Nellienoo Fudge Review: Biscoff, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Zesty Lime, & Lemon Meringue (Online)

The lovely Nic of Nellienoo fudge gave me the most wonderful surprise a couple of weeks ago when I came home to a packet containing not just one, but FOUR of her fabulous fudge packets. You can imagine how excited I was by this delivery, especially given how much I loved both her Caramac and Malteser Fudge....

Even better, Nic had included two of my absolute favourite flavours (biscoff and chocolate peanut butter) as well as two summery flavours: lemon meringue and zesty lime. 

Zesty Lime

"This white chocolate fudge combined with zesty fresh lime juice has such a wonderful flavour, subtle and fresh."

Here's where I admit that I'm not overly fussed on lime. It's not something I crave -mostly thanks to my grandmother's obsession with feeding us lime jelly. Put it this way, I never want to suffer three day old Banana Chartreuse* ever again. Anyway, I tried to forget the memories of Hartley's florescent jelly whilst taking a bite into Nellienoo's fudge.

Jeeeeeeesus, that's good. Nic you are a genius! The white chocolate base was as creamy as all of her other fudges -honestly, I've never known anything like it. Cutting through the sweetness, the lime offered a perfect zing that was utterly delicious. My only possible suggestion for improvement would be for the fudge to include some ginger biscuits within the mix, but then it wouldn't be gluten free. 

Lemon Meringue

"Fresh zesty lemon fudge with sweet crushed meringue pieces throughout."

This was another refreshing flavour. I thought that perhaps the meringue might make it either too sweet, or perhaps make the unbelievably smooth fudge feel a little grainy. Silly me. Of course Nic had mastered both the flavour and the texture. It was absolutely scrummy and a must buy for all lemon lovers!

Chocolate Peanut Butter

"This white chocolate fudge combined with peanut butter is delicious, it has milk chocolate chips stirred through at the end to give a marbled effect and a milk chocolate drizzle finish."

I'm sure Nic is a wizard. She certainly works magic on her concoctions. I was pleased to see that she hadn't watered down the flavour with any caramel. This fudge reminded me of white chocolate Reese's cups (still one of my all-time favourite treats) and it was a struggle to not gobble it down in one sitting!

Biscoff

"This delicious biscoff fudge is packed full of flavour. Smooth creamy texture with chunks of biscoff biscuit throughout. Perfect treat to have with a coffee."

You might think it was the chocolate peanut butter that had me most excited, but you would be wrong. Biscoff fudge? I was all over it. 

I had every right to be excited too. I mean it was everything I hoped for - and more. The sweet cinnamon spice came through in each soft, chewy nibble. The biscuit pieces hadn't gone soggy and added that beautiful caramelised crunch into the mix to really exalt the eating experience. It was sheer heaven. 

You know it's love when I was enjoying my fudge this much and offer a bite to my biscoff loving, but fudge hating other half. Bert seriously detests fudge. I mean he won't go near the stuff at all. Normally. But... Nellienoo fudge apparently doesn't count. It's that tasty that not only has it won him over - but I found myself hiding the rest of the pack from him. What have you done to us Nic?

I'd like to say another huge thank you to Nic for sending me some more of her magnificent fudge. Please do pop on over to her website where you can buy all of her super-duper treats for £3.50 per pack -it might just be the best money you've ever spent.


*An odd dessert made with banana, lime jelly and cream. It was meant to look something like this (photo courtesy of the Food History Journals) but hers never quite did...

NEW! Finest Eton Mess Cookies (Tesco)

Yesterday was one of those indecisive, dawdly days, and therefore probably not the best day to do the weekly shop. The chores needed doing though, and so I found myself hovered in the bakery section of Tesco mid-afternoon, torn between two new bags of freshly baked cookies. I've heard from many people that Tesco Bakery's Finest cookies are the bees knees (especially the white chocolate and honeycomb flavour), yet the brownie stuffed cookies sounded rather tempting too. Choices choices. In the end I let Bert decide, and that's how we ended up with these Eton Mess cookies.

"Cookies with Belgian white chocolate, freeze dried strawberry pieces and meringue pieces."

They certainly looked much chunkier than the anaemic brownie cookies, and they were on special offer too at 4 for £1.

