NEW! Banoffee Brownies (Co-Op)

I'd vowed not to by any more baked goods. My cupboards are brimming with all kinds of biscuits, and I've recently started baking again (which I'm thoroughly enjoying). I thought I was doing well with my oath, even not giving in to my doughnut cravings (largely caused by The Tandem Bakery's Instagram feed).  My self-restraint caved completely though this week when I saw a story by the lovely Emma (@EmmasFood) which featured banoffee brownies. I hope you agree this constituted a cake emergency, although I did manage to abstain from heading to the Co-Op in my pyjamas that evening, and indeed managed to wait until I was on my way home from the gym the next day. 

"Banana and toffee flavour chocolate brownies topped with salted fudge pieces."

The pack cost £1 and included 8 square brownie chunks. Despite them being sat with the fresh cakes they had a reasonably long shelf life of about a month. Upon opening the bag I was greeted with a rich cocoa aroma, followed by a lingering artificial banana scent.  Uh oh. I hope that wasn't a precursor for a chemical taste. 

Unfortunately it was. On the positive side the brownies were soft in the middle, with a decent squidge and deep cocoa flavour.  Sounds great, right? Except for that damn banana. It wasn't even a pleasant foam banana sweet or milkshake kind of flavour; it was nasty and synthetic. I can't even see banana mentioned in the ingredients list. How can some companies get it so wrong? At least McVities got it right. 

What a shame! If only the Co-Op had chosen to use real banana instead of some artificial flavourings to make these brownies. They had so much potential. I guess I'll just have to make my own....

4/10

NEW! Lemon Drizzle Bun (LIDL)

Often when I wrote reviews of a disappointing product I find myself feeling the need to rectify the issue with a delicious version of said treat. At least that's why I'm blaming Pågen for my cinnamon cravings. Where could I find a decent cinnamon bun though outside of London (thanks for the tips guys)? Normally I can rely on Tesco's bakery -ASDA's aren't nearly so good- but my local Express store has been lacking in supplies lately. Well, either that or there's more cinna-fanatics out there. Then I had a brainwave. Lidl. Lidl sell fabulous looking cinnamon buns, and given the jam doughnut's success I thought I could rely on their bakery. Being the wily mate that I am, it didn't take long to persuade Bert that I really needed more Skyr and he kindly drove me across town. 

Oh dear, dilemma time. I instantly spotted the cinnamon buns, but then cushioned up next to them was an impressive array of iced buns adorned with white chocolate curls. They were simply labelled 'sweet buns, 49p'. Intriguing. I went on a mission to find a member of staff (easier said than done in Lidl) and eventually found a young man who advised me that he thought they were "lemon, lemon drizzle perhaps?". We'll go with that. The cinnamon bun could wait, the lemon drizzle could not. 

I had no idea whether the bun would be filled or not, but given it's coiled shape I found myself dreaming of a sweet yet sharp lemon curd interior. Nom. 

Oh. I guess not then! What the badger? The bun was dry all the way through; no raisins, no butter, and certainly no curd. I suppose on the plus side the dough was well risen with large air pockets, but it was also hard and almost crusty at the edges. 

My disappointment deepened with the first bite. The dough was very dry whilst the lemon flavoured was mild at best. I almost threw it away I was that annoyed by it. Before my frustrations got the better of me I heated the other half in the microwave. 

Ahh, that was better. The nuked dough softened, and the lemon became more prominent thanks to the now melted icing. It shouldn't have to come to that though should it? 

If you're after a citrusy bun, please stick to M&S' brilliant lemon Whitbys. They're gloriously soft, studded with sultanas and filled with a delicious curd. In comparison Lidl's are barely edible when ambient. I'll just stick to their jam doughnuts in future. 

Now I'm craving lemon curd and cinnamon buns. Oh boy.

3/10.

NEW! Finest Eton Mess Cookies (Tesco)

Yesterday was one of those indecisive, dawdly days, and therefore probably not the best day to do the weekly shop. The chores needed doing though, and so I found myself hovered in the bakery section of Tesco mid-afternoon, torn between two new bags of freshly baked cookies. I've heard from many people that Tesco Bakery's Finest cookies are the bees knees (especially the white chocolate and honeycomb flavour), yet the brownie stuffed cookies sounded rather tempting too. Choices choices. In the end I let Bert decide, and that's how we ended up with these Eton Mess cookies.

