NEW! Chocolate & Caramel Pyramids (M&S)

I couldn't help it, ok?

After I tried my luck with the banoffee semifreddos at m&s I went back to see if any of the other frozen luxury desserts would work in the Dine in for £10 promotion. They all looked delicious but it was these chocolate and caramel pyramids that caught my eye. Not because they were particularly ground breaking in terms of flavours, or elements, but just because they looked so damn pretty. Fancy clothes might not tempt me, but pretty food? Always. 

"A cocoa sponge base topped with a Belgian dark chocolate pyramid mousse, a caramel ganache centre and caramel decoration."

I found myself thanking M&S once again for their clever packaging and thankfully, unlike their fresh banoffee cheesecake slices, the pyramids had remained perfectly intact - please ignore the freezer burn caused by my freezer blip. M&S suggests that they require defrosting for 5 hours, but I hadn't been that well organised and took mine out of the freezer a couple of hours before serving. 

That cocoa mousse was rich and fluffy with a deep flavour that I imagine would please most dark chocolate lovers, whilst remaining sweet enough to avoid offending us who prefer their chocolate milkier. Where was that sponge base at though M&S? I thought Waitrose's version was stingy but this was none existent.

Things got worse as I hunted for that supposed caramel ganache. At first I refused to panic, having been initially disappointed when digging into the Waitrose salted caramel mousse (before finding the pocket at one end), but as I got towards the last spoonful I realised I'd been duped. At best there had been a slightly sweeter mouthful, but where was that oozy caramel sauce or sticky dulce de leche?

I thought perhaps I'd got a duff one - but if I did then so did Bert. He didn't even realise that it was meant to contain caramel, and actually asked me not to buy them again as he found them too rich. Admittedly, he's not as chocolate obsessed as I am though.  Meh. Another case of style over substance, that is, unless you're after a show stopping chocolate mousse - in which case, head to Marks and knock yourself out! 

7/10

NEW! Dessert Menu Banoffee Semifreddos (M&S)

Banoffee pie is absolutely up there as one of my all time favourite desserts (with tiramisu and my mum-in-law-to-be's apple crumble). The trouble is, most of the supermarket versions are pretty poor, and most of them come in large sized pies (I can't deal with that amount of temptation in the house, the same reason I don't make it very often). Cue M&S. Thank the lord. Their frozen dessert collection now contains a double pack of banoffee semifreddos. But there's a catch -they're £4 a time, yes, ouch. I struggle with spending £3 on a couple of cheesecake slices, but then I reconsidered...

1)  I'd heard resoundingly positive feedback on the semifreddos from fellow dessert fanatics Nat and Sian.
&
2) I'd pay more than that for a single dessert at a restaurant.

But then I had a brainwave anyway. The dine in for £10 meal deal. That says it includes selected ice creams. It usually contains some of M&S' dessert collection free desserts. I wonder... would the banoffee semifreddos be secretly part of the fortnightly deal? There was no offer ticket to suggest it was, but I did used to work at the Hereford branch and so I cheekily asked the lovely Maria to check it through the till...

BINGO!

It worked. I managed to buy two rump steaks, 4 potato rostis, a bottle of wine and the semifreddos for just a tenner. Bargain.

"Banana and vanilla custard cream with Dulce De Leche caramel sauce on a digestive biscuit crumb base, finished with cocoa powder and a dark chocolate plaque."

Chuffed with myself, I got them home and opened them up, to find that M&S had done a rather marvellous job of packaging them carefully in separate little brown boxes. First brownie point awarded to Marks, they were impeccable, despite my persistent clumsiness; anyone remember this doughnut pancake?

The topping was well flavoured with an authentic flavour (M&S have used real bananas - 6% of the ingredients) and it was creamy whilst remaining fairly light. I couldn't get my head around the consistency though; after the 20 minutes suggested defrosting time I had a soft moussey outer edge and a frozen inside. I get that's what its meant to be, but it made me think that I hadn't left it out of the freezer for long enough. 

The biscuit bottom was a lovely digestive affair, and although it was on the crumbly, fall-apart end of the cheesecake base spectrum, it was delicious nonetheless. 

It was the caramel centre that I was most excited about, and as I started to dig in, I thought M&S had been fairly stingy. In reality, it simply turned out that it was mostly pooled down one end, and the golden treasure was worth the wait. It was thick, gooey, and sweet with the buttery richness that I had hoped for. 

