NEW! Ben & Jerry's Home Sweet Honeycomb Ice Cream (Tesco)

Ben and Jerry's have a cruel habit of releasing a batch of new flavours in quick succession. I get that this may lead to exciting times for our tastebuds, but it's not so easy on the wallet -especially at the newly inflated price of £4.20 per pint (and it's only been spotted in Tesco thus far). The launch of Home Sweet Honeycomb has swiftly followed the fairly unexciting Berry Neighbourly, and also marked the end of my self-imposed ice cream buying ban. That didn't last long.

"Have we got a sweet treat for you; creamy ice cream, chocolatey honeycomb chunks, a salted caramel honey swirl – your taste buds will feel the buzz (bees, geddit?) with this concoction. Home Sweet (Honey) Comb was created to carry an all-important, timely message: it’s time to come together for people in need of a safe place to call home. It’s time to come together for refugees."

Christ, it was soft. I mean, so soft that I couldn't scoop it properly. It had a fair amount of chocolate honeycomb nuggets though, and a faint ripple of the caramel honey swirl. I really hoped it would be less sweet and more luxurious than the Sainsbury's Honeycomb & Caramel Dairy ice cream tub.

The cream flavoured ice cream was so-so. I mean it was sweet and creamy, but offered very little in the way of excitement and melted far too quickly. To be honest, I thought that it was a fairly uninspired flavour from the brand that used to be relied upon for their ingenuity and imagination. Somehow the cream flavour worked much better in the Strawberry Swirled -perhaps because it had the fruity sauce to break it up. 

The honey caramel swirl was also a little lacklustre. I can't help but feel like the developers couldn't make up their mind either. Choose honey or salted caramel Ben & Jerry's for goodness sake! In any case, the sauce wasn't thick like the centre of their Karamel Sutra or Blondie Brownie pints, and kind of fused with the cream flavoured ice cream, resulting in a mild toffee throughout. Humf. 

On to those chocolate coated honeycomb bites. Thankfully were delicious and reminded me of the bags that ASDA used to sell. Again though, they weren't anything particularly innovative, and I can't help but think that Ben & Jerry's have been more than a little lazy with this tub. 

To be honest, this is no better than the Sainsbury's tub. In fact I'd rather save my pennies have the Sainsbury's honeycomb & caramel ice cream... 

scrap that... I'll stick to their peanut & caramel tub instead. 

6/10

Honeycomb & Caramel Dairy Ice Cream (Sainsbury's)

A few weeks ago I discovered the peanut buttery tub of joy that Sainsbury's surreptitously keep in their freezers, and so I couldn't help but return to my local store to find out what else I was missing...

Cookie dough and honeycomb & caramel are the other two flavours in Sainsbury's own dairy ice cream range. It was a fairly easy choice between these two tubs for me; cookie dough is fairly widespread and never as good as Ben & Jerry's, whereas there's a distinct lack of luxury extras-added honeycomb ice cream -especially since the sad loss of Morrisons' Shortbread Millionaire's mash up. 

"Caramel flavoured dairy ice cream swirled with toffee sauce, honeycomb pieces and chocolate coated shortcake pieces."

I swear the caramel ice cream was softer in this tub than in the peanut version, but I must have imagined that because there appears to be similar ingredients in both: skimmed milk, double cream, sugar, skimmed cows' milk concentrate, glucose Syrup - AKA the good stuff. Perhaps it was the sauce that made it seem looser. As well as the textural issues this toffee ripple provided, it was also problematic on the flavour front. You see, the peanut tub worked well because it had the nut brittle to counteract and cut through the sweetness, but this toffee sauce just tipped the ice cream into sickly territory. Not great.

So what would make a caramel ice cream and toffee sauce even more cloying? Oh yes, that's right, honeycomb pieces. There was an abundance of them, and they were light and crunchy... but this tub really didn't need any more sugar, and remember, this is coming from an out & proud sugar addict. Ok, ok, yes I've also recently acknowledged that I can't hack a great deal of honeycomb, so maybe if you're a Cadbury Crunchie fan this might be up your street. It's just not in my neighbourhood. 