"Cookies with Belgian white chocolate, freeze dried strawberry pieces and meringue pieces."

They certainly looked much chunkier than the anaemic brownie cookies, and they were on special offer too at 4 for £1.

Once out of the bag I could appreciate the rugged, cracked appearance of the cookies; although the white chocolate chips and Meringue pieces were unevenly dispersed. Needless to say I nabbed the most plentifully adorned of the bunch.

I wasn't sure how the strawberry would come across.Freeze dried strawberries can be quite sharp, which I hoped would work well to counteract the sweetness of the white chocolate and meringue.

My first bite provided me with the answer, establishing that the strawberry pieces were crushed into the cookie, infusing a gentle flavour throughout. The taste reminded me of strawberry Nesquik though, which was surprising considering that the fruit wasn't synthetic. As a lover of strawberry milkshake I enjoyed the result, but anyone with a less sweet tooth might not be so keen.

The white chocolate chunks weren't noticeably luxurious, but were sizeable enough to deliver scrummy mouthfuls of sweet chocolatey pleasure. As for the meringue pieces, they were in mini form and so every few bites I came across little sugar hits. They're an unusual inclusion to a cookie, and whilst they were successful in terms of adding extra texture, I actually found the meringues knocked the flavour harmony into sickly territory. It would have been better for Tesco to stick with strawberry and white chocolate.

8/10

NEW! Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns (Morrisons)

It's time for the last in the chocolate orange hot cross bun trilogy* today. Perhaps you'd think that M&S or Waitrose would sell the stock that would be most difficult to track down (sincerest apologies to those of you still hunting for M&S' carrot cake hot x buns) but in this case it was Morrisons who had me running round in circles -or at least in and out of our local store. I first spotted them way back in January, and made a mental note to come back and buy some once I'd got through my initial Easter hoard, but then they disappeared! Poof. 

Gone. Weeks went by when there was no non-bakery buns on Morrisons' shelves. Then the apple & cinnamon flavour started to make a reappearance, eventually followed by these chocolate orange buns. 

"Hot cross buns with chocolate chips and orange oil."

At 82p for 6 they're the cheapest I've bought so far. The buns are also part of a 2 for £1.50 deal and are freezable to boot.

They're soft and fluffy too! After all of the brioche style hot crosses it's a welcome surprise to slice open one with the same sort of texture as a classic iced bun. There were plenty of large chocolate chips to be found hiding within the pale brown dough, although the orange wasn't as aromatic as I had hoped.

The bun's texture was good, but the flavour wasn't much to shout about. I could taste a mild amount of cocoa but the orange oil was all but lost again. Why can't any of the companies deliver a really citrussy bun?

As before I tried all manner of toppings: naked it was too dry, both jam and peanut butter were a bit odd, chocolate was good but overpowered the flavour completely, so butter was the best bet.

Back to the carrot cake buns for me 🙈

6/10

*My review of Waitrose's Mini Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns can be found here and M&S' one here. 

Chocolate & Orange Muffins (M&S)

If you'll remember, back in September I got overly excited about M&S' Strawberry, Rhubarb & Custard Muffins and Banana & Chocolate Chip Muffins which both turned out to be disappointing. Simultaneously Sparks also released a chocolate orange variety, but I couldn't bring myself to waste yet more money on their disappointing cakes. Cut to six months later when my disgruntlement has faded, I spot a pack reduced to just 60p and suddenly I'm giving M&S' muffins another go. Third time lucky right? Surely they've got to be better than their new mini chocolate orange hot cross buns...

"Rich chocolate muffins, studded with milk chocolate chunks, and filled with an indulgent orange sauce, topped with a delicate chocolate drizzle."

The ebony coloured cakes smelt invitingly of cocoa -indeed much more so than their mini Hot Xs. I couldn't detect any hints of citrus, but quickly forgave Marks & Spencer given the ample supply of chocolate chips that graced the top of each.

My knife sliced through the muffin easily, revealing the central core of sticky filling that stayed put (unlike the oozing middle of Greggs' new Jaffa Cake-esque doughnut). The cake was dense and moist too - a good sign from the off. 