M&S Banoffee Semifreddos will never beat a fresh, homemade banoffee pie -especially as they understandably* lack the slices of fresh banana. At £4 for two, they're expensive too, but are well worth picking up as part of the Dine in Offer. As such, I'd happily have them again. 

8/10

*no-one wants slimy, black defrosted bananas gracing their dessert after all!

NEW! Mocha Cheesecakes (Waitrose)

A couple of days ago I reviewed Waitrose's new Cookies & Cream cheesecake slices and mentioned that I'd bought another double pack at the same time. It was these Mocha cheesecakes that had initially caught my attention though, and was only Bert's hatred of coffee that caused my brief hesitation. It wasn't long before I saw sense and bought them anyway, making the most of the fact that they're currently on offer for £2.63 -before they go up to £3.20.

I sent my sister a picture of my dessert purchases, and she instantly tried to persuade me to hop on a train to Cardiff to share them with her -despite my insistence that they wouldn't bode well on the two hour walk-train-bus journey to her house. In a great twist of fate however, her best friend collected her and brought her back to Hereford on Saturday evening. Great! I'd cook her Sunday dinner and we'd have them for dessert. Or so I thought... 

A heavy night of drinking later meant that she was only up to a coffee at my house yesterday, and took her cheesecake-to-go. Cheeky mare (love you really, Lou bum). Anyway, yes, mocha cheesecakes. Back to the case in hand, and the reason you're reading this post...

"2 Baked chocolate and coffee flavoured cheesecakes on a chocolate flavoured biscuit base, topped with vanilla flavour mousse and cocoa and vanilla dusting."

Despite their thoughtful packaging, the cheesecake stuck itself to the acetate surrounds, meaning that they didn't look as attractive as I'd hoped. I reminded myself that it was the taste I bought them for, not the aesthetics. 

Is it just me or is the vanilla mousse a slightly odd choice of topping for a mocha cheesecake? My thoughts went as follows:

 1. Cheesecake isn't normally topped with an additional layer
and
 2: Well, wouldn't white chocolate be more in keeping with the mocha theme?

I mean, it was light, fluffy, and perfectly pleasant. I just think it was slightly peculiar.

For once,  I was pleased that Waitrose hadn't opted to include a ganache layer because it meant that the Belgian chocolate flavoured cheesecake could shine through. Yes, it was every bit as rich and delicious as I always hope for when buying chocolate cheesecake, no doubt thanks to the inclusion of 10% Belgian milk chocolate.But wait a little minute here. Wasn't this meant to be chocolate and coffee cheesecake? Did that mean that there was meant to be two tiers of separate flavours, or that the cheesecake was meant to be mocha and therefore encompass both? All I know was that the coffee flavour was very much on the mild side, especially noticeable considering the helping of Jude's Flat White Coffee I chose to enjoy alongside the cheesecake. Looking at the ingredients gives an indication as to why it wasn't particularly prominent - Waitrose have used coffee granules here, and not ground coffee. Oh.

I forgave Waitrose a little when I reached the centre of the cheesecakes though, and uncovered a secret chocolate sauce centre*. Ooh, you cheeky devils! There was no hint of this on the products description (or the ingredients list), but who doesn't love a chocolate surprise? I know I do. It wasn't ganache-thick, but it wasn't overly runny either. There wasn't a huge deal of it, but it had a slightly darker edge to it than the milkier cheesecake and was therefore a welcome inclusion. 

The chocolate biscuit base was also pretty good (it was similar to the one used in their new C&C cheesecake) but I think a standard digestive (or coffee flavoured biscuit) base may have actually worked better considering how much chocolate there was already going on. That's only a slight niggle though, because it was still absolutely scrummy. 

Would I buy these again? Probably not, and especially not at £3.20 per pack. As far as new chocolate cheesecakes go, I much prefer the M&S sunken Valencian Orange. 

8/10

*apologies for the dark photo, I was eating it in front of the T.V, hopefully you can spot the darker patch in the middle! 

