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! Jaffa Cake Ice Cream (Tesco)

I'm in the middle of a chocolate orange frenzy at the moment, despite claiming not to be the biggest fan of the combination. This was the last of the four new Tesco luxury pint ice cream tubs that I fancied trying though, and despite the failure of both the Red Velvet & Jammy Ring flavours, I just couldn't help myself. After all there's no quality chocolate orange ice creams on the mass market is there? Please do correct me if I'm wrong.

"Chocolate ice cream with an orange ripple, sponge cake pieces and dark chocolate curls."

Removing the lid didn't reveal much appearance-wise, however I could smell the classically Christmas aroma of Terry's chocolate orange. Mmm.

Digging down into the soft but scoopable tub I soon uncovered a plentitude of sponge cake pieces, orange sauce and chocolate curls. Could this be Tesco's redeeming ice cream?

Yes! Comparatively the ice cream wasn't anywhere near as indulgently rich as Jude's but it was chocolatey! I was pleased that Tesco chose to use plain sponge pieces, and they were fluffy & soft -breaking up the texture nicely.

The orange sauce was a winner too, it was bold and zingy, providing a wonderful fusion of flavours with the chocolate. It really did taste just as it smelt- it's the Terry's ice cream!

The chocolate curls were an equally thoughtful touch and made a welcome change from the standard chocolate chips that are nearly always used instead. They cracked as you ate, offering an unexpected crunchiness to the ice cream.

Finally! A Tesco tub that's worth the £2! A better quality ice cream base would have heralded higher marks, but I'll happily buy Tesco's Jaffa Cake tub again. 

8/10

Party Banana Jaffa Cakes (Polski Sklep)

I posted a picture of these Jaffa cakes last night and waited for the inevitable shock at my find. Five minutes is all it took before the comments started rolling in:

"Banana "Jaffa cakes?! Are they nice? Where are they from??""Banana Jaffa cakes!!! Oh my GOD 😱""OH MY GOD BANANA JAFFA CAKES!!!!""Is this real? 🙀 Banana Jaffa Cakes? 😻"

Yes ladies and gents, banana Jaffa cakes certainly do exist, and they're covered in white chocolate no less. This pack cost me just 69p from one of my local Polish delis, what's not to love? Well actually I did have have concerns: Banana jelly could either be wonderful or a downright disaster.

The first things I noticed about the 'jaffas' was the hideously thin white chocolate coating that covered the jelly. I'm used to McVities comparative decadence, or M&S's if I'm really feeling opulent. 

The second point of concern was the dry base. Now we've all had the "is a Jaffa cake a biscuit or a cake?" debate, but the CAKE most definitely turns hard when stale and I'm not buying that it was simply a super fresh biscuit. The banana Jaffa cakes were well in date too (BB April 2017) so I think it's just the way they're made.

On to the most important part: the tasting. I've explained before that normally I pull apart my jaffas and savour each individual element, but I was too curious to discover what they taste like so got stuck straight in.

Hmm. I'm not convinced. Remember the blue bears in the Haribo Frenzy Carnival that I raved about? Well the centre of the cakes tasted damn similar. In sweet form it worked well, but covered in chocolate and on a base of stale cake? Not so successful. As for the white chocolate, there wasn't enough of it to to be able to distinguish whether it was any good or not...

The combination of flavours was simply peculiar. I mean the banana jaffa cakes were edible -and oddly moreish- but I can't say that I'll be having cravings for the rest of the pack like I do with McVities'. They're worth trying but I won't be in a hurry to buy them again.

6/10

NEW! Cadbury Jaffantastic Layers Of Joy (Tesco)

Yay! At long last the 'Eggciting' Layers Of Joy have disappeared from the shops. I'm so pleased to finally see the back of them, although I still haven't seen the return of the Caramellionaire versions. I'm wondering if this new edition to the range is replacing both? I hope not!

Either way, the new Jaffantastic desserts have to be better than the horribly sickly Easter version. As a lover of Jaffa Cakes, I liked the sound of these new puds and hotfooted it down to Tesco pretty promptly after seeing them pop up on Instagram.

The pack of two cost £1.20, and isn't suitable for vegetarians.

"Delicious layers of Cadbury milk chocolate mousse, zingy orange jelly and sponge topped with Cadbury milk chocolate mousse."

I have to admit that the description didn't excite me as much as my initial idea of a Jaffa Cake inspired dessert did -and I really hoped that the sponge would be more palatable than the dry disc in the 'Eggciting' version. Fingers crossed.

