I love cinnamon. Like seriously love cinnamon. I mean, give me cinnamon buns, cereal, cookies, cakes, with apple in a crumble? It makes my heart sing, does it do the same to you? It might shock you, given my chocolate addiction, that oatmeal raisin cookies take precedence over any chip varieties in my house, something I already mentioned in my FlapJacked cookie review. I also love cookie sandwiches (albeit normally filled with peanut butter or ice cream) and so the Mrs Freshley's Oatmeal Creme Pie appealed to me -especially at 99p and given my recent success with Mrs F's cinnamon donuts.
The Creme Pie consisted of two bakery-size cookies filled with creme. Now Creme tends to be something more favoured on the other side of the Atlantic, you certainly don't see it so often here (unless we're talking Oreos, but then again, they're American expats really anyway. The cookies had crumbled in transit, revealing the white coloured centre. I could also smell the cinnamon. Mmm.
The cookies were fairly moist considering the distance they've travelled (they obviously don't suffer from long-haul flight related dehydration in the same way us humans do). The cinnamon spice was every bit as prominent as the aroma had led me to believe, however I was a bit disappointed that the creme pie doesn't contain raisins -although according to the packaging it does contain raisin paste... something I've never seen referenced before.
If you're accustomed to eating Twinkies, you'll get the gist of what the creme was like. Indeed it was that similar, super-sugary buttercream-y filling. To be honest, I found it made the cookie creme pie overwhelmingly sweet, but I imagine if you ate it in two sittings (or shared, shock horror) that it wouldn't become so sickly. My bad.
I'm glad I've tried the Oatmeal Creme Pie. It's not my favourite Mrs F product to date but I did enjoy it and would have it again. The Oatmeal Creme Pie is available to buy from A Taste of The States, where you can get a huge 20% discount across the site using the code AMYSEEKS20. Go, shop!
7/10
I've already reviewed the winners of this years' prestigious Good Housekeeping Institute's prestigious Mince Pie taste tests, and today it's the turn of the 2015 runners up -made by Greggs. For those of you who, like me, live in non-mince-pie eating households, it's always handy to be able to buy a single pastry without committing to a whole box. Unfortunately traditional British bakeries offering freshly baked bread and cakes are somewhat on the decline, but most high streets do offer (at least one) Greggs. In fact their mince pie was the first I tried this season -before I thought sod it, and bought three 6 pack boxes to eat to myself. Hey, it's Christmas, it's traditional to be more stuffed than the Turkey throughout (November and) December, right?
"It's that time of year when you can enjoy our sweet mince pies!
Deliciously crumbly shortcrust pastry, filled with a sweet mincemeat, made with vine fruits, Bramley apple and candied orange and lemon peel - YUM!"
This was a fairly wide and shallow mince pie, much more akin to the ones I used to make with my Grandma every year (I miss doing that so much) than most of the deeper shop bought varieties. The pastry was a light golden colour and there was a fair amount of caster sugar gracing the top. So far, so good.
Unfortunately, the taste wasn't fantastic. At the time I wondered whether my tastes had changed (yet again) and I'd just gone off mince pies, but I've since tried Iceland's fabulous luxury versions and ALDI's wacky flavoured offerings, and realised that Greggs just haven't done a great job. The case to filling ratio was off, and the sheer amount of pastry made it rather claggy to eat. Unfortunately it wasn't buttery or shortbread-esque like Iceland's either, which made for a rather cumbersome eating experience.
Please excuse the nibbled edges - I was eating this on the train!
The mincemeat was pretty standard, on the plus side it was quite heavily spiced but it hadn't been cooked for long enough, resulting in globs of unattractive suet permeating the filling. Humf.
Perhaps this is why the Greggs Mince Pie dropped to number 17 out of 24 in the Good Housekeeping's Taste Test this year. C'mon Greggs, more effort next year please!
5/10
I don't make a regular habit of eating at McDonalds, but as soon as their Christmas menu was announced I knew I'd have to make a trip there for my Thursday train dessert night.
There's apparently been a public outcry at the loss of their mincemeat and custard filled Festive Pie" this year but, to be honest, it didn't phase me as id never even bothered to try it. The replacement was far more exciting in my books anyway. I've spoken many a time on this blog about my love of Nutella & banana toasties (as well as my obsession with anything banoffee: peanut butter, biscuits, flapjack, muffins, whey protein, rice pudding...you name it!) so you can imagine my glee when I heard that McDonalds were going to be selling warm chocolatey banoffee pies. This week has certainly been the coldest yet this season, and so I was really looking forward to my treat after lectures last night -especially as I was going to cycle the 2 miles home when I got to the other end at 10pm!
I ordered using the new touch screen menus (since when has McDs been so fancy?) and paid the £1.19 for my chocolatey banoffee pie. Isn't almost everyone scarred from burning their tongue on their hot apple pies as a child? It was certainly something that came into mind when waiting for my order to appear at the collection point.
"A hot crispy pie filled with a thick Banoffee sauce and a delicious chocolatey sauce."