NEW! Waitrose 1 Chocolate & Salted Caramel Mousses

My sister was coming to stay yesterday evening and I was about to head to M&S to pick up a Dine in for £10 meal deal when I thought I'd check their 'menu' online. Oh. The desserts looked pretty lacking. I mean, the Millionaire's desserts are well worth a try if you haven't had them before, but I really fancied something different. I chanced a look at Waitrose's website and found that this weekend the upmarket supermarket is also offering a similar deal. For £10 you can have a main, side, bottle of wine (or box of chocolates) as well as a choice between many starters or desserts. This makes it a good option if you've got less of a sweet tooth, but let's be honest -for me- it's always going to be dessert.

As part of the offer, Waitrose have included their two wavy shaped mousses that form part of the '1' range. I've been eyeing these mousses up for a while, but there was no way in hell I was prepared to pay £3.99 for the privilege of trying them. I mean, they looked good, but they're hardly groundbreaking, are they? Just for info, and incase you're not as pudding obsessed as I am, the other flavour available is limoncello and raspberry. I was temporarily tempted by the lemony flavour, but when the choice was between lemon and chocolate? A no-brainer I'm afraid.

"Belgian chocolate mousse with a salted caramel centre, chocolate sponge base and topped with a chocolate sauce."

What the...? How the badger are you meant to retrieve these things from their plastic casing? If any has any better ideas than the only solution I came up with, please drop me a comment. I ended up using a combination of a knife under the cake bottom, and my fingers to wiggle the mousses out -of course leaving an inelegant finger print on both sides. Oops. I hoped my sister wouldn't spot the grooves of my digits on the side of her dessert, and instead would focus on the pretty glittery topping. 

"Ooh, they're gold..." she cooed. Phew.

The chocolate mousse was rich and light. Less so than the likes of an aero mousse, but that's unsurprising considering that whipping cream and dark chocolate (20%) are the top two ingredients. The resulting flavour is a chocoholic's dream, tasting of ganache but without the resulting heaviness. 

Disappointment hit however when I found the puddle of caramel in the centre. I was hoping for a generous, oozing trove of salty-sweet treasure, but instead I found a jot of thin, toffee sauce. Hmm. Another 'salted' caramel that really didn't live up to expectations. As for the chocolate sponge base, I can only imagine that it was created as a base to move the desserts with, for it was wafer thin and therefore added very little -if anything at all- to the dessert. 

As far as chocolate mousses go, this one is rather good. Is it worthy of a £3.99 price tag? Absolutely not. Is it worth buying with the ranch steak, pommel frites and bottle of Italian red for £10? You betcha. 

8/10

NEW! Banoffee Doughnut (Greggs)

Doughnut week is very much down to one of you lot. Dan, if you're reading this, I'm not sure whether to thank you or cuss you. You see, Dan brought the release of Greggs' new range to my attention last week...not long after I had realised that I would soon be in the proximity of a Krispy Kreme store (and would be making the most of the opportunity to stock up). His prompt also fell after a conversation with the talented Heather (at The Tandem Bakery) about a very exciting doughnut that she was going to make this Wednesday (just gone) and I just knew I couldn't resist that one either. That brought the running total to 5, so why not go utterly doughnut doolally and get the two new Greggs offerings too? Especially as one of them was banoffee.

The new sweet menu was released yesterday and features lemon shortbread, toffee apple cookies, as well as the duo of doughnuts. 

"Soft ball doughnut topped with caramel icing with a banana flavoured filling."

The new filled doughnuts come in at 90p each, a damn site cheaper than Krispy Kremes, but more expensive than standard jammy doughnuts. They looked as pretty, if not more attractive, than Krispy Kremes too.

Slicing mine in half revealed an abundant pocket of pale mousse. Perhaps Greggs should offer Krispy Kreme some training on how to adequately fill a doughnut. 

However, having had so many Krispy Kremes this week, it was extremely evident to me who reigns supreme when it comes to the dough. Even after freezing and defrosting the KKs they were much fluffier in texture than the Greggs doughnuts, with a sweeter flavour throughout. In contrast, Greggs dough felt heavy and breadlike, though it was still admittedly enjoyable. 

The banana mousse was entirely artificial in flavour, and although it was reminiscent of foam banana sweets, the aftertaste was slightly chemically. I wish Greggs had thought to inject a little toffee sauce into the centre too, because although the icing was caramel flavoured, the synthetic banana was the far more prominent of the two flavours and so to me it wasn't really true to the classic dessert. 

I did however enjoy the little crunchy balls on top, which reminded me of the Muller Crunch Corners. Sure it would have been nice to have some digestive crumbs (as per a banoffee pie) but I guess they'd have gone soggy and so I think Greggs might have made a wise choice. 

