BelVita Breakfast Soft Bakes Chocolate Filled (Sainsbury's)

It's not just Nature Valley who've brought out new 'breakfast' biscuits in the last couple of weeks.  On a side not I still don't know why they're called breakfast biscuits. Do any of you actually eat them or breakfast? Please drop me a comment and let me know. Anyway, the other key player in that market -Belvita- have surreptitiously released two new filled soft bakes in chocolate and strawberry flavours. The did, of course, release the soft bakes range two years ago, but Belvita have obviously decided it's time to give them an uplift. Admittedly I'm more of a Nature Valley girl - but then I'm addicted to oats- however it's Belvita that are bought more often in this house.

And that is because of Bert. He just loves biscuits. Where I can't resist the call of chocolate, he's more into sweets and biscuits. In fact he actively avoids the biscuit aisle in the supermarkets because he knows he won't be able to resist munching his way through an entire pack once it's open - which is why the pre-portioned 'breakfast' biscuits are handy. That and the fact that he's either at work or working on the Landy - so is forever eating out of his lunchbox. So they're handy. For Bert, the Yogurt filled and original Belvitas weigh supreme. The yogurt ones because of the taste, the original because there's four in a pack and they therefore feel more substantial.

"Soft baked biscuits made with wholegrain cereals and a chocolate hazelnut flavour filling (15.6%) and added vitamins and minerals."

Anyway, it was him I picked up these new filled soft bakes for, however I ended up tucking into them first - probably because I bought the chocolate flavour. Sorry Bert. Just for info, I found them in Sainsbury's for £1.50, however I believe they're now in Morrisons too. 

The biscuit was every bit as soft as it promised to be, although not so much that it fell apart in the pack. The smattering of oats was a pleasant sight, as was the golden hue. Breaking it in half revealed a fair amount of spread-like filling. 

Omnomnom. It was cakier than a cookie -and far removed from your standard biscuit- but I really liked it. In fact the consistency reminded me of a nutrigrain, although it was moister than that. As hoped, the chocolate filling was reminiscent of Nutella, although weirdly there's not any nuts in the actual ingredients. That shouldn't really come as a surprise seeing as Belvita comes under the Mondelez banner, and they're notorious for not including nuts in their nut flavoured products (such as the peanut butter Oreo ice cream sandwiches, and atrocious peanut butter Dairy Milk Oreo). 

Despite the lack of actual hazelnuts, I was impressed with these biscuits and went back for the strawberry flavour, so stay tuned for a follow up review of them! But most importantly, what did Bert think?....

"They're nice, but they're not big enough."

There you have it. 

8/10

NEW! Soft Centre Chocolate Macaroons (M&S)

M&S updated their 'Dessert Menu' collection this week. Well there's got to be an upside to the darker mornings and chillier days hasn't there? You might've noticed that most of the supermarkets have also launched Christmas sections too - but don't worry, I've not been struck by mince pie mania like last year. Yet. Giant chocolate macaroons though? Count me in!

"French almond chocolate macaroons - just warm for a soft chocolate ganache centre."

The new desserts in the range are all part of a 20% introductory offer. This double pack was still a pricey £3.20 though. Macaroons are always expensive but can they be spectacular enough to warrant the £3.80 (non-offer) price tag? Let's find out...

Each macaroon was about 10cm ish in diameter, and could be eaten warm or cold. To be honest, it was the idea of the molten middle that persuaded me to prise apart my usually tight purse strings. Call me simple but I really don't understand the fascination with macaroons. 25 seconds in the microwave and it was ready to go.

Microwaves have a habit of making crispy food soggy but the shell remained crispy on the outside and soft on the insider. There was a fair amount of cocoa flavour to it too, with the almond aftertaste following through. As for the ganache, it was, of course, undeniably decadent due to the dark chocolate (11%) and whipping cream (19%) and once warmed became more like a sauce. In fact, the whole experience was like eating a lighter warm chocolate fudge cake. 

