Kev's Snack Reviews

The new products from Cadbury this year keep on rolling in...with the latest addition to the Dairy Milk range being this new variety with Chips Ahoy! Cookies. It's an odd addition since most UK folks have never heard of Chips Ahoy! cookies before - they aren't even sold over here! Maybe Mondelez are planning to launch them soon though. The bar contains a biscuit flavoured cream filling, with pieces of chocolate chip cookies embedded within - it's somewhat similar to the Dairy Milk with Oreo bar in fact. The chocolate smelled very biscuity, and according to the wrapper the filling is "biscuit flavoured" so I don't know if they've mixed biscuit paste with it as well as the cookie pieces. It tasted good, in fact very good and I would say it even surpasses the delicious Dairy Milk with Oreo! The filling was very dense and creamy with a rich biscuity flavour, with the cookie pieces bringing a nice crunchiness and the chocolate chips adding fur

Whilst in 99p Stores recently I spotted this bar of Elizabeth Shaw Amaretto Crisp milk chocolate and thought I'd give it a whirl. I've never tried Elizabeth Shaw's chocolates before, so wasn't sure what to expect. Amaretto isn't a common flavour pairing with milk chocolate, and understandably so - it works better with cakes and coffee based desserts. I was very intrigued how it would taste. Turns out it was just okay. The milk chocolate was pretty good - milky and sweet with a nice melt, and the amaretto flavoured honeycomb crisp added a nice crunch. I liked the sweet honeycomb flavour, but felt the amaretto flavouring ruined the experience. It just didn't taste right with the chocolate, and spoiled the sweet honeycomb. Kind of like when you get alcoholic chocolates that overpower the taste of everything else. Overall, an interesting attempt but not something I would buy again. I think next time I'll try the cocoa crunch or regular honeycomb Eliz

I'm a huge fan of coconut products, so it's just as well they're the hot new food trend at the moment. There's an increasing variety appearing in shops, with the gem of them all being coconut butter. If you haven't tried this stuff you seriously need to invest in some - it's delicious! Coconut butter isn't the same as coconut oil or the butter you refrigerate; it's more like a nut butter that can be spread on toast or eaten from the jar. It's made from whole coconut flesh and tastes creamy and sweet, and is usually smooth in texture depending on the weather. In fact I would describe it as a coconut version of white chocolate spread...only much healthier of course! I've bought a few jars during the the heatwave and found it to be quite oily and gooey due to the temperature, but in cooler weather it sets to become a firm "paste". It can be rather chunky in it's natural state, as shown here: Unfortunately there's not mu

I'm really getting into 100% cacao chocolates recently; so far I've tried The Grenada Chocolate Company's 100% bar which is one of my favourites, plus the various varieties in Hotel Chocolat's range as well as the Rococo Plus Noir Que Noir which were all very lovely. Whilst ordering from chocoaltiers.co.uk recently I decided to try something new and went for this Madagascar Depuis 1940, which sounded a bit milder than most 100% bars judging by the reviews. I'm glad I did as it turned out to be very delicious, almost usurping The Grenada Chocolate Company as one of my favourites! Firstly I have to say I liked the packaging design, it's simple but elegant. Unwrapping the foil (yes, some chocolate companies still use foil!) revealed a glossy bar divided into small chunks; the perfect size for savouring in small mouthfulls. Taking my first bite I was surprised by how soft and smooth the chocolate was; it melted very easily on the tongue without any

Whilst in my local Polish store recently I was in need of a choccy fix...and decided to go for this large Wedel Crème Brûlée bar. It's quite a hefty slab of chocolate so I knew it would be worth the price (£2.19). They also had a Raspberry Panna Cotta bar but Crème Brûlée is more up my street! The chunks are sectioned with an interesting shape on each block - they reminded me of bottle caps, but I think they're meant to resemble the ramekins traditionally used for crème brûlée. Inside these sections was a layer of gooey golden caramel, with a layer of panna cotta cream and crunchy caramel pieces underneath. It tasted...amazing! The cream filling was very smooth with a subtle vanilla flavour, with the crunchy caramel pieces adding a nice crunch. The softer caramel tasted gooey, sweet and buttery and went perfectly with the cream, making the bar feel very indulgent. It was a massive sugar overload, of course, but the kind that makes you feel warm and happy inside!