To be honest, I probably won't bother with this doughnut again. Hats off to Greggs thought for constantly innovating their range (as opposed to KKs barely veiled attempts to disguise their rereleases as new products). 

7/10

NEW! Tiramisu Con Biscotti Speziatti *Biscoff Tiramisu* (LIDL)

Last week I popped into Lidl for my regular restock of Skyr and picked up their weekly deal brochure on the way out. Ooh Italian week! That sounded good. Normally there's a couple of items that sound rather scrummy, but this time I was positively drooling at the sight of some of the items on offer for the week. That's it, I'd have to go back on Thursday (aka special buy day) to fill up on Italian style treats. The one item that sounded especially good was the speculoos tiramisus. The regular readers amongst you will know that tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts, and that I'm currently obsessed with anything biscoff. At £1.29 for two packs they were slightly dearer than your average supermarket cheesecake, but they still sounded like a reasonably good deal to me. 

"Spiced Biscuit Base Topped with Vanilla Flavour Mousse, Sprinkled with Chocolate Flavoured Powder."

I'm not sure how Lidl have got away with calling them tiramisus really, seeing as they were devoid of Savoiardi or coffee-although they do include a minute amount of alcohol (1.5%) and mascarpone cheese (which comes even lower down the ingredients list). In fact the cocoa dusting and the pots they came in were the only real nods to the classic Italian dessert. Still, they'd reeled me in with the title and I was still looking forward to trying them.

I wasn't expecting the mousse to be marshmallowy. It was still light and airy, but it also had a gooey-ness to it that I haven't experienced with a mousse before. I could faintly taste the liqueur, but it's so mild that I wouldn't be able to tell you what it was.

At the bottom was the 'spiced biscuit' base, which also heralded further surprise. I was expecting it to taste like crushed Lotus biscuits, but instead it had a soft crumb -which was utterly delicious. The cake style base actually worked very well, especially because it had such a fantastic cinnamon flavour. I ended up googling 'speculoos cake recipes' as soon as I'd finished it. 

Now I took a punt and sent Bert to his Night shift with the other pot the same night I had mine. It was a risk because he claims to hate tiramisu, but seeing as it didn't contain coffee I thought it was worth the risk. He loved it. I'm glad he did too, otherwise I'd have been gutted that I'd wasted the other delicious pot. We'll be heading back to Lidl before Thursday (when The Middle Eastern week starts) to stock up and might even pick up a pack of the strawberry tiramisu -which is even less tiramisu-esque! 

8/10

NEW! Syrup Sponge Desserts (ASDA)

A good five or six months ago I was in Worcester's ASDA before my lecture and spotted a new dessert pot that took my fancy. I even took a photo of it at the time, but didn't think it would survive a 3 hour lecture followed by the 2 hour commute home. I tried the local ASDA the next day but couldn't find it, then tried the Worcester store a couple of days later... but guess what? It vanished, not to be seen again. If it hadn't been for my photo evidence I would've been sure I'd imagined it.

Just imagine my surprise during the weekly shop last week when I spied the very same packet that's been playing on my mind all this time! Without my usual reservation towards the £2 price point I swiftly picked up a pack.

"Vanilla flavoured custard and mousse with a sweet syrup sauce and sponge pieces."

The tiers were distinct and the pot was well filled, but the mousse was a disconcerting shade of yellow.

I was worried that the mousse would just be devoid of flavour but in reality it had pleasant vanilla notes to it. The texture was just as light and fluffy as I'd hoped too. A rather good start.

Underneath was the custard layer, which was thinner than I'd usually like and lacked the creaminess of Ambrosia's version. It was still enjoyable, but could be a lot better.

The final layer consisted of the cake cubes and golden syrup. The combination should be a winner but ASDA have completely messed up the ratios. Of course in a traditional golden syrup sponge the cake element makes up the majority of the dessert, but in these pots there was twice as much sauce to cake (19% and 9.3% respectively). With so much syrup pooled at the bottom the last mouthfuls were almost unbearably sweet -and I've got a very sweet tooth.

C'mon ASDA, you dominated the supermarkets last year. These Syrup sponge puddings and your new cheesecakes are a right let down in comparison!