Hallelujah! M&S have made a chocolate cake that delivers in being soft, squidgy and extremely chocolatey. In fact it was almost fudgy, and struck the perfect balance between dark and sweet. As for the central orange jam, it was good, but there wasn't enough of it to give the cake a truly citrussy taste. I didn't mind that chocolate was the dominant flavour, given the quality of it, but perhaps some zest through the batter would've given the cake a better zing. 

I'm not sure I'd pay the full £1.60 for these muffins (ASDA's Toffee Fudge still reign supreme in my books) but I'd happily buy them reduced again -especially as they freeze well despite the packaging claiming otherwise.

8/10

NEW! Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns (M&S)

Did you have Easter Egg hunts as a child? We did, it was my favourite part of Easter. In fact I think I enjoyed it more than actually eating the chocolate (hard to believe, I know) because I'm so damn unrelenting and love a good puzzle. Sod the fact the cousins were round, I revelled in the joy of finding an egg when or where I least expected to. Perhaps that's part of the reason I love writing this blog so much, I revel in the thrill of finding a new product and then telling you all about it. That's certainly been the case this week after both Sarah (baking extraordinaire of Waffly Versatile) and Nat (chocolate expert at Lot-O-Choc) notified me to an instagram post from writer Felicity Spector. Cream Cheese Carrot Cake hot cross buns? Jeepers. They sounded rather good, and if they're anything like M&S's ingenius Boobie Buns... Needless to say, the Hot Cross Bun Hunt was on.

Monday afternoon: none in Worcester, but they did have a ticket out. Humf. I popped into Hereford store on the way home, who incidentally thought I had lost the plot and didn't know what on earth I was on about. Carrot cake? Yes! Hot Cross buns? Yes! Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns however...?

Tuesday afternoon: the ticket is out in Hereford! But no stock as yet...









By Wednesday I'm having kittens every time someone posts a picture on instagram of their Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns. How is everyone else so much better at this Easter hunt than me? I call the store and speaks to a helpful assistant, who kindly advises me that not all stock goes to all stores and it's unlikely that Hereford will receive them first. But then, he finds them. Jackpot! Reserve me two packs please...

"2 Carrot Cake Hot Cross Buns with pieces of carrot, sunflower seeds, a hint of cinnamon and filled with cream cheese frosting."

[At this point I'd like to congratulate you for sticking with me and my strangeness. It's the small wins in life ok?]

I really hoped that they would be worth the effort. Aesthetically the buns appeared indifferent to your normal fruited variety -save for the odd slither of grated carrot- and the scent was very similar too. Unlike your normal hot crosses however, these can't be toasted or frozen.

I sliced the buns in half, anticipating a similar oozy centre to the brandy sauced filled Boobie buns. Oh.

Was that it?

Hmm M&S, that's a bit stingy and very lopsided. Still I tried to look for the positives; at least I'd have the opportunity to taste the dough on its own.

It was scrummy too, with a good strength of mixed spice and plenty of juicy raisins and date pieces, meaning the texture was very moist. The flavour didn't particularly scream of carrot cake, and I think I wouldn't have noticed that it was any different to a traditional bun If I wasn't aware that it was meant to resemble one. That said, what is the flavour of carrot cake? For me it's a moist cake with plenty of spice and dried fruit, so I guess M&S ticked all the boxes. I can't say I noticed the sunflower seeds, but I didn't miss them either. 

On to the cream cheese frosting: AKA the best bit of a carrot cake (or red velvet/cinnamon bun for that matter). I wondered how a traditionally refrigerated dairy based would fair within an ambient product.

Very well it turns out! The wizards at M&S have done it again; they've mastered the balance so that the frosting was primarily sweet with just enough tang to take the edge off. It's a genius filling for a hot cross bun, although I did find myself craving strawberry jam for the non-filled side.

Hats off to Marks & Sparks for their Hot Cross Buns this year (let's just forget the chocolate orange minis never existed, eh?). They've bent the boundaries and created two cracking versions. I'll happily enjoy these and their Savoury Cheese Hot Cross Buns right through to Easter -especially whilst they're both in the 2 for £2.50 bakery offer.

9/10 (it would be a 10 if the filling was more consistent).

On a side note, I spotted Waitrose's new luxury Heston buns today at long last, but I can't say they're anywhere near as inspiring...

