White Chocolate Twix (99p Stores)

Happy New Years Eve Ladies and Gents, I hope you all have a fabulous day and evening celebrating the end of 2015. It seems only right to finish the year with a chocolate-y review! 

So, our little City has its own Saturday market complete with a foodie 'Del Boy.' Each week he pitches up, and you never know what he's going to stock. Some weeks its Lindt chocolate, others its just broken biscuits and out-of-date Easter Eggs. About a year ago though, I hit the jackpot and bought from him some continental chocolate bars that we don't have in the UK -White Chocolate Twixs. I greedily ate my hoard, and went back for more but, alas, he hasn't stocked them since. I've searched online, and short of ordering a case from Amazon (yes I'm a chocoholic but I'm not that bad, and I get bored easily) I was out of luck. 

Until.. I found a single five-pack of the Holy Grail in the 99p store. I think I might've done a little jig right there in the shop, and I bought them quickly before anyone snatched them from my loving embrace. 

I wasn't sure if the rose-tinted spectacles had cast their bewitching spell on the bars, and given my recent affair with the American Peanut Butter Twix I didn't know if I'd still feel the same way about the white chocolate version after our lengthy time apart. 

I needn't have worried. The combination of crunchy biscuit, smooth caramel and creamy white chocolate was a winner. Each component was perfectly executed which led to an indulgent bar that left me wanting more. 

The different varieties of Twix that I've tried recently have been superb, and I'm quite perturbed that us Brits tend to luck-out when it comes to new flavours. I'm keeping an eager-eye out for the Cappuccino Twix that I've been dying to try since Kev from Kev's Snack Reviews spotted it earlier this year! If you see any whilst out-and-about please give me the heads up as to where I might purchase one (or more!).

10/10

Bahlsen Poppy Seed Stollen vs Lidl Marzipan Stollen

I had a bit of a bad experience with Stollen this year. I first tried to buy some from Waitrose -but they'd run out- then I bought a mini one from Lidl -which was awful- and then thankfully my luck changed and Bahlsen sent me one with some of their Zimtsterne biscuits. The Stollen they sent me however was a Poppy Seed version that I've never seen before, and one I'd probably not usually be inclined to buy. I've nothing against seeds, I just love marzipan so would always opt for the version with the thick almond paste running through it.

'This Premium stollen is a fantastic edition to our Christmas range. This stollen is filled with a poppy seed filling which complements the sweet fruit and icing sugar. A must have for a traditional German Christmas.'

When I unwrapped it, I was greeted with a lovely sweet festive scent from the loaf covered with a generously thick layer of icing sugar -reminding me why I love the traditional German Christmas treat so much. Slicing the Stollen revealed the Poppy Seed swirl which accounts for 9% of the total ingredients. 

The loaf was sweet and dense in a comforting manner that felt oh-so nostalgic of Christmas' past. The spice and fruit came through well, offering flavour and texture in every bite. I'm sure I came across some marzipan, and although it doesn't explicitly mention it amongst the ingredients, it does declare almonds on the allergen list (so I may or may not have imagined it). The poppy seeds were an unusual addition, and although I still prefer the marzipan as a filling, they added something different to this festive loaf. 

8/10

A Huge thank you to Bahlsen for sending me this Stollen to try!

Just to give you some contrast, this dear readers is a picture of the atrocious Lidl Marzipan Stollen... 

As you can see, it's lacking the sweet denseness of Bahlsen's loaf, which renders the whole thing crumbly and dry.

2/10

If you've only tried the Lidl vesion, thinking that as a German supermarket they should know their Stollen, I implore you to buy Bahlsen's offering instead next year!

Despicable Me Minions Baked Corn Snacks

On one of my recent Poundworld visits I discovered this 12 pack of Minions baked corn snacks. I've not seen them in the supermarkets before so I'm not sure how new they are, but £1 for such a large multi-pack I couldn't leave them behind. The pack contains 4x cheese toastie, 4x salt & vinegar & 4x pickled onion flavoured bags. 

