NEW! Go Ahead Banana Flavour Fruit & Oat Bakes (ASDA)

It's been quite a while since I reviewed any of the Go Ahead products, namely because they don't appear to have released any since the cookie bites last year. In recent weeks though the company have launched some new lines. There's the dippers in chocolate almond (which sound delicious) and salted caramel flavours, which appear to be somewhat like lower calorie versions of the nostalgic KP dipper pots (which I wish I could still find the toffee ones of) or the Nutella/Reese's snack pots.  There's also new Cocoa & Hazelnut and Cacao & Orange 'Goodness Bars' which look like Nakd rip-offs. Its none of these new products that have got me interested though, instead it's a new flavour of an existing product: a banana flavoured fruit and oat bake. You should know by now that if it's labelled as banana I'm there. I found them in ASDA for £1, which I didn't think was bad value at all. Bargain banana bakes? Yes please. 

As with the Go Ahead! Cherry Bakewell Pud Bars, these come in three almost segments. They're also only 124kcal each, and are fairly low fat -although they do contain a whopping 9.4g of sugar per 35g bake. 

'Golden baked bars with a delicious banana flavoured filling'.

The pastry round the outside was just as I remember, not firm enough to be tart-like but not soft like a Kellogg's nutrigrain either. It's not the casing that we're interested in here though really, is it? 

For me, banana flavour falls into three camps:

1. Natural
2. Foam banana artificial (sweet but pleasant)
3. Chemical artificial (not pleasant). 

Unfortunately the jam, although moist and sticky, landed slap bang in the middle of number three. It came as a surprise that the flavour reminded me of the banana in both the Party banana Jaffa cakes and the Co-Op's banoffee brownies seeing as it does actually contain banana puree.

Ok the new bakes might not have been quite as bad as the jaffas, as they are at least edible, but they don't hit the spot for me and I won't bother with them again. 

4/10 

Mulled Wine Fruit Loaf (M&S)

I was my normal scroogy, scrimpy, student self and bided my time when buying this fruit loaf from M&S. At £2 it seemed a little on the steep side, and if I was going to treat myself to full-priced goods from their bakery section you can bet your bottom dollar that it was going to be their boobie buns (sorry Christmas Pudding Buns). Yesterday afternoon though I popped back into my local branch -second attempt at buying another bottle of Chocolate Opal -this time successful- and detoured via the bakery on the way out where I spotted a single loaf reduced to just 70p. The packaging informed me that it was freezable, so I hastily nabbed the pack and added it to my basket. 

"Spiced fruit loaf with port soaked dried vine fruts, sour cherries, citrus peel and ginger."

The first thing I noticed about the bread was its density. For a fruit loaf it wasn't very risen or fluffy -but then I told myself that perhaps it was meant to be more like a stollen. The pale dusting on top marked a further stollen similarity, and I kept everything crossed that it would be as tasty as Lidl's luxury chocolate version. 

The bread was shockingly tough to slice into, revealing a very compacted interior with a plethora of fruits -the only plus point thus far. The packet suggested toasting the slices, so I popped both of mine in for a minute so that it just begun to tan. I slathered both slices in butter, and got stuck in.

Eurgh. All I could taste was burnt fruit. If you've ever made raisin flapjack or rock buns at home and caught them in a fierce oven then you'll know how awful burnt dried fruit tastes. The thick crust round the edge of the bread made it very chewy too, so much so that I almost gave up eating it. I'm very determined however, and hate wasting food, so I gave the second slice a generous coating of apricot jam -which I hoped would inject some much needed sweetness and counteract the acrid burnt raisin taste.

Nope. The second slice also felt like a punishment, and the rest of the loaf went in the bins -even the poor birds shouldn't suffer this.

I'm really hoping that I got the worst of a bad batch, so I'm extremely eager to know if any of you have tried M&S' Mulled Wine Fruit Loaf this Christmas, and if you're experience was similar or vastly different! Be a dear, and leave me a comment to let me know...

2/10 

The Grown Up Chocolate Company Hunky Dory (WHSmith)

My luck was in for the second time when I spied another one of The Grown Up Chocolate Company's bars in WHSmith's reduced section the other day. It was therefore a given, following the delicious success of the White Chocolate Wonder Bar, that I eagerly snapped up their Fruit and Nut Hunky Dory. I realise that I only moaned about my general disdain towards chopped nuts in chocolate less than a week ago, but I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to try another one of The Grown Up Chocolate Company's bars.

