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

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

Rhokett Caramel Cheesecake (Waitrose)

There's a dessert that's been haunting me for ages.. a cheesecake that's been on my mind since I first discovered it whilst researching Rhokett 16 months ago. The rarely spotted caramel slices has been supposedly stocked in Sainsbury's stores across the country, but Hereford didn't even get a sniff. I once found them, but it was in an extra store on a trip to Birmingham, and at the time I didn't think they'd survive the journey home -plus I was sure they were going to crop up sooner or later*. I guess I was right, it was just much much later, and in a different supermarket: Waitrose. At £3 for two 100g slices they're on the dear side, but I recall thinking that the Belgian chocolate flavour were worth the money and so I hope these would be too.

"A winning combination from Rhokett that really delivers on that traditional texture, raised to the next level by the Belgian chocolate chunks and the smooth caramel sauce that have been swirled through the mix before baking."

They were beautiful slices, l give Rhokett that, however they were very fiddly to retrieve from the packet -so please be careful if you buy them. 

I expected a rich toffee tone to the cheesecake, so was utterly perplexed when I tasted it and was met with a similar cheesecake batter used in the chocolate slices. That's to say it was creamy with a slight sour tang, but it was completely devoid of the caramel flavour that I'd longed for. Humf. What I hadn't realised was that the sole source of the caramel came from the toffee sauce, but unfortunately there wasn't a huge deal of it, and it certainly wasn't the generous pockets of thick dulce de leche that I had concocted in my imaginings. 

Oh the plus side, the chocolate chunks were both aplenty and delicious -although I can't help but feel that due to the lack of caramel that fudge pieces may have suited the slices better. 

I was also pleased that I'd saved the biscuit base until last as it was the only part I thought that Rhokett truly nailed. Thick and buttery with a classic digestive biscuit flavour, it held together enough to make it from fork to mouth, but crumbled easily upon munching. It just wasn't £3 worth of biscuit base. 

7/10.

* I even ended up sending poor Nat (author of Lot-o-Choc) on a hunt for them before my train arrived into New Street station when meeting her in Birmingham last month.

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! Snickers Ice Cream Tubs (ASDA)

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I caved and bought the Mars ice cream tub? Well it didn't take long for me to return to ASDA on the pursuit of the Snickers tub. Normally I'm a Mars bar over Snickers girl, but I'd heard great things about the ice cream version and simply had to find out for myself what it was like! 

"Peanut (4%) dairy ice cream with milk chocolate coated peanuts (10%) and caramel (7.5%) and chocolate sauce (7.5%)."

The caramel sauce was instantly evident as soon as I removed the lid, and so was the softness of the ice cream. In fact I was patient enough to wait for the temperature outside to cool down last week before attempting to try the Snickers ice cream (just for info Ben & Jerry's Sofa So Good is sofa no good to scoop on the hottest days either, unless you fancy mousse).

I couldn't see a huge deal of the chocolate coated peanuts though, and felt a pang of disappointment at the lack of chocolate shards that made a surprise appearance in the Mars tub. I hadn't written this ice cream off just yet though... 

Kudos to Mars for using real peanuts in the ice cream (yep, I'm looking at you Mondelez), but unfortunately it wasn't as flavoursome as I'd hoped. There was a mild peanut taste but it certainly wasn't on par with Ben & Jerry's or the Co-Op. It was still enjoyable though, and despite the chocolate sauce being as lost in this pint as it had been in the Mars version, the caramel sauce made up for that. 

Oh there they were: the chocolate coated peanuts! Jackpot! They'd just been well hidden amid the ice cream, and actually there was an abundance of them. They were pretty smashing too, large in size and delivering the chocolatey hit that was missing from the sauce, as well as a textural contrast from the welcome crunch. 

Perhaps the link between ice cream and chocolate bar is on the tenuous side, given that there's no nougat in the ice cream and that the peanuts aren't chopped and are chocolate covered, but I don't mind that -like I say, I'm not a huge snickers fan anyway. Personally the Mars tub pips the Snickers to the top spot, but only just, and it's well worth a try whilst on offer for £2.

7/10

NEW! Mars Ice Cream Tubs (ASDA)

I wasn't too fussed on trying the new Mars ice cream tub when it first came out a couple of months ago. I mean, the ice cream bars are fabulous (albeit shockingly small) and I couldn't see the appeal of just eating the ice cream on its own. Surely nibbling the chocolate from around the bar whilst trying to stop yourself from getting covered in oozy caramel is the best thing about them, don't you agree? However, I happened to mention the new Mars and Snickers tubs in conversation with my sister though, who sounded much more excited by them. I then received report a week later from her that she's not only tried the Mars tub but had munched her way through three Mars pints since discovering them. That was it. I decided it was high time to get myself a tub. Like hell was I paying £3 though, instead I patiently waited for them to come back on offer, which they did this week -currently £2 per tub, exclusive to ASDA. 

