Review- Cadbury NEW Crunchie Cake

It may be Sunday but I've got that Friday Feeling, I don't know about you - The need for chocolatey goodness and nothing that cake can't fix.. The NEW Friday Feeling Crunchie has all of our names written on it! 

To be fair, I actually bought this Celebratory cake a few weeks ago - Not when it was first released along with the Mega Raspberry Roll and Caramel variety, as I would have liked, but as soon as it got the nod of approval from the October Birthday Girl that is Nibs. Purchased in Asda for £5 and designed to feed 10, the cake is suitable for vegetarians and does not contain dairy cream.. As it states in large letters.. For anyone concerned. 

Delicious layers of honeycomb flavour sponge and honeycomb flavour creme, enrobed in Cadbury milk chocolate and topped with Crunchie honeycomb pieces. 

As seen with the Flake, the rectangular, very much Crunchie shaped bar of a Cake was placed inside a rather finickity plastic tray opposed to being plonked on a traditional board. Beside from being pretty nifty at catching the cracking chocolate when cut, it did make it tricky to get a knife in.. Not to mention, hardly looking attractive or something you would feel inclined as having as centrepiece to your celebratory spread. 

Producing remarkably neat slices, the cake cut well to reveal the alternating and well proportioned layers of sponge and creme. From the feel of it, I expected things to be a little dry but sure enough, it was soft, light and squidgy, delivering a full on Crunchie flavour. Both honeycomb and caramel tones really shone with plenty of butteriness along with the anticipated hit of pure sugar. The chocolate itself was also very sweet but pleasant enough and making for a decent contrast - I doubt even Dairy Milk would have improved the quality given what Cadbury push out now. A final munch from the hard yet aerated honeycomb nuggets that we all undoubtedly know and love to be that of a Crunchie Bar, finished things off wonderfully - Scrumptious! 

Overall, this Cadbury NEW Friday Feeling Cake is really quite the treat and I am sure, will go down well with any fan of the chocolate it represents.. Heck, I think it tastes more of a Crunchie than an actual Crunchie! - There is nothing not to love! Get yourself one before Cadbury do something ludicrous like removing them from sale - It's a 4.5 out of 5 from me! 

Review- Cadbury NEW Spread: Caramel and Crunchie

I don't know if I've just been a dummy and completely missed the press release but it appears Cadbury have NEW Spreads out - Huzzah! Caramel and Crunchie versions is where it is at and although not exactly adventurous.. I was still pretty chuffed spotting them when shopping. 

It was of course in Tesco where I found these 400g screw top jars, priced at £2.25 each - I very much like how the packaging reflects the actual chocolate bars! Further snazzy news.. They are only bloomin' suitable for Vegetarians!

A swirly and a bobbly - The Spreads looked the part! 

Caramel

If only you could smell through your Tech screens as the scent was sensational! - Buttery, caramelly, sweet goodness! Taking a scoop, the Spread appeared to be very soft and ready for spreading but naturally, I just ate it as it was, there and then. Silky smooth in texture and a good chocolatey flavour was the first thing to hit me which then developed into a super sweet toffee like taste - Not super high quality but decent enough. It was a little to easy to eat one spoonful after another but fair warning, it did get a tad cloying.. I expect this would be eliminated though if you had it on something rather than straight out of the jar! It's a 3.5 out of 5 from me. 

Crunchie

Up next.. The Crunchie Spread! Once again, it smelt divine and this time, almost coffee like despite none being listed in the ingredients. Another difference I noticed immediately was that the contents of the jar seemed to be a tad thicker to the above with more resistance when scooping - Perhaps due to the nibs or maybe just pot luck! Taste wise, it was less sweet and more cocoa rich to the Caramel with a fudgey hint along with a whiff of that coffee I could smell.. Or imagined more like! The honeycomb pieces added the signature Crunchie taste and were a lovely contrast in texture to the soft, although some bits were really quite hard so I would advise going easy and watching your teeth! It's a 4 out of 5 from me. 

Well, I don't know why these NEW Spreads haven't been plastered everywhere online as they really aren't half bad! Yes, they are very sweet and probably quite sickly if you ate a lot.. But on toast, porridge or heaven forbid, spread on a cake, they will do the job nicely! Well done, Cadbury.. Mondaléz.. Whatever you're calling yourself nowadays. 

Review- Cadbury NEW Dairy Milk Big Taste: Triple Choc Sensation, Oreo Crunch and Toffee Whole Nut

Cadbury have gone a bit mad. No, they haven't changed their Dairy Milk recipe again (Or have they? Hmm!) but instead released about 37 NEW Chocolate Bars in the past few weeks. I lie, it's only 5 really but still, that's a pretty big increase! Also, the term NEW should be used very loosely as todays trio of Big Taste Bars as well as the Medley duo* are direct copies of those by Milka who just happen to also be owned by Mondelēz International.. So all in all and as usual, the whole things a sham.. Onto the review! 

I picked up the Dairy Milk Triple Choc Sensation, Oreo Crunch and Toffee Whole Nut in Sainsbury's after having searched high and low for the things. The Bars weigh in at a chunky 300g each and are priced at a hefty £3 a pop which means yes, I did spend £9 on chocolate. This is what my life has become. 

Triple Choc Sensation

Milk chocolate with white chocolate (42%) and dark milk chocolate (25%).

