Necco Sky Bar (American Chocolate Bar)

I went into 'Black Friday' with the intention of not falling prey to any of the tempting deals that would be on display, so I decided to stay clear of the shops altogether and focus on my assignments. But then boredom kicked in, and I sneaked a sideways glance at my twitter feed where I saw American Soda advertising 30% off everything- an offer I couldn't resist. It was a prime opportunity to give myself an early Christmas present and order a hoard of American treats that I've been wanting to try.

 One of which was the 'Sky Bar' which contains four different segments, each with a different filling: caramel, peanut, vanilla & fudge. As arguably the worst decision maker in the world this seemed like the perfect solution to me (I regularly end up with a mishmash of toppings on my crumpets- anyone else for chocolate spread, peanut butter and jam? No? I thought not). 

The first thing I noticed when opening the bar was the smell of cheap, advent calender style chocolate. I then chopped the bar in half for photographic purposes, but also to work out which segment was which, and saw what appeared to be two caramel segments.

I bit into what I thought was going to be caramel, but turned out to be the peanut. Instead of the Reese's-esque peanut butter filling I was expecting, there was an odd nutty-caramel type affair. I felt a bit cheated! It wasn't unpleasant, just different. Next up was the segment with the white centre which appeared to be vanilla. The filling was sticky, less runny than the caramel and similar to fondant. I can't say that I enjoyed it, but again it wasn't horrible either. The caramel was gooey, and sweet but lacked the depth of flavour that you would find in a Galaxy caramel bar,or the caramel brownie Lindt bar. 

The fudge wasn't fudgy- it was just a cheap soft chocolate centre that was overly sweet and cloying- not good.

Overall this chocolate bar looks and feels cheap and I wish I hadn't wasted my money. Its a lovely concept, but its executed really poorly. If only Cadbury/Mars/Lindt would harness this idea and do it some justice....

4/10

Gingerbread Reindeer from ASDA

How sweet is this new festive pack containing half of Santa's steeds? Yes, another gingerbread related post, but now i've rekindled my love with the spice I can't get enough! This pack of mini Rudolphs cost £1.25 and can be found in the bakery section at ASDA.

I only realised after I bought them that the supermarket has 'life hacked' when making the biscuits (as they're really just upside-down traditional gingerbread men)! Tut Tut ASDA- I'm sure you could've forked out for proper Christmas cookie cutters! Also, some of my Reindeers look a bit... erm... special...

The gingerbread itself is rock hard, which made it difficult to munch on with bad teeth, but nothing a good tea-dunk couldn't rectify. The spice level was spot on, offering a warming heat but not overwhelming the tastebuds.

Cute little treats ASDA, I like the cuteness, even if you are being Scroogey on the production costs! At the moment it's a 
6/10 

(but it'll bump up to a 7 if & when they soften up).

NEW! Caramel Ice Cream Trees from Iceland

OK so Iceland hasn't got the best reputation when it comes to quality food, but I've got to admit that I regularly shop there when buying ready meals for my other half; he works odd shift patterns and its the only way he can have a hot evening meal. We've tried all of the other leading supermarkets, but in his opinion Iceland make the best- and their price is unbeatable!

So, I dashed into store on the way home from uni to pick up his favourites (the cheese, sausage and bean meal is apparently the tastiest) and couldn't help notice the huge new range of Christmas products. In amongst the festive desserts were these cute caramel ice cream trees, which were a bargain at £1 for 3.

I think that Iceland's ice cream range is generally superb (especially their peanut & banana cones they stocked throughout the summer!) and so I didn't hesitate to pick up a pack. Each tree is 90ml, so comparably slightly smaller than a Magnum at 110ml, and is 'Caramel flavour ice cream with a milk chocolate flavoured coating'. It's that phrase chocolate flavour that concerns me, but given how inexpensive they were I wasn't too worried that they mightn't be of the highest quality.

The milk chocolate coating was in fact delicious. It was milky and creamy, similar to Galaxy. It cracked pleasingly to reveal the ice cream encased within. The centre was soft and velvety, with a rich caramel flavour which I thought might become too sickly but didn't. If I'd have been blind taste-tested, I'm sure I would've easily mistook them for an upmarket brand instead of the discount retailer with a slightly dodgy reputation. 

Iceland, I applaud you for your low prices and good quality. I'm coming back to hunt for the white chocolate & strawberry ice creams, and I might even pop some of the deliciously tempting ice cream chocolates and/or 'Enrobed Profiteroles' in my basket whilst I'm there!

9/10 

Honey Monster Puffs Banana Cereal Bars

I can't say that I'm a regular consumer of Sugar Puffs... or rather Honey Monster Puffs as they're now known. I do buy them occasionally, and I quite liked the banana variety when it first came out, but then I got bored and haven't bought them since. I spotted this pack of 5 banana cereal bars at the 99p store and couldn't resist the sweet little minion faces (yes I'm that much of a sucker). 
  

