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
I went into Waitrose yesterday on a Stollen mission, which was unsucessful because firstly the staff member didn't know what it was (what the hell!) & secondly I'd left it too late and they'd sold out.. boo.
When I was leaving the store however, this mulled concoction from their Heston Blumenthal range caught my eye. I'm not a fan of Heston -I find his arrogance grating- however I am grateful to him for opening our eyes to the wondrous nature of salted caramel. Anyway, this bottle of Toffee Apple Mulled cider was just over £3.00 a bottle and so I decided to give it a go.
The bottle doesn't say whether to heat it or chill it, so I opened it at room temperature and then realised it should be drunk cold like traditional cider, so I cheated and added some ice to my glass. The traditional mulling spices came through well, but the concoction was lacking the dark caramel tones that it promised. It was generally just very sweet, and not a particularly great quality cider.
The low alcohol percentage (5.5%) combined with the sweetness of this Toffee Apple Cider means that it would probably appeal to fans of alcopops, but sadly its not one for me.
5/10