"Dairy ice cream with caramel sauce (12%) and milk chocolate sauce (13%)."

The ice cream was on the soft side straight from the freezer, which makes it difficult to scoop on these hot summers days -not that I'm complaining about the weather, long may it last! I was over the moon when I spotted the large shards of chocolate that were embedded throughout though. Why, oh why, don't Mars highlight this in the tub's description?

Chocolate in the ice cream too? That makes it a winner for me! It reminded me of the new Magnum tubs, but with the addition of  both caramel and chocolate sauces. The second surprise came from the colour of the ice cream itself. I expected it to be creamy, but instead it was a very pale -almost malty- shade. 

Jeez. Whilst it wasn't comparable to Haagen-Dazs, Judes or Ben & Jerry's in terms of creaminess, it was reminiscent of summer days as a child: coming home from school and being given a Mars ice cream by my Gran, which always left me wanting more bars. It's like eating them mushed up, and in a waffle cone they were utterly delicious. The caramel sauce was more noticeable than the chocolate, but was as wonderful as I remembered it to be -sticky, sweet and toffee-like. Despite the shade of the ice cream, it didn't actually taste of chocolate, but I didn't really expect it to from the description on the pack, so I didn't feel disappointed. 

I've only got two real complaints:

1) How quickly the ice cream melted (you have too be quick with this one!)

and

2)  That the suggested serving size of 100ml (2 scoops) really isn't enough. 

Somehow this works better for me than the Magnum tubs, and I think I'll buy it over the Mars ice cream bars again -but only at £2 per tub. 

8/10

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

Cadbury Caramel Muffins (Tesco)

It might be national doughnut week but I'm being a rebel and reviewing cake instead. I've had my eyes on these Cadbury muffins for a couple of months now but refuse to spend £2 on a pack, especially when their branded doughnut counterparts are so bad. However, this week they cropped up next to the tills in Tesco for £1.50, where they just fell into my basket. I'm a sucker for an impulse purchase. Oops.

They're sizeable muffins though. I thought that a Cadbury caramel muffin would be chocolate cake with caramel innards, but instead they've opted for a caramel flavoured cake. I thought this might be a good move on Cadbury's part as chocolate cake is so hot and miss.

"Caramel flavour muffin containing mini milk chocolate buttons (3%), with chocolate icing (9%), caramel filling (10%) and caramel flavoured chocolate curls (2%)."

Slicing the muffin in half filled me with joy. Just look at the golden treasure within! Now that's a centre to be proud of. The cake was also very light in texture, and I started to feel relieved that I may not have wasted my money as feared. 

Christ. That's good cake. It was very sweet but perfectly fluffy with more than a hint of caramel. Unfortunately the chocolate 'buttons' were so small that they offered little in the way of flavour, but to be honest I was enjoying the cake too much to mind. I felt similarly about the topping, which tasted more like baking chocolate than Cadbury's, but it was enjoyable in a comforting manner and so I managed to overlook it. 

Let's talk about that caramel sauce instead. It was utterly delicious, super sticky and yet moreish. I felt myself grinning stupidly as I savoured every last drop. Mmm. 

The Cadbury chocolate might take a nose-dive into my basket whilst they're on offer now too...

9/10

NEW! Häagen-Dazs Salted Caramel Ice Cream Bars (ASDA)

There's one flavour of Häagen-Dazs that appears to be the clear favourite amongst fans, and that is salted caramel. As a recent newbie to the world of HD, and still an avid fan of Ben & Jerry's, I couldn't see how this could be so amazing. I mean it's just a caramel ice cream with caramel brittle. Surely it can't compete with B&Js incredible Karamel Sutra? I mean it doesn't have the chocolate ice cream, nor the chocolate chunks, let alone the almost-orgasmic caramel core. 

Yet I inadvertently ended up trying a mini tub of H-D's salted caramel when I bought their new caramel collection (for the speculoos flavour), and was struck dumb. Eating my words in conjunction with every mouthful, I found myself revelling in the sheer indulgent creaminess. Then I discovered the salt caramel brittle and my world slipped off its axis. It's unbelievably good: salty, sweet, soft, yet crunchy. If it's not part of your life at the moment, you need it to be.  

After that singular experience I found my original indifference towards the new H-D sticks polarised. I now needed to try their Salted Caramel sticks, ASAP. Luckily ASDA have them on offer for £2 for 3 bars, so I didn't need to remortgage the house either. 

"Our signature salted caramel ice cream enrobed in a rich Belgian chocolate coating for a truly indulgent treat."

I couldn't tell whether the chocolate coating was milk or dark from either the description or its colour. I soon realised that it wasn't very thick though when I tried to snap a small segment off for the photo and a whole side came off! 

The ice cream was every bit as delicious as I remember it being in the mini tub. I love the contrast in textures, and the luxuriousness of it is undeniable. Unfortunately the chocolate wasn't my cup of tea, it was darker than a milk chocolate* and very thin. I would've much rather a thicker coating made from milk chocolate studded with the caramel brittle. Now that might be enough to convert me to H-D for life. 