6/10

NEW! Cadbury Egg 'n' Spoon Oreo (Tesco)

Even though I got stuck straight into the hot cross bun reviews almost a month ago, I've somehow resisted the call of the Easter chocolates until now. It might have something to do with the fact that I still have an excessive amount of chocolate, some left over from Christmas as well as the countless bars I brought back with me. Oops. When I spotted the insta-famous Oreo Egg 'n' Spoons half price in Tesco this week however, my self-restraint evaporated and somehow I ended up at the till with a box.

I remember being utterly disappointed with the chocolate Egg 'n' Spoons when they first came out a few years ago. Since then I've stayed clear of mousse filled Cadbury chocolates (bar a lone snowman reduced after Christmas). It was the addition of Oreo swayed me. I'm not even sure why I'm so infatuated with anything Oreo, but after the disappointment of the Peanut Butter Oreo filled Dairy Milk this week I hoped that Cadbury could go at least a little way to redeem their sorry selves.

"4 Milk chocolate eggs with a soft vanilla flavour mousse filling (42 %) with biscuit pieces (4.5 %)."

At least the packaging design is smart, and although it hasn't changed since the eggs were first launched, I still think it's a nifty little concept. The box contained four purple wrapped eggs and two very dinky plastic spoons.

I unwrapped my first egg and spotted the lines where the top could come apart from the bottom. I'll be very honest here and admit to indulging my perfectionistic streak by separating the top from the bottom with a veg knife... Sooo satisfying.

Inside the chocolate casing was the milky white Oreo filling, flecked with cookie crumbs as expected. Digging in, I discovered just how soft and light the centre was. For some reason I thought it was going to be a similar substance to the centre of the Dairy Milk bars, and I'm still not sure if I was initially pleased or disappointed by my findings.

The flavour of the mousse was plain vanilla, and it was super fluffy. The gritty nature of the Oreo crumbs were a delightful addition however, and helped to provide a contrast in terms of both flavour and texture. I really enjoyed the lightness of the mousse, and was pleased that I'd chilled it in the fridge beforehand to give the egg a more dessert-like feel -perhaps next time I'll freeze it.

As for the chocolate around the outside, it was pretty thin, but I really enjoyed it. I've heard that Australian Cadbury is better than ours, but having tried a couple of bars of their Dairy Milk recently, I'm inclined to disagree. The quality of our chocolate has gone dramatically downhill -I'll give you that- but it still outstrips many of the foreign versions.

I think I may have to stock up* on these Oreo Egg 'n' Spoons whilst they're on offer!

9/10

*Actually I've just taken another peek at my chocolate hoard, and decided that that may not be the greatest idea.

Peanut Butter Cup Muscle Mousse (CN Sport)

A couple of months ago I was perusing Instagram during a very dull PR lecture when I spotted a very good deal on short dated quest bars in my local sports nutrition store CN Sport, swiftly followed by another offer on USN's protein mousse.

I didn't know much about USN's mousse, but had spotted Muscle Mousse so often on Instagram that I decided to give it a whirl -especially as Conor (the owner of CN Sport) was offering it at such a good price. The strawberry and white chocolate USN mousse is utterly fab, tasting just like Angel Delight, so it wasn't long before the temptation to try Muscle Mousse took hold -not least because they sell a peanut butter cup flavour! I bade my time and waited for the Black Friday deals, and luckily Conor matched an offer I found. The Moose's Mousse was mine at last!

Muscle Mousse contains 30g of protein per 50g serving from a combination of Micellar Casein, Whey Protein and Egg Albumen -making it ideal to enjoy before bedtime. N.B it also contains gelatin and sweeteners (namely Stevia and Sucralose).

P.S Glittery stars not included in the pack! 

The mixing instructions suggest adding 2 scoops to 150ml water in a shaker bottle, but I've found it mixes much better with a quick whisk, and tastes much better made with milk! Unlike USN's instant mousse, Muscle Moose suggest chilling their made up mousse for at least 30 mins (and consume within 48 hours).

The resulting mousse is fairly dense with a strong and sweet peanut butter flavour. The chocolate is somewhat lost against the nuttiness, but to be honest I didn't really mind. I have to admit that I prefer the fluffier consistency of USN's protein mousse, but it's still an enjoyable treat (and makes a very welcome change from yogurts and shakes).