I needn't have worried though, by the time I'd left the fast food restaurant and popped across to the station, the pie was still just about warm and nowhere near scalding temperature -a good job considering I'd got blisters on my lip thanks to my impatience with molten custard the night before. The train was late and so I got stuck in right there on the platform (hence the awful photos, sorry)! It was smaller than I remember the apple pies being -doesn't everything seem to have shrunk nowadays though?- but just as golden and crispy as ever.
The flaky pastry tasted primarily of oil, although I didn't mind it as it brought back nostalgic memories. The pie was well filled, with two different coloured fillings, which I assumed represented the separate chocolate and banoffee flavours.
Both sauces were yummy in an oddly comforting fashion. The banoffee was more like a sweet banana than actual toffee, although it actually tasted completely natural (I think I expected something reminiscent of foam sweets). As for the chocolate, it wasn't up to Nutella standards, but was thick, gooey and had a good -albeit very sweet- cocoa flavour. Both flavours worked in harmony, and some bites offered more of one sauce than the other, which made it all the more interesting to eat.
The taste, warmth and texture leans towards the perfect winter pick me up; exactly what I needed when starting to flag and in need of a sugar bomb. McDonald's Chocolatey Banoffee Pie isn't the most refined snack, but it is good old fashion junk food at its finest. If you're a chocolate and banana fan it's well worth trying a warm pie before they disappear after Christmas.
8/10
I feel very lucky to have met some wonderful bloggers in the last year (albeit through the web and not in the flesh). For the most part it's a very supportive community of people who go out of their way to help each other. One of the more recent friendships I have struck up as a result of our shared love of food is Nat (from lot-o-choc blog) and in the past few weeks I have been utterly spoiled by her with not one but two parcels of chocolatey goodies. The first contained the most fascinating sounding bar I have ever caught sight of, made by a company who I have been dying to try for months. Nat informs me that the Cookie Dough Pie is made for The Pudding Parlour by The Chocolate Smiths. The Chocolate Smiths are a company I had never heard of pre-blog, but they make the most extraordinary bars -anyone for Bacon, Cheese 'n' Crackers or Bubblegum flavoured chocolate? By comparison the Cookie Dough Pie sounds more tame but far more delicious than their other offerings.
"A handmade Belgian milk chocolate bar with fudge chunks and cookie dough biscuit pieces. This chocolate bar simulates the flavours of our best selling and much loved Cookie Dough Pie."
I couldn't wait to dig in, and that very evening the bar was open. The first thing I noticed was the visible fudge chunks that were dotted about the place, looking far more appealing than the ones in the Cadbury Medley bar. Then, I spotted the dreaded white spoilage bubbles on the corners of some of the squares, despite a best before date of July 2017.
Luckily the chocolate itself tasted silky and smooth for the most part, melting in the mouth with a luxurious creaminess. The fudge pieces were oddly tough however, and almost toffee-like in consistency. I really enjoyed the biscuit pieces, which were unexpectedly crunchy, and lacked the softness that makes the cookie dough in Ben & Jerry's so devilishly moreish. It was such a shame that some of the chocolate was stale, ruining the star aspect of the bar.
I'm shocked that such a bar warrants such a high price point of £3.50. The novelty is attractive, and it's so frustrating that it's not executed as well as it could. I know that I sound so ungrateful, but Nat also tried the bar and thought similarly to me. Please do check out her review here. Thanks for sending me the Cookie Dough Pie Bar Nat!
6/10
Have you heard of Rhythm 108? If you haven't, then not to worry, neither had I until December. I was reading a magazine article comparing various energy bars, which lauded the benefits of Rhythm 108, a company who produce delicious sounding, good-for-you dessert style bars. All of their products are made entirely of high quality natural ingredients, contain no added sugars or syrups, are naturally gluten free and count as one of your five a day. I've since been in contact with the company who kindly offered to send me a sample of their entire range to review, and so each week I'll be reviewing one of their five flavours. First up is Apple Pie...
The Apple Pie bar consists of: two dates, four almonds, a whole apple, 1/2 glass of milk, 1/2 teaspoon amaranth, pinch of cinnamon and three drops of apple cider vinegar. It is designed to be heated up, and so once unwrapped, I popped it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It was firm to the touch, but it wasn't dry, and had a far moister texture than any other health bar I've ever tried. It also had a good crunch coming from the chunky nuts dotted throughout, which provided a lovely contrast against the otherwise smooth bar.
The taste was convincingly similar to the centre of a home-made apple pie, the apple and cinnamon worked in perfect harmony, with a natural flavour that I simply wouldn't expect from a healthy, long-life energy product. I enjoyed mine with greek yogurt, resulting in a delicious dessert treat that tasted much naughtier than it was.
If you like the sound of this bar and would like to try it for yourself, you can buy them from 'The Natural Kitchen' or Heartcore Fitness in London, otherwise they are available for order from the Rhythm 108 Amazon Shop. I certainly can't wait to dig in to their other flavours! Thanks Rhythm 108!
9/10
