Ben & Jerry's One Love (Sainsbury's)

As I was sat munching on my dessert last night, I realised that I'd broken the promise that I'd made to review Ben & Jerry's One Love, so this Sunday I decided to rectify that. Now for those of you who're clued up with all things Ben & Jerry's, you'll already know that is in fact a re-brand of the old 'Satisfy My Bowl' -which came out in 2014 but ended up in the graveyard along with my beloved PB&J core and Baked Alaska, boo. Still, not all of you will have had it the first time around, and some of you may have not had the latest edition either, so I'll give you my thoughts anyhow. 

"Banana ice cream with caramel (9%) and cookie (6%) swirls and chocolatey peace signs (4%)."

The ice cream was a quick melter (much like the coffee flavoured 'One Sweet World' released at the same time). I could immediately spot the biscuity swirls rolling through the ice cream, as well as a few dark chocolate coloured peace signs dotted about once I dug in. 

I scooped some into a waffle cone and soon realised just how sweet the banana flavour was. It wasn't as artificial as Nesquik banana milkshake, nor was it a natural banana flavour either, but it did fit the bill and was pretty tasty. The trouble was, the cookie swirls added an extra sugariness to the already sweet ice cream, pushing it into the realms of being slightly too sickly. Fortunately the peace signs offered a slight bitterness thanks to their darker nature -I do wish that Ben & Jerry's would use real chocolate though instead of a composite made from fat reduced cocoa powder.

As far as I'm aware, Ben & Jerry's are the only mass manufacturer of banana ice cream (please feel free to correct me in the comments box) so I'll keep buying it for that reason alone. One Love doesn't unfortunately come close to my top three favours though, I need more chunks nowadays B&J!

7/10

NEW! The Foodie Market Hike Bars (ALDI)

A few weeks ago I got the chance to pop into ALDI with my other half, but only because he was on the search for new tools that were part of their weekly 'special buys'. God only knows why he needs more tools when he's got a garage full of the things, but then I guess I can never explain why I need new pyjamas or socks either -I just do, ok? 

Anyway, we were queuing up at the till (yes I know, where else would we queue?) when I spotted these new Hike bars. Their brightly coloured packaging informed me that they're gluten free, low in fat, high in fibre and protein packed. At 59p per bar I decided to try both the berry and banana flavours. 


Berry Hike

" Fruit bar made with gluten free oats and dried raspberry pieces."

Admittedly the Hike wasn't much of a looker, but then these kind of healthy bars never are. It immediately made me think of Natural Balance Foods' Nakd and Trek Bars, as well as Tesco's (very good) knock-off Banana Bliss bars. Although firm to the touch, the bar was malleable, which I saw as a very good sign. 

Taste wise the bar tasted primarily of dates, with very little of the berry flavour to back it up. This is unsurprising given that dates make up 23% of the Hike, compared to a pretty pathetic 1.5% of dried raspberry pieces. The sweetness was also apparent -not an issue for my sugar addicted tastebuds I'm afraid- but it might be worth considering that the 55g bar contains 16.5g of (naturally occcuring) sugars if you're trying to be healthy but cut down on your intake.  It was pleasant, and a good handbag staple, but nothing to shout about. 

Macros per bar: 168Kcal P: 10.5/C: 24.8/F:0.7

6/10

Banana Hike

" Fruit bar made with gluten free oats and dried banana pieces." 

Ok, so if you've ready any or many of my reviews before, you'll be already aware -and probably bored- of my infatuation with all things banana. With this in mind, you'd be right in guessing that it was the banana Hike that really took my fancy out of the two.

Again, the bar was rather the ugly duckling, but I could immediately smell an authentic ripe banana scent as soon as the wrapper was off (the berry version had no noticeable aroma). This Hike was soft enough to bend too.