 "A decadent muddle of nuts and fruit on a bed of milk chocolate Gianduja enrobed in luxury milk chocolate."

Embarrassingly, I must admit that I didn't have the foggiest what 'Gianduja' was, so I summoned the help of Google and discovered that it's an Italian delicacy, originating from Turin, comprising of a sweet paste made from hazelnuts and cocoa -and that was me sold.

As per the White Chocolate Wonder Bar, the Fruit and Nut Hunky Dory came in two individual bars. I'd love to be able to say that I ate one and saved the other for later, but I'm afraid that my chocolate resistance skills simply aren't that advanced.

I sliced one bar in two and quickly discovered just how jam packed the filling was. This wasn't a Cadbury job of whacking a few almonds and raisins in (or sultanas now, ooh the controversy). Oh no, that just wouldn't do now! The Grown Up Chocolate Company instead opted to fill their bar with roasted hazelnuts, almonds, citrus peel and cranberries.

All of these components made for a super crunchy, crispy bar with the occasional moistness coming from the cranberries. Unfortunately I found that all of this texture actually detracted from the most incredible flavour from both the Gianduja and Milk chocolate. I remember thinking how superb The Grown Up Chocolate Company's white chocolate was but the milk chocolate was equally (if not even more) sublime. The melt and creaminess of the coating was unquestionably delicious and I'd have more than happily munched an entire bar of it on its own.

Whilst The Grown Up Chocolate Company might not have turned me into an avid chopped-nuts-in-my-chocolate-lover, they certainly have earned an even bigger fan. I'm desperate to try their incredible sounding Christmas bars now, and will be on a desperate hunt for them when I visit my sister in Cardiff at the weekend. Flavours include: Mince pie, spiced ginger biscuit and festive fig & port. Just look at them, oof, YES please!

9/10

NEW! Haribo Frenzy Carnival Edition (WHSmith)

We get through a lot of sweeties in my house. In fact, our impressive sweetie jar takes pride of place on our coffee table in the centre of our living room! It attracts a lot of attention from guest who -like my other half and I- seem impervious to resist the colourful e-number riddled goodies within. My favourites are raspberry mushrooms (Tesco's not ASDAs) whilst my fiancé prefers strawberry laces (specifically the Chewits ones available in Home Bargains) and foam bananas. There's one sweetie manufacturer that we do agree upon however -and that, of course, is Haribo. 

Fortunately we have differing preferences, and whilst he likes their rings and eggs most, I love the little white and black men (oo-er). But, we do get a bit bored from time to time with the selection available in the tangfastics, starmix and super mix, so it's always a welcome surprise when a new variety comes to town. Last year saw the release of the frenzy edition, which included an array of unusual flavours such as: apricot, pineapple, mandarin, grapefruit, passion fruit, watermelon, lime, and pomegranate. I enjoyed the tropical edge that these new fruity flavours provided and was sad to see them disappear towards the end of the year.

Thankfully a new take on the frenzy edition is back this year -with a slightly different selection of flavours. The apricot, watermelon, lime, grapefruit and pineapple are back, but 2016 sees the addition of peach, mango, and banana too. As a fan of all three new fruits I was rather excited by the new carnival! 

And so I was right to be. The new peach hearts remind me of Robinson's peach squash, awaking age old memories of never-ending sunny summer evenings after school. The mango sweets taste like Solero ice lollies; sweet and artificial but admittedly delicious. My favourite however was of course the new (blue!) banana flavoured bear. Banana jelly/jelly sweets aren't easy to come by, and the flavour instantly transported me to back to an odd dessert that my Gran used to regularly make called banana chartreuse (which included banana, cream and lime jelly!).

Although I was keen on these new Haribo sweeties, my other half wasn't convinced. He's a stickler for the original flavours, which I see as a bonus for me as I get to enjoy them all!

8/10

NEW! Danone Light and Free Greek Style Yogurts (Tesco)

I have to admit that I was rather excited at the prospect of these new yogurts from Danone. As a regular Greek yogurt eater (yes I know it's worse for the environment than the traditional kind, but it's also delicious!) I am always pleased to be able to choose from a wider variety of flavours and brands. 

