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 

NEW! Macabella Crunchy Choc Macadamia Spread (Sainsbury's)

There's a new chocolate spread on the block, well new to British Supermakets at least, made by  Australian manufacturers Macabella who specialise in luxury chocolate spread infused with Macadamia Nuts. To be honest, I wouldn't have given the product a second thought was it not for some spectacular food porn photographs on Instagram (you know who you are). Every morning I felt the familiar pang of envy as I saw each image of the delightfully glossy looking spread atop a slice of wholemeal toast -and I knew I would have to try it for myself pronto. So off to Sainsbury's I trotted, forking out the £2.50 introductory offer price for the 375g. But what's so special about Macabella? They say...

"Macabella Choc Macadamia Spread is infused with the unique flavour of diced and gently ground macadamias, allowing your taste buds to experience a true delight with one of the worlds finest nuts.Macadamias are a nutrition powerhouse and contain many nutrients including heart-friendly monosaturated fatty acids.Macabella is heavenly all on its own by the spoonful, but you can also enjoy the smooth velvety texture with extra crunch, spread thick onto your favourite bread or croissant. However you choose to indulge with Macabella one spoonful is never enough."

I loved the luxury design on the packaging, in fact somehow the jar looked out of place next to my jar of much loved Skippy peanut butter. My joy was set to continue once I unscrewed the golden lid too, for the spread was shiny, with lots of visible finely chopped nuts. For those interested there is a 'velvet' smooth version of Macabella too. I surprised myself for opting for the crunchy version seeing as I'm a smooth peanut butter* kind of girl -but I thought the nuts might get lost amongst the chocolate flavour if they were fully blended. 

Tastewise, the spread was rich, with devilishly naughty chocolate flavour. This was slightly unexpected considering that the only chocolatey ingredient is 6.5% of fat reduced cocoa powder. Don't get me wrong though -this certainly isn't a diet product! There was a creaminess to it that surpassed the likes of Nutella, and it melted better when slathered onto my warm soft oatcake (new obsession alert). The macadamia flavour perhaps wasn't as strong as I expected -but then the nut is known for its mild, creamy taste anyway. I also found that it made for a yummy treat used as a dip for pink lady apples; the tangy-sweet combination works extraordinarily well! 

I'm not sure I'll always buy Macabella in favour of Nutella, but it makes for a welcome change -especially as Tesco don't seem to make their fabulous Dark Chocolate & Almond spread anymore, boo. 

8/10

*But weirdly crunchy Biscoff gets my vote!