What a totally different experience! This bar was well flavoured, with a lovely cinnamon spice that complemented the banana wonderfully. Banana is so often badly thought out in snacks, often it tastes overwhelmingly artificial (jaffa cakes) whilst other times it's just not strong enough (M&S and Hotel Chocolat can you hear me?). Fortunately ALDI have got the flavours in this Hike bar bang on the mark, resulting in a bar that makes me imagine what a freshly baked banana flavoured oat and raisin cookie would taste like. Again, it's high in sugars too -although slightly less than the berry flavour at 16g per 55g bar. I really enjoyed the banana Hike and will make sure I pick more up next time I'm being taken (read dragged) on a tool hunt. Just for info, I think it's even better than Nakds, Treks, and Tesco's version and warming it up serves to enhance the flavours. 

Macros: 169Kcal P:11/C: 24.8/F:0.8

8/10

Apple Crumble Doughnuts (The Co-op)

Yesterday was one of those soul crushingly awful days. You know the ones I mean? When nothing seems to go your way? I managed to mess up my referencing on my assignment that was due in (queue panic), develop impetigo on the inside of my nose (TMI I know), explode a can of Pepsi in a newsagent (massive apologies to the staff members left with that mess), burst into tears for no apparent reason in my night lecture (how embarrassing), and then faced extensive train delays at 9pm (no surprise there with the British rail network). The one redeeming factor, the light at the end of my tunnel in all of this drama was, of course, food: an apple crumble doughnut I'd got stashed in my handbag for the journey home.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how long these apple crumble doughnuts are going to be sold for as they were reduced to clear (despite being well in date) at just 37p for the double pack -but I thought I'd review them anyway. 

"Doughnuts filled with apple sauce and topped with a custard flavoured icing and butter crumble pieces."

Sounds good right? Apple crumble is the ultimate British dessert; a classic that can't be beaten-especially if it's made by my mum-in-law-to-be. How well could it be recreated in doughnut form ?  I thought back to the traditional dessert inspired Rhubarb & Custard doughnut that Greggs sold this summer which I enjoyed -but complained that the only flavour came from the icing. This version was filled though, resulting in my high doughy hopes.

The doughnut had an ample covering of icing, and a fair amount of crumble on top too. Slicing it in half however left me utterly baffled. Where was the apple? Seriously, had the Co-Op forgotten to fill this one entirely? I could just about see the tiniest smidgen of sauce, hiding between the dough. Hopefully it was just off centre...

Nope. With no exaggeration, there could only be a teaspoonful of apple in the entire doughnut. What was there was sweet and pleasant, but it's scarcity meant that the sauce was completely overshadowed by the fairly dense dough. Pah, at least Greggs didn't promise to fill their doughnut. 

The custard icing was sweet, but to be honest I was so disgruntled by the lack of fruit that I didn't notice whether it tasted of custard or not. The best part came from the crumble topping, which was crisp and biscuity, but again I only really acknowledged it when I'd finished the doughnut and was greedily hoovering up the crumbs with my fingers.

A pants (almost*) end to a pants day. Thankfully today was much better. Have a good weekend you lovely lot!

4/10

*luckily the peanut butter twix and choco-nut malt wheats somewhat helped at 11pm.

White Chocolate Praline Wonder Bar (WHSmith)

The Grown Up Chocolate Company: a British chocolatier whose products I've been wanting to try for ages. The trouble is, living in rural Hereford presents a few issues when acquiring quality chocolate. There's not even a Hotel Chocolat. The closest we have is Thorntons, and I'm so unimpressed with their chocolate that I even gave away my Thorntons advent calendar last December. So, needless to say that when I spotted the White Chocolate Praline Wonder bar (reduced too might I add) in WHSmith, I quickly nabbed a couple of bars.

"Caramelised wafer enticingly slathered in sumptuous praline with a sprinkle of biscuit pearls encased in white chocolate. A true wonder bar."

For those of you who aren't au fait with The Grown Up Chocolate Company, they specialise in "the bars we ate as children, but reimagined for Grown Ups only." I'm not sure how grown up I am (seeing as yesterday saw the boobie bun review) neither do I remember consuming chocolate as a child that sounded even remotely as decadent as the White Chocolate Praline Bar. What I do know however, is that white chocolate, praline, and biscuits are a trio who live right up there amongst my favourite treats.

The White Chocolate Praline Wonderful actually comprised of two separate complete bars (total weight 65g). They looked rather sweet too with their biscuity topping, and the chocolate appeared adequately thick too (much needed after the appalling coating on the banana Jaffa cakes).