The mousse was as velvety and as chocolatey as expected, a light mouthful of bubbly cocoa heaven. I wasn't looking forward to the orange layer underneath -but it was crazy good! More like a thick orange sauce than solid jelly, it offered the right proportion of sweet and tartness. tantalising my tastebuds with a bold citrussy flavour. The liquidity of it meant that it was easy to have a mouthful of all three elements together for that true jaffa cake experience.

More praise for Cadbury's as they have done well with the cake in the centre, it was lovely and moist, and in fact more soft than what you'd find in a jaffa cake, but it was delicious.  

I was thankful for the extra chocolate layer on the bottom, it meant that the dessert was well balanced, and was the perfect ending to this wonderful new dessert. Jaffantastic they certainly are! 

10/10

NEW! Dark Chocolate & Mango Jaffa Cakes (M&S)

Have you visited a Marks & Spencer food hall in the past week or so? You really should, it's pretty wow. I can't believe that one company can launch so many new lines such a short space of time! The sun might not be blazing where you are (it's not here at least!) but summer has well and truly arrived in M&S. You can't miss their new 'Spirit of Summer' range in their brightly coloured packaging, and there's some truly scrummy looking products to be found. I can't even begin to tell you about all of the temptations I've spotted, but a glance at Kev's Instagram feed will give you a pretty good idea. 

M&S have created some pretty wacky lines this year, but I was enticed by the sound of their new Dark Chocolate & Mango Jaffa Cakes, and at £1 they're not too expensive either. I love a good Jaffa Cake, and I have to admit that I believe Marks & Sparks make the very best. Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of love for McVities' version, but the dark chocolate covering on M&S' makes them extra special.

On a side note, do you remember Pim's white chocolate and cherry 'jaffa' cakes? I loved them as a child, but no-one seems to to recollect them. Anyway...

The box contained 13 rectangular cakes. and as soon as I unwrapped them from their cellophane I was bowled over by their strong tropical aroma. If the smell was anything to go by, the flavour was going to knock my socks off. 

The bottom was soft, and whilst it wasn't particularly exciting, it was a decent sponge all the same. The chocolate was at the milder end of the dark spectrum, meaning that I could enjoy it (you might already know that I'm a dark chocolate wimp). My only complaint is that it was a very thin coating, making it difficult to peel from the orange-coloured centre. Please tell me I'm not the only one who laboriously pares the chocolate off, before eating the jelly separately? 

The centre was wonderful; it was sweet yet sharp, the perfect contrast against the plain sponge and dark chocolate. The mango was the most prominent flavour, but there were hints of orange in the background, resulting in a tang that danced on my tastebuds. All of the three layers worked in harmony together, and whilst I'm not sure that it beats M&S' original (or indeed Pim's) its a lovely summery new addition. I can't wait to try some of their other new products soon!

9/10

Alpen Light Jaffa Cake Bars

Happy Friday all! I'm back again with another chocolate related post. This time it's a review of the Alpen Light Jaffa Cake Bars.

Alpen released these bars earlier this year together with the Banoffee variety. I bought the Banoffee bars at the beginning of the summer but I have to admit that I wasn't keen. As I've previously mentioned, I am normally a fan of anything banana- both artificial and real- but I found the bars to be really artificial. It didn't taste pleasantly of  'foam bananas' or banana milkshake but just chemically, and I haven't bought any more since. I did read Nibbles & Scribbles review of both new flavours last month, and she encouraged me to give this Jaffa Cake flavour bar a go.

I have to admit, I've been waiting for them to come on offer because I'm loathe to spend £1.99 on a box of 6 when I can pick up the original flavours in Poundland. My luck must have been in yesterday though, because I spotted the Jaffa Cake light bars in the pound shop- I do love a bargain!

When I opened my bar, the chocolate on top had the dreaded white speckled signs of spoilage, but I didn't let that put me off.  I bit into it hesitantly, and was pleasantly surprised! I have to agree with Nibs- it actually does taste of Jaffa Cake. I'm not sure how the clever guys at Weetabix have done it, but they've got the balance of chocolate, cereal bar and orange spot on. I always forget how much I enjoy chocolate orange until the Terry's comes out at Christmas, and this was a perfect reminder of how lovely it can be.

My normal go-to Alpen bars are the Cherry Bakewell and Chocolate Fudge, but I definitely prefer this new flavour... so much so that I'd be tempted to fork out the extra 99p for them (or atleast stock up from the poundland whilst stocks last!)

If you're after a healthy, low calorie snack i'd definitely suggest giving these a go!

9/10