The new giant Macaroons are great for the novelty factor, however  I can't help but feel they pale in comparison to the Gold Bullion bars in terms of creativity and innovation. That said, I'd happily pick them up as part of the Dine In for £10 meal deal (if and when they're ever included) but would never pay the full price for them. 

8/10. 

Lacasa Turrón de Tiramisú (Home Bargains)

The trouble with being good friends with a chocolate blogger is that she's always finding delicious, tempting treats that get me salivating. Whilst Nat often reviews bars by well known brands from across the globe, she's also excellent at tracking down more unusual companies. Cue Lacasa. I'd certainly never heard of the Spanish chocolatier until she reviewed their 'Turrón de Cookies' bar  a few weeks ago. Boy doesn't it look delicious? She then got her hands on two of the Turróns de Tiramisú, and kindly offered to send me one -knowing how much I love the classic Italian dessert. Perhaps there's no problem with being friends with a temptress after all. Thanks Nat, you're a diamond. 

I'd never heard of a Turron before, but the imported label translated it as 'Tiramisu Praline Nougat'. The ingredients included a delectable mixture of cocoa butter, biscuit (15%), hazelnuts, almonds, and, um, cheese powder. Again! Twice in one week for chocolate bars with cheese powder. Who knew it was such a popular ingredient? I headed to Lacasa's website for a further description of this intriguing bar... 

"Tiramisu NOUGAt"All the flavor of the traditional Italian dessert, in this nougat, made with cheese, coffee, cake and the best cacaos. Format 100g."

Oh. I'm not sure that's any clearer. I tried..

I hope you'll agree that it was a very aesthetically pleasing bar. I loved the dual layers and simple decoration. But what on earth did it taste like?

Well there was a lovely cocoa flavour to it, with a respectable coffee kick and notes of Masala. A wonderful creaminess came from the top layer, which had a slight tanginess to it - in fact Lacasa managed a more convincing cheesecake flavour than KitKat did! 

I loved the combination of textures too; the top was smooth whilst the bottom was crumbly with a slight crunchiness to it. Where the nougat element comes in I'm not sure, as it wasn't remotely chewy. Additionally, there wasn't any large nut or biscuit pieces in the bar, but it wasn't as smooth as a traditional praline either. Perhaps that's why I enjoyed it so much though - because it was utterly different to anything we've got here. 

Interestingly though, Nat experienced something quite shocking with her bar, but you'll have to read her review to find out what went down...  

Thank you to Nat for sending me this beautiful bar. According to Nat they're available in Home Bargains, but Hereford hasn't had any - so I hope you're in luck if you fancy trying it!

8/10

NEW! Cadbury Dairy Milk Mint Oreo 41g Bar (Tesco)

I don't think that any of us have quite got over the atrocious "peanut butter" Oreo Dairy Milk; It was an absolute insult to us nut butter lovers. I even refused to buy the mint version of the Oreo Dairy Milk on the back of my disgust, despite reading raring reviews on it, and enjoying the actual biscuit mint flavoured Oreos. I also didn't fancy buying a 100g mint chocolate bar when I'm not the biggest mint chocolate fan. Sometimes the combination reminds me all too much of toothpaste, and other times it's the refreshing hit that I crave. Kind of like Mars bars - I just have to be in the mood. So when I found this single serving 41g bar in Tesco last week, I put my reservations to one side and took a punt on the minty, biscuity, Cadbury chocolate bar. 

"Milk chocolate with a mint flavoured filling (36%) and biscuit pieces (14%)."

I still expect to see the old cube shaped segments when opening a bar of Dairy Milk. Do you experience the same thought, or am I just getting older (back-in-the-good-old-days-esque). I was pleased however to find that each bubble contained a generous amount of filling, which was a less ludicrous shade of green than mint Aero, and jam packed full of cookie pieces.

The overall flavour was pretty good. As per the Oreos, the mint was well balanced - not knocking into Aquafresh territory but standing it's own against the milk chocolate and cookie biscuit pieces. As for the chocolate, it's been so long since I last bought a Dairy Milk that I can't acurately comment on whether it's the same stuff used in the unadulterated bars. All I can say was that it had that undeniable Cadbury taste.