Thankfully, redemption reared its head when it came to the chocolate coated shortcake pieces, which were both buttery and crisp. The biggest issue with biscuit in ice cream is the fact that it often goes soggy, but the coating prevented this nicely. The chocolate wasn't anything of note, but it wasn't awful either. Which reminds me, I must try the McVities nibbles soon. 

Meh. As you might've gathered, I wasn't overly fussed on this tub. Bert however really enjoyed it, and said that he'd happily have it instead of Ben & Jerry's. If we were talking about the Sainsbury's peanut tub I'd agree with him, but this one? I'd rather pay the extra 50p and have B&J's any day. 

7/10

NEW! Cornetto Honeycomb Crunch (Tesco)

Cornettos. Are you a fan? I have to admit that I tend to prefer the supermarket branded versions. It's not largely down to price either, as boxes of Cornettos are often on offer for £1. It's actually because Walls have been particularly lazy when it comes to innovating their famous cones. Sure there is the 'Peanut Butter Lovers' cone -which is quite frankly an insult to us peanut butter addicts- but, even if it was nice it's not as inventive as Iceland's rhubarb and custard, banana and peanut or toffee apple cones. I wasn't particularly excited by these new honeycomb Cornettos either, but seeing as both Bert and I love honeycomb ice cream and they were on offer in Tesco (currently £1.50 per four pack) I thought I might as well give them a bash.

"Honeycomb flavour ice cream in a wafer cone (12%), with chocolate flavour coating (5%), with a core of caramel sauce (5%) topped with a chocolate flavour disc (11%) and sugar pieces (2,5%)."

I'll give it to Walls, the chocolate disk makes for an attractive ice cream. The trouble is, it doesn't taste all that great. The chocolate isn't real chocolate, it's a dark composite that has an easy melt -but that's about the only plus point. Yes, the sugar pieces added a little texture, but surely it would have been better to use little chocolate coated honeycomb nuggets instead*.

On to the ice cream and it was pretty low-quality. It was soft set and made from reconstituted skimmed milk, meaning that it lacked the quality of premium brands. On the positive side, the flavour was butterscotch-y, although the ice cream used in both the Crunchie and Daim sticks beat this new Cornetto hands down.

The caramel sauce wasn't anything special either -especially when you compare it to the stuff Ben & Jerry's use in their Karamel Sutra and Blondie Brownie pints. It's sweet, but thin and more like a generic toffee flavour ice cream topping than the buttery stuff in Ben & Jerry's -which makes me groan with joy. 

If you're a honeycomb fan then stick to the Daim or Crunchie sticks. If it's the cone you're after then I suggest you fill your own with Ben & Jerry's or buy any of the supermarkets' own brand toffee cones if you want to save your pennies.

6/10 

*note to self: I must find out if ASDA still sell bags of them next to the chocolate raisins. 

NEW! Red Velvet, S'mores, Salted Caramel & Cookie Dough Cheesecakes (ASDA)

I walked into ASDA the other night to pick up some bread rolls and came away with four cheesecakes. How did that happen?! Please tell me I'm not the only one. Believe it or not, that was me holding back, there were many more new ones (take a look at the bottom of this post for photos of just some of the others I spotted). Anyway, I bought 4 of the 5 new individual ones for £1 each -key lime pie didn't appeal I'm afraid, even enough to take a photo. 

Cookie Dough
I really hoped this would be better than the last ASDA cookie dough cheesecake I reviewed just over a year ago. It certainly looked appealing, with a more substantial base this time around.

"Chocolate biscuit base with chocolate chip and chocolate cheesecake batters, with cookie dough, topped with chocolate sauce, milk chocolate chips and white chocolate buttons."

The cheesecake itself was pretty pants. It had that wobbly jelly like consistency that I find so off-putting in most supermarket cheesecakes. Flavour-wise neither the chocolate or chocolate chip batter cut the mustard either. The paler of the two didn't have many chocolate chips, neither did it taste of vanilla, or soured cream, just plain. Humf. The chocolate cheesecake wasn't much better either. 
As for the cookie dough, that was a bit lost too. In fact I only realised when I finished my slice that I hadn't even tasted it! Oops. Fortunately the chocolate bottom was ok, although a little on the dry and crumbly side.