Didn't he do Earl Grey stollen bites at Christmas too? C'mon Heston, that's plain lazy.

NEW! Mini Chocolate & Orange Hot Cross Buns (M&S)

It's Shrove Tuesday, which can only mean one thing: hot cross buns. 

Wait, no. I've got that wrong haven't I? Ah yes, I covered the pancakes yesterday* so it's time to rekindle my love affair with my new best friend -the hot cross bun. As mentioned the other day in my review of Marks & Spark's innovative savoury cheese buns, I made use of the 2 for £2.50 deal and also picked up a pack of their mini chocolate orange flavour.

"9 Mini Chocolate & Orange Hot Cross Buns with Belgian dark chocolate chips, orange puree,  candied orange and lemon peel with a hint of spice." 

Now I'd hazard a guess and say that these have replaced M&S' so-so mini mocha hot cross buns of 2016. Last year I remember being confused on how to serve the buns but fortunately I've already had my first dose of mini chocolate orange versions this year, courtesy of Waitrose.

I'm not sure who copied who, but Marks & Spencer certainly outshone Waitrose when it comes to aesthetics. I loved the super chocolatey look of the bun and the bright orange cross; they'd certainly make for an appealing centrepiece at afternoon tea. 

Once out of their wrapper I was hit by the unmistakable scent of... Christmas cake! Where you expecting that? I certainly wasn't. I blame the pungent aroma of candied peel for confusing my nostrils.

Slicing the buns in half revealed the fluffy texture of the dough, which wasn't as soft or moist as Waitrose's. The majority of the chocolate chips seemed to be on top, although there were a few pieces of candied peel dotted about.

Well, it was just a bit odd. Not in a good way like the aforementioned cheese buns either. It tastes somewhat like an uber dry, under flavoured chocolate cake and the orange just didn't come through in the same strength as the scent alluded to either. Easily the best bit of the buns was the chocolate chips, and I savoured the bites when I found a cluster. 

I tried them warm, then cold, then filled with peanut butter (which just didn't work) before deciding that they're best generously filled with JimJam's Chocolate Hazelnut spread. The spread adds some much needed moisture to the very bread-y dough (it's certainly no brioche), and otherwise they're really quite bland.

6/10

*and will be making more FlapJacked ones tonight, so keep your eyes peeled on my instagram!

NEW! Savoury Cheese Hot Cross Buns (M&S)

Marks & Sparks' savoury hot cross buns have been gnawing away in the back of my mind since I spotted them six weeks ago.

What were M&S thinking? Had they created the new salted caramel and produced something so odd sounding that actually we'll all be living off in a few years time? Or were they just a disaster lying in wait for the poor sucker who dared to try them? Oh and how do you even serve them anyway? It's never a good sign to be thinking about something that much and not buy it, so I patiently waited to find one with the yellow reduced sticker at the end of the day.

Except that day never came, and so whilst my faith in the buns grew in line with their lack of clearance time rejection, my curiosity also surged. That was until I was perused Instagram on the train home yesterday and spotted a well-timed post from Marks & Spencer about their cheesy buns:

"M&S has launched the UK's first savoury hot cross bun. The Savoury Cheese Bun is made with a blend of two cheeses, just Turkish sultanas, onion, chives and of course traditional hot cross bun spice. It's said to be the perfect pairing of fruit and cheese and delicious stuffed with bacon for a gourmet bacon butty!  #hotcross17"

 I was hungry. I detoured. Oops. They were £1.70 each (I think) or 2 for £2.50.

 "4 savoury hot cross buns: a blend of 2 cheeses with Turkish sultanas, onions and chives with spices and a brewers yeast flavoured cross."

As someone who can't bear the sultanas in coronation chicken (or ham and pineapple for that matter) I wasn't sure how well I'd get on with these buns. Still I shouldn't moan considering I was only recently complaining about the lack of fruit in others.

I contemplated serving it with melted cheese (but I thought it might mask the cheesiness of the bun) then considered toasting it with butter and marmite, before deciding to roll with the serving idea suggested below the very instagram post that prompted my purchase in the first place. Bacon butty time it was!

The non-toasted bun was remarkably soft, with a strong cheesy chive scent. I couldn't help but nibble the corner whilst waiting for my bacon to cook and was oddly surprised at how odd the combination of the flavours was but also how much I enjoyed it.