The cookie pieces were wonderful. They were the only aspect that I enjoyed in the [don't make me say it again] "peanut butter" Oreo bar, and they worked well once more - but this time the filling around the biscuit didn't grate on me. They were perfectly crunchy and added welcome texture, as well as a touch of added flavour depth from the cocoa which had the added bonus of breaking up all the sweetness. 

Then it dawned on me. I know why I was enjoying the bar so much. It reminded me of Viscount biscuits. Do they even still exist? As a child they were the holy grail of party food, I guess because they were the closest snack one could get to the Christmas luxury biscuit selection boxes*. Talking of which, If you didn't grab the foil covered ones first, there's something wrong with you.

Next time I'm craving mint chocolate, I'll probably choose this bar over an Aero. Cadbury's milk chocolate might've gone downhill, but it still beats Nestle's every time. 

8/10

De Bron Sugar Free Cherry Gums (Sweets Without)

Last month Sweets Without sent me those lovely Diablo cappuccino sweets to try - which I'm rather gutted to have finished. Luckily for me, Peter has since sent over a different brand of sugar free sweet for me to try. In fact, Peter gave me a choice between the vast range of sweets made by Dutch confectioners De Bron, and although I was tempted by the exciting sounding Caribbean Mix, it was the gummy cherries that caught my eye. I do love a good jelly cherry sweet! Could a sugar-free version be anywhere near as tasty though?

The sweets looked exactly like their regular, full sugar, counterparts but are made with Maltitols to sweeten them instead. They were soft and chewy like the regular versions too, with a strong yet sweet cherry juice flavour. In fact, they were really rather good!

I wafted one under Bert's sceptical eyes. He doesn't buy into sugar-free/low-fat/low-carb/high-protein anything. He eats what he likes and never contemplates having any healthier alternatives. He also adores sweets. Whilst he's never tempted by my excessive chocolate collection, he can't help but dive into the sweetie jar that resides on our coffee table in our living room. The sweetie jar was empty though (a very rare occurrence) and so he tried one of the De Bron Sugar Free Cherry Gums. 

"Oooh they're nice."

I promise you, that's high praise from Bert -for reference, his response to the banoffee cheesecakes was "yeah, they're ok".

I think he's since aten more of the pack than me! 

You can find these sugar free Cherry Gums, and the rest of the De Bron range on Sweets Without's website. Thanks for the samples Peter.

8/10

Double Decker Banana Moon Pie (A Taste Of The States)

I've been wanting to try the Banana Moon Pie for a good couple of years now. It first caught my eye when the big sweet shop in Hereford city centre started stocking them, but I refused to spend £2 on one that was a year out of date. Yes really. I know that these things tend to last way longer than their sell by thanks to all of the artificial.. well everything.. but it was principle, you know? Way back in November I was sent the Double Decker Chocolate flavoured Moon Pie and whilst this reminded me of my desire to try the banana flavour, I did little about it. Cue A Taste Of The States. 

Like the chocolate version, this was made up of layers of graham cracker and marshmallow, but this time it was a sunny* shade of yellow. 

The banana flavour was omnipresent and, of course, undeniably artificial. It was the good kind of synthetic though, at the foam sweet end of the spectrum and not the chemically one. The gooey, cakey quality made it feel very childish (and therefore all the more enjoyable) to eat. 

I had already learned from previous experience that a quick blast in the microwave transforms a Moon Pie into an even oozier concoction. So when you try one, please do warm yours up too - but only if you don't mind sticky fingers! 

This one is for the die hard banana sweet lovers out there. Those of us who are prepared to face the inevitable sugar high and relish the nostalgic glee of sticky marshmallow. The Banana Moon Pies are are quite the bargain too at just 99p from A Taste Of The States, and if you enter AMYSEEKS20 at the checkout you'll get 20% off too! 

8/10

*does that sound more appetising than slightly alarming? 

