NEW! Ben & Jerrys Cookie Dough 'Wich Ice Cream Sandwiches (Sainsbury's)

Hallelujah! My patience has paid off, and the new Ben & Jerry's 'Wich has come on offer at long last! The wait has been excruciating, especially as I was mightily impressed with thier new 'wich ice cream tub. Cheap-skate me struck again and I wasn't prepared to spend the full £4 RRP for the box of 3, or the (daylight robbery) price of £1.99 RRP for a single ice cream sandwich.

Fortunately Sainsbury's are currently selling the triple pack for £2.50, a price that I still deem expensive but not entirely unaffordable.

 

"We were wondering if it was possible to make Cookie Dough even cookier. With so many chunks & Fairtrade ingredients, we're pretty much out of room! That was until we realised the best way to top it was to bottom it too...with cookies! Presenting the hand-finished 'Wich: legendairy Cookie Dough ice cream, sandwiched between soft baked chocolate chip cookies. Cookies & Ice Cream...good together, any 'Wich way!"

The three ice cream sandwiches were wrapped individually, and I was mightily impressed my their appearance once uncovered.  They were a creation of beauty, don't you agree? Oreo ice cream sandwiches are a freezer staple in my house, and I was pleased to find that the s'wichs were about a third bigger (Oreos are 55ml, S'wichs are 80ml).

Amuse me for a second and think of fresh supermarket cookies. You know the kind I mean? Crunchy around the outside, and yet somehow deliciously chewy in the middle? Well some clever Ben & Jerry's wizard has recreated that very same texture in these Wich's cookies. Chocolate chips were dotted about, adding an extra yummy dimension of both taste and texture to the already delicious biscuit. Somehow the cookies had managed to dodge the sogginess that is so common with ice cream sandwiches -I'm sure they must be magic. As you may have gathered from my gushing compliments, they are utter perfection! 

If you've eaten Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream before* then you'll be familiar with the centre of the Wichs; It's the same creamy and indulgent vanilla ice cream augmented with the generous chunks of biscuity cookie dough.

Ben & Jerry's have created a wonderful combination of flavours and textures with the new 'wich Ice cream sandwiches, and although I'd still be disinclined to spend £4 for three, I'll be stocking my freezer up whilst they're on offer!

10/10

*If not, then I hope you've got a reason why? Unless you've got allergies, I highly suggest you buy yourself a tub pronto! 

Banana Twinkie (American Fizz)

Did you know that when Twinkies were first created they had a banana filling? According to sources James Dewar invented the classic American creme-filled sponge cakes back in 1930, but during WWII there was a shortage of bananas and so production switched to a vanilla flavoured centre instead.

86 years after Twinkies were first created, and six months after the company was saved from bankruptcy (July 2013) it was announced that banana Twinkies were to make a comeback. 

I remember hearing Twinkies being mentioned on American cartoons* whilst growing up, and so it seemed only natural that I grew curious to try them. Unfortunately, despite the worldwide press surrounding the demise and return of Twinkies, they haven't been widely accessible in the UK until recently. Now, they're popping up in all sorts of places including B&M and Tesco, but the main problem I've found, is that most of the retailers only sell the expensive large boxes. I recently discovered however, that I could buy single packs of the cakes from American Fizz, so added a banana Twinkie to my latest order.

If you remember, I had the good fortune to receive a lovely box of American goodies from Taffy Mail last year, which included a pack of original Twinkies. 

This flavour looked exactly the same as the vanilla Twinkie, and the creme filling was revealed in the same way once the sponge was sliced in two, running down the centre of the cake.  

I'm not sure what the best before date was for the banana Twinkie (as it wasn't on the wrapper) but it was noticeably stale. I realise that long-life cakes tend to have a more cardboardy texture than their fresh counterparts, but it was closer in texture to a bathroom sponge than fairy cake. Pressing on in any case, I munched on into the banana creme, which was generous and mallow-like with a strong and sweet fruity flavour. 

The combination of fluffy inside and - admittedly harder than I'd have liked- cake outer worked well, but it's certainly a poorer cousin of the lesser known Mrs Freshley's Banana Pudding Cupcakes. 

The Twinkie both figuratively and literally lacked the icing on the cake, and it's not something I'd rush out to buy again!

4/10

*Remember the Simpsons episode? Apu: "You Cannot hurt a Twinkie
& the Family Guy one where the family hid in the Twinkie factory during the aftermath of an atomic blasts?

NEW! The Nutty One: Peanut Butter Chocolate Bar (M&S)

Marks & Sparks' chocolates have impressed me recently. I used to think that they lacked the high quality to warrant their premium prices, but not I'm starting to reacquaint myself with their range and in doing so I'm turning my existing thoughts on their head.

Far from staying safe with their bars, M&S have started to branch out into more unusual flavour and texture combinations -take 'the crunchy one' for example: one chocolate bar that contains cornflakes, hazelnuts and honeycomb! Also of note is the quality of their range, and I was utterly impressed with the creaminess of their 'the white one'.