The 'corn snacks' are shaped like Wotsits, but they're not as crunchy nor as flavoursome. I'm not sure if it's because they're in plastic and not foil lined bags, but given the softness, they tasted borderline stale. 

The cheese variety has a much milder flavour than its branded counterparts but is still quite tasty. The salt & vinegar and pickled onion are much more pungent, which pleased me as I like my flavours to pack a punch.

If the snacks were crunchier I'd describe them as tasty alternatives to Monster Munch, Quavers and Wotsits; but for me they taste just like the poor man's version that they truly are.

6/10

Cocoa Chaos Trek Bar

Today's review is not about a new product, however they're new to me and so I'm hazarding a guess that I'm not the only soul to have not tried these before. It's only recently that I've discovered cold press fruit & nut bars such as the Nakd Christmas Pud and Tesco's cheaper Banana Bliss bars. Trek is owned by Natural Balance Foods who also own Nakd so I had high hopes for this chocolate brownie inspired protein bar. 

Opening the pack, I discovered the bar was segmented into three. It didn't look very filling, but it did look very dry and I kind of wish I'd reached for the biscuits instead. Biting into it however, I was met with a lovely, deep dark chocolatey flavour. Each segment was more than a mouthful, and the chocolate seemed to intensify with each bite. Texturally it was slightly on the dry side, but considering it's lack of butter that's understandable. 

Each bar is pretty virtuous- they contain no added sugar, syrup, gluten,wheat or dairy. If that wasn't enough, they also contain 10g of protein, 1 of your five a day and are vegan friendly. I won't be replacing all of my chocolate bars with these bars, but if you're after a healthy alternative I suggest giving the Trek Cocoa Chaos bars a go!

8/10

Tesco Finest Belgian Chocolate Yule Log

Now, just on the slightest off-chance that you've not eaten yourself into oblivion, and are still inclined to read about chocolate (even if you can't eat anymore), today's post is a follow-up to the lacklustre Cadbury's Mini Yule Logs. I'd been hankering after something a bit more decadent, any I was toying between buying the Co-Op's Chocolate & Amaretto Yule Log and Tesco Finest's version. The Co-ops bûche de Noël sounded more appetising, simply due to the Amaretto content, but Tesco's finest had resounding praise from bloggers Hannah & Lucy.

I decided to opt for the Tesco version, as these girls know their chocolate. It looked devilishly delectable, with a thick Belgian Chocolate ganache frosting smothering the entire cake. It sliced wonderfully, revealing the tell-tale chocolatey swirl. 

The chocolate ganache was beautiful- perfectly rich and chocolatey in an 'I'll lick the bowl when no-ones looking' way. The cake however was disappointingly dry, lacking the fudge-like stickiness that I expected (my personal quality indicator of homemade chocolate cake). Perhaps it needed lashings of double cream, but I'm afraid I didn't have any. The chocolate buttercream tasted decent enough, but I found that the ratio was a bit off-kilter. Although Tesco were generous with the ganache, they could have been a bit kinder with the internal buttercream swirl.

It might just be me, and my experience of home-made Yule Logs combined with the sky high expectations I had of this cake that led to my disappointment; although it was definitely a damned sight better than the Cadbury's minis. With that in mind, I'd be keen to know if any of you have tried it this Christmas, and if so what did you think?

7/10

Bourbon Biscuit Ice Cream Sandwiches from ASDA

Living in the back & beyond it sometimes takes new products a while to reach us, although granted it doesn't normally take 6 months. ASDA's range of biscuit inspired ice creams have finally arrived in my little city, hurrah! I told my other half about the range way back in June, and although he rarely gets excited about food (I do enough of that for the both of us) he was really eager to try the Bourbon Ice Creams. Two seasons later he was a little more nonplussed, but I bought them anyway and hoped that ASDA would deliver upon our high expectations.

As far as supermarket own brand ice creams go, they're quite pricey at £2 for a box of six. The 'biscuits' are quite dinky, and so we figured that two is a more reasonable adult portion.