Ritter Sport Honey Salt Almonds Milk Chocolate

I fully acknowledge that I am exceedingly late to the Ritter Sport party. In fact I'm more than a little bit embarrassed to admit that this Honey Salted Almonds bar was the first I've tried from their range. I wasn't actually out to buy chocolate, but was in the local corner shop buying vegetables when it called to me. That's what I like to refer to as balanced shopping. I have seen this bar in Waitrose however, and Ritter Sport is widely available now, so should you read this review and decide to buy it (if you haven't already) then I'm sure you won't have any problems finding it.

"Milk chocolate with roasted, salted almonds with a honey flavoured coating (25%)."

It's strange. Ever since I reviewed that Muller Goes Nuts corner I've been craving caramelised almonds. I've also moaned about the lack of almondy chocolate bars in the U.K so I hoped Ritter Sport would hit the spot!

The chocolate was rich, more so than the standard U.K bars, but I had predicted as much considering the cocoa content -30% cocoa solids. It melted fairly slowly too, with a creaminess that I've come to expect from Belgian chocolates (I guess Ritter Sport is closer to the country than us Brits). 

As for those almonds, they were sizeable and crunchy. Although the size of the nuts may feel overbearing for some, I liked the fact that they hadn't been chopped up beyond recognition. There was a slight honey note that came through, and I was left wondering whether Maple syrup would have worked even better. Aren't I a pernickety sod? 

The other aspect that slightly bothered me was the lack of salinity. I adored the larger rock salt crystals that adorn the Grown Up Chocolate Company's salted caramel cups, and found that this bar could've done with a similarly obvious salty boost. The salinity was there, but it was just on the weaker side. 

I'd happily buy this bar again, however I'm now keen to try the Cornflake and Rum & Raisin Ritter Sport bars. Which flavour is your favourite?

8/10

Magnum Double Raspberry (Tesco)

This weekend I stayed with my sister and we found ourselves craving some proper comfort food. Both of us were super-achey (she’s training for the Cardiff Half Marathon) and I’d started phase two of the Crusader Strength Program*. We needed stuffed crust cheese pizza and ice cream. But what ice cream to have? Lou, like me, has a strong love for all things Black Forest (I think we’ve got our grandma’s Xmas roulade to thank for that) and so it didn’t surprise me that she was drawn to the new double raspberry Magnums whilst we were on our junk food hunt in Tesco.

I was unimpressed with Magnum’s 2017 flavours when they were announced earlier this year. Double raspberry? Double coconut? Meh. As you might’ve gathered I’m not Magnum’s biggest fan, but I wasn’t about to argue with my sister! 

"Raspberry ice cream with a chocolate flavour coating (8%), raspberry sauce (19%) and milk chocolate (24%)."

The ice sticks have a similar layout to the Double Peanut Butter Magnums; i.e. the ice cream resides in the centre, surrounded by a chocolate layer, then a sauce, all coated in milk chocolate. 

Biting into the stick revealed the tetralogy of distinct layers. The ice cream in the middle had a pleasant berry flavour, but you'd be hard pressed to ascertain that it was raspberry and not strawberry. This might sound like a complaint, but I was fond of the seemingly discontinued white raspberry Magnums, and so did enjoy the ice cream. 

The raspberry sauce was sticky and oozed from between the chocolate layers. It was much thinner than the sauce in the double peanut butter Magnums, and I preferred it as such. Magnum have made it from raspberry puree, which was a wise idea as it gave the sauce a sharpness that counteracted the sweetness from the ice cream wonderfully. 

The milk chocolate coating was just as tasty as I'd hoped it would be. Magnum might've reduced the size of their lollies quite considerably in recent years but they don't seem to have messed with their chocolate. However, I can't help but think that this ice cream would have been really special had Magnum have opted for a white chocolate coating. I mean, white chocolate and raspberry were just meant to be together weren't they?

Thanks Lou bum to treating me to the Double Raspberry Magnum (especially as I've promised to not buy any more new ice cream until I've got my collection under control). 

8/10

 *please check it out if you fancy building some strength and muscle with an extensive full-body plan, I can’t believe the changes I’ve seen in five weeks.

