Key Lime Pie Ice Cream (M&S)

Last spring M&S went positively potty with a huge release of their Spirit of Summer range. Some of the goods have since been re-branded and retained under the normal labelling -such as the peanut butter cookies, which I wasn't particularly fussed on, much preferring the softer style of Grandma's or Lenny & Larry's. Other products have held on for dear life and, despite summer having been over months ago, can be found lingering in corners of the food hall. The Mud Pie & Key Lime Pie ice creams are two such items, although they've finally been reduced to clear this week.

I wrote a review of the Mud Pie last year so I thought I'd write up a quick review of the Key Lime Pie in case you're worrying about spending 75p on snapping up the 500ml tubs. I joke but I did briefly question my purchase actually, not because of the monetary element for once, but because I wasn't entirely sure how or if a lime ice cream could work. 

"Dairy key lime flavoured ice cream with key lime sauce (10%), digestive biscuit pieces (8%) and meringue pieces."

Hang on a second, shouldn't M&S have used ginger biscuits instead? 
...Although a quick google search later proved that Delia uses digestive biscuits, so maybe it's just me who uses gingernuts in citrus based desserts! 

Anyway, the pale green ice cream was fairly easy to scoop straight away, and I was only one spoon down before I uncovered a treasure trove of goods (biscuit chunks). That's what I like to see Marks & Sparks! The lime sauce wasn't so evident, but I could smell a strong zingy scent straight away. 

What a welcome surprise! The lime worked much better than expected as an ice cream flavour, with the zing counteracting the sweet creaminess wonderfully. It wasn't bitter either, which is always my fear with citric desserts, but was very refreshing on the palate (I imagine it would be particularly good after a curry). As for the abundant digestive pieces, they were crispy -but tasted more rich tea than digestive. Their crunch was gladly received, making the ice cream much more interesting to munch on, but I still think that ginger biscuits would have worked even better! Occasionally I would fall upon a pocket of sweetness coming from the meringue pieces, but they were subtle in their inclusion and wouldn't have been missed if omitted completely. 

The biggest shock with this Key Lime Pie ice cream was that even flavour fussy Bert liked it. I didn't tell him what it was before he tried it for fear that he would refuse to even sample it, but he actually said that he enjoyed it! Quelle surprise!

M&S' Key Lime Pie ice cream was an innovative and unusual addition to their 2016 line up and I'll be stocking up on tubs whilst they're so cheap. I'm also looking forward to seeing what they bring out this year... any ideas?

*Fingers crossed for banoffee pie.*

8/10

Limited Edition Key Lime Pie Müller Light

When doing the weekly shop this week I stopped in the yoghurt aisle at the Müller section as usual to pick an assortment of corners and rice pudding when this limited edition flavour caught my eye: Smooth Key Lime Pie.

I'm not normally a Muller light kind of girl as I find them quite runny and prefer thick Greek style yoghurt, but I found myself contemplating whether key lime pie yoghurt is an ingenious concept, or a repulsive concoction resulting from somebody's odd cravings. I decided that they only way I could end my quandary was by sampling the yoghurt for myself.

Let's get a few things clear first, I'm not a huge fan of key lime pie. I mean, I'd eat it if offered to me, but I'd never choose it at a restaurant- favouring anything banana, chocolate, caramel or coffee flavoured. I do like limes, but I tend to have them in a glass of Pepsi (and then suck them at at the end!) My nan used to constantly make lime jelly when I was a child, so perhaps I've just had lime overload.

I uncovered the dubious looking minty green yoghurt and wondered what I let myself in for. Sometimes food that looks the worst tastes the best though, right? My first mouthful was almost minty, but I think that's just because I'd linked the taste to the colour.

 By the second mouthful I was able to determine the citrusy lime flavour.. Which wasn't unpleasant. Half way through I realised that i was actually starting to enjoy the yoghurt. It was different and struck me as being refreshing (particularly after my ham and marmite sarnie.)

I do have a bone to pick with Müller's flavour name 'Key lime pie' which I think is borderline false advertisement because there's no pie in it. It's simply a lime yoghurt- I even checked the ingredients. I guess they figured that key lime pie flavoured yoghurt sounded more appetising.

Although I enjoyed trying something new and different, I won't be buying any more of this flavour. I hear however, that Müller have released an Apple Strudel variety which I'm definitely keen for! Hats off to them for constantly creating new and exciting flavour combinations instead of sticking to the tried and tested. Bravo.

4/10