Bizarre Maple Bacon Chocolate (The Chocolate Smiths)

A couple of Mondays ago I received the best kind of parcel a girl could wish for: a surprise delivery of chocolate. It wasn't just any chocolate either, oh no, it was a lovely packet of goodies from The Chocolate Smiths! Now I hope you'll remember my introduction to the entirely handmade Chocolate Smiths' range, but if not then please feel free to check out my review of their Birthday Cake bar here. 

Of course, given that Easter Sunday has been and gone the eggs won't be obtainable again until 2018, however I hereby promise to publish a review of them in Lent next year*. The Maple Bacon Bar is still available however, so let's press on...

"Not a morning person? Neither are we - but we’d definitely rise and shine for this! Bacon flavoured milk chocolate with a little butterscotch, topped by creamy maple flavoured white chocolate and sea salt. A sweet and savoury delight for any time of day!"

As you might recall, I've recently got my head around savoury-sweet combinations thanks to M&S's cheese hot cross buns (which I filled with bacon and ketchup). This impulse purchase in Malaysia of a cheddar cheese filled mocha chocolate cake was also surprisingly tasty...

My dad thinks I've lost the plot and is just about to disown me for my newly discovered liking, but I'm more open-minded than he is 😉 and as such was really excited to try The Chocolate Smiths' Maple Bacon Bar! 

The tablet had snapped in transit, but still looked rather attractive with its combination of milk and white chocolate. I could smell a slight bacon-y scent, but it was mild. The sweet chocolate scent was stronger.

Biting into the bar, my tastebuds embraced the wonderfully confusing melange of flavours. The salt hit first, then the smooth creaminess of the chocolate, followed finally by a beautiful smoky flavour. The depth was both interesting and delicious. I had wondered if the bacon could or would work with the chocolate, but it's genius, and now I finally understand why Nigella hails it 'the unholy union' in her recipe for bacon brownies (which I admittedly previously thought of as revolting, but now must give a try).

For those of you wondering, the bacon in this bar doesn't come from meat but is a bacon oil flavouring, similar in taste to that used in Frazzles. This means that the chocolate is also suitable for vegetarians. Now this might seem odd. Perhaps you're thinking: Surely you don't you want to taste bacon if you don't eat meat? But of course many vegetarians give up meat for ethical reasons and indeed some research suggests that bacon 'is the gateway to meat for vegetarians'. Why would Quorn invest in making meat-flavoured Mycoprotein products otherwise? I'll get off my high horse now. In essence it's a delicious combination for both carnivores and vegetarians. 

My only qualms are that the maple flavoured white chocolate is a little lost against the milk chocolate (I think a higher % of white chocolate would work better), and that the bacon flavour isn't present in every square -but maybe I'm simply a greedy pig for bacon, does that make me a cannibal?

Do you think you're brave enough to try the Maple Bacon Bizarre bar? If so, make sure you pop on over to The Chocolate Smiths' shop where you can purchase any three (100g) Bizarre bars for just £10.50! What are you waiting for? Go go go! 

9/10

Thank you The Chocolate Smiths for my parcel of goodies! 

* but here's a teaser... they're awesome!

NEW! Majestics Butterscotch Ice Cream Lollies (Iceland)

Last year and the year before Iceland came up trumps on the innovative ice cream flavour front. There was the peanut & banana cones, the rhubarb & custard cones, toffee apple cones, banoffee Majestics, and bubblegum ice creams to name just a few. This year they've fallen back on the staple flavour that most supermarkets seem to be relying on nowadays: salted caramel or versions thereof. There's 'new' Salted Caramel cones, Salted Caramel Majestics and these Butterscotch Majestics. If you don't like toffee you better stay clear of Iceland this summer. Admittedly @productsinstore found other -more exciting- lines in her store yesterday but they've yet to hit Hereford's branch. 

"Butterscotch flavour ice cream swirled with caramel sauce, coated in white chocolate with caramelised sugar pieces."

Oh, and whilst I complain, I should probably remember that I bleeding love caramel! In actual fact, these Butterscotch Majestics sounded rather marvellous, especially with the coating, and at £1.50 for four they're good value too. 

The lollies looked good, although it was instantly obvious that the white chocolate wasn't very thick because I could see the ice cream through it. 

It wasn't particularly good quality white chocolate either and certainly not up to Iceland's previous standards. I hope you'll that white chocolate is plenty sweet enough already, so although the caramelised sugar gave it a lovely crunch, it also made it very sickly. 

The ice cream was meant to be butterscotch flavoured, but I don't think it was. All I could taste was a plain vanilla in the non-saucy areas, which was ok, but not as indulgently creamy as Magnum's ice cream. 

Luckily the sauce was rich and full of flavour, and the closer I got to the bottom of the lolly, the more caramel I could taste. The combination of the sugar studded white chocolate and super saucy bottom was overwhelmingly sweet though, making you want to brush your teeth once finished. 

I shan't bother with the Butterscotch Majestics again, they pale in comparison to Magnums, and indeed many of the supermarket Magnum rip-offs. 

5/10

Fresh Cream Toffee Doughnuts (Tesco)

I'm sure you're bored of me moaning about the lack of decent doughnuts in my little city. Sure there's a couple of Greggs, but it's just not the same, and I feel particularly hard done by this month thanks to Krisy Kreme's new tiramisu and chocolate orange doughnuts -as well as the return of the Kruller. 

Come on Krispy Kreme! Please at least deliver to the Tesco's in Hereford or Worcester if you're not going to open a store? Tiramisu sounds right up my alley, and the food porn on instagram is driving me crazy. Anyway, all of the doughnut pics brought on cravings that needed to be satisfied, and that's where these fresh cream toffee doughnuts from Tesco come in. 

"2 Doughnut fingers filled with a layer of toffee sauce and toffee cream decorated with salted caramel butterscotch pieces."

I'm not sure if they're new countrywide or just new to Hereford, but they looked damn good and at £1.40  (or two packs for £2) they weren't bad value. 

As you can see, one had a generous covering of butterscotch pieces, whereas the other had next to none. Both were amply filled with the toffee cream in an attractive swirl pattern though, which oozed out of the ends (lets pretend I didn't scoop it up and eat it with my finger, eh?). 

Picking my doughnut up, I realised that the dough wasn't as soft and light at is its freshly baked counterparts -but isn't that always the way with the refrigerated versions? 

The cream had a lovely toffee undertone to it, like a very mild angel delight mousse. Unfortunately the toffee sauce wasn't as abundant as it needed to be to counteract the rather bland and stale almost bread-y dough. As for the crispy butterscotch pieces, they were a bit non-committal and I can't remember actually tasting them in amongst the cream. 

Meh. I'm still craving that Tiramisu KK, maybe even more so now!

5/10

Honeycomb Magnum

I've been searching for these Honeycomb Magnums for a couple of months because it seems that none of our local major supermarkets stock them. I finally found them this week in our smaller city centre Tesco and -even better- they were half price at £1.67 for the pack of three.

They are described as 'Honeycomb flavour ice cream with milk chocolate and sugar pieces.' 

The milk chocolate was Magnum's normal good quality, and was plentifully adorned with miniature nuggets of honeycomb which were simultaneously crunchy and melt-in-the-mouth. The ice cream tasted more butterscotch than honeycomb; reminiscent of the nostalgic 'Angel Delight'. I actually found the combination of chocolate and ice cream together unbearably sweet, and so nibbled off all of the chocolate before enjoying the ice cream separately.

I enjoyed the Honeycomb Magnum, and it made a pleasant change, but I wouldn't choose it over their 'Strawberry and White' or 'Espresso' ice creams in future. 

7/10