Favorina Finest Rum Raisin Marzipan Bread (LIDL)

I've never been a huge Christmas cake fan. In fact I really thought I didn't like it at all until recently when I tried Tesco's Free From Christmas Iced Fruit Cake Slices thanks to a tasting table in my local store. For any vegans, coeliacs or lactose intolerant readers please be assured that Tesco have done a rather good job there. To be honest I always considered Christmas Cake's only saving grace to be the slab of marzipan that traditionally lies amid the layers. I even used to make a yearly Christmas Cake, but would only eat my homemade marzipan (which is surprisingly simple to make if you haven't attempted it before). The sweet almond paste is a personal favourite, and I could quite happily munch through a large bar of the stuff. Cue Lidl.

Amongst the selection of 'Favorina' branded Christmas goodies (along with the Spiced Biscuit Spread) LIDL are currently stocking a range of 100g chocolate coated flavoured marzipan logs priced at just 99p. The minute my eyes caught sight of the rum-raisin flavour I was sold. Rum is my favourite spirit and I love a good Rum N' Raisin ice cream -something that seems to be far and few between, don't even get me started on Carte D'Ors version. As a bonus it was milk chocolate coating the marzipan too. I find that so often companies opt for dark to counteract the sweetness.

Slicing into the log revealed the raisin studded almond paste, which smelt boozy and almondy, i.e. perfection. Whilst the milk chocolate wasn't thick enough to really taste by itself, the creaminess came through which I took as a sign that it was decent quality. As for the centre, it was a sightly grainy kind of marzipan -but delicious none the less. The rum soaked raisins worked well to keep the paste moist, and the hit of sugary festivity pleased my taste buds immensely. The sweetness means that it's better enjoyed with a big mug of coffee, as opposed to an amaretto and coke, but that's more than fine by me.

8/10