As it stands, these are delicious bars, but I just about prefer the tub version of H-Ds salted caramel ice cream. Perhaps I should try the white chocolate and almond bars next time... Have any of you bought them yet?

9/10

*but probably no darker than Bournville, I just don't like dark.

NEW! Majestics Butterscotch Ice Cream Lollies (Iceland)

Last year and the year before Iceland came up trumps on the innovative ice cream flavour front. There was the peanut & banana cones, the rhubarb & custard cones, toffee apple cones, banoffee Majestics, and bubblegum ice creams to name just a few. This year they've fallen back on the staple flavour that most supermarkets seem to be relying on nowadays: salted caramel or versions thereof. There's 'new' Salted Caramel cones, Salted Caramel Majestics and these Butterscotch Majestics. If you don't like toffee you better stay clear of Iceland this summer. Admittedly @productsinstore found other -more exciting- lines in her store yesterday but they've yet to hit Hereford's branch. 

"Butterscotch flavour ice cream swirled with caramel sauce, coated in white chocolate with caramelised sugar pieces."

Oh, and whilst I complain, I should probably remember that I bleeding love caramel! In actual fact, these Butterscotch Majestics sounded rather marvellous, especially with the coating, and at £1.50 for four they're good value too. 

The lollies looked good, although it was instantly obvious that the white chocolate wasn't very thick because I could see the ice cream through it. 

It wasn't particularly good quality white chocolate either and certainly not up to Iceland's previous standards. I hope you'll that white chocolate is plenty sweet enough already, so although the caramelised sugar gave it a lovely crunch, it also made it very sickly. 

The ice cream was meant to be butterscotch flavoured, but I don't think it was. All I could taste was a plain vanilla in the non-saucy areas, which was ok, but not as indulgently creamy as Magnum's ice cream. 

Luckily the sauce was rich and full of flavour, and the closer I got to the bottom of the lolly, the more caramel I could taste. The combination of the sugar studded white chocolate and super saucy bottom was overwhelmingly sweet though, making you want to brush your teeth once finished. 

I shan't bother with the Butterscotch Majestics again, they pale in comparison to Magnums, and indeed many of the supermarket Magnum rip-offs. 

5/10

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!

NEW! Cadbury Caramel Choc Tarts (ASDA)

New Cadbury products are popping up all over the place at the moment. Of course there's the new Oreo bars, as well as a new giant Peanut Caramel Crisp bar, but there's also a number of Cadbury licensed products too. Only yesterday I spotted the new Cadbury muffins in ASDA (I appreciate that the Co-Op have been selling them for a few months now) as well as the new Choc Tart range at £1.50 per four pack (50p cheaper than Tesco). 

The new pastry based treats are available in Crunchie, Flake, Mini Eggs and Caramel, which all vary slightly in terms of their fillings. Whilst I realise that it would have been more seasonal to opt for the Mini Egg tarts, it was the combination of layers in the Caramel version that appealed most to me. 

"Delicious chocolate flavoured brownie topped with a caramel flavour fondant, baked in a delicate chocolate pasty case with a caramel layer & topped with a milk chocolate with a soft caramel centre." 

It's like a chocoholic was asked to reinvent Mr Kipling's Cherry Bakewell tarts. The components are all there, they've just been naughtified*. It's not just the flavours that are naughty either; remember the boobie buns? Surely these have got to be the tittie tarts?

The "delicate" pastry cases were extremely crumbly, and didn't like being sliced into. I needed to show you what the innards looked like though so I persisted in my mess making. All layers were present and complete, and in decent ratios too! 

Chocolate pastry is difficult to do well, and Premier foods (who make the tarts) haven't really pulled it off. Sure it's crumbly, but the cocoa dries the mix out which means that the butteriness is all but lost. That said, Bert really enjoyed his pastry, so maybe you will too! 

As for the chocolate brownie, it too was dry, lacking the fudginess of a fresh home baked version. Fortunately the Caramel sauce beneath and fondant atop it went somewhat to rectify the issue and prevented the brownie from sticking to the roof of my mouth. On the plus side both the caramel elements were pretty tasty! 

I then had an idea: why not heat the second half? Especially as I was eating it for dessert with ice cream** and Bakewells can be served warm. 

Genius. Pure genius. The Choc Tart transformed from something I wouldn't bother buying again to a treat I'll look forward to enjoying again! The Caramel sauce seeped into the pastry whilst the fondant melted over the brownie, resulting in a much less claggy combination of textures. The flavours also enhanced once warmed - double bonus. 

As an ambient snack these are unexciting, so I highly recommend that if you're planning on trying them that you also heat them up and serve them with a scoop or two of ice cream!

Cold: 5/10

Warm: 8/10 

*will someone please tell the Oxford English Dictionary to add that one in please? And yes, I agree, no food is naughty.

**Oppo's salted caramel was the perfect match.