glad I had the chocolatey ice cream to fulfil my fix. 

The blondie was an odd one. Surely for a blondie has to contain white chocolate to earn its name, or is that just my wrong presumption? I certainly didn't think it meant a dense, doughy, un-risen sponge cake devoid of flavour. The 'blondie' was so stodgy that it stuck itself to the roof of my mouth. Not pleasant. 

Don't even get me started on the 'orange flavoured fruit pieces'. Why not use an orange sauce, jelly or *real* orange pieces McVities? Why can't companies use the real deal in products? Argh, I can feel another peanut butter rant coming on. Anyway, the 'orange'  pieces are made from an unbelievable amount of ingredients: Concentrated Apple Juice, Concentrated Orange Juice, Sugar, Dried Apple Powder, Gelling Agent (Pectin), Lemon Juice Concentrate, Glucose Syrup, Antioxidant (Ascorbic Acid), Natural Flavouring, Acidity Regulator (Potassium Citrate)].

It pretty much had the texture of a sauce anyway, but I think you can make out from the photo below that it had sunk down to the bottom of the squares, which made the base all sticky. Taste-wise it was ok, but seeing as it only constituted 6% of the blondie it didn't make much of an impact.

I've made a lot of complaints in this review, but that's because I love my jaffas and I felt these missed the mark. At £1 for four they're cheap and cheerful, just don't expect too much from them.

5/10

*explanation of Jaminger here!

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!

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Topped: Salted Caramel Brownie, Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough & Strawberry Swirled (ASDA)

The news hit two days before I went away: Ben & Jerry's were treating us (once again) with three brand spanking new flavours, and in a different style too. The new Topped tubs have a chocolatey layer above the ice cream and all three flavours sounded insanely good. As always, ice cream princess Ms One Treat was straight off the mark and I eagerly awaited her reviews from the other side of the world. Whilst she praised the new flavours she wasn't blown away, but I'm afraid to admit that it didn't hinder my excitement to try them for myself. Frustratingly Ocado has been the only place to purchase them from until this week, and seeing as the online supermarkets refuses to deliver to us country bumpkins, I had to wait it out. Monday was the day! Instagram filled with pictures of the Topped tubs in ASDA, and so I made a beeline on the way home.

£4.80 a tub. Ouch. Fortunately for me, Ben & Jerry's kindly invited me to a launch event a few months ago, and when I told them that I couldn't make it they sent me a couple of vouchers for free tubs and I've saved them for new tubs that aren't on promotion.

So which to choose? I'm embarrassed to admit that I dawdled for a good few minutes, pondering between the three before phoning a friend (I.e calling Bert) and asking his opinion. He chose the chocolate and strawberry tubs, but then I remembered that One Treat recommended the cookie dough as the best of the bunch and once again I was baffled. It was like choosing between my children.

Then I was struck by a brainwave! I remembered it was the 13th of February, and I could have bet your bottom dollar that Bert hadn't bought me a valentine present. All three made their way to the till, thanks Bert!

Salted Caramel Brownie

"Vanilla ice cream with a salted caramel swirl (11%), chocolate brownie pieces (3%), chocolatey chunks (3%) and chocolatey topping (9%)

The thick layer on top had a ganache-like density and shine to it, with plenty of dark coloured chocolate ampersands dotted about. Digging into it was fairly easy though, and I found the ice cream beneath to be one of Ben & Jerry's softer styles (much like the Sofa So Good). There was noticeably less chunks in it than I've become accustomed too of late, and the sauce was almost infused within the ice cream.

The taste was good though, and whilst I'd ordinarily never buy Ben & Jerry's for their vanilla flavours, it was yummy and allowed the caramel sauce to shine through. The brownies that I found, although far and few between (there's just 3% brownie in this compared to 7% in Sofa So Good) were up to scratch -moist and chewy as they reliably always are in B&J's tubs. The topping was the star of the show though, for it is in fact a chocolate and hazelnut paste and tastes rather like a nutella inspired ganache. It's thick and silken and complements the ice cream wonderfully. I only wish there were layers of it as opposed to just a topping! 

8/10

Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough
Despite being a blatant chocoholic, I'm very fussy when it comes to chocolate ice creams. It's a fine line on when they become just too sickly and I didn't particularly enjoy my last pint of Ben & Jerry's Blondie Brownie. That said I'm utterly addicted to their Chocolate Fudge Brownie Wich's and couldn't be more pleased to see that they've made a come back in multi-pack form this year.

"Chocolate ice cream with a caramel swirl (10%), chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough (3%), chocolatey chunks (3%) and chocolatey topping (9%)."

The uppermost layer used in this tub is the same as used in the Salted Caramel Brownie Topped, a thick chocolate hazelnut paste with chocolate ampersands -which all stuck themselves to one side of my tub.

(Yep I was greedy and had both the Chocolate Caramel cookie Dough & Salted Caramel Brownie at the same time. The brownie is on the left and the cookie dough on the right).

The chocolate ice cream didn't disappoint, and I loved the addition of the caramel swirl. I recently tried Baskin Robbins' chocolate peanut butter ice cream (one of the best ice creams I've ever had!) and this reminded me of it. It's almost like a Rolo in ice cream form. Even better was the cookie dough pieces which broke up the texture and added a gritty biscuit flavour, nom nom nom. Again the amount of 'extras' was lower than usual, but I didn't seem to mind so much thanks to my state of chocoholic bliss. 

9/10

Strawberry Swirl

Why we can't get Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake in pint size tubs I'll never know. It's the only reason I buy the multi-packs of 100ml tubs (and only when they're on offer for £2.50 in Tesco). Ben & Jerry's seem to forget that a fruity ice cream is delicious when done right, although they seem to be rectifying this having brought back One Sweet World, and now this Strawberry Swirl, hurrah. 

"Cream ice cream with strawberry (13%) and marshmallow (7%) swirls, shortbread chunks (3%), with a white chocolate flavour topping (9%) and white chocolatey chunks (1.5%)."

Oooh, the white chocolate topping looked extremely inviting, and once dug into revealed a pale creamy coloured ice cream beneath. The topping was firmer than the hazelnut based one, shattering into shards upon impact. A pretty pink swirl pervaded throughout the ice cream, although the marshmallow was less obvious.

Mmmm. Delicious! I'm a huge fan of white chocolate and raspberry and/or strawberry in any form, so using it in Ben & Jerry's luxuriously creamy ice cream was always going to be a winner for me. The white chocolate was just as creamy and sweet as I'd hoped and melted in the mouth easily. Perhaps there could have been more strawberry sauce, or indeed it could have done with being a strawberry ice cream to bring the flavours into a better harmony, but I still absolutely loved this tub. The shortbread chunks were buttery and crumbly, and should make any Scot proud. 

I really really miss the Baked Alaska tubs, but Strawberry Swirled is a very good compromise!

9/10