The decision to fill it with smoked bacon and ketchup was genius. My tastebuds enjoyed the complexity of flavours; with the spices, sultanas, cheddar and chives prevalent in every bite. I thought that perhaps one element would fight for dominance, but instead they seemed to work in harmony. The added salinity from the bacon was welcome, and I'm not sure if the bun would have have tasted too sweet without it. As for the texture of the bun, it was denser and moister than your normal cheese topped bap, but I found the soft chewiness to be extraordinarily comforting.

I think I may have found a new favourite lunch time treat, bravo M&S! Stay tuned for a review of their mini chocolate orange hot cross buns...

10/10

Fresh Bakery Jam Filled Doughnut (LIDL)

It's that time of year. You know the one, when you only have to get within 100 metres of a supermarket before the sweet hunger-pang-inducing scent of hot cross buns assails your nostrils and suddenly you're making an unexpected detour into the bakery aisle. It drives me crazy, especially as I cycle down the side of Morrisons (and straight under their vents) on the way to the train station every day. In the same vein whilst I don't directly pass LIDL on the same stretch, I often pop in to replenish my Skyr supplies on the way home and more or less have to shut my eyes and nostrils when unavoidably passing their in-store bakery. It's not so much the scent of it, but the impressive array of both sweet and savoury treats that look undeniably tempting. Yesterday though my yogurt mission was unsuccessful -they sell like hot cakes, excuse the pun- which meant that I had enough room in my backpack for a treat or two. Oops.

Just look at that jam doughnut though! Even better, the basket was being refilled just as I picked up the tongs so I knew they were the freshest they could be. At 25p each they're a veritable bargain too, and LIDL even provide individual little plastic boxes to keep your treats safe (it seems that Krispy Kreme and Greggs could learn a thing or two from the German supermarket) .

Are you a powdered sugar or caster sugar jam doughnut fan? For me it's the former all the way, and it's part of the reason that I prefer Morrisons' bakery doughnuts over any of the other supermarkets' versions. This LIDL doughnut looked like it might trump Morrisons though because it was much bigger and so very light!

I couldn't help but feel hugely disappointed when I sliced the doughnut in two. Where was the huge dollop of sticky jam filling hiding? It then occurred to me why the doughnut was so light. It was devoid of jam.

Fortunately the dough was the saving grace. I mean it was everything that I want from a doughnut; unbelievably fluffy with a good sweet flavour and lacking that horrible greasy aftertaste that often lingers after eating one of Tesco or ASDA's. In fact the quality far surpassed both Greggs and Krispy Kreme!

The teaspoonful of jam was pretty good, gooey and sweet with a decent fruity flavour. Goddammit LIDL, if you'd doubled the jam content you'd have nailed the perfect doughnut!

I'm convinced I just bought a dodgy one, so next time I'm in store I'll ensure I leave enough room in my bag for another doughnut, you know, just in case! I'll keep you updated...

8/10

NEW! Salted Caramel & Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns (Tesco)

It's 1:30am here in Malaysia and I'm waiting to be collected from the hotel for the 23 hour+ journey home. I'm so sad to be leaving this wonderful country and can highly recommend visiting it to anyone considering Kuala Lumpur and/or Penang. Whilst the food here has been mostly incredible, and ridiculously cheap, there's a few foodstuffs that I've been craving. One such item is the humble hot cross bun. Not long before I left my obsession with the traditional Easter Friday snack returned in full force, and I can't wait to sink my teeth into my next fix.

Having tried Waitrose's Cherry & Almond and Mini Chocolate Orange Buns, I turned to Tesco a few weeks ago to sample their 2017 editions. For the past couple of years they've sold double chocolate hot cross buns (which sound better than they tasted) but this year they've decided to extol the ultimate food trend that refuses to die: salted caramel. Tesco's bakery salted caramel and chocolate chip buns are sold in four packs for 65p or two for £1. Could this supermarket have finally produced a hot cross bun that my other half would actually eat*?

"4 Soft salted caramel flavour hot cross buns with milk chocolate chips."