The very best use I've found for Muscle Mousse however is on my morning porridge. I make and heat my oats as normal, then stir in a single scoop of powder, top up with milk, and reheat. This combination produces the creamiest, most flavourful porridge ever! Adding chopped banana make for an even tastier creation, but the other night I had a brainwave....

How about adding banana and Reese's chocolate? Genius.

I was lucky enough to receive an inordinate supply of Reese's goodies for Christmas, including a giant (141g) heart from my dear Daddio. I topped the peanut butter cup muscle mousse banana proats with a quarter of the peanut butter heart and indulged in the heavenly ecstasy of my creation... easily the best bowl of oats I've ever had.

8/10

Macros per 50g (as sold): P30/C12/F1

NEW! Santa Belly & Melting Snowman Doughnuts (Krispy Kreme)

Apologies for the lack of Sunday review, I was just too busy having lots of fun in London with my best friends*. The journey back yesterday however was less than enjoyable, and yet another example of the British rail network at it's best. My Virgin train from Euston was cancelled, as were the three previous services, which meant that I missed my connection and had to wait for two hours in Birmingham for my last leg back to Hereford (making the journey 6 hours in total).

Still, I found a silver lining -which strangely didn't include being in the Bullring exactly a week before Christmas Day. My close proximity to a Krispy Kreme certainly made me happier though. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know from my many previous moans that I have no access to the iconic doughnut chain's goodies; the nearest store is over an hour away, and none of the Tesco's stock it within that radii. This means that I normally make the most of trips to Birmingham and come home with a doughnut or two. My other half almost jumped for joy when I rang and asked him if he'd like a KK collected. 

Even better, the hold-up had given me the time to visit the actual store and make use of my 20% student discount -which I imagine is rather dangerous if you're at a university city with local Krispy Kreme. I opted for the filled Christmas doughnuts of course, and asked the friendly assistant to find me some pretty ones. The trouble was, my bags were pretty full and very heavy, so by the time they arrived in my kitchen the doughnuts looked decidedly less attractive than they had in Birmingham, oops.


Melting Snowman
"Hand dipped in white chocolate flavour coating, filled with caramelised biscuit kreme hand decorated with chocolate iced buttons and a scarf."

I've seen plenty of complaints online about the lack of ingenuity when it comes to the fillings of Krispy Kreme's doughnuts this Christmas. For my birthday back in March -in lieu of a traditional cake- I tried their Lotus Caramelised Biscoff doughnut, so I imagined the Melting Snowman to taste rather similar (and therefore delicious). 

I sliced it in two and found the pocket of biscoff flavoured filling in the middle, which was slightly off centre and not particularly generous. I also noted how dense the doughnut felt. 

The situation didn't improve when I bit into it either, for the biscoff and white chocolate topping didn't impart much flavour other than a resounding sweetness. Where had the spice that speculoos (aka Biscoff) is known for? The icing didn't even hint towards tasting of white chocolate either. Now, you must know by now just how sweet-toothed I am, but just one half was enough for me. If I'd have paid the full £1.90 I'd have been even more royally resentful towards the doughnut chain. Gah. 

5/10

Santa Belly
"Hand dipped in raspberry flavoured red icing, filled with chocolate truffle Kreme, hand decorated with chocolate iced buttons and belt, then finished with a buckle."

Picking up this doughnut felt a damn site more promising because the dough felt so much lighter. I also thought that the design was rather clever too. I've not had the opportunity to try any of the previous raspberry and chocolate Krispy Kremes before, so I cut into Santa with fresh (albeit slightly squinty) eyes -cutting Father Christmas open is never going to feel right. sorry Santa.

The dichotomized doughnut looked even more delicious, because it was packed full of a light chocolate mousse. This was what I was hoping for Krispy Kreme! Flavour-wise it was drastically better too. The sweet raspberry icing worked wonderfully well with the fluffy chocolate innards and soft dough surround. Chocolate and raspberry is a heaven-made match, and this only improves when combined with one of Krispy Kreme's fresh doughnuts. Mmm.

9/10.

Conclusion
Of the two, Santa is the surprising winner! I definitely thought that the Biscoff Krispy Kreme would be my firm favourite, but my doughnut was too sweet, underfilled and lacking in flavour. I do wish that KK had thought to include a traditional Christmas flavour though such as a filled mince pie doughnut (yep, STILL obsessed even after all of the ones I've reviewed this year) or a filled gingerbread with chocolate coating (lebkuchen-style). Fingers crossed for next year!