The biscuits tasted rich and cocoa-y, and actually bared a genuine resemblance their tea-dunking counterparts. Now don't get me wrong, they haven't got the snap that's a key factor of a good biscuit, but I didn't expect them too. They're soft and chewy which renders them more cookie-esque, but as we all know cookies-and-ice cream is a classic combination that needn't be messed with. The ice cream centre is chocolatey, but not in a dark intense way, more like a creamy chocolate milkshake... Mmm!

When it comes to this kind of product, I still prefer the Walls Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches (especially as they're only currently £1 for a four-pack at Farmfoods!), however these are a cute idea that I'd have again in future.

8/10

NEW! Milk Chocolate Bubbly Santa from M&S

Merry Christmas!

Santa visited! Well chocolate Santa did, but he's got to be the best kind.

The Santa's moulding is a little fancier than tM&S' white chocolate Polar Bears  -atleast he has eyes- but as you can see he's been in the wars a little bit... probably what Santa looked like after he's been down a million and one chimneys last night! 

Now I don't know about you, but I prefer to keep my chocolate in the fridge. I mention this because the casing is pretty thick, which made Santa a bit difficult to chomp on once refrigerated. The bubbles were less delicate than an Aero's, although not unpleasant -just texturally different. The flavour was rich with a deep cocoa flavour, which made the chocolate taste more luxurious than many leading brands. 

Again, I'm pleasantly surprised by M&S' chocolates and I'll be buying more of their non-seasonal range in future!  

8/10

Have a wonderful day; may you eat drink and be merry!

Bahlsen Zimtsterne (Cinnamon Stars)

It's Christmas Eve -the big day is almost here! However, if like me you have been unfortunate enough to face the Supermarkets these past few days, you may have felt your Christmas spirit wane ever so slightly. If that's the case, and you'd like to be reminded that not everyone is like the crazy trolley bargers that take it upon themselves to be even more rude in the run up to Christmas, then I'd like to tell you about a little bit of festive food kindness I experienced this week.

On a quest to educate myself about as many of the continental traditional festive biscuits as I could*, I saw on Waitrose's website a few weeks ago that they stock 'Zimtsterne' which translates to 'Cinnamon Stars'. As a huge fan of anything even remotely cinnamon-y, I hot-footed it down to my local store to pick some up, but alas, they didn't have any. Nevermind, I thought, I'll buy some in Cardiff when I visit my sister (they're bound to have some!) but yet again, my mission was unsuccessful. I returned to the local Waitrose, who told me the closest store to stock Zimtsterne was in mid-Wales, and at that point I gave up. Fortunately, the people at Bahlsen heard of my thwarted quest and offered to send me a pack in the post, "as it's Christmas". True to their word, and only 36 hours later, a parcel arrived at my door...

Not only had they sent me two packs of the Cinnamon Stars, but a Poppy Seed Stollen to boot! This was extremely welcome as I previously mentioned in the Toffee Apple Mulled Cider review that I hadn't managed to get any Stollen from Waitrose either! 

So Bahlsen's Zimtsterne are more accurately 'Star-shaped cinnamon spiced hazelnut biscuits.' They are soft, and more cakey than biscuit in texture with a powerful cinnamon and hazelnut aroma. The hazelnuts account for 38% of the total ingredients, so its not surprising that you can not only smell them but taste them too. They're quite rustic looking -and tasting- which gives the Zimtsterne a lovely homemade feel. The cinnamon is balanced nicely, and the icing adds an extra touch of sweetness- it is Christmas after all! 

I really love these Stars, and I think I'd even consider making the journey to mid-Wales next year to buy them again. A huge thank-you to Bahlsen for kindly sending me a German Christmas care-package. 

Merry Christmas!

9/10

* My other Continental biscuit reviews, If you're interested:
ASDA'S Lebkuchen Stars
Weiss Pfeffernüsse

Party Melt-In-The-Middle Chocolate Brownies by Sainsbury's

I mustn't be the only person who does this- who buys Christmas food meant for the day itself (or Boxing Day in this case) but who gives into temptation ahead of time? No? Well, I'd bought some party food with the best of intentions, and I swear these mini brownies called to me from the freezer "Eat me! Eat me!" 