5/10 

Salted Caramel 

"Digestive biscuit base topped with caramel cheesecake batter and salted caramel sauce, topped with milk chocolate malt balls and chocolate crispies."

At least the cheesecake itself was actually flavoured. Whilst it still wobbled, I enjoyed the treacly flavour (although I'm not sure how salted it truly was). 
The honeycomb balls on top were crisp, although admittedly they weren't up to Malteser standards.

I also enjoyed the base of this one. Sometimes you can't beat the original, and I greedily hoovered up every last crumb of digestive biscuit. 

7/10

Red Velvet Secret Centre 

"Red velvet base with vanilla cheesecake batter and a chocolate sauce centre, with red velvet topping."

Boy this was messy to retrieve from its pot, the cake crumb scattered everywhere! Also, can you call a cheesecake a cheesecake without a biscuit bottom? 

Another sub-standard cheesecake. I think ASDA must've used the same batter in this and the cookie dough flavour, for it had a similar a similar taste and consistency. The cake crumb was ok, but there wasn't much of it, and without the crunchy base there was a distinct lack of textural contrast. Not good. The 'secret centre' constituted a measly teaspoonful of runny chocolate sauce, the sort of stuff you'd use to top ice cream -again it wasn't particularly enjoyable. 

I'd give this one a miss if I were you.

4/10  

S'mores 
I really hoped that this cheesecake would fare better than the other new ASDA cheesecakes and the Tesco freezer burnt S'mores cheesecake I reviewed last year.

"Chocolate biscuit base with chocolate cheesecake batter topped and a chocolate sauce centre topped with a chocolate sauce and marshmallows."

This cheesecake was at least easier to remove from its case, revealing three distinct layers beneath the marshmallow topping.

The top layer was meant to be chocolate sauce, but it was set and tasted a bit like the odd wobbly chocolate puddings you find in all inclusive hotels on the continent -please tell me you know what I mean? I really wish that ASDA had used ganache instead.

The chocolate cheesecake was far from the best I've had; it was gelatinous and mild in flavour. As for the secret centre, I uncovered the same sorry state of affairs as I found in the Red Velvet. Gah, ASDA, you can do so much better than this.

I was grateful that the base was crunchy and actually made from biscuits! The chocolate flavour was rather good too, with a dark bourbon-esque element. C'mon guys, I'm looking for the silver lining here. 

6/10

Summary
What a disappointment ASDA, especially having bought and thoroughly enjoyed your outstanding White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecakes the weekend before. 

Just some of the other new cheesecakes spotted at ASDA..

I like the sound of the Banana Bonanza, but I fear it'll be just as bad as their other new cheesecakes. Please let me know what you think if you try any of ASDA's new dessert range!

Mighty Fine Honeycomb Peanut Butter Bar (Whole Foods Market)

Last July I visited the International Star Wars convention with Bert (his obsession) but made full use of the rare opportunity of being in London to make the pilgrimage to a Whole Foods Market. I’d only known about Whole Foods Market due to Instagram, and it seemed to be the veritable mecca for all things delicious and healthy, so someone please explain to me how I only ended up buying chocolate. One of the bars I bought was a Mighty Fine Honeycomb Peanut Butter bar, and I trekked it all the way home before promptly forgetting about it.

The trouble is, over the past few years I’ve developed a gradual distaste towards honeycomb chocolate bars. I think I could just about manage a treat size Crunchie, but just the idea of a normal size bar completely jars my teeth and gives me goosebumps. I keep forgetting my palate change though, especially because I love honeycomb flavoured products! So every few weeks I’d spot this peanut butter honeycomb bar at the back of my cupboard, tell myself I’d try it soon, and then completely forget about it all over again.

That was until a couple of weeks ago, when my procrastination finally came to an end and I eventually decided to open the 50g bar (which was still well in date). It was quite the whopper with a good thick coating of milk chocolate surrounding it.

I had naively assumed that the honeycomb itself was going to be peanut butter flavoured, so I was both surprised and distinctly underwhelmed when I took a bit and tasted only sickly sweet sugar. I then read the packaging and realised that the chocolate was where the peanut butter was supposedly residing. Yes folks, supposedly. The chocolate was tasty enough but the nuttiness was nowhere to be found.

