NEW! Tiramisu slice (Caffè Nero)

Now I feel like a bit of a hyprocrite writing this. A few days ago, when I published the review of Morrisons's "Best" gingerbread muffins, I was asked if I'd had Costa Coffee's version and that I should compare the two and I replied that I don't buy food from coffee shops because it's so expensive. That's still true, but I was meeting my mum for coffee yesterday and so she treated me to a tiramisu slice to have at home that evening (I'd only just eaten lunch). As a lover of all things tiramisu I couldn't wait to get stuck in. Admittedly I've never had any food from Nero before, but had eagerly been eyeing it up every Tuesday when I collect my free mocha courtesy of O2 Priority.

"An Italian takeover of a millionaire's shortbread - chocolate shortbread, coffee caramel and white chocolate. Dusted with cocoa and gold shimmer."

Sounds delicious right? Except... Where does the tiramisu come into play? Surely Marsala wine, Savoiardi and mascarpone are key ingredients of the famous Italian dessert? At least the cocoa and coffee elements where there I suppose. I moan, but in all honesty, the combination of the three layers sounded intoxicating. I just wish they'd called it a winter mocha millionaire's slice or similar.

The white chocolate topping had shattered on every single slice in Nero's cabinets, and by the time it got home mine looked even more worse for wear thanks to the oozy caramel peeping out from all sides and the gold shimmer having all but disappeared. The instantly redeeming factor however was the delicious aroma of freshly ground coffee that escaped from the bag the moment I retrieved my treat.

Chocolate shortbread can often be a bit hit and miss. The cocoa sometimes dries out the mixture and the biscuit loses some of that beautiful butteriness that it's known for. The thick, crumbly base of the tiramisu slice had fallen prey to this trap, but fortunately only slightly. Thankfully it was chocolatey, and benefitted from being slightly less sweeter than expected. Normally this would be a negative point for my sugar addicted palate, but given the toppings that sat above it, the shortbread needed to be less sugary.

The caramel was sheer heaven. Earlier this year I tried the Cappuccino Twix, and found it to have a very mild coffee flavour. This, by comparison, packed an almighty flavour punch and yet the caramel still shine alongside it (think caramel macchiato). The consistency of it was spot on too -gooey enough to ooze, but not so much that it slipped off the shortbread and became a pain to eat.

Of course the white chocolate on top offered an additional sugar hit, but it wasn't thick enough to really taste on its own (especially due to the strength of flavours in the layers below). All I could detect was the creamy sweetness but it worked well.

By the end of the tiramisu slice, I started to find it very sickly -but isn't that the case with most millionaire's shortbread. I felt like I'd had a real treat though, and now feel like I might be missing out on some of the coffee shops' bakery items! What's your favourite coffee shop treat? I'd love to know what's worth the pennies!

9/10

NEW! Christmas Millionaire's Shortbread (Waitrose)

Whilst I fully agree that the best tasting food isn't often the prettiest (homemade apple crumble anyone?) sight is the first sense we rely on when buying pre-packaged food. Ok, I'll be honest, I'm really just attempting to excuse myself here for the fact that just one glance at this golden white chocolate Millionaire's Shortbread on instagram was all it took to instil an innate need in me to track it down and try it for myself. Soooo pretty. So glittery. Surely so tasty...?

"A layer of salted caramel and white chocolate on all butter shortbread finished with milk chocolate and gold lustre."

The food gods must have also agreed that I definitely needed to try it too, for when I got to Waitrose all the Christmas Millionaires Shortbread were donning reduced yellow stickers, despite having a best before date of the 22nd of December. I paid £1.05 for the slice, but I can't remember how much the full price was, sorry. 

I ignored the instructions to keep it in a cool dry place, and popped the shortbread in the fridge to chill before opening. Later on I found that the knife easily and cleanly sliced through it, though I'm not sure I would've found the same if the caramel was at ambient temperature. The layers were each respectably ample; the thickest of which was -of course- the biscuit base.

The biscuit was beautifully rich and crumbly, offering the melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness that is synonymous with a great shortbread. The white chocolate, although beautiful, was less special. I'd love to report that it was gloriously creamy, but to be honest it was marred slightly by the milk chocolate swirl. The mixture of chocolates diluted the delicate flavour, and I wish that Waitrose had stuck to their guns and just used a good quality Belgian white chocolate.

Of course, the caramel has to be the star of any Millionaire's shortbread. Waitrose have been braver with this, producing a layer that was both sticky, smooth and definitely salted. Luckily they've got the salinity just right, any more and I'd have thought that Heston had stuck his oar in, but it was absolutely scrummy.

Millionaire's shortbread might not be the most traditional of Christmas snacks -but it's certainly worth buying one (or more) of these before they disappear come January. 

9/10

NEW! Extra Special Millionaire's Shortbread Cheesecake (ASDA)

Gu Zillionaire's cheesecake: the undisputed king of salted caramel desserts. Or is it?

