Happy New Year- Tesco Finest Reveal Dessert

Happy New Years Eve, Snack Army! Did we all have a nice Christmas? I know I did and have been thoroughly spoilt on all fronts - Lovely presents, tasty food and a wild drink or 2! It has pretty much been the best.. But one final dessert can only make it better, right?! - It's a potentially shaky yet potentially sensational, Tesco Finest Reveal Dessert, to see out 2016!

And featuring a nice bit of questionable lighting thanks to my kitchen too - Sorry sorry! I picked up the 580g, serves 6, bang on trend pud off the end of one of the stores fresh aisles and was happy to see it had been reduced from £6 to £4.32 - It's yellow sticker heaven in there at the minute so definitely worth a looksee if you're on the hunt for a bargain. Although not stating in black and white whether suitable for vegetarians or not, the box does come with some extensive recycling information - The carton and sleeve are green all the way but you've got to check with your loyal recycling centre about the plastic pot, tray, lid and dome and heaven forbid, whatever you do, don't think about doing anything with the plastic window as it's a no go so just bin it as usual! Got it? You better have taken notes. 

Once again horribly hued but the flying saucer reminiscent dessert looked the part with it's sparkly festive come galactic appearance, ready to have the caramel sauce poured over top, which I followed the instructions of removing the lid and heating in the microwave for just less than the recommended 70 seconds.. 

Well that worked well didn't it. Welcome to the inside of my microwave, folks. Question - If I had zapped it for the full time, would I actually have any sauce left in the tub? I am going to say not. Nice one Tescy. 

A dome of Belgian chocolate encases a decadent chocolate brownie topped with Ecuadorian chocolate mousses, hand drizzled with white chocolate, sprinkled with popping candy and toasted hazelnuts. Pour over the hot caramel sauce.. Then watch and listen.* 

Pouring over the liquid gold caramel, I waited in anticipation..

Oo oo going..

Going..

Aaaaand it's gone! Check out all that ooey-gooey action!

Grabbing a spoon and getting stuck straight in, the sauce was still slightly warm, producing almost melted, but not quite, glossy pools from the chocolate shell. Taking a mouthful, an array of textures presented itself - A decently sized dense, fudgy brownie, whipped ganache like mousse followed by a crunch from the nuts, popping 'n' crackling of the candy and of course, the silky smooth, luscious caramel, chocolate mix. Taste wise, the combination of elements were ridiculous indulgent with nothing but the highest quality, rich cocoa paired with varying creamy sweetnesses from the other chocolate aspects as well as a buttery, toffee hit from the sauce - I can't say the hazelnuts particularly shone nor produce that "Nutella feel" but with so much going on already, I think anything stronger would have ruined it! A chocoholics dream and potentially, a heart attack in a saucer! - Yum! 

Overall and as you can probably tell, this Tesco Finest Reveal Dessert is pretty much a life changer. Yes, it may be the sort of dessert that you need to lay down after consuming and take an antacid or 3 but it's well worth it for the good of something which I am going to say is the best pud, I have had this year. It's top marks from me - 5 out of 5! ..Heck, I might even make it a 6 purely on the basis of the caramel not being salted! I am putting my cards on the table here!

Have a lovely night all, whether you're at home with a quiet cuppa or a crazy kid out on the town.. Be sensible and be safe, please. Here's to 2017! 

*It made no sound. 

Review- M&S NEW Spirit of Summer: Summer Tartlet Selection

Penultimate SoS review, Folks! One I was particularly looking forward since my discovery and now, undying love of the Banoffee version.. A flavour trio this time - Mississippi Mud, Coconut & Lime and Dulce de Leche & Pecan.. It's a Summer Tartlet Selection! 

The 178.5g (Oo precision), box of 6 cost £2.50 with 2 tarts of each flavour, all suitable for Vegetarians.. But not Mustard, Sesame or Nut allergy sufferers due to manufacturing methods. Talking of Nuts, the box also comes with a nice warning not to feed such a thing to your Sprog as small children can choke on nuts.. I expect so can some adults. 

The tartlets were presented in a nice little plastic tray and weren't too smooshed.. Unlike some of the other boxes on the shelf! It does make you wonder whether it is in transit that products get destroyed or could the shelf stackers be the blame.. I assume they aren't in such a state when they leave the factory. Someone let me know. 

Mississipi Mud

All butter chocolate pastry tartlets filled with a chocolate brownie and topped with a chocolate buttercream and chocolate sauce. 