Efectiv Pro & Oats High Protein Flapjacks (Online)

There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t eat oats in some form or another. In fact, it was the food I missed most when in Malaysia earlier this year. Almost every morning is kick-started with a bowl of protein oats (proats if you will), but I also love granola and flapjacks too. Protein flapjacks however are often disappointing, and tend to be so far removed from real flapjacks that I’d rather have a real flapjack and get my protein elsewhere. I’m not averse to trying new products though and so when Efectiv contacted me a few weeks ago to ask if I’d like to try their new protein flapjacks and Dual bars, I accepted their kind invitation. After all, the protein bar market is rapidly evolving. Gone are the days of chewy bricks, thank goodness! 

Their flapjack range currently consists of three flavours: Chocolate Orange, Toffee Oat & Cherry Bakewell. Each 70g bar is less than 270 cals and contains 14g of protein (check the bottom of the review for the full macros). They’re made with gluten free oats and whey, with no palm oil or gelatine. Efectiv have also used natural flavours and sweeteners, and the flapjacks are GMO free and certified Halal. One massive bonus for me is that they contain no soya protein or polyols, making them much kinder on your stomach. This makes them higher in carbs, but also the perfect post-workout treat. I say treat, but that’s only right if they taste good… 

Cherry Bakewell

I’d normally save the flavour I’d anticipate would taste the best until last, but my preconceptions on what these bars would taste like wasn’t especially high and so I thought I’d give Efectiv the best chance possible. 

The first thought that struck me was how much closer to a real flapjack this bar looked. It was also a decent size too. The second realisation was just how soft the bar was - often protein flapjacks are either super dry or gluey, but this was neither. 

The texture was spot on. Soft and gooey, with a pleasant chew that wasn’t hard work. The cherry flavour however was milder than I’d have liked and I couldn’t help but think that either a layer of jam or chunks of dried cherries would improve the taste. It was still the best protein flapjack I’d tried to date though. 

8/10

Chocolate Orange

Unlike the Bakewell bar, this flapjack was dark in colour. Texturally it was very similar though. 

As for the flavour, this time it was much punchier, although I’d describe it more as cocoa orange as it lacked the milkiness that I’d associate with eating a bar of orange flavoured chocolate. In fact, the flavour kind of reminded me of something that Trek might make, but it was much tastier than Trek’s protein flapjacks. 

8/10

Toffee Oat

I saved this bar until last and found myself really looking forward to it. 

I wasn’t disappointed either. The bar tasted like a proper flapjack! It was gooey, sweet, soft and chewy with a lovely toffee undertone. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that I’d happily eat the Efectiv toffee & oats pro&pats flapjack instead of a normal flapjack and I’ll be hunting down more to try in the future!

9/10

All in all, I was mightily impressed with these protein flapjacks from Efectiv. I do feel like the flavour of the Cherry Bakewell bar could be improved slightly, but that’s just a mini moan! Thank you to Efectiv for sending me the samples. The flapjacks (and the new Dual bars, watch out for the review) are available from their website.

*as promised, here's the Macro breakdown:

Nestle White Chocolate Crunch (Poundland)

I often moan about the lack of white chocolate bars on the market. Are the sweet-toothed big kids among us really that far and few between? In any case, none of the primary mass-manufacturers of chocolate in the UK seem to be that interested in it, with one exception to the rule - Nestle. I can't help but feel disappointed by that, namely because I don't really like Nestle's chocolate. Except Milkybar. The release (or rather re-release) of the Smarties Milkybar was a great idea on Nestlé's part, but I fear that that's about as exciting as the white chocolate market is going to get over here for now. 

Luckily, my instagram feed is full of fellow chocoholics who also love finding unusual/lesser known bars...

...and this is how I came to find this white chocolate Crunch bar. I'm aware that some newsagents sell smaller versions of it, but I haven't seen any in eons, and I don't think I've ever actually tried it before - hence the review.

The bar was imported from the Netherlands, and I found it after spotting this post by junk food genius Niki. Poundland it was, post-haste! 

Who didn't grow up on Rice Krispie cakes? If memories of sticky fingers (or every body part in my case) whilst pouring a box of puffed rice into melted chocolate wasn't a staple part of your childhood I feel sorry for you. For some reason we never made white chocolate versions, and that seems like a shame. 