The 'Light and Free' yogurts look attractive, complete with cardboard wrappers an minimalist design, and come in in five different fruity flavours: strawberry, cherry, blueberry, peach & passion fruit, and raspberry. They're also fat free, low in calories -each 115g pot contains less than 61 calories- and contain no added sugar. 

Cheapskate Amy struck again I'm afraid, I refused to pay the £2.00-£2.50 full price and waited for them to come on offer. Luckily my patience served me well as the full range is now available at Tesco for half price (£1.25 per four pack).

Cherry
The yogurts may look pretty, but the foil tops are a pain! Don't you hate it when they refuse to come off in one clean sweep? I haven't managed to open one pot yet without ripping the lid, gah.

The pretty pink yogurt was teeming with chunky cherry bits -I do love a good bit of real fruit. It became immediately evident however, that these were less set than other Greek yogurts, and were more like a thick standard yogurt. Hmm. The taste, well, it wasn't great either I'm afraid. It was perfectly eatable but there was no escaping the omnipresent back note of sucralose... one sweetener that I'm really not keen on. 

Peach & Passionfruit

I picked up the peach & passionfruit at the same time as the cherry. Admittedly If I had tried the cherry flavour first, I probably wouldn't have made a repeat purchase. Different flavour, same lid problem, dammit. Again, these were more of a thick-set rather than Greek style yogurt, but were packed with fruity pieces. I tried to enjoy this flavour sat in the sunshine, but I just couldn't get away from that nasty artificial taste. 

Conclusion
I'm afraid that these new yogurts from Danone are a bit of a non starter. It's a crowded market place full of tastier fat-free Greek yogurts such as ALDI's own (the best I've tried yet) so I can't see the 'Light & Free' range sticking around for very long.

5/10

NEW Tesco Banana Bliss Bars

As I mentioned when I reviewed the Nakd Christmas Pud bars last month, I'm having a bit of a passionate affair with their range. I've since tried the Cocoa & Strawberry Crunch bars, which are so tasty! The only problem is... I'm a bit skint. So love them as I do, I have to limit the amount of bars I buy. 

Tesco may have solved my problem however, because they've released two new cold pressed fruit bars: Banana Bliss and Berry Blast. Priced at £1.19 for four bars they undercut Nakd's approximate 75p a bar RRP by about two thirds! Similar to Nakd's Crunch range they are also high in protein and are wheat & dairy free 

Cold pressed fruit and nut bar with dates, soy protein crispies, raisins, cashew nuts and banana.

As I'm sure you'll agree though, price isn't everything, and if they taste pants then what's the point? Nakd's banana bar is my favourite of their Crunch range, so I decided to try Tesco's version. 

The bars are a similar colour, but Tesco's is more rectangular in shape. Consistency wise, I found Tesco's to be slightly more crunchy (you can see the soy crispies in the photo below) which I preferred.The flavour was indistinguishly different to Nak'd's bars, with a strong and natural banana taste. 

Nak'd I love you, but Tesco- you've got me hook, line and sinker. If you're a regular consumer of Nak'ds range I urge you to give these supermarket brand version a go! 

8/10

NEW Cocoa & Orange Echo Falls Fruit Fusions

Echo Falls have recently launched three new winter flavours into their fruit fusions range: Winter Spice, Orange & Cranberry and Cocoa & Orange. 

Chocolate flavoured wine sounds unusual, but I bought a chocolate infused red wine from Tesco last year at Christmas in the bargain bin, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately however I haven't been able to find it since (and I've forgotten the name now). So with this in mind, I thought I'd give Echo Fall's Cocoa and Orange fruit fusion a go. 

Looking at the label, it doesn't actually mention any wine content- it simply states that it's an 'alcoholic mixed fruit drink', oo-er. The second alarm bell went off when I read that it should be served chilled or over ice.  Echo Falls have the following to say:

I could smell a strong orange scent when I unscrewed the bottle, with a faint nod to chocolate.. The liquid was more translucent than red wine, and tasted... Well.. Different. It's kind of similar to a very watered down mulled wine, and so I couldn't help but think it might be more enjoyable warm. Orange is by far the most prevalent taste and it is palatable, however the barely detectable cocoa felt like an afterthought, and was rather synthetic- despite Echo Fall's claims to natural flavouring. 

It wasn't unpleasant,  just different, and I think I'd buy the winter spice version if I decide to try any more of the new fruit fusion range.

6/10