I'm a devout fan of ASDA's extra special white chocolate and raspberry cheesecakes, and truly believe they're one of the very best supermarket desserts in the UK.* I went into store especially for said treat, when a new contender caught my eye. I didn't think anything could dissuade me from my white chocolate mission, but these millionaire's shortbread cheesecakes offered something even more superior: chocolate and salted caramel -they just begged to be eaten.

"Luxurious layers of salted caramel, Belgian chocolate glaze and buttery shortbread crumb, hand finished with chocolate shavings."

Oof. Doesn't that sound rather delicious? They looked as good as they sounded too -neatly packaged and surrounded by plastic to hold their shape. Their clean lines suffered somewhat as I clumsily removed the cheesecakes from their sleeves however -as you can see from the photo! 

Eager to tuck in, I scraped off a spoonful of the chocolate topping. It was rich and chocolatey -not quite as silky as Gu's ganache- but still scrumptious. 

The cheesecake beneath baffled me. It was a lovely baked cheesecake but there was no caramel to be tasted, just vanilla. Where was the layers the description promised of? Don't get me wrong, the fluffiness of the cheesecake worked well against the rich topping, but I was left feeling puzzled by the AWOL caramel. 

The shortbread biscuit bottom was a lovely addition to the cheesecake, and I felt it brought a better balance to the dessert than the chocolate flavoured base of Gu's Zillionaire. It was slightly moister than I'd have liked, but it was beautifully buttery.

I worked my way around the edge of the dessert (contemplating how ASDA could market it as millionaire's shortbread cheesecake without any caramel) when finally I hit the jackpot: a pocket of thick, dulce de leche style golden sauce. It was oozy, luscious and utterly delicious, containing just the right amount of salt to offset the sweetness. This was what I was hoping for! It wasn't long before the disappointment set in again -the pocket was only the size of a twenty pence piece- a mere mouthful of yumminess that was gone before I knew it. A check of the ingredients explained the problem -the salted caramel only accounts for 6% of the dessert.  

Have any of you tried the new Extra Special Millionaire's Shortbread Cheesecakes yet? If so, let me know what you think.

7/10 (It would be an easy 10/10 if they contained more caramel). 


* My experiences with ASDA's standard range hasn't been so positive, please feel free to browse my previous reviews of their rocky road, strawberry donut and chocolate dough & brownie cheesecakes.

Millionaire's Shortbread Mash Up Ice Cream (Morrisons)

Once I've cottoned on to a particular idea, I'm like a bulldog who is loathe to let go. My obsession à la mode seems to revolve around sampling each of the Supermarkets' own-brand luxury ice cream pints, and it was this fixation that meant that I spotted Morrison's 'Millionaire's Shortbread Mash Up'  reduced to just £1.

'Shortbread flavour ice cream, chocolate coated shortbread pieces, milk chocolate drops & caramel sauce.'

The ice-cream was instantly scoop-able straight from the freezer, and it became immediately clear just how generous Morrisons are with their fillings. The rich caramel swirl was also evident, and I could smell a strong toffee aroma as soon as I started to scoop, making me all the more eager to get stuck in.

The ice-cream was gloriously rich and silky, although I'd have guessed it was toffee flavoured instead of shortbread. It was utterly smooth on the palette with a luxuriousness that gave the impression of a premium brand. The shortbread pieces maintained a good crunch thanks to their chocolate coating, and the chocolate drops gave little pops of cocoa throughout the ice-cream, breaking up the flavours and textures with every mouthful. The element that surprised me most was the caramel sauce, I expected a thin sugary sauce akin to something you'd decorate your ice cream with, but instead I enjoyed a thick, rich caramel that was in keeping with that of Dulce de Leche.

The balance of flavours and textures in this ice-cream were out of this world. The abundance of sauce, shortbread and chocolate chips combined with velvety ice cream resulted in a dessert that far out-shone even the likes of Ben & Jerry's. I sincerely hope that this ice-cream wasn't permanently reduced to clear (I can't even find it on their website) and that it'll come back to stores very soon.

10/10

Tesco Millionaire's Shortbread Spread

At long last, it's here! Tesco have finally released their Millionaire's Shortbread Spread, following an opinion poll of Tesco's Orchard Members last year.

This product is described as a 'Caramel flavoured and chocolate flavoured biscuit swirl spread.' I LOVE the lotus biscuit spreads, and Tesco's custard cream spread is pretty epic too. I recently bought the Tesco cookie spread but I was a smidgen disappointed by that in comparison. As far as biscuits go, Millionaire's Shortbread has to be king.. So although I already have a pretty well stocked Toast topping cupboard, I couldn't resist this newbie on the market!

The serving suggestion is to top warm waffles or brioche but I don't have any, so I decided to top my crumpets with the Millionaire's Shortbread spread. For anyone who has tried Tesco's Custard cream spread, this is a similar consistency. It's solid at room temperature but the moment it's slathered onto anything warm, it melts pretty swiftly. 

This makes crumpets a particularly good vehicle for this product as all the chocolate caramelly naughtiness oozes into the crumpet's pores.

Mmmmmm... Is all I can really say. It's my favourite of Tesco's spreads to date ( I have a very sweet tooth) and its got to be up there with the Lotus spreads.

9/10.