Once out of the bag I could appreciate the rugged, cracked appearance of the cookies; although the white chocolate chips and Meringue pieces were unevenly dispersed. Needless to say I nabbed the most plentifully adorned of the bunch.

I wasn't sure how the strawberry would come across.Freeze dried strawberries can be quite sharp, which I hoped would work well to counteract the sweetness of the white chocolate and meringue.

My first bite provided me with the answer, establishing that the strawberry pieces were crushed into the cookie, infusing a gentle flavour throughout. The taste reminded me of strawberry Nesquik though, which was surprising considering that the fruit wasn't synthetic. As a lover of strawberry milkshake I enjoyed the result, but anyone with a less sweet tooth might not be so keen.

The white chocolate chunks weren't noticeably luxurious, but were sizeable enough to deliver scrummy mouthfuls of sweet chocolatey pleasure. As for the meringue pieces, they were in mini form and so every few bites I came across little sugar hits. They're an unusual inclusion to a cookie, and whilst they were successful in terms of adding extra texture, I actually found the meringues knocked the flavour harmony into sickly territory. It would have been better for Tesco to stick with strawberry and white chocolate.

8/10

The Skinny Bakery: Less Calories, Fat & Sugar Product Review (Online)

A couple of weeks ago I was approached by The Skinny Bakery who asked me to review their products. This was a very welcome request seeing as I've been pawing over images of their range on Instagram for quite some time. Haven't heard of The Skinny Bakery? Let me fill you in...

The Skinny Bakery is the brainchild of baker Mariella Forte, who set up the company in 2013 with a vision to create delicious baked treats containing a fraction of the calories of their traditional counterparts. Think flapjacks, cookies, tarts, and cakes that even dieters can enjoy. Salivating yet? You should be.

A couple of days later a box arrived. Well it arrived at my neighbour's house actually, who came out running as soon as she saw me return home from uni. 

"Amy! Amy! There's a parcel here for you, and it says to refrigerate it! But there's no room in my fridge!" She cried (she's a good egg).

Luckily it was a cold day and the cakes still all looked in perfect nick. The parcel contained 8 individual packs of treats, each of which contained less than 212kcals or less.

Skinny Beetroot Pearls (169kcals)
There's two flavours in this world that I really can't stomach, and those are beetroot and liquorice. I almost gave these to a friend, but then my curiosity got the better of me.

"Pack of beetroot sponges piped with a quark based low fat cream cheese frosting"

Blow me down. I'm sure I grimaced as I prepared to take my first mouthful, but my expression soon took a change for the better. The cake was unbelievably moist, with a very mild beetroot flavour. I tasted the delicate balance between earthiness and dark cocoa, contrasted with the slight tang from the quark centres. I'm not a beetroot convert by any means, but I can honestly say that this is the first beetroot product I've ever truly enjoyed.

7/10

Skinny Chocolate Pearls (208kcals)
Given the success of the beetroot Pearls, I was very much looking forward to their chocolatey sibling.

"Pack of chocolate sponges piped with our signature tofu-chocolate frosting. Low fat and a good source of protein. 21% tofu, 25% low fat yoghurt."

I was right to be excited. They tasted exactly like a very fudgy chocolate cake. The flavour was rich and dark whilst texturally they were moist and squidgy. I might've double checked the packaging to make sure I hadn't misunderstood and that they were 208kcal per cube. I wasn't, they were 208kcals for all 6 Pearls. Incredible.

10/10

Skinny Coconut Bites (212kcals)

 "Pack of 5 vegan coconut balls with only 5 ingredients. No added sugar and wheat free."

I was looking forward to these because they're made with peanut butter! However, whilst they were soft I found that none of the flavours really stood out and they were a little on the bland side.

5/10

Skinny Sweet Potato Brownies (189kcal)

"Pack of sweet potato brownie bites, gluten and dairy free recipe, made with 46% sweet potato and sweetened with dates – only 38 calories each!"

It's a shame I'd tried the Pearls first really! These were yummy, but they weren't as chocolatey as the Pearls. They are a good treat if you're gluten and/or dairy free though!

7/10

Skinny Carrot Cake Pearls

"Pack of carrot cake sponges piped with a quark based low fat cream cheese frosting."

