The Treat Collective (Online)

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a lovely lady called Jo, who told me about her company: The Treat Collective. As you might've gathered, I have a passion for discovering independent and small-batch manufacturers in the U.K, and so when I found out that The Treat Collective is a subscription service who collates sweet treats from independent British manufacturers and sends them directly to your door once a month, I gladly accepted her kind offer of a sample box. 

A few days later I received a parcel, which I assumed might be the Treat Collective box, but when I opened it I discovered a present inside. You see the box inside was wrapped in lollipop gift paper. It wasn't my Birthday. Surely this couldn't be The Treat Collective...?

But it was! This box really did embody the company's name. I felt utterly spoilt when unwrapping the parcel, and again when I lifted the lid on the box inside. 

Wow! What a joyful collection of goodies! I spotted the cute little gummy bears, the artisan fruit & nut chocolate, the cute citrus sweets... then spied The Grown Up Chocolate Company's wonderful 'Perfectly Buttery Peanut Cups', before my eyes rested on Nellienoo's CARAMAC FUDGE. Ahem. I might've been a tad excited. Normally in subscription boxes theres one or more item that I wouldn't have chosen myself, but I was looking forward to each and every item in this parcel. 

Also included in the box was a handy guide to the companies included within The Treat Collective box, which was a really nice touch. I absolutely love the idea behind this company. If you also like to discover the Best of British confectionary then I highly suggest you head over to their website where you can sign up to receive a monthly treat box for the reasonable sum of £24.00 per month. 

10/10

Thank you to Jo for the sample Treat Collective box. Reviews of the individual items will follow on my Instagram feed, so keep your eyes out! 

NEW! Creightons 'Spoon of Cereal' White Chocolate Bar (Online)

It's the Easter weekend, and one of two annual occasions when it's perfectly acceptable (if not required) to eat chocolate for breakfast - the other being Christmas Day. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day, which of course, can only be improved by a hearty dose of chocolate. If you feel similarly, you might want to check out Creighton's' new range. The British hand-made chocolate company's new summer collection is called 'chocolate for breakfast' and consists of three very unusual sounding bars: 'Maple Bacon', 'Coffee & Crumbs' and 'Spoon Of Cereal'. I've been following Creighton's for a long time on Instagram, and so when they kindly offered to send me a bar to review, I gleefully accepted. If you haven't heard about Creighton's before, I'll give you a little background information..

Creighton's was created in 2010 by mother and daughter duo Andrea & Lucy. All of their products are created in small batches by their in-house team in Leighton Buzzard using the finest quality Belgian chocolate.  Lucy & Andrea regularly change their collections 'much like a fashion brand', and say that they are they approach everything with a light-hearted British sense of humour. 

I wasn't sure which bar would arrive, but as a white chocolate lover and cereal addict I hoped for the 'Spoon of Cereal'. Monday, as it turns out, was my lucky day! 

"Don't Grow Up. Marshmallow flavoured white chocolate bar crammed with cereal hoops - a scent of caramelised mallow wafts from the wrapper as you unwrap this bar!"  

Isn't the packaging exquisite? I hoped the beautiful pop-art-esque design would pave the way to delicious chocolate as it had with Choc Affair's rhubarb bar. 

The slab didn't have as many cereal hoops in as I thought it would, but the sweet caramel scent was immediately evident, just as Creighton's promised.

Marshmallow is a remarkably difficult flavour to play with, after all it's essentially pillowy sugar, but the white chocolate delivered a nostalgic hit of caramel tones, reminding me of butterscotch. Indulgently creamy, the chocolate was sheer heaven. Unfortunately the cereal hoops tasted a little stale and had lost most of their characteristic crunch. I can't be sure that Creighton's are to blame though because I store my chocolate in the fridge -I know, I know, utter heresy! 

Despite my grumbles the Spoon of Cereal bar was utterly delicious. I'm now craving their new Coffee & Crumbs bar (Milk chocolate bar with a dose of finely ground espresso and crisp cinnamon sour dough toast crumbs) as well as many of their core range -especially the peanut nutter, rhubarb and custard and custard cream. Mmm. Creighton's range contains more than 30 different flavoured bars, as well as truffles, bonbons and lollipops, so please do head on over to their website for the ultimate in chocolate temptation.

9/10

Thank you Creighton's for the sample!

NEW! Jude's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ripple Dairy Ice Cream (Sainsbury's)

As promised, today's review is the subject of last night's dessert porn: Jude's Peanut Butter Chocolate Ripple Dairy Ice Cream. The lovely One Treat messaged me a couple of weeks ago informing me of its existence in Sainsbury's, but to be honest I was a tad put-off by the lack of chunks and relatively high price. Then on Tuesday Emily sent me a message on instagram asking me if I had tried the ice cream, and with that I decided that there were just too many cues to ignore. I soon realised it was on offer so popped on down to Sainsbury's yesterday and forked out the £3.00 (usually £3.50) for the 500ml tub. It had better be good. 

"Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Pieces and Chocolate Ripple."

I haven't bought Jude's ice cream before, despite reading many positive reviews, so if -like me- you don't know much about him, here's a bit of background for you: 

"He wanted to create the world’s tastiest ice cream with milk from local cows. In his barn at home he set to work and soon the whole family joined in. In the winter of 2002 he carried the first tubs across the field to the village pub and Jude’s Ice Cream was born.
He lovingly named it after his wife."

Aww. I don't know about you, but I always appreciate a good back story and I hoped this admiration would continue once the striking looking stripey tub was open.

Crikey! The super-strong scent of salted peanuts saluted my nostrils the moment I peeled back the lid. Perhaps that should have been unsurprising considering that peanut butter is ranked number 3 on the ingredients list, and accounts for 10% of the total tub -a fact that pleased me greatly. I was a little taken aback at the lack of chocolate ripple immediately evident, but I soon uncovered it when I dug down.

The ice cream was dense, but I could easily and immediately spoon it out without too much of a struggle. I've mentioned a number of times how I'm not a fan of ice creams that melt quickly, but I knew from the thick consistency that I wasn't going to have to eat this against the clock for fear of becoming a sticky mess.

What I hadn't acknowledged in my eagerness to construct my cone was the sheer abundance of chopped peanut pieces that studded every single spoonful. I know this might sound odd considering that I'm a devout lover of the chunks in Ben & Jerry's -but I don't actually like nuts in ice cream! The walnuts in B&J's chunky monkey used to frustrate me so much that I rarely bought it despite adoring banana ice cream. Would this be the downfall of this Jude's tub that both looked and smelt divine?

No. In fact the peanut pieces were crisp, and added further flavour and welcome texture to the otherwise silken ice cream without becoming obtrusive. The flavour was sheer heaven for my peanut butter addicted taste-buds, delivering the true salty-sweet balance that so often gets lost in pb flavoured treats. Jude's have got the ratio spot on with the chocolate ripple, allowing the sweetness to occasionally crop up and cut through the nuttiness. Yum. 

Jude's Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Pieces and Chocolate Ripple is definitely worthy of the high price point -especially as the company donate 10% of their profits to charity. It's a cleverly thought out, indulgent ice cream that (even as a student) I won't mind paying the extra money for every now and then. For normal days, I'll stick to the childish (and cheaper) Co-Op PB&J ice cream.  

9/10

One Treat has written reviews on Jude's Salted Caramel, Brown Butter Pecan and Flat White flavours too, which you can find here.