Review- M&S British Pudding Chocolates

Life is like a box of chocolates, Folks.. You never know what you're gonna get! Or maybe we should do in this case, with these NEW British Pudding Chocolates from M&S.  

The rather fetchingly pink 200g box, containing 8 different chocolates was only £4.

L-R Jam Roly Poly, Melt in the Middle Chocolate Pudding, Banoffee Pie, Bakewell Tart, Sticky Toffee Pudding, Rhubarb Crumble, Strawberries & Cream, Parkin

Jam Roly Poly

A rich white chocolate truffle infused with raspberry flavoured compote, encased in creamy white chocolate and dusted with chocolate powder. 

Blimey, this tastes just like Jam Roly Poly! I am quite amazed at how M&S managed to get it into chocolate form! The smooth truffle was sweet and creamy which melted in the mouth once through the white chocolate outer. The centre was fruity and not to dissimilar from jam in consistency. I wish there had been more than 2 of these in the box - Delicious! 

Melt in the Middle Chocolate Pudding

Inspired by an M&S favourite, this dark and milk chocolate blended ganache, has a gooey dark chocolate caramel centre, smothered in dark chocolate.

I hope their actual dessert equivelent is better than this chocolate as it tasted ridiculously cheap! It was waxy and chewy in texture with no real melt. The chocolate had very little flavour and I couldn't taste caramel at all. I had high hopes for this but it appears to be more of a generic "filler" chocolate to make up the numbers in the box - Rubbish!

Banoffee Pie

Luxurious caramel blended with banana pieces, captured in a creamy milk shell, simply heavenly!

I was a bit wary of this chocolate given my on-off banana allergy and it certainly smelt very potent! I risked it and was met with a taste equally as strong. It had the super sweet, artificial flavour of foam bananas, mixed with a semi buttery caramel. I found the texture a bit strange as the banana pieces were quite hard and everything else was very soft. It didn't leave a very pleasant aftertaste either which is always a put off!

Bakewell Tart

Almonds and chopped cherries create this mouth-watering classic, enrobed in milk chocolate and sprinkled with roasted almonds. 

This was more plain old, soft marzipan than Bakewell Tart! It tasted very strongly of the stuff and shared the same signature, almost gritty texture.  The cherry flavour did come through slightly to add to what already was a very sweet chocolate. I wasn't a fan of the almonds on top either - They were brittle with very little flavour so I felt, not really necessary. I like marzipan but this one might be best kept to the fanatics!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Inspired by a much loved pudding, this delicious toffee flavour mousse is encased in milk chocolate with crunchy toffee pieces. 

I am quite the Sticky Toffee Pudding fan so was happy that this chocolate was included in the box. The soft mousse was certainly very sweet and full of toffee flavour but it did get a little sickly. A crunch from the pieces in the chocolate shell gave a nice change in texture although once again added to the overall sweetness. I am sure this one would go down a treat with all the sugar lovers out there.

Rhubarb Crumble

A sumptuous rhubarb layer on a custard flavour truffle base, lavished in milk chocolate and sprinkled with crunchy croquant pieces. 

Although it tasted more of Turkish Delight than rhubarb, this chocolate was delicious! The custard layer had a vanilla-y aspect to it which went perfectly with the subtle flavour of the baby pink truffle on top. Texture wise it was soft and very melty with a crunchy nutty element coming from croquant pieces. I would buy a whole box of these chocolates in a heartbeat - Absolute perfection!

Strawberries & Cream

A heavenly double cream and strawberry ganache, coated in white chocolate, inspired by a summer favourite. 

Thank goodness, this chocolate didn't taste artificial or medicinal as I find many strawberry chocolates do! It was very sweet as expected from the white chocolate and full of strawberry flavour. The rich, creamy ganache was silky smooth and had a almost mousse-y feel to it when in the mouth. It melted perfectly on the tongue which made for one mighty tasty chocolate.

Parkin

A rich fudge made with treacle and flavoured with ginger and mixed spice, smothered in dark chocolate. 

This chocolate was really not my cup of tea! Although it had a lovely fudgey texture as well as being coated in a deep rich chocolate, the whole thing was a bit to christmas-y for my liking - Not really something you want when the weathers nice, out! I have never actually had Parkin so I can't comment on the similarity but I am sure if heavy spices and ginger are up your street, you would enjoy this.

Overall, this box of chocolates really was a case of "you never know what you're gonna get'!. The Jam Roly Poly was amazing and my favourite, with the Rhubarb Crumble coming a close second - Yet on the other hand, there is the abysmal Melt in the Middle Chocolate Pudding and artificial Banoffee Pie (I survived eating it by the way, if anyone is interested.. No? OK). I do commend M&S for extending there Confectionary Range extensively this summer but I do wish they would maybe stop trying so hard - I reckon if they toned down the sweetness and used better quality chocolate, they might be on to something. It will hardly break the bank at £4 but there are definitely better boxes of chocolates out there to be had. Its a 2.5 out of 5 from me!