Each bar is individually wrapped with a little minion on! 

Texturally, its rather like Rice Krispie Squares: it holds its shape but crumbles away once nibbled, revealing it in all its sticky glory. The banana flavouring is very strong, in a foam-sweet artificial kind of way- there's no pretending it's a healthy treat that's for sure! I'm a big fan of foam shrimps & bananas, and they're a regular in our sweetie jar, so I guiltily enjoyed the sickly sugar rush. 

I appreciate that these are aimed at children, but I really enjoyed them! Taste-wise they certainly beat Alpen Light's Banoffee bars*, and if you're somebody whose interested in calories they're pretty much identical. 

7/10

* The Alpen Light Jaffa Cake bars outshine the Honey Puff banana bars though! 

Weiss Pfeffernüsse (Gingerbread Rounds)

When I recently reviewed ASDA's Lebkuchen stars, the lovely Hannah (The Review Addict) asked me about their similarity to Pfeffernüsse. In all honesty, I'd never even heard of Pfeffernüsse, so I went in search of the German treats so I could taste them and find out. Pfeffernüsse literally means 'Pepper nuts' which I gathered must be similar to our traditional term 'Gingernuts' as they don't contain nuts (although they do contain ginger!) Pfeffernüsse have apparently been part of European Yuletide celebrations since the 1850's (thanks wikipedia!)

I tracked them down at Waitrose, where I purchased the 250g bag for £1. 
When tipping out some of the perfect little iced white domes I was welcomed with the enticing aroma of festive spices. They are quite robust little biscuit-cakes, but give way satisfyingly under tooth with a chewiness that's slightly firmer than Lebkuchen.  

I expected them to be very gingery seeing as Waitrose's website oddly describes them as 'Glazed ginger bread nuts iced' (brilliant English!) however I found that the anise is most prominant spice followed by cinnamon and then ginger. I dislike liquorice or anything aniseedy and so was quite undecided when I had my first few; however they soon grew on me and I almost polished off the entire bag in one sitting-oops!

I'm not about to give up my beloved Lebkuchen in favour of Pfeffernüsse, but they're certainly a nice festive treat! 

7/10

NEW! Vegetable Greek Style Yogurts by Tesco

Vegetable yogurts? Give over! I almost walked past these unusual new additions in Tesco, but then I paused for a moment, remembering how surprisingly delicious their carrot cake yogurt was, and decided to give them a shot.

The four pack costs £1.25 and contains 2x Mango & Carrot and 2x Beetroot & Raspberry fat-free Greek style yogurts.

Beetroot & Raspberry 

It was a pretty pink colour -as you would imagine from its ingredients- but it wasn't as thick as most Greek style yogurts and had a watery layer on top where it had separated slightly.
Taste-wise... Yuck. I mean I probably never should have bought them because I hate the flavour of Beetroot (it just tastes like soil to me) but the yogurt was overwhelmingly sour, lacking the sweetness that normally coincides with a tart fruit such as raspberry. It was actually so disgusting that I wouldn't even give it to my dog and the second one went in the bin-  I never throw away food.
0/10

Carrot & Mango

This was a similar colour to their carrot cake yogurt and I hoped it would be just as tasty. Once again it had split slightly, but nonetheless I gave it a good mix and hoped for the best.
The mango came through more prominantly than the carrot, but as with the beetroot version it lacked the sweetness I'm accustomed to in yogurt, rendering it rather unpleasant. The sourness surprised me because carrot is such a sweet vegetable, but it tasted on the verge of going off (despite having a week left on its use by date) 
1/10


I'm not sure who Tesco are targeting with these unusual vegetable yogurts, but I won't be making a repeat purchase.

Coconut & Caramel Poshcorn by Tyrells

As a Herefordian, I know Tyrells pretty well. I remember getting excited as teenager when spotting our local Tyrells crisps in deli's across the UK as the company grew both in size and reputation (William Chase refused to let Tesco stock his products). However when he sold the business in 2008, the new owners made a lot of changes and I lost love for the company.It has since been sold again, and the brand has expanded into Nibbles, Tortillas and Popcorn too. 

As you may have gathered from my many reviews, I love popcorn. One of my favourite products is the Propercorn 'Sweet Coconut & Vanilla', so when I spotted Tyrells' 'Coconut & Caramel Poshcorn' in my local Co-op I decided to put my grudges aside and give it a go.  

The popcorn was very light and fluffy, and similar to both Propercorn & Portlebay's products there was a distinct lack of unpopped kernels. Biting into the corn, it was very soft. I could taste a hint of both the caramel and the coconut, but it was very subtle. Perhaps it would be a good snack to have alongside a glass of white wine?

To be honest, I was pretty underwhelmed by Tyrells attempt at popcorn. Propercorn can pride itself on the strength of its flavours, whilst Portlebay has a good depth of flavour and crunchy texture. With that in mind, I probably won't buy it again. 

5/10