Luckily Nestle have gone some way to rectify this mistake with this Rice Krispie filled bar. I loved the craggy shaped blocks and the big lettering down the smooth side - which I assume is there in case you forget what you're eating. The underside looked like it had contracted a nasty case of acne. Wait, that's not a very appetising description is it? 

Don't let my gruesome analogy put you off though, the bar was yummy in a cheap yet nostalgic kind of way. I mean, it was a far cry from the likes of the luxuriously silky Choc Affair bars. It tasted slightly chalky and especially sweet -but was also oddly comforting. The texture lived up to expectations; delivering a crunchiness that wasn't off-putting whilst simultaneously invoking memories of Sunday afternoon 'baking' sessions with my siblings. 

If you're a fellow sweet toothed white chocolate lover than this bar is well worth a trip to Poundland for! It's not about to win any awards, but it's sure to make you smile. 

8/10

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (Sweet Victory Products)

A week or so ago I received the following message from Sweet Victory Products:

"Hi Amy,we noticed you are a fan of peanut butter and was wondering if you would like to sample some of our sugar free peanut butter crunch bars for a review?"

Well, of course I did, how could I refuse such a gracious offer? A couple of days later a parcel arrived containing a purple pick and mix bag...




The bars are made by an American brand, Atkinsons, who make all sorts of sugar-free sweets. As you may have gathered, I've recently been venturing into sugar free sweets (courtesy of Sweets Without) but had never come across peanut butter flavoured ones!

"Crispy, crunchy and completely peanut buttery! Peanut Butter Bars are packed with our famous peanut butter and handmade with Splenda."

Uh oh. That sounded remarkably similar to the description of my peanut butter nemesis: the Butterfinger bar. They did however smell extremely peanut buttery and so I put my preconceptions aside to give them a good go!

They tasted delicious! The peanut butter was prominent throughout, with a resounding sweetness. I tried my hardest to suck them as I would a normal boiled sweet, but due to their size (and the overwhelming temptation to crunch) it wasn't long before I cracked them open between my molars. 

Unlike the Butterfinger bar, they didn't make my jaw ache and were fairly soft. Without the chocolate coating, they were also far less sickly than the Butterfingers, however, they did lodge themselves between my teeth -making them fairly awkward to eat in public. Fortunately, I'm not particularly ladylike so I've kept on eating them regardless, but I thought I should let you know what you're letting yourself in for with these Atkinsons peanut butter crunch bars!

At £1.59 for 100g I think these are excellent value for money, and are perfect if you want a sweet (yet sugar free) peanut butter fix to keep in your handbag (or car). As far as I'm aware, we have nothing similar to these in the U.K so please do head over to Sweet Victory's website where you can benefit from 10% off your first order with the code AMYS10!

8/10

Thank you to Sweet Victory for the samples!

NEW! Dessert Menu Banoffee Semifreddos (M&S)

Banoffee pie is absolutely up there as one of my all time favourite desserts (with tiramisu and my mum-in-law-to-be's apple crumble). The trouble is, most of the supermarket versions are pretty poor, and most of them come in large sized pies (I can't deal with that amount of temptation in the house, the same reason I don't make it very often). Cue M&S. Thank the lord. Their frozen dessert collection now contains a double pack of banoffee semifreddos. But there's a catch -they're £4 a time, yes, ouch. I struggle with spending £3 on a couple of cheesecake slices, but then I reconsidered...

1)  I'd heard resoundingly positive feedback on the semifreddos from fellow dessert fanatics Nat and Sian.
&
2) I'd pay more than that for a single dessert at a restaurant.

But then I had a brainwave anyway. The dine in for £10 meal deal. That says it includes selected ice creams. It usually contains some of M&S' dessert collection free desserts. I wonder... would the banoffee semifreddos be secretly part of the fortnightly deal? There was no offer ticket to suggest it was, but I did used to work at the Hereford branch and so I cheekily asked the lovely Maria to check it through the till...

BINGO!

