NEW! Belgian Milk Chocolate & Hazelnut Ice Creams (M&S)

Marks & Sparks' new salted caramel ice creams have to be one of my favourite desserts of 2016 so far. Even thinking about them is enough to render me a drooling mess. That decadent caramel studded chocolate. That velvety ice cream. Ok, ok. Back to reality. My point is, it was never going to be long before I succumbed to M&S' other new ice cream sticks in their 'Dessert Menu' range.

Oddly enough, I will sniff out, hunt down, and prey on anything peanut buttery -but hazelnut? Meh, not bothered. I don't even know why I'm so disenchanted by the nut given that I've loved Nutella for as long as I can remember*. With a bit of extra contemplation, I decided to try M&S' new hazelnut ice creams in the hope that they would taste similar to my favourite chocolate spread.  

"Swirls of chocolate and hazelnut dairy ice creams coated in Belgian milk chocolate with roast hazelnut pieces."

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I retrieved the ice cream from its box. The salted caramel versions came in pretty wrappers, and this looked far less elegant in its clear cellophane.

The hazelnut studded coating was once again generous; it was silky and rich, offering a robust but well balanced cocoa flavour. One of the problems I find with hazelnuts is that they often go stale very quickly -which is probably why I often steer clear of them. Fortunately M&S have avoided this problem, the hazelnuts had retained their crunchiness, tasting as fresh as the day they were chopped. 

The chocolate and hazelnut ice creams were attractively rippled, although it was hard to distinguish between the two separate flavours. Instead, the combination resulted in a creamy, mellow, Nutella-esque ice cream that tasted heaven sent -just what I hoped for. My only criticism was that the chocolate flavour could have benefited from being slightly punchier -but that really is just nitpicking. 

M&S's salted caramel ice creams are still my favourite, but only just. If you're a Nutella fan I suggest you pop on down to your local store pronto and pick up a box whilst they're still on promotion (20% off, £2.10 for 3).

9/10

*I even keep an emergency Nutella spoon on my house key ring, you know, just in case...