I asked Bert to pick me up a couple of packs, and I'm not sure if he hunted for the biggest buns he could find or if all of Tesco's hot cross buns are whoppers this years, but both of our packs contained some of the biggest versions I've ever seen. These buns looked even bigger than Heston's 2016 Bakewell Buns! Out of interest I popped one on the scale. My eyes weren't deceiving me, it was over 100g! They were also on the rather tanned side of the equation, but I wasn't sure if that was simply how they were meant to be.

Tesco's salted caramel and chocolate chip hot cross buns were noticeably firmer than either of Waitrose's, but this did make them easier to slice. The interior of the bun was darker than a normal dough, and had an ample supply of chocolate chips. As normal I tried the buns both warm and cold and with a number of toppings.

I'm not sure how or where the salted caramel came into the equation for all I could taste was a standard sweet bread dough. The texture wasn't particularly fluffy, although this mattered less when they were toasted. As for the chocolate chips, they were so-so; injecting a cocoa flavour but nothing to shout about.

I found that the best way to enjoy these buns was warmed up and smothered with Biscoff or chocolate spread and banana... To be honest, the biggest bonus was that Bert enjoyed them and they were sizeable enough to sustain him through during his night shifts (but only when covered in biscuit spread).

6/10


*I'm not even sure why Bert doesn't like hot cross buns, he likes buns, cinnamon and raisins.. But apparently not together. .

Oreo Doughnuts (Tesco)

Having enjoyed my peanut butter Oreo ice creams the other day, the Oreo cravings lingered and I decided it was high time to try an Oreo doughnut. I've been eyeing them up for quite a while, especially since they're now stocked in our local co-op as well as the Tesco supermarket. The trouble is, defrosted doughnuts never taste anywhere near as good as freshly baked versions. It seemed that as fate was on my side though for the very afternoon I decided to buy them at last, I found them reduced to just 25p (normally £1). Bargain!

"Chocolate Doughnut with Vanilla Flavour Creme Filling (16%), White Icing (9%) and small Oreo Cocoa Cookie Pieces."

As with Tesco's toffee cream filled doughnuts, one was much more generously decorated than the other. How does this happen? Is it a test to find out who is the greediest in your household*? Apologies for my latent paranoia.

*Me by the way, obviously 😉.

The doughnuts had a very, um, sturdy base that wasn't as soft as I'd have liked. I hoped to discover an ample creme filling when slicing into my one, but instead found a sorry looking white sauce that was barely visible against the dark dough surround. The icing was in generous supply however, so I guess that was one bonus.

The dough itself had a strong cocoa flavour, but was extremely dry. To be honest it was easily the most un-doughnut-ty doughnut I've ever had. I mean it tasted more like overcooked long-life supermarket chocolate cake than the bouncy and light doughnut I was hoping for. I think even the out of date imported Oreo brownie I reviewed last year was better. As for the creme, there wasn't enough of it to really taste it, let alone even start to moisten the doughnut.

Easily the best part was the sweet and sticky topping. The cookie pieces were soft and tasted again more like cake (a better cake than the actually doughnut too I might add). They were OK though, and provided the only enjoyment in this pretty pants 'treat'.

Have any of you tried these Oreo doughnuts? If so what do you think of them?

4/10

NEW! Fresh Twix Cookies (Tesco)

Who doesn't love a Twix? I know they're one of the first to go in our Celebrations tubs (after the Teasers but strangely before the Galaxy). Anyway, Twix's classic combination of biscuit, chocolate and caramel is well loved - they're Millionaire's shortbread by another name really I guess! You guys know how much I appreciate a Twix variation too, having already reviewed the White Chocolate Twix, Peanut Butter Twix, Cappuccino Twix, Twix Egg, Twix Tops as well as the recent Twix Cheesecake! 

I love the times of year when Tesco's bakery changes stock, although the Red Velvet Muffins that came out of last season's selection were pretty pathetic. I kept checking the Tesco website after Christmas to see what would appear, until one day when I squealed after spotting these new Twix cookies! Last year Tesco brought out Mars Cookies (good but nothing special) and Maltesers ones (which I still haven't got round to trying), but I just couldn't wait to get my grubby paws on these spanking new cookies. 

Every day I tried both Tescos in Hereford (well, poor Bert got sent a fair few times) and then also the one in Worcester when I returned to uni. Alas, everyday I was met with bitter disappointment. That was until yesterday, when having just completed the presentation (that's been the cause of far too much stress) I detoured via the Hereford city centre supermarket on the off chance that my luck was in. After all, the presentation had gone well.