So, with only a few days to go, the Brownies got opened. I bought them from Sainsbury's frozen range as part of their 3 for £5 party food deal.The packet advises that you can eat them cold or hot, but why not have them warm and gooey? Handily, they come in individual cases so you can microwave one (or more) at a time. I popped 4 in the microwave for the stated 25 seconds, but they came out tepid and -as I was eating them with ice cream- I nuked them for a further 10 seconds.

The brownies offered an intense dark chocolate burst, and despite the extra microwaving, maintained a small but undeniably gooey centre. They were as as squidgy as any good home-made brownie, however they are only tiny, so even the two I ate didn't touch the sides! 

If you're looking for sweet, inexpensive party food nibbles, and are a chocolate fiend like myself then I recommend these mini melt-in-the-middle brownies from Sainsbury's.

8/10

Take 5, Mike and Ike Zours, Twizzlers & Nerds (Taffy Mail Conclusion)

Take 5
The item I was most undeniably excited about in the Taffy Mail goody box was this Take 5 Bar. It's an unusual concept, and it's called Take 5 because it consists of 5 components: chocolate, pretzels, peanut butter, caramel and peanuts. The packet told me it contained 2 bars, and I was expecting them to come in a 2-finger format like Twix, but instead they were a couple of square-ish shaped blocks.

Once the blocks were sliced into, you could easily distinguish the chocolate, caramel, peanut butter and pretzels, which were evenly distributed (unlike the Cadbury's marvellous creations bars). As a fan of cleanliness and order this pleased me enormously. The structure of the bar meant that you could taste each of the elements in every bite. The chocolate wasn't great, and it reminded me of the coating of Reese's PB cups (I then read the packet and realise that it is indeed made by the same company- Hershey's). The caramel was gloriously sticky, although there wasn't a great deal of it because the bar is so compact. I could taste the peanuts & peanut butter which resembled the filling of a Snickers bar. The most enjoyable element however came as a surprise- it was the pretzels- which added a lovely saltiness to the bar and complemented the sugary chocolate and caramel wonderfully. 

The amalgamation of 5 completely different constituents resulted in textural heaven: bite, chew, smooth and stickiness. Yum.

If you're a fan of the sweet/salty combination I'd definitely recommend Take 5!

9/10

Mike and Ike Zours

These little pellet shaped sweets pack a punch. I'd describe them as a Jelly Bean version of Haribo Tangfastics -minus the sugary coating. Each flavour is perfectly represented (lemon, apple, watermelon, blue raspberry and cherry) and is chewy without pulling being filling-removers. They're utterly different to what we have in the UK, and I'd happily buy them again

7/10

Twizzlers
I've seen these in the import sections of both B&M and Tesco. Twizzlers are another Hershey's product and are strawberry twisted licorice. The flavour was mild and very synthetic, and although they're quite fun to eat in a 'Cheesestrings' kind of way, I'd probably opt for normal strawberry laces in favour of Twizzlers.

3/10

Nerds
Nerds were something I remember enjoying as a child, and this duo pack of cherry lemonade and watermelon apple rekindled my love of these little crunchy miniature sweets, although I'm not sure I could identify the flavours if asked!

7/10

Taffy Mail Conclusion
Once again, a huge thank you to the guys at Taffy Mail for sending me a sample of their Classic Box to review.

Christmas is just a couple of days away, and if you're panicking that you've not finished buying gifts for those you love, then why not subscribe to Taffy Mail for them, boxes start from just £7.49 and that way they recieve a box each month!

Alternatively If you've got a sweet tooth, and crave something a bit different to what's available on the UK market, Taffy Mail might just be your answer.