Slicing one bar in two revealed just how generous The Grown Up Chocolate Company had been with the white chocolate. The praline interior was the colour of milk chocolate, and I could spot a couple of biscuit 'pearls' poking out too... I couldn't wait to tuck in.

Crikey. I'd forgotten just how fantastic white chocolate could be. It was creamy, sweet, and melted in the mouth with an incredibly comforting flavour. Seriously yummy. The praline interior was also delicious, providing a juxtaposition against the velvety coating thanks to the crunchiness that came from the wafers embedded within. The biscuit pearls added an extra textural element, although they were less obvious due to the abundance of components within the bar. Although there was a lot going on, every element complimented each other perfectly, to provide a bar that really is quite wonderful.

I totally agree: the White Chocolate Praline Wonderful is definitely for Grown Ups only, and it's not for sharing either. Seriously scrumptious. I only wish I could buy more -the WHSmith is unsurprisingly out of stock again now! 

10/10

Christmas Pudding Buns (M&S)

M&S's Christmas Pudding buns are one of last year's Christmas products that I wish I had got around to trying. I even posted them up onto instagram, but still they never made it home. I hoped the buns (that look remarkably like boobies with nipple tassles -surely it's not just me with a childish mind?) would be back this year, and so I have been dutifully scouring Marks & Sparks' bakery aisle at regular intervals. Yesterday my patience won out, and although I initially baulked at the £1.80 price tag, I got a grip and grabbed my buns*.

"2 Spiced and fruited buns filled with a brandy sauce, topped with a soft vanilla icing, hand decorated with a glacé cherry and a sugar paste holly leaf."

Now I should probably let you know that I really don't like Christmas cake. It's not the spices (I've told you how much I love them) it's not the dried fruit (again, I'm a big fan) or even the richness (Mince Pies are pretty rich aren't they?). I think it's more about the claggy texture -every spoonful seems to stick to previously undiscovered crevices in my mouth, lodging itself between teeth. Also, I make a mean boozy cheesecake, and cheesecake almost always wins out in any dessert war!

So why did I buy Christmas Pudding Buns? For the same reason I bought the Christmas Pud Nakd bars last year: the flavours of Christmas without the stodge.

I'll tell you now, the buns smelt incredible. Their warm spices emanated from them, and it must be a strong scent because I'm full of cold and can barely breath at the moment. The buns felt relatively light despite their brandy sauce filling -which I hoped meant that M&S hadn't skimped on the filling.

They certainly did not; Marks & Sparks did me proud. As you can see, the buns encapsulated a large pocket of golden brandy sauce, which oozed out enticingly once sliced into.

The buns were super soft, sweet, and generous with the cinnamon. There were plenty of moist currants and cherries in every bite too -yet not enough to make the dough heavy. 

The brandy sauce should be the star of the show but I had my concerns about how well it would work against the wonderful bun dough. Fortunately it was creamy and smooth, delivering a warmth from the alcohol (without the throat burn) -I loved it! 

The icing on top was in generous enough proportions to add an additional texture and sweetness, but not enough to render the bun sickly. Well played Marks and Spencer. 

I'm so annoyed that I missed out on M&S's Christmas Pudding Buns last year, but I guess I've got the 'lost time to make up for' excuse to buy them in abundance now. I don't know about you but I've really missed Mr Kipling's brandy sauce Mince Pies since they were discontinued a couple of years ago, but these buns more than make up for the loss -they're absolutely incredible. If you're a fan of M&S' fabulous Lemon Curd Whitby Buns (also absolutely delicious) and/or traditional Christmas flavours, then please treat yourself to these wonderful creations ASAP. 

10/10

*Not those buns. The Xmas Pudding buns. Obviously. 