These are a new addition to the Skinny Bakery collection, and boy are they good! They're moist, yet fluffy and well spiced. The ratio of cake:filling was spot on and the mini morsels contained currants -Tesco take note. These surpass most of the full fat/sugar carrot cakes I've had. Delicious!

10/10

Skinny Choc Chip Cookies (187kcal)

"Pack of soft dairy-free chocolate chip biscuits – only 37Kcal each"

My pack contained a mixture of mushroom,star and heart shaped cookies, which were texturally somewhere between a biscuit and a cookie. In fact they reminded me of rusks! They were less sweet than I'm used to, and I could barely taste the chocolate. Tasty, but not outstanding.

6/10

Skinny Choc & Orange Cookies (181kcal)

"Pack of soft dairy-free chocolate chip and orange biscuits – only 36Kcal each"

I couldn't really taste very much difference between these and their standard choc chip cookies. Both the chocolate and the orange could've done with being bolder.

6/10

Skinny Double Chocolate Meringue Cookies (141kcal)
The pack contained 7 rather splendid looking cookies. Instead of eating them on their own I decided to make a wicked dessert with them and sandwiches them between Jude's Chocolate with a touch of sea salt ice cream.

"Pack of chocolate cookies made with egg whites and dairy-free chocolate. Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. 30 calories per average cookie."

Genius. The cookies were exactly as promised. They were crispy, crunchy, chewy and chocolatey! My decision to pair them with the indulgently dark ice cream was a good one, and the added creaminess added a wonderful additional layer of flavour and texture. The double chocolate Meringue cookies are definite winners!

9/10

Summary

I love the idea of The Skinny Bakery, and many of their products are simply scrummy. I'm sure I could live off the chocolate and carrot cake pearls as well as their double chocolate meringue cookies. The packaging is cute and a lot of their products are suitable for those requiring dairy free and/or gluten free diets. The cakes have a short shelf-life but can be frozen for up to 6 months -if you can wait that long! If you love the sound of them and fancy giving them a go please check out their website, where you can receive 10% off your order by using the code STARTER10 at checkout.

**A huge thank you to the team at The Skinny Bakery for sending me the samples**

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream (M&S)

Last spring M&S went positively potty with a huge release of their Spirit of Summer range. Some of the goods have since been re-branded and retained under the normal labelling -such as the peanut butter cookies, which I wasn't particularly fussed on, much preferring the softer style of Grandma's or Lenny & Larry's. Other products have held on for dear life and, despite summer having been over months ago, can be found lingering in corners of the food hall. The Mud Pie & Key Lime Pie ice creams are two such items, although they've finally been reduced to clear this week.

I wrote a review of the Mud Pie last year so I thought I'd write up a quick review of the Key Lime Pie in case you're worrying about spending 75p on snapping up the 500ml tubs. I joke but I did briefly question my purchase actually, not because of the monetary element for once, but because I wasn't entirely sure how or if a lime ice cream could work. 

"Dairy key lime flavoured ice cream with key lime sauce (10%), digestive biscuit pieces (8%) and meringue pieces."

Hang on a second, shouldn't M&S have used ginger biscuits instead? 
...Although a quick google search later proved that Delia uses digestive biscuits, so maybe it's just me who uses gingernuts in citrus based desserts! 

Anyway, the pale green ice cream was fairly easy to scoop straight away, and I was only one spoon down before I uncovered a treasure trove of goods (biscuit chunks). That's what I like to see Marks & Sparks! The lime sauce wasn't so evident, but I could smell a strong zingy scent straight away. 

What a welcome surprise! The lime worked much better than expected as an ice cream flavour, with the zing counteracting the sweet creaminess wonderfully. It wasn't bitter either, which is always my fear with citric desserts, but was very refreshing on the palate (I imagine it would be particularly good after a curry). As for the abundant digestive pieces, they were crispy -but tasted more rich tea than digestive. Their crunch was gladly received, making the ice cream much more interesting to munch on, but I still think that ginger biscuits would have worked even better! Occasionally I would fall upon a pocket of sweetness coming from the meringue pieces, but they were subtle in their inclusion and wouldn't have been missed if omitted completely. 

The biggest shock with this Key Lime Pie ice cream was that even flavour fussy Bert liked it. I didn't tell him what it was before he tried it for fear that he would refuse to even sample it, but he actually said that he enjoyed it! Quelle surprise!