For more info please visit: www.taffymail.co.uk

NEW! Heston's Toffee Apple Mulled Cider from Waitrose

I went into Waitrose yesterday on a Stollen mission, which was unsucessful because firstly the staff member didn't know what it was (what the hell!) & secondly I'd left it too late and they'd sold out.. boo.

When I was leaving the store however, this mulled concoction from their Heston Blumenthal range caught my eye. I'm not a fan of Heston -I find his arrogance grating- however I am grateful to him for opening our eyes to the wondrous nature of salted caramel. Anyway, this bottle of Toffee Apple Mulled cider was just over £3.00 a bottle and so I decided to give it a go. 

The bottle doesn't say whether to heat it or chill it, so I opened it at room temperature and then realised it should be drunk cold like traditional cider, so I cheated and added some ice to my glass. The traditional mulling spices came through well, but the concoction was lacking the dark caramel tones that it promised. It was generally just very sweet, and not a particularly great quality cider.

The low alcohol percentage (5.5%) combined with the sweetness of this Toffee Apple Cider means that it would probably appeal to fans of alcopops, but sadly its not one for me. 

5/10 

Cadbury's Yule Logs

Hannah & Lucy have been hot on the case when it comes to the battle of the supermarket Yule Logs, and I highly recommend reading their reviews if you're undecided as to where to buy one from this year. 

As there's just two of us (and our mutt Monty) in our house -and my other half isn't keen on chocolate cake- I thought I'd buy the Cadbury's Mini Yule Logs rather than miss out altogether. The pack of 6 was bought from ADSA for £1.50, and Cadbury describe them as 'Chocolate flavoured sponge with chocolate flavoured cream, covered with milk chocolate and sprinkled with a light sweet dusting'

Unwrapping the logs I was pleased to discover that they looked as chocolatey as they promised, with a light sugary coating and the tell-tale icing ruts mimicking bark. Cutting it in half however, I realised that visually it was a very dry sponge, and the taste confirmed my suspicions. It was completely devoid of the naughty gooey buttercream that makes a Yule Log so delicious, and the milky creaminess of Cadbury's chocolate. I wouldn't have guessed that this was a Cadbury's creation at all, as it bared no resemblance to their chocolate. 

What a disappointment, these Yule Logs a more like a lacklustre mini roll. Cravings unsatisfied, I might have to give in to the recommendations of Lucy and Hannah... 

4/10

NEW! Marks & Spencer Milk & White Chocolate Polar Bear

M&S can be a bit hit and miss. They create such innovative and visually stunning concepts when it comes to food and drink, which often unfortunately gets lost in taste translation. I've been hearing good things however about their new chocolates, and so I picked up this cute milk chocolate truffle filled white chocolate Polar Bear (60p but on a 3 for 2 Christmas chocolate mix and match deal). 

Moulding wise- it's not as defined as the Thornton's Chocolate Snowman, but is superior to the sorry looking (but great tasting) Reese's Christmas Tree. My polar bear is missing some eyes, but he still looks quite sweet.

Slicing him in half (sorry bear!) you can see that the filling is generously proportionate to the coating. The white chocolate is beautifully creamy and sweet, with a luxurious milkiness that pleases the taste buds. The chocolate truffle adds an extra textural depth, but I must admit it was slightly overshadowed by the glorious coating. The Mr said he wasn't keen on the centre, but he's not keen on any chocolate that's not Dairy Milk so I'm discounting his comments!

This is kind of an inside-out version of Thornton's Snowman truffle, but it's far tastier. If this chocolate is an indication of the standard of M&S's range, I've been missing out!

9/10

Propercorn Smooth Peanut & Almond

I've been hunting for this popcorn for what seems like eeons! I contacted Propercorn who told me that it is stocked in Tesco and Waitrose, but living in one of the most rural counties in the country meant that I havn't been able to find it. As luck would have it, I popped into the WHSmiths in Cardiff train station on the way home last week, and in amongst the crisps was the holy grail itself -Propercorn Smooth Peanut & Almond.