I decided to give it the bar the ultimate peanut butter test: I made Bert try a bite. My other half detests peanut butter so much that he won’t go near any food products that remotely mention its inclusion and even refuses kiss me after I’ve eaten anything containing my favourite spread. Even he, the man who can smell peanut butter from 100 yards away, could happily eat this chocolate and not bat an eyelid.

What the ?!

I’m not sure if I got a duff bar or whether the product is just pants full stop*, so please do leave me a comment if you’ve tried Might Fine Honeycombs’s peanut butter honeycomb bar and let me know about your experiences!

2/10

*I later re-read the packaging and realised that there's no peanut butter listed in the ingredients. I hate it when a company does that! Gahhhhhh.

NEW! Dulce De Leche & Honeycomb Cheesecake (M&S)

Is cheesecake a summer dessert? I'm not so sure. Every year I make a cheesecake for Christmas, normally flavoured with chocolate and a liqueur of some description. M&S must think it is seasonal though as they've branded it as part of their new Spirit of Summer range. I don't know why I'm moaning really, cheesecake (like ice cream) is eaten in my house year-round, and I always welcome the opportunity to try a new one.

"Muscovado baked cheesecake with a smooth dulce de leche caramel sauce & chocolate coated honeycomb"

I love the way Marks and Sparks serve these cheesecakes as a mini version of the standard size ones. Fortunately it was easy to remove the dessert from its protective sleeve -thanks to the thoughtful packaging. The chocolate balls on top weren't evenly distributed but I used that to my advantage, and chose the slice with the most -in the name of the blog, obviously.

The honeycomb balls on top were, in fact, mostly chocolate. They melted away in the mouth with the slightest hint of crunch, and were good quality, tasty little morsels.  

I'm not entirely sure whether the caramel sauce (which supposedly accounted for 9% of the dessert) referred to the slightly darker top layer, or if it was supposed to be rippled through the cheesecake -but either way I couldn't find it. Unlike ASDA's new millionaires cheesecake, there was no pool of it lurking in the centre, so I was left a bit puzzled. 

Luckily, the cheesecake itself saved the day; packed full of rich, sweet, caramel flavour and simply delicious. The texture lacked the gelatinous wobble that is commonplace amongst supermarket cheesecakes, and instead was the right balance between light and stodge. 

I found the base of this exotic sounding dessert to be somewhat underwhelming. Instead of opting for something unusual (as I have come to expect from M&S puds) the company chose to use traditional digestive biscuits. I mean, as far as standard biscuit bases go it was pleasant, but perhaps using Biscoff-style caramelised biscuits would've elevated this cheesecake onto the next level. 

The new dulce Le leche & honeycomb cheesecake from Marks & Sparks is tasty, and at £2.20 (on offer) it's not badly priced either. The trouble is, I don't think it's the best of its kind on the market, and to be honest the Sainsbury's chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake is yummier. 

7/10

NEW! Kelly's Honeycomb Crunch Ice Cream

There's another new range of ice creams that's been released recently that I've been too cheapskate to fork out full price for. Well, I say new, but in actual fact it's a relaunch of Kelly's of Cornwall's products. Their head of marketing reportedly said that the "relaunch will be the biggest news in ice cream this year."

Hmm. I'm not sure I agree with that statement considering 2016 has seen lots of new ice creams including the new Ben & Jerry's Swich me Up and double peanut butter Magnums, but we'll see -they've got to be more exciting than the peanut butter Feast bars at least!

Kelly's new range is available in six different flavours:

• Clotted Cream
• Eton Mess
• Lemon Curd Tart
• Praline Caramel
• Chocolate Brownie & Salted Caramel  
• Honeycomb Crunch 

I was so sidetracked by the Honeycomb crunch that I forgot to pick up the deliciously naughty sounding Chocolate Brownie & Salted Caramel -so please forgive me! The ice creams all come in 950ml tubs, and are currently £1.99 at Tesco (RRP £4).