Smelling extremely cocoa rich, the ooey gooey tartlet was a pure hit of chocolate from start to finsh - The buttery, soft pastry encasing a squidgy brownie and a thick, ganache like buttercream with a final hit from the runny sauce centre. The proportion of each element was spot on and texture wise, was not dry in the slightest. Nothing but a Chocoholics dream! - Divine.

Coconut & Lime

All butter pastry tartlets filled with lime curd and a coconut sponge topped, with a coconut buttercream, lime curd and desiccated chipped coconut. 

Moving onto the Coconut & Lime, the pastry here seemed to be a little too tender as in the process of cutting in half, the side broke.. Although faultless in taste! A real zestyness was apparent when munching through the tartlet but was not all that easy to identify as being lime - It could have quite easily been lemon and I wouldn't have questioned it! As for the sponge, it also had problems in feeling a tad to thick for a treat of its size and surprisingly didn't deliver in terms of coconut - Not in taste, signature chew or even with the sweet buttercream to heighten the potency! A strange one!  

Dulce de Leche & Pecan

All butter pastry tartlets filled with caramel and toffee sponge, topped with a Dulce de Leche caramel buttercream, a pecan nut and white chocolate. 

Last but by no means least, Dulce de Leche & Pecan. The tart halved well with no pastry lost or even a crumb out of place to reveal the golden sponge within which tasted very much like golden syrup! Soft and sticky, the butteriness was undeniable with bucket loads of sweet caramel tones to compliment. The Dulce de Leche aspect really shone in the buttercream however, as seen above, I do feel there could have done with being a little more! Topping the lot was of course, the choking hazard of a pecan which tasted fresh and crisp - A nice finishing touch! 

Overall, this Summer Tartlet Selection isn't to bad at all and with a few tweaks, could quite easily be amazing.. It's the Coconut & Lime which is the main problem and letting the team down! Hunt yourself down a box, give the aforementioned to some unsuspecting chum and enjoy the rest with afternoon tea whilst M&S still have them! - It's a 3.5 out of 5 from me. 

Review- Krispy Kreme NEW Brownie Batter and Cookie Dough

Happy Monday! Once again, it is Krispy Kreme time! Today saw the release of 2 brand spanking NEW Doughnuts despite having only just had the Valentine's editions - We are being spoilt! Rather than another fruity option, KK have ventured down the indulgent, chocolatey route with Brownie Batter and Cookie Dough options to brighten up their stores and our Tesco Cabinets. YAY. 

As I was feeling extra chunky, I bought an Assorted Box of 3 Doughnuts today but I am going to assume that these are priced at the usual £1.90 each. I would usually have been much more vigilant but I was kind of distracted by the appearance of the things - I don't know if someone had dropped the trays or if the KK minions are just getting sloppy during manufacturing (I expect the latter) but all of the Doughnuts looked a bit of a state with filling falling out of most, not to mention unequal toppings.. With some angst, I picked the best of a bad bunch and went on my merry way. 

Brownie Batter 

A brownie batter filling, hand-dipped in milk chocolate and topped with brownie chunks & choc chips  

What an anti climax! Where is the brownie batter filling? This only reaffirms my suspicions of slacking KK minions. Taking a bite, the chocolate on top cracked, sending the toppings everywhere but thankfully, it did taste good although I'm not sure I would have identified the brownie pieces as actually being brownie.. They certainly weren't of the texture. The dough was up to the usual standard with a light, fluffy texture and sweet flavour. A thick, gooey ganache like filling was in the centre and despite there not being a lot of it, it was mighty chocolatey and cocoa rich. Not quite brownie batter but yummy nevertheless - A 3.5 out of 5 from me! 

Cookie Dough

Filled with cookie dough kreme, coated in white chocolate and hand-decorated with cookie pieces and chocolate chips!

Once again, when cutting the lil fella in half, I was left wondering where all the cookie dough kreme filling was.. In fact, there was a massive gapping hole in the left half where I assume it had been injected! Luckily, this time a more than generous blob was hiding in the other section and was nice and whipped as kreme should be. Taste wise, it was cookie dough and nothing but, with a very sweet, biscuity flavour but I did feel it was a little lost when eaten with a big chunk of soft, doughnut itself. As seen previously, the toppings did crack, crumble and go everywhere apart from in my mouth but quality wise, they were bad at all.. Even if these Cookie pieces had the exact same, soft texture as the so called Brownie above! A 4 out of 5 from me. 