My lovely fellow blogging peanut-butter fanatics The Review Addict, Nibbles'n'Scribbles and Guilt Free Veggie were all lucky enough to receive some of Propercorn's new flavour a month or so back to review, and I'm sure I turned an unattractive shade of green when they unanimously agreed about the deliciousness of this product.

It didn't disappoint, and was just as good as the girls reported. The popcorn is light and fluffy with a bold nutty flavour that reaches the nooks and crannies of each and every kernel. It fulfils the characteristically sweet and salty flavour of peanut butter with a balance that's perfectly fine tuned. I thought Portlebay's Cinnamon Swirl couldn't be beaten, but this is hands down my new favourite- so much so that I'll be asking my sister to buy me as many packets as she can carry from the station when she next comes to visit. 

10/10

Annabelle's Rocky Road S'mores (American Chocolate Bar)

The Black Friday box of goodies that I ordered from American Soda contained a couple more chocolate bars that I've wanted to try for a while. One of which was the Rocky Road S'mores which One Treat reviewed a couple of months ago on behalf of Taffy Mail. She spoke highly of it, and I felt the food envy kick in so I decided to order one for myself. However, given how disgusted I was with the first chocolate I tried from my order (the Sky bar) I wasn't looking forward to it as much as I was when it arrived.  

The Rocky Road S'mores bar is a big gnarly ol' hunk of snack. If you haven't heard of them before (as I hadn't before reading OneTreat's review) they are 'Handmade fluffy marshmallow with a real graham cracker coated with milk chocolate and sprinkled with roasted cashew nuts.'

Unwrapping it, I noted that the chocolate was much darker than UK milk chocolate such as dairy milk. Fortunately however, I couldn't detect the horrid cheap chocolate smell that I experienced with the Sky Bar. 

Biting into it, I welcomed the soft, billowy marshmallow that melted away so pleasingly. It was far better than the marshmallows I'm used to (flumps) and although very sweet, didn't become sickly. Crunch came from the graham cracker on top- which was delicious-  but there just wasn't enough of it; I felt it could have really done with being both on top of and beaneath the mallow. The chocolate coating was studded with cashews (also just on top) which didn't add much in the way of flavour, but certainly offered an additional texture, reminding me of the coating of a 'Feast' ice cream. The chocolate was much better than expected, and although it's not as good quality as British chocolate, certainly outshines most of the US chocolates I've tried. 

I enjoyed this bar, and I'd buy it again! 

8/10

Star Wars: Cereal & Breakfast Biscuits from Kellogg's

It's here: Star Wars day! The day my dedicated other half has been counting down to for well over a year. It took him almost 8 years but he's recently persuaded me to watch all six films, and I have to admit that I really enjoyed them. So it's needless to say that we'll be pootling down to our local Odeon tonight for the midnight showing...

Star Wars has crept its way into all sorts of merchandise- from Waffle makers to doggy outfits and of course food. I reviewed Fox's rather pathetic 'Empire Bars' last month, and now it's Kellogg's turn with a double review of the Star Wars themed cereal & Multi-Grain biscuits. 

Multi-Grain Biscuits

Kellogg's have cleverly designed the packaging so that you can either choose a character from the dark-side or light-side of the force to face you (it had to be Vader naturally). The biscuits are described as 'Wheat and Wholegrain Cereal Milk Chocolate Biscuit with Chocolate Pieces'

The box contains six individually wrapped packs of four biscuits, although Kellogg's have misleadingly displayed calorie information on the box for just 2 biscuits- I'm not sure how that passed through the Advertising Standards Agency.

Anyway, taste wise they were completely different to what I expected with an intensive cocoa hit coming from the chocolate chips. I was convinced they had coconut in as they reminded me so much of 'Nice' biscuits but I've checked the ingredients and they haven't; so it must be the shape and texture that mentally connected the two. They're quite pleasant, but I probably won't buy them in future because -even on offer- they're £2 a box, and quite honestly Belvita make better breakfast biscuits.