Kelly's old Honeycomb ice cream was my other half's absolute favourite ice cream, so we were both keen to see how the new version would compare.

 

"Caramel Flavour Dairy Ice Cream Rippled with Caramel Sauce and Honeycomb Pieces and Topped with Chunks of Honeycomb"

The clear case that the new Kelly's range now comes in adds to the illusion of fresh gelato, and the soft, whipped consistency of the ice cream itself also felt very Italian. I'm a bit of a weirdo in that I like my ice cream quite firm, and hate it when it melts too easily -but fortunately it held its shape long enough to scoop into cones without dripping everywhere.

The ice cream was extremely rich, and tasted like very cold whipped cream. The honeycomb pieces had retained their crunchiness, offering miniature nuggets of crunch and thereby offsetting the otherwise satiny texture. Flavour came from the caramel sauce, which was just as sweet as expected, although personally I think that it could be improved by a swirl of  a thicker Dulche De Leche style sauce instead.

I'm not sure if it tastes much different to the old Kelly's ice cream, even my other half couldn't tell the difference! For anyone who's particularly interested however, there are a few ingredients discrepancies between the two, for example: the new version has more fat and calories in per 100g and the caramel sauce has increased from 5% to 13%.

The new Kelly's ice cream far outshines Tesco's new Gelateria style chocolate cookie ice cream, but having tried the new Ben & Jerry's only a couple of days previously, I missed the mishmash of flavours and textures of the loaded style ice creams -still yummy though!

7/10

NEW! Limited Edition Honey Teaser Dessert Pots (ASDA)

If you haven't noticed, ASDA have gone on somewhat of a a dessert creating binge this Springtime. They've started selling a whole host of new pudding pots including banoffee bombs, gingerbread latte cups, and afternoon delights to name just a few! They are all priced at £2 for two pots, which seemed a little on the pricey side for own-brand desserts, but I was suckered in by these Honey Teasers.

"Good gosh! Malt flavour mousse, honeycomb bits and milk choc malt balls.. all in a pot. Why ever not!"

The pots looked very pretty, complete with cocoa dusting and visible layers. I love a good combination of textures, and of course I am a chocoholic -so this sounded right up my street.

The first layer was the malt mousse. Am I right in thinking that a malt mousse should taste similar to either Horlicks or the centre of Maltesers? In either case, the flavour didn't cut the mustard. It was fluffy and all, but lacked a strong taste of, well, anything!

Underneath the mousse was a chocolate biscuit crumb, and it was a vast improvement on what I'd tasted so far. It also didn't have a particularly strong flavour, but added a contrast of texture against the airy topping. Amongst the crumb was a tasty surprise: some crunchy pieces, which I imagine where the honeycomb bits. They were super sweet, with a fabulous crunch that worked well against the other two elements.

Next was a layer of chocolate mousse, and this was where the dessert really shone. Instead of the mild, milky flavour that is commonplace amongst most mass-produced mousses, this was a dark and rich chocolate number. Bold in flavour, it was the perfect addition to break up all of the sweetness.

Lastly, at the bottom of the pot, was a layer of toffee sauce and fake Maltesers. The sauce was akin to the likes of  Tate & Lyle's ice cream topping, and certainly not anything to write home about. The 
malt balls unsurprisingly weren't of the highest quality either -put it this way, you know that you're not eating the real deal- but they offered an extra textural dimension.

Despite my complaints, I enjoyed these new 'Honey Teasers' by ASDA, and as an avid dessert muncher, I will always welcome the addition of new puddings to choose from. I'm not sure they were special enough to warrant the £2 price tag, and in all honesty I'd rather buy a pack of the Cadbury's Caramellionaire pots (especially at half the price). Talking of which, the Caramellionaire seemed to have disappeared in favour of the Creme Egg inspired 'Eggciting Layers Of Joy'. I do hope they return after Easter!

Have you tried any of ASDA's new desserts? If so, what do you think?

7/10

'The Crunchy One' Chocolate Bar (M&S)

I really think M&S have upped their chocolate game; at the end of last year they released a whole host of new chocolate bars including plain bars such as 'The White One' that I reviewed last month, and the exciting sounding 'Crazy One' that Lucy reviewed in October. This week I picked up the 'Crunchy One':

'Milk chocolate bar with a soft chocolate centre containing honeycomb, cornflakes, caramelised hazelnut pieces and wafer.'