Overall, these NEW Krispy Kreme Doughnuts are pretty darn delightful - The Brownie Batter isn't revolutionary by any means but when you want a chocolate hit, it will certainly provide one.. And it hasn't got that god awful, chocolate sauce KK use which can only ever be a good thing! As for the Cookie Dough, you need one - It's as simple as that so treat yourself before they disappear! Go check out my Peanuts' review over at Nibbles 'n' Scribbles to see if minions were messing with her too and have a delightful Doughnut Day, folks! 

Review- Cadbury NEW Amaze Bites: Double Choc and Orange

I wasn't going to bother with these NEW, OMG! These are Amaze Bites from Cadburys - I couldn't help but feel it was just another one of their attempts to be "cool" with a silly name and mediocre product to match. Having said all that, I was easily swayed by a single picture on Instagram from the lovely, @thereviewaddict that came with a simple caption of "I agree!". Hannah is never wrong so I hot footed it down to The Co Op and bought myself each flavour for a £1 a pop. 

Each tub contains 14 double blended milk chocolate bites of brownie cake with the ones on the right being Orange flavoured whereas the left, being the "plain" option of Double Chocolate.. So really they are quadruple chocolate? What does that even mean? I am confused. Who else is confused?  

Double Chocolate 

As always, I started with the "plain" version in attempt to get a true feel for the bites as well as having a good base to judge the Orange off. They smelt super chocolatey in the tub and the promised 14 were present - Yes, I did count as you can never be to sure! Taking a bite into the brownie was very satisfying - A generous coating of chocolate encased a dense and squidgy brownie with "harder" chocolate chips running throughout to produce a fantastic vary in textures. The flavour was delicious and surprisingly cocoa rich considering it isn't Dairy Milk - Not that we shall go into that quality debacle as that would open up a whole other can of worms! Not to sweet and very moreish! Its a 3.5 out of 5 from me! 

Orange 

Although they look identical to the previous, I have included a picture just to show the sneaky chocolate chip in the right half! The pieces were about 3.5 x 2.5cm in size which equates to a couple of bites really - Theres sense in the name after all! Once again the brownie itself was moist and chewy but with a overall good melt. The Orange flavour was spot on and went perfectly, as expected with the chocolate - I didn't feel it was artificial in the slightest or to much for such a little "cake" and found myself eating one after another, a little to easily! As I love chocolate orange, its a slighter higher, 4 out of 5 from me! 

Cadbury, I salute you - These Amaze Bites are pretty darn tasty! They may be a simple concept and not of all that high quality but for a quick treat when nothing but something sweet and cakey will do, they most definitely hit the spot. Both my tubs didn't stick around for long and I would buy them again in a heartbeat come the chance. OMG! These are Amaze Bites? In the words of Hannah.. I agree!

Review- Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Caramel Brownie Cake

What happens when a fellow snack blogger decides to go sugar free? Apart from losing the plot.. They pass the buck and you are forced into buying all the delicious things they can't! This purchase is entirely down to the enabler that is @kevvieguy, the once sugar fiend turned Paleo preacher behind http://kevssnackreviews.blogspot.co.uk. 

Being ever so obedient AKA easily swayed, I hopped on down to Sainbury's and picked up the Taste the Difference Caramel Brownie Cake for £6 - Quite pricey for a "everyday" cake! 

Plain sponge, toffee flavoured sponge and chocolate brownie sandwiched with caramel buttercream and salted caramel sauce, covered in caramel buttercream and topped with a dusting of sweetened cocoa. 

As promised, the 3 layers of the cake were very distinct and cut easily with a sharp knife.

Now, doesn't that look inviting?! The smell of a buttery caramel, treacle and chocolate concoction almost had me scoffing the lot before I had even taken a picture! It tasted heavenly! The bottom layer of brownie was just how all good brownies should be - Dense and fudgey with rich chocolatey taste. A thick layer of salted caramel sat upon it, full of sweet butteriness and miraculously, was actually salted! The cake layers were soft, moist and sweet with treacle undertones coming from the middle layer of caramel sponge. I wouldn't have been able to identify the buttercream as being any particular flavour - It mainly tasted creamy and sweet but with all the other flavours going on, it didn't make much of a difference. The cocoa on top was a nice finishing touch to give a slight boost of overall chocolate flavour to what was one, very sticky, squidgy, delicious cake!

Overall, I am pretty much in love with this Caramel Brownie Cake.. And in turn, Kev, for making me buy it! All the layers go perfectly together but I have to say, this is definitely one for the sugar fanatics who aren't deterred by lots of different elements in a cake. There is another relatively NEW, Taste the Difference triple layer cake, Blackberry Ripple, which as always, I am eager to try next. I am sure it won't take much of a push from anyone for me to buy it.. Its a 4 out of 5 for todays, sweet delight!