Marabou Daim Milk Chocolate Rolls (IKEA)

Please reassure me that I'm not the only weirdo out there that gets more excited by the food hall in IKEA than the furniture? It's surely the treasure at the end of the trail, the reward for getting through the market hall without murdering a dawdler (or five). No trip is complete without picking up a pack of my beloved Kanelbullar. This time I pushed the boat out and decided to treat myself to two bags, before spotting the chocolate and biscuit samples. Oops. That'll be two bags of Kanelbullar, some ginger and almond biscuits and some Daim chocolate then. After indulging in the Lindt shop a couple of hours earlier. And I'd promised to not buy anymore chocolate. I'll say it again, oops. 

To be fair, having sampled both the chocolate and the biscuits, I knew I'd regret not buying either. I think the Daim chocolates were £1.50 for the two-pack but I can't be 100% sure, so don't shoot the messenger. For those of you who don't know, Marabou is owned by Mondelez (owners *read ruiners* of Cadbury) and is the equivalent brand in Sweden. Like Cadbury, Marabou has lengthy roots and was founded 101 years ago. 

One of the most appealing features of this chocolate was the design. Instead of your usual chunky bars, the chocolate came in rolo shaped morsels. I love being able to savour my chocolate, and often wish we had more single serving bags of bite sized chocolate, so the Marabou Daims suited me down to the ground. At 70g, they're on the generous size for an individual portion, but I'm a chocoholic so once again I found Marabou scoring brownie points -or should that be chocolate points? 

The chocolate was delicious. It's smooth and rich with an easy melt. There's a striking similarity between the Marabou and Dairy Milk of days gone by. The little studs of Daim were a wonderful, if not a slightly sickly, addition. The combination of toffee and chocolate was delicious though, and utterly moreish -especially given the sunken dome shapes. I'd devoured my first pack before really acknowledging it, and I'm grateful that I've got the other in my fridge to look forward to. It's better than the Cadbury Daim bar, and the rolls are well worth tracking down.

That's another IKEA staple added to the shopping list!

9/10 

Kanelbullar: Frozen Cinnammon Buns (IKEA)

At the beginning of the year I mentioned that I'd fallen back in love with flapjacks, well now it's the turn of the cinnamon bun -I just can't get enough of the doughy pastries! Anyway, last month I had the opportunity to visit an IKEA (a rare treat as all 3 of our local branches are approximately 70 miles away) and spotted this curious pack of pre-made frozen cinnamon buns. Seeing as it is always a bit of a gamble as to whether Tesco Express has any in stock when my craving strikes -and no, I'm not pregnant- I thought these would offer the perfect solution. At £2.25 for six they were a fraction of the price I normally pay too. 

What I didn't really consider was that we were visiting IKEA on our way to pick up an axle for my Landrover, and so it was another three hours until we arrived back home -in which time the buns had fully defrosted. I checked the packet to discover that you're not supposed to refreeze the Kanellbullars. Damn. Undeterred, I kept one out to have that evening, and shoved the others back in the freezer. 

In its raw state the bun appeared anaemic and much smaller than it's Tesco cousin, but I hoped that 15 minutes in the oven would sort it out. In that quarter of an hour the house started to fill with the most glorious scent of cinnamon and bread cooking -seriously the Kanellbullars were worth it for the smell alone. When the agonising wait came to a close I opened the oven door and was greeted with a beautiful bun that even Paul Hollywood would approve of: double the size and golden brown. 

(I know it doesn't look like it grew that much, but I promise you it had!)

Of course I couldn't wait to tuck in, and ate the bun piping hot -but boy it was worth the wait. There's something so comforting about warm bread, but believe me it's even yummier if it's warm cinnamon sweet bread. The outer edges were borderline crispy, but the inner swirls were soft and doughy. The sugary topping and sticky spicy centre were in ample supply and I think I might've groaned with pleasure as I munched my way round the bun's coil -finishing of course with the squidgiest, most cinnamon covered bit in the middle. 

Fortunately, despite their defrost and refrost, the remaining 5 buns were equally as delicious. I cooked them straight from frozen and rationed myself to one a week, but now I've run out and I'm eagerly plotting an excuse to make another IKEA trip soon. I admit it, I'm hooked. 

10/10