The bar had a rippled appearance complete with a dark chocolate coloured drizzle on top. It was easy to slice, baring it's soft chocolate & crunchy filling. The chocolate covering had a very mild cocoa flavour, with the emphasis clearly leaning towards the milkier end of the spectrum. 

The filling was very creamy with a whipped, almost mousse like, texture that reminded me of chocolate flavoured buttercream. The honeycomb pieces were evident throughout, providing a hit of both sweetness and crunch, without the overwhelming sugariness that I often experience when eating a Cadbury's Crunchie bar. I could also detect the cornflakes which offered a nostalgic memory of eating Easter nests as a child (perfectly timed to the season of course!). The bar seemed to be lacking the hazelnuts and wafer elements (unsurprising really given that they only make up 3% of the bar each) but there was more than enough going on already, so I'll happily admit that I didn't feel hard done by.

Once again M&S, I have to applaud you for creating a delicious and innovative product, 'The Crunchy One' makes a lovely change!

8/10

Honeycomb Magnum

I've been searching for these Honeycomb Magnums for a couple of months because it seems that none of our local major supermarkets stock them. I finally found them this week in our smaller city centre Tesco and -even better- they were half price at £1.67 for the pack of three.

They are described as 'Honeycomb flavour ice cream with milk chocolate and sugar pieces.' 

The milk chocolate was Magnum's normal good quality, and was plentifully adorned with miniature nuggets of honeycomb which were simultaneously crunchy and melt-in-the-mouth. The ice cream tasted more butterscotch than honeycomb; reminiscent of the nostalgic 'Angel Delight'. I actually found the combination of chocolate and ice cream together unbearably sweet, and so nibbled off all of the chocolate before enjoying the ice cream separately.

I enjoyed the Honeycomb Magnum, and it made a pleasant change, but I wouldn't choose it over their 'Strawberry and White' or 'Espresso' ice creams in future. 

7/10

M&S Chocolate & Honeycomb Ice Creams

It can't be denied that M&S has some beautiful and innovative food. I've recently spotted lots of exciting sounding treats, most of which I've pored over and posted onto my instagram feed. However, being a student I'm restricted by finances and therefore have to keep M&S treats to special occasions.

Yesterday I had some good news which warranted a treat, so I went to M&S specifically to purchase these Chocolate & Honeycomb Ice Cream cones which I've had my eye on for a good few months now. They come in a pack of 4 for £2, which I know isn't excessively dear, but is more expensive than the supermarket own brand ice creams (like the white chocolate & raspberry cones from Tesco I reviewed a little while ago.)

They are described as 'chocolate honeycomb flavour ice cream rippled and topped with toffee sauce and milk chocolate coated honeycomb pieces in a biscuit cone with a chocolate flavour coating,' heavenly right? 

When I opened up my cone, the chocolate coating around the edge of the cone had 'bled' onto the waffle, rendering it a little sad looking. However, the top was generously flecked with the chocolate honeycomb pieces, and was adorned with a lovely thick slathering of toffee sauce. 

The honeycomb nuggets were gorgeous. I'm not a huge fan of Cadbury's Crunchie bars as I find the balance between honeycomb and chocolate completely off, but these were just right.The toffee sauce was deliciously sweet, and worked well with the topping. 

The chocolate ice cream however, was a completely different kettle of fish, What a let down! I expected pure luxury from M&S, but the chocolate was.. well.. just not chocolate-y enough. You know what it's like if you eat chocolate cake that looks like it should be really rich and decadent, but just tastes faintly of cocoa powder? Well this was the ice cream equivalent. My other gripe is that it's just chocolate ice cream- I certainly couldn't distinguish any notes of honeycomb. 

The cone itself was pretty standard.. although the area affected by the 'chocolate bleed' had gone disappointingly soft like a stale biscuit.

All in all, I think the ASDA & Tesco own-brand ice cream cones are FAR superior in quality and taste than these let-downs from M&S.

3/10