M&S' Key Lime Pie ice cream was an innovative and unusual addition to their 2016 line up and I'll be stocking up on tubs whilst they're so cheap. I'm also looking forward to seeing what they bring out this year... any ideas?

*Fingers crossed for banoffee pie.*

8/10

Festive Mini Macaroons (M&S)

We should all probably be sick of the sight of Christmas food, but I just can't help myself from buying more -especially when I spot a bargain or two, or three, or four..! Anyway, I had reached breaking point with my marketing report late yesterday afternoon when I decided to give my brain a breather and pop into town. I couldn't resist heading into M&S before coming home, and there I spotted these festive mini macaroons in the food-to-go section. If M&S offered a meal deal like Boots do, I'd be far more inclined to pick up my lunch there more often. Instead I usually bypass the sandwich aisle unless it's reducing time. I'd seen these glittery little macaroons a few times though, but was disinclined to spend £1.50 on them. Reduced to a mere 55p yesterday afternoon however, I decided to give them a whirl.

Now I have an embarrassing confession to make: I'd never tried a macaroon before. Shocking, right? I'm not sure why either as I like meringues and love almonds. I think I'd just got them down as expensive little dainty morsels, and as such will always opt for something more substantial (and usually more chocolatey) when choosing dessert. These macaroons were special though, because not only where they shimmery, but they were a triple whammy of chocolate flavours.

"Chocolate ganache and hazelnut, chocolate ganache and salted caramel, chocolate ganache and orange flavoured French Almond macaroons." 

Mmm, in my head I imagined nutella, chocolatey dulce de leche, and Terry's filled almond flavoured meringues. The trouble began though when I realised that there was no way of working out which was which! I tried smelling them, but I couldn't distinguish any difference. There was only one way to find out....

Biting into the first, bronze coloured, one left me puzzled because I couldn't really tell what flavour it was meant to be .The macaroon wasn't even particularly chocolatey, and all I could taste was the almondy meringue. The texture was enjoyable with its soft chewy interior and crispy outer shell, but I was very underwhelmed by the lack of hazelnut, salted caramel, orange or cocoa. Humf. 

The purple-escent macaroon was next up, and when I munched into the edge I started to think that M&S were pulling my leg. Are macaroons the Emperors new clothes of delicacies? Again, the flavour was completely lacking and I felt rather put out. 

Fortunately, somehow I'd saved the best until last. The golden macaroon contained a hidden gem of chocolate orange ganache that shone from within. The flavour was impeccable, and worked wonders with the sugar almond exteriors.This was a real treat -I just wish the box contained 3 chocolate orange macaroons. After all, chocolate orange is arguably the only festive flavour combination in the combination, and was the tastiest by a couple of clear country miles. 

If you spot these festive macaroons reduced then I suggest you pick them up, but otherwise they're not worth your pennies. 

6/10

NEW! Tarte Au Citron (LIDL)

It's French week at LIDL, which means that they are selling a whole host of spécialités françaises. Whilst I wasn't brave enough to try the frozen snails, I did like the sound of Tarte Au Citron (especially given my current love of all things lemon). At £1.99 for four individual desserts they weren't exactly bargain basement, but were still notably cheaper than most supermarket offerings. These Tartes weren't what comes to mind when it comes to the classic French patisserie dessert as instead they consisted of a biscuit base, lemon layer and a meringue topping. Err. Excuse me LIDL but isn't that a lemon meringue pie? 

I'd certainly give LIDL low marks for their choice of packaging as each Tarte came in what looked like a cat food tin. Fortunately they appeared far more appetising once the lids were removed and the cloud like meringue was revealed.

The topping was soft and mallowy. It missed the crispy top of a home-baked meringue, but it was still pleasant to eat. Underneath was layer of bright yellow sauce, which was refreshing and zingy in a lemon curd sort of way, but there just wasn't enough of it! The biscuity base reminded me of the middle layer of Cadbury's -much missed- Caramellionaire pots, for it was softer and more cake like than what you'd expect at the bottom of a cheesecake. 

Preconceptions aside, and despite my moans, I actually rather enjoyed these Tarte-Au-Citron-come-lemon-meringue-pies. They make a handy standby dessert, and I probably would buy them again.

7/10