7/10

Breakfast Cereal 

The Star Wars Cereal is 'chocolate flavoured wheat, wholewheat and puffed rice cereal'  in the shape of moons and stars. The newest boxes contain a 'free light sabre spoon' but In my usual tightwad way I wasn't prepared to pay the extra 75p for the promotional pack to get a spoon which looked no more substantial than a fork from the chippy.
.

I fully expected the cereal to mimic Coco Pops, but It held its shape better. It started out very chocolatey, but it wasn't long before most of the cocoa had bled into the milk. This wasn't particularly a problem, as it left me with a lovely chocolatey pool to slurp away at greedily. Again, this is a nice enough product but my other half quite rightly pointed out that really it's just Weetos in disguise. 

7/10

May the force be with you...

NEW! Chocolate Filled Star Doughnuts from Sainsbury's Bakery

I don't buy doughnuts very often, but how could I resist these star shaped treats filled with chocolate and topped with sparkly chocolate icing? Our nearest Krispy Kreme is 40 miles away, so although I read Lucy's review of their festive offerings a couple of weeks ago I haven't been able to have a Christmassy doughnut myself- until now! 

My star was a little misshapen, but I'm kind of used to my oddly shaped festive food following ASDA's rather special gingerbread reindeers. I'm pleased to see that Sainsbury's haven't been stingy with the icing and that the doughnuts are plentifully covered in the shimmery bronze sugar pieces.

Slicing into it I welcomed a generous pocket of oozy chocolate sauce that resembled Nutella. The doughnut was soft, fluffy, and thankfully lacked the greasy feel I expected. The topping was thicker than expected, and offered a satisfying crunchy texture with a good -but admittedly artificial- chocolate flavour. The gooey chocolate centre was definitely the highlight, let's face it chocolate spread and doughnuts are a match made in heaven!

At £1 for the pack of two these were a reasonably priced festive indulgence, and I dare say we'll be buying more before the big day itself.

9/10

NEW! Strawberry & White Chocolate Ice Cream Trees from Iceland

After the success of the caramel ice cream trees I went back and bought the other variety: 'Strawberry flavour ice cream with a Belgian white chocolate flavoured coating.'

Once again, they were slightly smaller than a magnum, and the lollies had a nice thick, even coating of white chocolate flavoured coating. The casing snapped nicely but half of my tree fell away (which I didn't mind because it meant I could save some white chocolate until last!).

The coating was wonderfully sweet, silky, and remarkably similar to milkybar buttons. The strawberry ice cream was a mild flavour which tasted like milkshake- McDonalds strawberry milkshake to be precise. For the more discerning pallete these references might not be a good thing, but to me it meant that the dessert was wonderful! 

Another 9/10 Iceland! 

Mr Kipling Winter Whirls

It's got to that time of year where I'm a little bored of the standard mince pies. Didn't I say that would happen when I reviewed Tesco's Mince Pie Cookies just over a month ago? Anyway, I've seen the Winter Whirls on the shelves for a while now and as I was visiting my sister this weekend (who's also a Christmas maniac) I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try Mr Kipling's variation on the classic festive treat. 

Winter Whirls, for anyone who hasn't seen or tried them are 'Scrummy shortcake swirls filled with rich buttercream and Christmassy mince pie-flavoured filling.' The box cost £1 from the Co-Op and contains six whirls. 

The biscuits are just as crumbly as I recall -although admittedly I can't remember the last time I bought Mr Kipling's standard Viennese Whirls. The biscuits melt in the mouth with a delicate butteriness that I remember fondly. The buttercream filling is very sweet and soft, and would probably be more enjoyable refrigerated. My gripe however was the mince pie element, which was just a mere smudge of jam flavoured with the traditional Christmas spices*.  The whirl could've benefitted from a better filling ratio, as the jam was almost completely lost against the decadent biscuits and rich buttercream. 

It's such a lovely idea, and it feels like a lovely dainty Christmas treat. It might be one for those who aren't so keen on the richness of mince pies, or who like the flavour but not the raisins! 

7/10

*I Read the ingredients later and realised that it's in fact just a spiced apple jam- how misleading...