NEW! Dairy Milk Medley Ice Creams (Sainsbury's)

My ice cream buying ban lasted two weeks. That might not sound like much but considering that I was buying tubs/packs on a daily basis I'm rather proud! It's the special offers that draw me in, and so ultimately I'm blaming Cadbury and/or Sainsbury's for me falling off the wagon. I know, I know, I'm an adult and should probably be accountable for my actions. Anyway, back to the matter in hand. I spotted these new ice cream sticks on the same trip I found the Peanut Butter Oreo ice cream sandwiches, but avoided temptation for two primary reasons:

1. They were full price at £2.50 per pack
2. I wasn't a fan of Cadbury's Fudge Medley Bar.

At £1.50 though, the curiosity won (I'm sure I'll end up 6ft under with the cat one day).

"Hazelnut Ice Cream with a Chocolate Mousse Centre, Covered in Milk Chocolate with Freeze Dried Raspberry Pieces and Digestive Biscuit Crumb."

Hazelnuts, chocolate, raspberry & digestive biscuits are all foods I love, and they should harmonise; but then that's what I thought about peanut butter, chocolate & Oreo and yet Cadbury managed to royally muck that combination up. The 90ml sticks looked pretty at least!

I was surprised and tentatively impressed by the chocolate casing, which did bear resemblance to Dairy Milk (albeit the cheaper Easter Egg stuff). As for the raspberry pieces, the taste of them were almost completely lost. Only two nibbles rendered any tart fruitiness, which was a shame seeing as the combination was rather good. The digestive biscuit pieces were also unrecognisable. Sure, there was a gritty texture to the chocolate casing, but even the best biscuit connoisseur would be hard pressed to determine exactly what it might be.

Fortunately the hazelnut ice cream was the stick's real saving grace. The flavour was every bit as nutty as I'd hoped and the texture was creamy. It was perhaps a little on the soft side for my personal preference, but it stayed put and didn't melt too quickly.

Sandwiched between the two pillars of hazelnut ice cream was the chocolate section, which provided some confusion. The front of the box described it as a mousse, whilst the regulated product name on the back labelled it as ice cream. So which was it?

Either way it was pretty poor. Chocolate ice cream can be so hit and miss, and it seemed that Cadbury didn't bother even aiming for the mark with this one. Considering that their chocolate mousse's are well flavoured, I'd hoped that they'd be able to pull off a decent attempt at an ice cream/mousse. This tasted no different to the Tesco chocolate ice cream* I'd had the night before though.

Again I've found myself moaning quite a bit about a product that I did in fact enjoy. Would I buy them again? No, considering they're called 'luxury' I'd much rather have M&S' Belgian milk chocolate & hazelnut ice creams.

6/10

 *in their Neapolitan soft scoop no less, check me out with my retro food!

NEW! Cadbury Dairy Milk Fudge Medley (Poundland)

Cadbury let the cat out of the bag a couple of weeks ago by announcing the launch of two 'luxury' chocolate bars in a new 'Medley' range. The nut version is topped with dark chocolate chips, sweet caramelised hazelnuts and raspberry pieces; but I went for the naughtier sounding bar infused with dark chocolate chips, biscuit pieces and fudge.

I've always wondered why Cadbury don't produce their own version of the raisin and biscuit Yorkie. It's a conceptually brilliant bar that unfortunately doesn't taste as good as it could thanks to the inferior quality of Nestle chocolate, so I hoped that this new biscuity Medley would be the solution. 

The bar has a RRP of £1, and only weighs in at 93g, which I imagine is another cost-saving exercise employed by Cadbury who -like all chocolate manufacturers- are facing the rising costs of cocoa. Cadbury say:

‘We wanted to create something special for our adventurous chocolate fans who are seeking a new taste experience,’ said Matthew Williams, Mondelez International marketing director.

‘With the combination of a smooth centre, visible toppings and luxurious taste, we’re confident Cadbury Dairy Milk Medley will become a firm favourite on a cosy evening in.’

The bar is made up of 10 square shaped segments, adorned with plenty of little biscuit chunks, a spattering of dark chocolate chips and very few fudge nuggets. It is easy to snap, but that's kind of where the positives ended, for Cadbury had truly pulled the wool over my eyes.

Reading the pack I discovered that it's not a true chocolate bar, because it consists of  'chocolate flavoured creme', rendering it more closely related to the centre of a chocolate sandwich biscuit. Its texture is silky to the point of being greasy, and so very different to the iconic Cadbury's Dairy Milk. The biscuit bits are pleasant enough, but I couldn't even taste the chocolate chips or fudge pieces as they were totally overwhelmed by the fake chocolatey taste. 

Cadbury's you're a disappointment, and quite frankly I'd rather eat a Yorkie.

3/10