*On a side note: The family Carol Service in St Paul's Cathedral is one of the most beautiful festive activities I've ever had the privilege of experiencing (but get there early to ensure seats) whilst Dirty Dancing at the Pheonix Theatre is incredible fun. On a food point the Maitre'D in Prezzo on New Oxford St is one of the rudest men I have ever met, but the little family run Italian run restaurant Giotto (just a few doors down) serves excellent pasta and pizza at reasonable prices. 

NEW! Peanut Butter Millionaire's Dessert (ASDA)

Social media. What's your stance? I both love it and hate it. I'm basing my career on it (not through the blog I might add), but it's addictive and my other half regularly finds himself sighing when I inevitably stop in my tracks to reply to a follower on instagram, a tweet, or my work's facebook enquiries. I thrive on the instantaneous and constantly evolving nature of the various platforms, and also grumble about their reluctance to pause for a moment. I was plunged into this mixture of emotions when the lovely Ellie (Ellie Is In The Soup) tweeted the following:

No. No I hadn't had it. And Yes! I needed it NOW. Fortunately Wednesdays are the only day I don't have lectures, and I'd finished my job for the day, so about an hour later I'd got my coat on and was on my merry way to ASDA -desperate to get my greedy mitts on this fabulous sounding new dessert.

Whaaaat! Where were they? ASDA was taunting me. There was the shelf. There was the label. But where, oh where, were the Peanut Butter Millionaire Desserts? I momentarily baulked at the price too, but my heart over-ruled my head and the desperation lingered.

Then I had a thought: what if the staff had bunged them in with the cream cakes (at the other end of the store) instead of the desserts with their label? 

Hurrah! There they were. Isn't it wonderful to see their new products so highly respected? Ha! Not to worry my peanut butter dream, I'd look after you.*

"Peanut butter mousse and peanut butter caramel with a Belgian chocolate ganache, chocolate honeycomb pieces and a digestive biscuit base."

Luckily, ASDA had the foresight to protect its new dessert with a domed lid, so despite its mistreatment in store, the pot looked every bit as perfect as it did when leaving the factory. The layers were impressive, and I was glad to see a chunky biscuit base. 

I delved into the chocolate topping, which was every bit as silky as Gu's ganache. Rich and decadent, it delivered a powerful dark chocolate hit. The chocolate balls were a nice decoration I thought, although there wasn't a great deal of them. I was surprised at how thin the top layer was, but then I remembered that there were so many more layers of potential deliciousness to get through yet. 

Next up was the mousse, which tasted more like super light and fluffy whipped cream. I couldn't taste the peanut butter though, and my face dropped. My other half caught on to my disappointment and asked what was up. I explained my non-nut related sorrow, and offered him a spoonful to taste. He agreed, and then instantly pulled a disgusted face back at me. I was then accused of becoming peanut butter immune -yep, apparently it was that potent. Confused, I waited a minute or so before continuing, and then I realised what he meant. The ganache had overpowered my tastebuds and once I'd let them recover from the chocolate, I could taste and fully appreciate the peanut butter flavour in all its glory. My, it was wonderful! ASDA have wisely used 8% peanut paste within the mousse, which is perhaps why it's so delicious -and doesn't taste in the slightest bit artificial.

Peanut butter cravings now satisfied, I was more than ready for a lacklustre caramel layer ("Double Peanut Butter" Magnums mark two). I was therefore not expecting the sheer scrumminess that lay in wait. It was very sweet -of course- but the peanut butter was even more powerful (the caramel consists of 40% peanut paste). Wow, I'd never tried a caramel like it. If I was to nitpick I would perhaps have preferred it slightly more dense (more similar to Ben & Jerry's cores) but it was incredible all the same. Bravo ASDA!

Last up was the biscuit base. To begin with I was slightly gutted that it was a puddle of crumbs rather than the buttery concoction at the bottom of a cheesecake. But then I discovered the hidden treasure at the bottom of the pot and realised exactly why it was so loose...

Balls! Balls galore! Hidden between the biscuit crumbs were a number of malteser-esque malt balls. I love a good surprise, and this has to be one of the best I've uncovered (literally!) in a dessert. What a wonderful end to a fantastic pudding. 

