NEW! Magnum White Almond (Iceland)

I popped into Iceland the other day to pick up my other half’s favourite ready meal for his night shift (sausage, cheese and beans is where it’s at apparently!) when I spotted a deal on Magnum ice creams. Now the deal itself wasn’t amazing, but it did include the new white almond Magnums and therefore piqued my interest.

I’ve kind of fallen out of love with Magnums in the past year or so, much preferring the Oreo sticks, Daim sticks, or better yet: Ben and Jerry’s in a waffle cone. I mean, Magnums are ok, they’re just not particularly inspiring.

Anyhoo, at 2 4 packs for £4, I decided to pick up a box of the new white almond Magnums as well as the classic white Magnums (which happen to be one of Bert’s favourite ice creams). After all, it seemed only fair to see how they compare to the white almond Haagen-Dazs.

“Vanilla ice cream with white chocolate (28%) and almonds (3%).”

There’s one quality you can depend upon from Magnum, and that’s a thick chocolate coating. These sticks were no different, meaning that the white chocolate cracked satisfyingly as my teeth pressed against it. Perhaps I’ve had better quality white chocolate of late, because the coating didn’t taste quite as silky as I remember. Instead it tasted much more like a composite, and although it was thicker than H-D’s covering, it didn’t taste any better. Yes, the almonds added a little texture to it, but as with the original almond Magnums, they didn’t offer much in the way of flavour.

As for the ice cream centre, it was as creamy as ever, with a real vanilla flavour and visible seeds. But that’s about as far as the enjoyment went and I found myself yearning for the caramelised nuts that studded H-D’s ice cream sticks. 

I thought these would be on par with H-D. I knew the ice cream wouldn’t be as tasty but thought the chocolate would level the playing field. In reality, I’d choose the H-D sticks over the Magnum, but probably won’t go out of my way to buy either anytime soon.

7/10

NEW! Walls Feast Sandwich (Tesco Express)

About this time last year I squealed in a lecture when I found out that Walls were bringing out peanut butter Feasts. Get over. My favourite childhood ice cream was being combined with my favourite flavour? I couldn't imagine anything more exciting. I still haven't got over the disappointment of the reality though, those meagre Choc ices were disgraceful. Walls haven't given up hope though, they've just released another new version of their iconic Feast - this time in sandwich format. Now if you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know just how much I love a good ice cream sandwich. Could Walls do a better job with their 2017 addition? I decided to not buy a whole box but purchased a single ice cream from my local Tesco Express for £1.

"Vanilla ice cream between chocolate biscuits (18%) coated in chocolate flavour coating (13%) with nougat pieces (2%)."

More or less a Maxibon then? It seems that it's not only Kellogg's who've been keeping tabs on Nestle!

"Cream flavoured ice cream with chocolate chips (4%) sandwiched in between biscuits (15%) and half covered in a milk chocolate flavour coating (11.5%) with hazelnuts."

They certainly look very similar, although the Walls version is lacking the chocolate chips that stud Maxibons.

As you can see, the chocolate coating was paper thin, and despite my careful transportation it had smashed in the corners. It tasted ok though, nothing special but not like cooking chocolate either. A redeeming factor was the nougat pieces, which had thankfully remained crisp.

It can't just be me who thinks that the ice cream in a Feast should be chocolate flavoured? The vanilla ice cream in the middle was the same stuff Walls use in their Gingerbread sandwiches. It tastes like soft serve, which strangely makes a nice change from the creamier ice creams I usually favour. Still it's not really a Feast is it?

The biscuits were soft, which I expected, and tasted indifferent to the ones used in Maxibons. Their flavour is akin to a very mild bourbon and they're pleasant enough.

To be honest, there's very few differences between Walls' new Feast sandwiches and Nestle's iconic Maxibons. The ice cream is better in the 'Feast', but it's lacking the chocolate chips that add texture to the Maxibons. My biggest bug bear is that once again Walls have relied on Feast's success to brand an unrelated product. It's NOT a Feast. I do however want to try the new Maxibon Cookie (when I can find it) it looks very good!

6/10

Walls Gingerbread Sandwich Ice Creams

I feel like I need to apologise for another review of a festive product that was first released in 2014. Once again, I didn't get around to trying them last year, so I'm trying them this year for the first time- but I'm guessing I may not be the only one! 

'Gingerbread Sandwich is the perfect Winter Ice Cream! 

Gingerbread Sandwich is a special treat on cold, Winter days. When 2 delicious Ginger Biscuits meet creamy, tasting vanilla Ice Cream you get the perfect Winter Ice Cream. Enjoy it with a cup of tea, or just as a special snack in cold days, for the joy of Ice Cream with a special Winter taste'. 

I've got to be in the right mood for ginger; I often find gingernuts too crunchy and spicy, however I love a good slice of Jamacian Ginger Cake (especially warm with a large pool of Ambrosia custard!) and eagerly await the return of German Lebkuchen into the discount supermarkets in the run up to Christmas.

Unwrapping the ice cream, I discovered that it was a good sized portion, unlike the tiny Oreo ice creams. The biscuits were a lovely deep golden colour, and the ice cream was contrastingly stark and bright. 

The ginger biscuits were soft, chewy and perfectly spiced, offering a genuine satisfying warmth. The whiteness of the ice cream concerned me and I hoped it would't taste cheap and artificial, but I couldn't have been more wrong -it was in fact rich and creamy, which offset the ginger wonderfully. It's not often that I find an ice cream particularly comforting (delicious and moreish yes) but this dessert made me want to nestle into my sofa with the fire on and a festive film. 

Top marks Walls!

10/10

Honeycomb Magnum

I've been searching for these Honeycomb Magnums for a couple of months because it seems that none of our local major supermarkets stock them. I finally found them this week in our smaller city centre Tesco and -even better- they were half price at £1.67 for the pack of three.

They are described as 'Honeycomb flavour ice cream with milk chocolate and sugar pieces.' 

The milk chocolate was Magnum's normal good quality, and was plentifully adorned with miniature nuggets of honeycomb which were simultaneously crunchy and melt-in-the-mouth. The ice cream tasted more butterscotch than honeycomb; reminiscent of the nostalgic 'Angel Delight'. I actually found the combination of chocolate and ice cream together unbearably sweet, and so nibbled off all of the chocolate before enjoying the ice cream separately.

I enjoyed the Honeycomb Magnum, and it made a pleasant change, but I wouldn't choose it over their 'Strawberry and White' or 'Espresso' ice creams in future. 

7/10

Walls Cooky Snack Ice Cream

I wandered down to Tesco Express this evening to buy an ice cream for my dessert, and I thought I'd just check their impulse freezer, which was a good shout because all of their single ice creams were half price. It just goes to show there are benefits to them clearing space for the Christmas lines so early!

I was just about to pick up a cornetto when I spotted these:

Walls Cooky Snacks.

I'm not sure if they're new or not but I've never seen them before. They are described as 'vanilla flavoured ice cream with chocolate drops and biscuits with chocolate chip'. I bought them at 63p each .

My other half ate his straight up but I separated the cookies & microwaved them for 30secs.

I know the photo doesn't look very appetising, but -oh my days- this was amazing! The cookies were soft when cold but after microwaving them but they were gooey, the chocolate chips having deliciously melted. The ice cream was pretty standard vanilla and unfortunately only had chocolate chips around the outside but they were plentiful enough. I really REALLY loved this ice cream.. I just wished they came in a multipack so I could buy them year round.

8/10.