Party Banana Jaffa Cakes (Polski Sklep)

I posted a picture of these Jaffa cakes last night and waited for the inevitable shock at my find. Five minutes is all it took before the comments started rolling in:

"Banana "Jaffa cakes?! Are they nice? Where are they from??""Banana Jaffa cakes!!! Oh my GOD 😱""OH MY GOD BANANA JAFFA CAKES!!!!""Is this real? 🙀 Banana Jaffa Cakes? 😻"

Yes ladies and gents, banana Jaffa cakes certainly do exist, and they're covered in white chocolate no less. This pack cost me just 69p from one of my local Polish delis, what's not to love? Well actually I did have have concerns: Banana jelly could either be wonderful or a downright disaster.

The first things I noticed about the 'jaffas' was the hideously thin white chocolate coating that covered the jelly. I'm used to McVities comparative decadence, or M&S's if I'm really feeling opulent. 

The second point of concern was the dry base. Now we've all had the "is a Jaffa cake a biscuit or a cake?" debate, but the CAKE most definitely turns hard when stale and I'm not buying that it was simply a super fresh biscuit. The banana Jaffa cakes were well in date too (BB April 2017) so I think it's just the way they're made.

On to the most important part: the tasting. I've explained before that normally I pull apart my jaffas and savour each individual element, but I was too curious to discover what they taste like so got stuck straight in.

Hmm. I'm not convinced. Remember the blue bears in the Haribo Frenzy Carnival that I raved about? Well the centre of the cakes tasted damn similar. In sweet form it worked well, but covered in chocolate and on a base of stale cake? Not so successful. As for the white chocolate, there wasn't enough of it to to be able to distinguish whether it was any good or not...

The combination of flavours was simply peculiar. I mean the banana jaffa cakes were edible -and oddly moreish- but I can't say that I'll be having cravings for the rest of the pack like I do with McVities'. They're worth trying but I won't be in a hurry to buy them again.

6/10

MEGA POST! Sweetly Subscription Box AND discount! (Online)

Lord knows how many American treats I've sampled since starting this blog. I fell in love with the country and their never ending supply of super sweet goodies a number of years ago, and my obsession hasn't even begun to wane yet. Cue my absolute glee when I received an email from Sweetly, inviting me to try their brand new American themed subscription box. Yes please!

So who are Sweetly and what do they offer exactly? 

"Hi, we're Sweetly and our mission is to deliver enjoyment and satisfaction through the medium of candy (sweets, if you prefer). We started Sweetly as we had grown tired of the the same old chocolate bars and sweets and wanted to give our taste buds something new to munch on. We visited the great country of America while visiting some old friends and that is where we fell in love with American candy. When we arrived back in the UK we craved for more American sweets but not only for ourselves, we wanted to share the sweet American taste with friends, family, co-workers and more importantly, you!
And that's how Sweetly was born."

Almost a month ago my Sweetly Box arrived, and if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my excitement when I opened the parcel and uncovered all the goodies. I don't know about you but I'm often disappointed when I place an order online, for it to be delivered and only be half full. The day the Sweetly came felt like Christmas in comparison, for the box was jam packed full of all sorts of goodies. I expected a couple of candy bars, and some sweets but not the can of pop, pick and mix like sweeties and the little sachet of Kool Aid!

Even better yet, I hadn't tried many of the goods before, which was altogether astonishing given how much I've spent on Imported goods this year. In fact I've been trying to get hold of a whatchamacallit for months now, but every time I place an American Fizz order it's ourt of stock. The MoonPie also filled me with excitement, again it's something I've been eyeing up for a while, but my local shop sells stock that's over a year out of date (apparently it's allowed because it's 'Best Before').

Some of the treats I have tried already,  so if you want you can read my reviews of Twinkies, Butterfingers and Nerds.

5th Avenue

I had my doubts about the 5th avenue bar, and considered it to be a chocolate covered version of Nestle's Butterfinger. Given my ongoing love affair with Hershey's, I almost didn't want to try the 5th avenue for fear of ending our relationship.

Opening the bar, and snapping it in two confirmed my worst fears. Yes, this was all too reminiscent of the horribly sickly Butterfinger. I bit the end, but alas, that's all I could manage. The chocolate was pretty decent for American stuff though.

2/10

Whatchamacallit
I really enjoyed this caramel, rice crisp, and peanut filled bar and would describe it as a peanut butter toffee crisp. The combination of textures and flavours worked well together, and I'd be more than happy to buy them in future.