I'm pleased to report that M&S have extended their line of chocolate bars again this Spring. Kev reviewed their 'Crazy Orange Loaded Bar' last week, following which he tipped me off about a bar that sounded right up my street: the nutty one.

"Milk chocolate bar containing a layer of soft chocolate fudge (28%) and a crunchy centre with salted peanuts (22%) and peanut butter (6%).

The bar looked a similar shape to a Mars bar, but looked a lot smaller considering it weighs only 5g less. It pleased me enormously when I sliced the'Nutty One'  in two and discovered three distinct layers enrobed in milk chocolate.

The milk chocolate was good quality, something I'm utterly unused to. I should take shares out with Reese's with the amount of their peanut butter cups I eat, and so at first it felt strange to enjoy a beautifully creamy milk chocolate instead of the American 'chocolate flavoured coating' I've grown accustomed to. The fudge made up the bottommost tier and didn't taste remotely chocolatey, but the taste was sublime- smooth with the faintest hint of butterscotch.

Of course, the star of the show had to be the peanut butter core. Whilst the salted peanut pieces that studded it weren't as chunky as I'd have liked -nor were there enough of them- the punchy peanut butter flavour was outstanding. Hallelujah! M&S used proper peanut butter to create a firm, salty-sweet layer that's quite simply delicious. 

I absolutely adored the Nutty One, its three tiers worked in perfect matrimony and it tasted like a (much more) upmarket version of Reese's. The Nutty One is a cracking addition to M&S's rather marvellous chocolate bar range, and I'm already craving my next fix. Bravo Marks & Sparks! 

10/10

NEW! Aunt Bessies Mini Yorkshire Puddings (Tesco)

You may have gathered that I have a very sweet tooth, hence all of the reviews of ice cream, chocolate and cake. Today I'm bucking my trend however, with a savoury post about an old classic with a new(ish) twist. I say new, but Aunt Bessies mini yorkshire puddings have been around before. In fact, one of my all-time favourite childhood dinners was 'Tidgy Puds' and baked beans -I'm a classy girl!

I can't pin-point when 'Tidgy Puds' disappeared from supermarket shelves, but I was super excited to see their return (despite the new, more sensible name!). I bought the pack of 30 mini yorkies from Tesco for £1.50, and haven't seen them stocked anywhere else yet.

"I've selected the simplest and finest ingredients to make my mini Yorkshires. Now it's over to you. Simply pop in the oven for 4 minutes to add a little bit of fun to your kids' meal, or enjoy as a light bite with your favourite fillings. They're even perfect for canapés."

Ok, so they're meant to be for children or for parties, but for me they were calling to be served by the plateful, filled with Heinz' finest cheesy beans.

The cooking guidelines are simple, simply pop them in the oven from frozen on 200°c/ Gas mark 6 for 4 minutes -just enough time to microwave my Heinz!

The yorkies looked very cute. They're not all the same shape and size either, which somehow made them homely and therefore all the more appealing. As promised they were hot in four minutes, and ready to be adorned with their beany glory!

Yum. Yum Yum. I challenge you to come up with a more comforting dinner than this! The yorkies were perfectly crunchy on the top yet retaining a slightly doughy bottom -just how I like them. The batter soaked up the cheesy bean juice, and the combination of flavours was a match made in heaven. Instantly, memories of coming in to dinner after an afternoon's tree climbing and bike riding entered my mind, and I enjoyed every morsel with a grin from ear to ear.

I imagine that these mini yorkshire puddings would also be delicious filled with warm cocktail sausages as toad-in-the-hole-style canapes, or served up with Sunday lunch. After all, more yorkies = a better roast, don't you agree?

Have you got any better ideas on how to serve yorkshire puddings?

9/10

Nestle Butterfinger (B&M)

A few weeks ago, when I wrote about Bud's Best Butterfinger Cookies, I mentioned that I'd never tried a Butterfinger before -a comment that I received a bit of stick of for on Twitter! How could I love peanut butter and never have tried a Butterfinger, or a Zagnut for that matter? 

Under orders to get up to speed with peanut butter bars ASAP, I went on a hunt for Nestle's Butterfinger. Returning to Tesco I discovered that they've recently amended their American range and are no longer selling them. I'm still working my way through my February American Fizz order, so I thought that I'd just have to wait. As luck would have it, and just as I'd given up, I stumbled across Butterfinger bars in B&M for a very reasonable 79p!

One of the things I've noticed about American Foodstuffs recently, is that their product names can be very vague -and the Butterfinger is no exception:

"Bolder than bold cravings can’t be contained. Especially when they’re this crispety, crunchety and peanut-buttery. So go on and indulge yourself in the one of a kind taste of an all American classic that can never be replaced."

Thanks for that insight Nestle! It's crispy, crunchy and peanut-buttery, rather similar to the Reese's Crispy Crunchy then?