It worked. I managed to buy two rump steaks, 4 potato rostis, a bottle of wine and the semifreddos for just a tenner. Bargain.

"Banana and vanilla custard cream with Dulce De Leche caramel sauce on a digestive biscuit crumb base, finished with cocoa powder and a dark chocolate plaque."

Chuffed with myself, I got them home and opened them up, to find that M&S had done a rather marvellous job of packaging them carefully in separate little brown boxes. First brownie point awarded to Marks, they were impeccable, despite my persistent clumsiness; anyone remember this doughnut pancake?

The topping was well flavoured with an authentic flavour (M&S have used real bananas - 6% of the ingredients) and it was creamy whilst remaining fairly light. I couldn't get my head around the consistency though; after the 20 minutes suggested defrosting time I had a soft moussey outer edge and a frozen inside. I get that's what its meant to be, but it made me think that I hadn't left it out of the freezer for long enough. 

The biscuit bottom was a lovely digestive affair, and although it was on the crumbly, fall-apart end of the cheesecake base spectrum, it was delicious nonetheless. 

It was the caramel centre that I was most excited about, and as I started to dig in, I thought M&S had been fairly stingy. In reality, it simply turned out that it was mostly pooled down one end, and the golden treasure was worth the wait. It was thick, gooey, and sweet with the buttery richness that I had hoped for. 

M&S Banoffee Semifreddos will never beat a fresh, homemade banoffee pie -especially as they understandably* lack the slices of fresh banana. At £4 for two, they're expensive too, but are well worth picking up as part of the Dine in Offer. As such, I'd happily have them again. 

8/10

*no-one wants slimy, black defrosted bananas gracing their dessert after all!

NEW! Ben & Jerry's Berry Neighbourly (Tesco)

I thought I was just viewing another enviable American edition Ben & Jerry's when scrolling through my Instagram a couple of days ago and spotting the Berry Neighbourly tub. Wait, that's Chloe's page. I know Chloe has recently come back from America... but it wasn't #throwabackthursday. Was it a sneaky #flashbackfriday? No. No it wasn't! It was a new flavour, here in the U.K. Huzzah! Ben & Jerry's, you little devils! Why do you sneak these new flavours into our lives? Please shout about these things! 

Yep, it's another Tesco exclusive flavour (as Sofa So Good and Wholly Coach are). And yes, Tesco have put their price up on Ben & Jerry's again. So if you want to get your hands on this tub, you'll have to be prepared to stump up £4.20, and there's a good chance you'll have to ask a member of staff to retrieve it for you too; both of our local Tesco stores have it out the back, but haven't put it on the shelves yet. 

"Vanilla ice cream with cookie (9%) and blueberry (8%) swirls, and white chocolate flavoured chunks (6%)."

I was pleased to find that the ice cream was slightly firmer than the Sofa So Good. All of the sauce seemed to be on one side of the tub though. Also, there wasn't a huge deal of white chocolate flavoured chunks in the tub, but the ones I did find were huge! 

The vanilla ice cream was fairly good, melting easily (but not too quickly) with the indulgent creaminess that's missing from most luxury tubs (Haagen-Dazs being the other notable exception) but perhaps this is unsurprising considering that cream is the primary ingredient.

The jammy swirls were delicious though, offering a strong and authentic sweet blueberry flavour with a hint of zing. This successfully cut through the vanilla well, but there just wasn't enough of it! As for the cookie swirl, it too was scrummy, but there was next to none in my portion - although Bert seemed to  fare better than me last night on this front. This was a huge shame, as the single mouthful of cookie was delightful, giving the ice cream a real cheesecake vibe. With this in mind, I've heard people compare this tub to the Ben & Jerry's blueberry cheesecake Froyo, but as I never tried it, I can't comment on that.

As you might have gathered, Ben & Jerry's have veered away from their usual ampersand format with the white chocolate in this tub. Instead they've opted for brick shaped chunks, which made them much more obvious than the chocolate in the Topped tubs. Again though, the chunks were missing in my tubs (what is it with me and fillings), and my portion only contained two. What the badger? However,I'm pleased to see than Ben & Jerry's are honouring the white chocolate lovers amongst us again-although I'm still morning the loss of Baked Alaska. Boo. 