8/10

U-NO 

U-NOs are made by Annabelle's, who alsoproduce the Rocky Road S'mores bar. The U-NO bar is described as 'a smooth rich milk chocolate bar with a truffle-like center covered in milk chocolate and ground almonds.' It's a whopper of a bar though, but I'm afraid the taste wasn't fantastic -it made me think of the cheap Christmas truffles you might find in poundland at Christmas time. That said, it was very chocolatey, and fulfilled my chocolate cravings.

6/10

Mallo-Cups
Boyer say that here are 'seldom better combinations in candy than gooey marshmallow and chocolate'. I'm not sure I agree with that -peanut butter and, well anything?- but I do like chocolate, and marshmallow so was looking forward to tucking in. The centres were gooey, more like Marshmallow Fluff, and the chocolate was waxy -but I was hit by a shock! The chocolate contained coconut, which gave the Mallo-Cups a much more unusual edge which was rather pleasant. Coconut and chocolate isn't my favourite, so I probably wouldn't buy them again, but if you're a fan then give the Boyer cups a go sometime!

6/10

Gatorade
The iconic American drink that I have never tried. I rarely buy lemon or lime flavoured drinks but was more than happy to find out what all the fuss was about. I was disturbed by the colour however -it looked like it would make me glow in the dark! The other surprise was that it wasn't carbonated (I always assumed that 'ade' =fizzy, cherryade for example). Unfortunately it really wasn't my cup of tea but now I can tick it off my 'must try one day' list at least!

4/10

Lemonheads
Ahh these little box of bright yellow nuggets packed a punch. They were like zingy, hard coated, chewy centred jelly beans and were one of my favourites in the Sweetly box!

8/10

Now and Later Extreme Sour Watermelon Soft Chews
I'm really not good with really sour sweets -Tangfastics are abour my limit- so I was a bit cautious when trying these. I needn't have been though, sour fanatics might be disappointed, but they delivered a tartness that was enjoyable! The texture was like chewits too which meant that my fillings stayed in place too, hurrah!

7/10

Pink Lemonade Kool-Aid
I know I said I don't often by lemon or lime flavoured drinks, but pink lemonade is my exception to that rule -don't ask me why, not much makes sense in my mind anyway! The packet advised to add either sugar or sweetener and to dissolve in water, but I was feeling rebellious and poured mine into Cream Soda. It was genius though! I felt both girlie, smart and Kool with my pint of 'homemade' ;) pink lemonade.

8/10

Starburst GummiBursts
Rob and I fought over the 10 or so sweets in this little pack. Each sweet was packed full of flavour (especially the red ones!) and I really wish that they would be released in the U.K

9/10

MoonPie Chocolate Double-Decker
I've heard the MoonPie likened to Wagon Wheels on a number of occasions, but this wasn't just any MoonPie, it was the double-decker version! The MoonPie comprised of layers of marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate, which sounded rather delicious to me. Now as far as I was aware, Graham Crackers are the U.S equivalent of our digestive, i.e a staple, crunchy biscuit type affair. Well the 'cracker' in the Moon Pie was more cakey than that -but honestly? It made it even scrummier. 

After eating one half, I popped the rest in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. This happened to be another lightbulb moment -all the marshmallow went stringy, whilst the chocolate had started to melt. I made an awful mess eating it, but it brought out the child in me and made me grin (isn't that the Wagon Wheel thing?).

9/10

Summary
I'm super impressed with Sweetly. In fact its the best subscription box I've tried to date, and if I weren't constantly buying snacks to review on the blog I would most certainly sign up. Sweetly costs £13.99 per month and there's no delivery fees. Each box contains 12-14 full-size treats (including at least 5 premium items) which the company says is worth more than £30 in retail value (and I believe them), so it's fantastic value for money. You've got just 6 days if you want to get your hands on November's box, otherwise I think it would make a fab Christmas present for fellow sugar addicts! For 10% off your first order enter SEEKSNEWTREATS10! Click here to visit their website.

Sweetly = 10/10

Thanks very much Sweetly for sending me one of your first boxes!