I spotted the fresh Oat & Raisin, Chocolate, White Chocolate, Maltesers, Bounty, Galaxy cookies.. followed by a row of TWIX COOKIES! Hurrah! Come to me oh Bakery delights! 

"Cookie with caramel filling and milk chocolate pieces."

The bag of four cookies cost £1.35 -which is currently more expensive than their finest range- but I didn't mind, they were mine at last!

Oh. They're awfully thin aren't they? Or is that me just being greedy? Some had more chocolate chips than others, but I could see the darker splodge in the centre of each where I imagined the caramel to be. 

The cookies had that delightfully soft and chewy quality that you can only get from the fresh varieties. Flavour wise the plain cookie was sweet but indifferent to a normal plain cookie. Ok, I know I'm chocolate obsessed, but there definitely wasn't enough chocolate in these bad boys to label them Twix. To be honest, I couldn't really taste the chocolate at all! Humf, Surely they should have been covered in chocolate?! The caramel in the middle wasn't as gooey as the packet suggested either, but luckily I had a brainwave.... Microwave to the rescue!

Once warmed for 10-20 seconds, the butteriness of the cookie shone through and the caramel transformed into something gooey and delicious. That's more like it! Even the chocolate became more noticeable having been melted. Much better. 

I'm not sure that these are really Twix cookies, after all there's barely any chocolate and the cookies lack the signature crunch of Twix's shortbread base. It seems to be a very clever marketing ploy to sell chocolate chip cookies with a bit of caramel -but it works! They're perhaps not as game changing as I'd like them to be, but they're still scrummy. In fact I'll be having one warmed up for dessert tonight with salted caramel ice cream -sounds good right?

7/10

Mince Pie Danish Pastry (The Co-Op)

Hurrah, It's Christmas Eve!!! Before I start with the review, I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope you have a lovely celebration, manage to avoid killing the pesky uncle, and enjoy lots of yummy food. 

So..

I often wonder why Bert puts up with me. He's a very good egg and all my friends and family love him too. Not only has he stuck by me through thick and thin but he continues to show more faith in me than I have in myself -I have an awful lot to be grateful for. One of the many ways he supports me is through this blog; many-a-time he's persuaded me not to give it up when I've felt like it, and every evening he waits patiently for me to take photos of my treats for instagram or reviews. I think I almost took the biscuit this week though when I called him at work just before he was due to leave, and asked him to make a detour round grid-locked Hereford to find me a Danish Pastry.

That bleeding orange & cranberry Danish had rekindled my affinity towards the buttery bakery treats -damn you Waitrose!- and since then I'd spotted the ultimate festive pastry creation that I couldn't bear waiting until Christmas morning for: The Mince Pie Danish*. Well, that's not exactly accurate, for I'd seen the price sign in the Co-Op, directing me to where they should have been. I'd since popped into my local branch three times to check if they'd received any, until the manager got sick of me pestering and informed me that they wouldn't be having any more until next Christmas. Boo. 

*Lightbulb moment!* There's a bigger Co-Op the other side of town (where I found the pb&j ice cream and apple crumble doughnuts), and they might have some festive pastries left...
Poor Bert agreed to my mission, and off he pootled to the Co-Op on his way home. He was successful (even snapchatting me the below image to ensure he's got the right pastry!) but it took him an hour (instead of 10 minutes) to get back. The Mince Pie Danish had better be worth it. 

Whereas the Waitrose Danish was a snail/whirl shape, this was cushion style, complete with a generous mincemeat centre and icing drizzle. The oily residue left in the paper back indicated how much greasier this was than the Orange & Cranberry version. 

Texture wise it was softer, but also almost raw. Mary Berry would certainly not be happy with the soggy bottoms here, but I'm a bit partial to under-cooked pastry (and Yorkshire puddings for that matter). The rawness didn't stop there however, for the pastry had large unattractive lumps of suet floating about in it. This was a shame because the flavour of it was good and the combination of super-rich pastry with mincemeat could've been wonderful -after all Eccles cakes are a gift to mankind. I still enjoyed it though, but it wasn't a patch on Waitrose!