There isn't a lot to say about this bar that isn't already in the description - It's Milk chocolate, White chocolate and what they've called Dark Milk chocolate.. What is Dark Milk chocolate? Is it Dark or is it Milk? I'm confused. Popping a triangular chunk into my mouth, it tasted how I expected.. Chocolatey! The Dairy Milk wasn't particularly stand out with the White being lost completely but the "Dark Milk" definitely added the most flavour in terms of cocoa-y tones, if you can really call them that! A semi decent melt was apparent, resulting in the layers seperating, which was quite enjoyable but it was hardly enough to redeem such a mediocre bar. It's a 2.5 out of 5 from me. 

Oreo Crunch

Milk Chocolate with a vanilla flavour filling (40%) and biscuit (16%).

Moving onto something with a little more action going on - The Oreo Crunch. As suggested in the name, this bar packed a serious munch and was a real, pleasant mouthful given its chunkiness. The signature Oreo flavour also came through which went well with the very sweet set vanilla filling which although wasn't quite that of the kind you find sandwiched in between the actual biscuits, it was fairly tasty! Encasing the lot was of course the chocolate.. It was sweet, generic and as expected, not a patch on the Dairy Milk of years previous. It was also relatively thin in comparison to the filling which left the whole thing borderline, biscuit bar rather than chocolate - I am not sure this would go down well with the chocolate fanatics but I didn't mind personally.. I couldn't take much more of the "DM"! A 3.5 out of 5 from me. 

Toffee Whole Nut

Milk chocolate with toffee flavoured filling (32%), Caramel (10%) and hazelnuts (8%).

Lastly, the Toffee Whole Nut. It smelt pretty delightful with a strong, buttery "warm" Caramel scent that just screamed "Eat me!". I did as ordered and basically fell into heaven. Breaking through the same lack lustre, although perhaps marginally thicker chocolate than above, the muted cocoa flavour was a pretty decent carrier for the pure hit of toffee from the soft filling. The runny puddles of sticky caramel only added to the sweet, deliciousness and was a good contrast in texture to the firmer aforementioned elements - Usually I would say this about the nuts which in this case were fresh and crunchy but the liquid-y caramel really helped things from being to "dry". Amazing - A 4 out of 5 from me. 

Overall and unfortunately, these Cadbury NEW Dairy Milk Big Taste Bars are a bit of a waste of time. The Toffee Whole Nut** is amazing if you like super sweet things, there's no two ways about it and the Oreo Crunch isn't disastrous by any means so I haven't marked them awfully.. (Unlike the Triple Choc Sensation which we shan't even mention) But these are meant to be CHOCOLATE Bars and they fall way short. The quality of Dairy Milk leaves a lot to be desired and quite frankly, it's embarrassing to the point where I am not entirely sure what Cadbury are playing at.. I mean, sales are down thanks to them messing with recipes and possibly doing the worse thing ever (If not selling to Mondelēz International in the first place) in switching the Creme Egg from Dairy Milk to their cheaper recipe and it's leaving a bitter taste in a hell of a lot of peoples mouths. I can't help but feel that one day, it is going to come back and bite them on the bum.. Yes, there may be the loyal customers who continue to buy their products but for how long? Cadbury just isn't what it use to be. And I'd like my £9 back, please. 

*Nibs is the Medley Maiden. 

**Mrs 1T has reviewed the Milka version of this Bar so go have a read and leave a nice comment. 

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- Cadbury Dairy Milk NEW Marvellous Smashables Rocky Mallow Road

I have been hunting high and low for this NEW Rocky Mallow Road Dairy Milk from Cadbury and being the impatient person that I am, felt I was never going to find it.. That was until I took a trip to Morrisons where it was on offer for £1.50 - Double Winner!

They have done away with Marvellous Creations in lieu of a new name.. The nowhere near as catchy, Marvellous Smashables! 

I thought the bar had melted given its mighty strange shape in the wrapper but after seeing the illustration on the back, the design and "Smashables" part became clear! 

Milk chocolate with marshmallows (7%), strawberry flavour jellies (5%) and shortcake biscuit (5%)

As instructed, I flipped the bar over and got quite excited by all the bumps! I then questioned what I was going to whack the thing with.. A chocolate hammer is shown on the front. I don't have a chocolate hammer. I decide on a pastry pusher being my best bet and proceeded to give the bar a good old wallop! 

TA-DAAA! To my astonishment, the chocolate broke exactly where it should and into little segments - It was like magic!

After much faffing about, I got stuck in. I didn't think it particular smelt a lot of Dairy Milk but then again, it didn't taste like it either! The strawberry jelly pieces were without a doubt, the most prominent element of the bar - Although not artificial tasting, they did wipe out most of the creamy chocolate taste with their super strong and sweet flavour. A nice chew came from the marshmallows but as expected, added further sweetness - The flavour reminded me a lot of the Marvellous Creations Fairground Candyfloss Ice Cream which threw me a bit! I felt that the biscuit pieces were totally overpowered by everything else that was going on in the bar but they did have a nice crunch even if the taste was barely distinguishable. 

Overall, this NEW Marvellous Smashables is mainly just confusing.. You have potent gummy jellies, sweet chewy mallows and tasteless biscuit bits, all in a wishy washy chocolate! I am not usually one to say this but I feel this bar has to much going on - You are basically left with a mouthful of bits once the chocolate has melted! I also don't get the point of the whole "Smashable" concept.. It seems like far to much effort and at the end of the day, unless you are mad on novelty, I don't expect you are going to mess about trying to find a whack worthy tool to bash the bar with. Worth a go once but after that, probably one best for the kids - Its a 2.5 out 5 from me!