Initially I thought that £1.49 was steep for an individual dessert, but it's nothing compared to what restaurants charge -and it's worth every penny. Yum yum yum. Peanut butter lovers harass your local ASDA for this new Millionaire's dessert quick smart!

10/10

*Is peanut butter madness a condition? It must be. 

Intense Cappuccino Bar (M&S)

I was in M&S recently* when I spotted their chocolate truffle bars on a 2 for £1 offer. Normally I veer straight towards their scrummy peanut butter bar, but I was swayed by the idea of a good deal (they're normally 70p each) and the opportunity to try something I haven't tasted before. One of the bars I bought was this intense cappuccino bar, which appealed given my love of all things mocha.

"White and dark chocolate bar with a coffee mousse centre (57%), decorated with milk chocolate (7%)."

The bar's size didn't enter my mind when I bought it, however I was taken aback once I retrieved it from its wrapper. It was weeny! I mean, finger size...

Humf. I know my chocolate cravings are hard to fulfil, but this was taking the Micky! Still, the finger sliced cleanly in two, revealing all of the distinct layers. At least it was attractive.

Fortunately for those who enjoy a strong coffee hit, this bar delivers the intense cappuccino taste that it promises. The truffle-esque filling was soft and packed full of flavour, indeed slightly too much so for my personal latte/weak coffee preferences. Despite the presence of white chocolate, the bar wasn't particularly sweet, and I felt my taste buds longing for more chocolate to provide a more balanced mocha style flavour -silly really considering that the bar is called 'intense cappuccino' and not 'mocha latte'. I couldn't really taste the chocolate in all honesty, for it was almost completely overwhelmed the coffee flavour and just served as more of a vehicle for the mousse filling.

Im complaining, but I shouldn't be really. I imagine the Americano or Espresso lovers out there would really enjoy the bar, but it's not one that I would buy again. I hope the other bar I bought will be more my cup of tea. Or coffee, haha.

6/10

*recently-ish, it was a few weeks ago!

NEW! Limited Edition Black Forest Velvet Desserts (ASDA)

Way back in march (it really doesn't feel that long ago!) ASDA launched a line of new dessert pots. I tried and very much enjoyed the Rhubarb Jumbles and Afternoon Delights, whilst I was a little less impressed with the Honey Teasers. Since those reviews I confess I haven't bought any more, but only because they went up to their full price of £2 for two pots, and Gu's desserts have been on offer most of that time for the same price. C'mon who wouldn't choose Gu every time?

Anyway, this week I spied a few new additions to ASDA's dessert line up, and they're on offer to boot at £1.50 per pack. The one that I absolutely had to try straight away was these Black Forest Velvets:

"Dark chocolate mousse with morello cherry compote, chocolate flavoured biscuit crumb, red velvet sponge pieces, dark chocolate sauce and a sweet dusting."

I really didn't enjoy ASDA's new black forest muffins, so I really hoped that the supermarket would redeem themselves using of one of my favourite flavour pairings. The layers certainly looked impressive!

Carefully placed on top were two pieces of dark red cake drizzles with dark chocolate sauce. It's been so long since I've had a decent red velvet (yes I'm glaring at you Boots), but these tasted pretty darn good. Moist and chocolatey with a sour twist characteristic of the American cake, I wanted more! Please make and sell a red velvet cake made from this recipe please ASDA?

Underneath was the deep layer of mousse. It too didn't disappoint: rich and decadent, it reminded me of my mum's homemade pot au chocolat (save for the good glug of rum she always adds!). It was denser than most mass-manufactured chocolate mousses, but I prefer it that way.

Next up was the compote, and I was pleased to discover that ASDA had cleverly retained the cherries' tartness. So often companies decide to add so much sugar that they lose their sourness and turn them into the overly sweet berry that they're not. The sharp compote worked in perfect harmony with the sweet mousse on top and tantalised my tastebuds with the true flavours of Black Forest. Thank the Lord! 

Last but not least was the biscuity base. It was surprisingly and noticeably sweet given how dark and decadent the above layers were, and I can't help but think that ASDA might've been better using bourbon biscuits instead -but that's just nitpicking. 

It's safe to say that I really enjoyed these new Black Forest Velvets. My only suggestions on improving them would be to add more cake pieces (in the same way that the Rhubarb jumbles had the flapjack repeated half way down) and of course to use a less sweet biscuit for the base. I'm dying to try ASDA's new Loaded Millionaires' desserts next!

9/10