As someone who doesn't normally buy vanilla based ice creams (caramel and peanut butter are much more up my street) I was surprised to enjoy this new tub as much as I did. To be honest, it's nowhere near the top of my favourite Ben & Jerry's flavours, but it's a nice fruity addition to the pack.

My tub: 6/10

If it had more swirl & more chocolate: 8/10

NEW! Mocha Cheesecakes (Waitrose)

A couple of days ago I reviewed Waitrose's new Cookies & Cream cheesecake slices and mentioned that I'd bought another double pack at the same time. It was these Mocha cheesecakes that had initially caught my attention though, and was only Bert's hatred of coffee that caused my brief hesitation. It wasn't long before I saw sense and bought them anyway, making the most of the fact that they're currently on offer for £2.63 -before they go up to £3.20.

I sent my sister a picture of my dessert purchases, and she instantly tried to persuade me to hop on a train to Cardiff to share them with her -despite my insistence that they wouldn't bode well on the two hour walk-train-bus journey to her house. In a great twist of fate however, her best friend collected her and brought her back to Hereford on Saturday evening. Great! I'd cook her Sunday dinner and we'd have them for dessert. Or so I thought... 

A heavy night of drinking later meant that she was only up to a coffee at my house yesterday, and took her cheesecake-to-go. Cheeky mare (love you really, Lou bum). Anyway, yes, mocha cheesecakes. Back to the case in hand, and the reason you're reading this post...

"2 Baked chocolate and coffee flavoured cheesecakes on a chocolate flavoured biscuit base, topped with vanilla flavour mousse and cocoa and vanilla dusting."

Despite their thoughtful packaging, the cheesecake stuck itself to the acetate surrounds, meaning that they didn't look as attractive as I'd hoped. I reminded myself that it was the taste I bought them for, not the aesthetics. 

Is it just me or is the vanilla mousse a slightly odd choice of topping for a mocha cheesecake? My thoughts went as follows:

 1. Cheesecake isn't normally topped with an additional layer
and
 2: Well, wouldn't white chocolate be more in keeping with the mocha theme?

I mean, it was light, fluffy, and perfectly pleasant. I just think it was slightly peculiar.

For once,  I was pleased that Waitrose hadn't opted to include a ganache layer because it meant that the Belgian chocolate flavoured cheesecake could shine through. Yes, it was every bit as rich and delicious as I always hope for when buying chocolate cheesecake, no doubt thanks to the inclusion of 10% Belgian milk chocolate.But wait a little minute here. Wasn't this meant to be chocolate and coffee cheesecake? Did that mean that there was meant to be two tiers of separate flavours, or that the cheesecake was meant to be mocha and therefore encompass both? All I know was that the coffee flavour was very much on the mild side, especially noticeable considering the helping of Jude's Flat White Coffee I chose to enjoy alongside the cheesecake. Looking at the ingredients gives an indication as to why it wasn't particularly prominent - Waitrose have used coffee granules here, and not ground coffee. Oh.

I forgave Waitrose a little when I reached the centre of the cheesecakes though, and uncovered a secret chocolate sauce centre*. Ooh, you cheeky devils! There was no hint of this on the products description (or the ingredients list), but who doesn't love a chocolate surprise? I know I do. It wasn't ganache-thick, but it wasn't overly runny either. There wasn't a huge deal of it, but it had a slightly darker edge to it than the milkier cheesecake and was therefore a welcome inclusion. 

The chocolate biscuit base was also pretty good (it was similar to the one used in their new C&C cheesecake) but I think a standard digestive (or coffee flavoured biscuit) base may have actually worked better considering how much chocolate there was already going on. That's only a slight niggle though, because it was still absolutely scrummy. 

Would I buy these again? Probably not, and especially not at £3.20 per pack. As far as new chocolate cheesecakes go, I much prefer the M&S sunken Valencian Orange. 

8/10

*apologies for the dark photo, I was eating it in front of the T.V, hopefully you can spot the darker patch in the middle!