So far my experiences with the Co-Op's bakery has been distinctly unsuccessful. Have any of you had better luck? Is there anything you can recommend?

Sorry for the goose chase Bert. 

6/10 

*Yep, still loving the mince pies... 

NEW! Orange & Cranberry Danish (Waitrose)

What do you eat on Christmas morning? As a child, I remember having croissants and Bucks Fizz after hurriedly opening the stockings, but since leaving home I haven't bothered to make the effort with breakfast and have stuck to cereal or porridge before starting to cook the turkey. Maybe times are about to change... 

I'll be honest, when perusing the bakery section in the supermarket, my eyes tend to automatically land on one or more of three categories: muffins, doughnuts and cookies. Of course I've already reviewed a number of festive versions of these treats*, but when in Waitrose the other day buying the mega marzipan mince pie, I caught sight of their very appetising looking pastries. I instantly noticed my urgent need to try an orange and cranberry Danish at my next given opportunity.

 I wasn't sure exactly what they comprised of given the categorical style of the signage in front of the whirls, but they certainly looked damn tasty! 

Please can you just appreciate my successful effort to get this home intact for a moment? I think I did rather well for once. I hope you'll agree as to how beautiful this particular pastry was; covered with little cranberry gems and orange zest atop a profuse layer of snowy icing.  

It's been a very long time since I last had a Danish, but I was surprised to discover the dough to be more resilient than I remember. Pulling the whirl apart however exposed the golden laminations in all their glory, nestling the occasional ruby coloured cranberry. 

I think I expected the dough to taste of orange. but instead it was a simple and delicious buttery flavour that shone through. The texture melted in the mouth too, and it wasn't half as tough to eat as I had initially feared when handling it. Why oh why don't I have pastries more often? The citrus flavour wasn't forgotten though, for it came from the icing, reminding me of the zingy pockets of flavour imparted into a delicious lemon drizzle cake. The cranberries were squidgy and sweet, harmonising with the other elements to create a true festive flavour that was simply delectable. 

I'm left feeling very tempted to return to Waitrose and pick up another pastry (and some Bucks Fizz) for Sunday morning! 

9/10

*

• Festive muffin reviews: Greggs Christmas Muffin & Morrisons Gingerbread Muffins
• Festive doughnut reviews: Krispy Kreme Melting Snowman & Santa Belly
• Festive cookie review: Morrisons bakery stollen cookies

Pink Jammie Doughnut (Greggs)

Filled doughnuts: fantastic when they're actually filled, but utterly distressing if and when you're unfortunate enough to munch into a dud one. It's not just the Co-op who are guilty of empty 'filled' doughnuts either, I've heard many reports of void Krispy Kremes too -which I feel is even worse given their extortionate price point. I felt the need to rectify my doughnut disappointment of the apple crumble kind quick smart.

Pink ring doughnuts are my fiancés absolute favourites. We're not even allowed boxes of the mini versions in our house anymore because he simply can't resist their call and ends up munching all 30 in one go (not good when he's trying to cut ahead of holiday in January). He also loves jam doughnuts (as do I, who doesn't?) so the individually sold Pink Jammies solved our problem, and I picked us up a couple. I actually dropped them off with him during his workout at the gym I was working from -you should've seen the face of the exercising customers when they spotted the Greggs treat box, I'm cruel aren't I? Pahahaha. 😈

That evening I tucked into the Pink Jammie, and hoped it would live up to its promising title. The icing was ample, which was a good sign, as was the tell tale jammy hole on the one side.

Crikey. When Greggs say Jammie, they meant jammie. In fact there was so much jam in this doughnut that it proved tricky to eat without becoming a sticky mess. It wasn't long until I surrendered to my clumsiness and embraced the nostalgic joy of the gooey, sugary filling. The dough was soft, but slightly bread like as I've come to expect from the high street bakery. Of course the icing was super sweet (it would be more of a shock if it wasn't!) and the jam was too. I'm not sure what flavour the jam was mean to be, but it tasted of berries and apple, and it was yummy.

The combination of icing and jam provided a little too much sweetness for my personal preference. For this reason I preferred the Greggs' caramel custard and standard sugar dusted jam doughnuts (Morrisons make the best I think, do you agree?). My other half however completely disagreed and revelled in the amalgamation of his two favourite doughnuts..

7/10