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!

Award Winning Luxury Mince Pies (Iceland)

Ok, I admit it. Despite my current marketing undergraduate status I recently  fell prey to the first trick in the book: the advert which promises that the product is the best and tastiest on the market. I was a bit dubious of the claims that Iceland have outshone both Harrods and Selfridges with their luxury mince pies however, so I undertook a spot of research. But indeed, it's true, Good Housekeeping magazine have lauded the budget frozen supermarket's festive offerings as the yummiest this year, saying that they "look for a homemade taste with an authentic yet impressive look – the fruit-to-pastry ratio is crucial and it has to have festive flair!"

That was certainly enough to persuade me to buy a pack anyway. At £1.50 for 6, they were slightly cheaper than the chocolate orange and salted caramel flavoured mince pies from ALDI, but would they be as special?

"All butter shortcrust pastry mince pies filled with a fruity mincemeat containing vine fruits and brandy."

I loved the design of them; the star on top and dusty coating of icing gave the pies a wonderfully Christmassy feel that I approved of. They also smelt good too, although they were slightly smaller than ALDI's funky versions. Slicing them in two revealed a good amount of filling, but there was still a slight gap between the mincemeat and the lid.

The pastry was every bit as delicious as i'd hoped following Good Housekeeping's recommendations. It was crumbly, rich, buttery and sweet -almost shortbread-like in it's decadence. The mincemeat was more delicate than I expected too, and I'm sure I could detect a spiced pear flavour -although I must've been imagining this as there was no mention of pears in the ingredients. Sometimes mincemeat can be on the heavy side but I didn't find this to be the case with these pies. This might not be a benefit if you're watching your weight because it means that that they are easier to eat and therefore tempting to enjoy more than just one -or is that just me?

I found that the mince pies were equally tasty at ambient temperature and warmed up in the microwave or oven. Of course I also enjoyed one with Morrisons' fresh salted caramel custard and can highly recommend that strange sounding pairing if you want to try something slightly different for dessert.

All in all, I am pleased that I was the advertising schmuck this time because Iceland really have produced some excellent mince pies, although they still don't beat the fresh ones I used to make every Christmas with my grandma -but then I don't think any ever will. They might not be as creative as ALDI's pies, but then sometimes traditional is better, don't you agree? Which supermarket do you think make the best mince pies? I'd love to know!

9/10

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.

Lindt Caramel Brownie Chocolate Bar

It's that time of year again when the supermarkets are pushing sales of the Christmas chocolates. Every food shop I enter seems to be promoting Lindor Truffles, but let's face it- they are the best aren't they? They're silky, soft, and terribly addictive. I haven't given in to Lindt's range of individual portion chocolate bars yet and I'm too scared of buying a larger bar for fear of demolishing it all in one sitting, but when I was in Home Bargains earlier in the week I spotted a little treasure hiding amongst the confectionary- the 'Hello it's me Caramel Brownie'. It's a single bar that I've not seen in the UK before and it had the tell-tale white import label slapped on itside. I will forever be a bargain hunter, and with a price tag of just 39p, my Lindt resistance failed me.

The bar was the same format as their other individual portion bars; it was long and thin with 6 segments. When I unwrapped it I was touched by the little indents on the top of the chocolate which somehow made it feel more artisanal and luxurious. 

The first flavour to hit me was the caramel, which was lovely and deep with rich buttery tones. It's much more like Cadbury caramel than Galaxy caramel, and it instantly reminded me of the 'Golden Barrels' in the Roses selection boxes. The chocolate was beautifully smooth, and it melted away pleasantly in my mouth. The bottom part of the segment was made up of the 'brownie' which was infact chocolate studded with Oreo-style biscuit- but it offered an additional dimension of texture. The bar was quite sickly but it suited my sweet tooth down to the ground. 

Quite simply, I adored this chocolate bar. Thankfully, a quick Google search let me know that it is available In the UK, but only in the 100g format. I think my aversion to the larger bars may well be over.

10/10