The long finger bar was covered in a smooth milk chocolate covered coating. Once sliced into, I realised just how crunchy the inside was, as it splintered upon impact, sending shards of orange coloured candy across the table. 

The first taste to hit me was the overwhelming sweetness. The peanut butter centre was reminiscent of solid candy floss, which morphed into a highly adhesive toffee-like substance as soon as it reached my mouth. I mean, it stuck to everything! The peanut butter flavour was also strong, but like the chocolate coating it was completely overwhelmed by the sheer amount of sugar!

I'm afraid that I didn't enjoy the Butterfinger in the slightest. The bar contains a whopping 23.8g of sugar per bar, and it's very evident in the taste. Munching the bar made my teeth ache so much that I felt the need of a Dentist on standby. Not one for me.

1/10*

*a generous scored based on the fact that I managed to eat all of it, just.

NEW! Kelly's Honeycomb Crunch Ice Cream

There's another new range of ice creams that's been released recently that I've been too cheapskate to fork out full price for. Well, I say new, but in actual fact it's a relaunch of Kelly's of Cornwall's products. Their head of marketing reportedly said that the "relaunch will be the biggest news in ice cream this year."

Hmm. I'm not sure I agree with that statement considering 2016 has seen lots of new ice creams including the new Ben & Jerry's Swich me Up and double peanut butter Magnums, but we'll see -they've got to be more exciting than the peanut butter Feast bars at least!

Kelly's new range is available in six different flavours:

• Clotted Cream
• Eton Mess
• Lemon Curd Tart
• Praline Caramel
• Chocolate Brownie & Salted Caramel  
• Honeycomb Crunch 

I was so sidetracked by the Honeycomb crunch that I forgot to pick up the deliciously naughty sounding Chocolate Brownie & Salted Caramel -so please forgive me! The ice creams all come in 950ml tubs, and are currently £1.99 at Tesco (RRP £4).

Kelly's old Honeycomb ice cream was my other half's absolute favourite ice cream, so we were both keen to see how the new version would compare.

 

"Caramel Flavour Dairy Ice Cream Rippled with Caramel Sauce and Honeycomb Pieces and Topped with Chunks of Honeycomb"

The clear case that the new Kelly's range now comes in adds to the illusion of fresh gelato, and the soft, whipped consistency of the ice cream itself also felt very Italian. I'm a bit of a weirdo in that I like my ice cream quite firm, and hate it when it melts too easily -but fortunately it held its shape long enough to scoop into cones without dripping everywhere.

The ice cream was extremely rich, and tasted like very cold whipped cream. The honeycomb pieces had retained their crunchiness, offering miniature nuggets of crunch and thereby offsetting the otherwise satiny texture. Flavour came from the caramel sauce, which was just as sweet as expected, although personally I think that it could be improved by a swirl of  a thicker Dulche De Leche style sauce instead.

I'm not sure if it tastes much different to the old Kelly's ice cream, even my other half couldn't tell the difference! For anyone who's particularly interested however, there are a few ingredients discrepancies between the two, for example: the new version has more fat and calories in per 100g and the caramel sauce has increased from 5% to 13%.

The new Kelly's ice cream far outshines Tesco's new Gelateria style chocolate cookie ice cream, but having tried the new Ben & Jerry's only a couple of days previously, I missed the mishmash of flavours and textures of the loaded style ice creams -still yummy though!

7/10

Reese's Crispy Crunchy

Recently I've given you reviews of the Crispy and the Crunchy so it seems only right to review a combination of both textures, Reese's Crispy Crunchy. I've been tempted by it in Tesco on many an occasion, but my Reese's supply is always so well stocked that it's rare I can justify buying more*. Fortunately, one of my friends at uni knows how much I love peanut butter and bought me the Crispy Crunchy as part of my birthday present.

"Peanut butter fans will surely dig this crispy, crunchy treat made with chocolate, REESE'S peanut butter, crunchy peanut butter candy and chopped peanuts."

The bar was very nobbly, in a similar way to a toffee crisp or lion bar. Once sliced, all of the individual components became apparent: the crispy centre, surrounded by chopped peanuts and chocolatey coating.

As expected, the chocolate wasn't anything to shout about, just the usual Reese's confection. The peanut butter centre knocked my socks off though, it certainly earned its title, with a crunchyness that's on a par with real potato crisps. Of course, the addition of peanut butter candy meant that the bar was tooth-achingly sweet, but it worked in symphony with the saltiness that Reese's is known for.

The Reese's Crispy Crunchy reminded me of something, a fond memory..

I've got it! Do you remember Mars Delight bars? God I loved those things! Anyway, the crispyness of the Reese's bar made me connect the two products, and so I'd liken it to a peanut butter version of the (very missed) Mars Delights.

9/10

*except for when I spot something I've been trying to get hold of for ages such as the Reese's crunchy peanut butter cups!