Here's some new and limited edition products I've spotted in supermarkets recently... Cadbury Roses Pots of Joy Hazel Whirl Following on from Roses Strawberry Dream Pots of Joy , Cadbury have now added this new Hazel Whirl variety to the range. Only available in 4 packs so far. Spotted in Tesco. Tango Jaffa Cakes Tango Jaffa Cakes! These are made by Huntley & Palmers who have quite a bit of history as a biscuit manufacturer, and contain an orange Tango filling coated in dark chocolate. I wonder how they compare to McVitie's Jaffa Cakes? Spotted in Home Bargains. Skittles Wild Berry Milkhake Last year I reviewed the regular Skittles Milk Shake and now they've brought out this Wild Berry variant...I didn't realize fruity milk drinks were so popular! Spotted at Tesco.  Nestlé Aero Bubbly White Biscuits: Nestlé are expanding their " Bubbly White " Aero even further with the release of these Bubbly White biscuits. The

A 99p Store opened near me recently so I had to check it out, and of course I went straight for the chocolate aisle like an excited kid! When I spotted this bar of Nestlé Baci Dark I couldn't resist - Baci chocolates are awesome, especially in bar form so I was curious how the dark compared to the milk chocolate variety ( click here for a review of that one  from Evening Treats). Unfortunately the bar wasn't all dark chocolate...it had a dark chocolate base with a milk chocolate upper half. This was a bit confusing to my poor tastebuds; I'd rather have either all milk or all dark chocolate! The chocolate was very nice, it was full of a rich hazelnut gianduja filling plus whole and chopped hazelnuts, but unfortunately the dark and milk chocolates kind of cancelled each other out. The dark half spoiled the creamy sweetness of the milk chocolate, and didn't have a particularly rich or strong cocoa flavour - it just tasted of unsweetened chocolate. The milk chocol

I've noticed a new range of bars from The Chocolate Smiths in local stores recently and been wondering what they might be like. They produce hand made chocolate in different varieties, and the "bizarre" combinations range from: white chocolate with rose and mint, milk chocolate with bacon bits, marshmallows and cinder toffee, jam coconut and caramel, plus many others! I opted for this limited edition Baba Bizarre to try first, which comprises of dark chocolate with a rum and sour raspberry filling. The dark chocolate shell was very thick and so the filling wasn't really "portioned" - this made it ooze out, which was a little messy but isn't such a bad thing as it was so plentiful. It had a strong sour raspberry kick that was very refreshing and flavourful. You can tell it's hand made because the filling tasted of real raspberries, rather than the artificial stuff most companies use! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your tastes!)

Last year I reviewed regular CoYo Yoghurt , and it seems since then the company has gone from strength to strength - they now have listings in Tesco stores, plus they're available from Waitrose in several different flavours. They've also removed the sweeteners and sugars from their plain yoghurts. CoYo contains vegan-friendly probiotic cultures, as well as one whole coconut per 100g of yoghurt. I noticed this new vanilla variety in Waitrose the other day and couldn't resist giving it a try....I loooove vanilla yoghurt, but sadly cow's milk yoghurt doesn't seem to be my friend anymore - it's something I really miss! It tasted lovely - very creamy and rich, with a nice yoghurty tang and a strong vanilla flavour. The vanilla seeds were clearly visible in the yoghurt so you can tell they hadn't skimped on them. This yoghurt felt like a real treat, especially to someone who hasn't eaten yoghurt in ages! I'd definitely buy it again, but perhaps n

Whilst in Tesco Express recently I was mulling over which two chocolate bars to buy since they had a special offer on. It was either a Snickers Duo, or try something new! I went for this Divine Caramel Milk Chocolate and wasn't sure what to expect as I've never really paid attention to Divine chocolate before. I was pleasantly surprised to find this bar was very delicious, in fact it's head and shoulders above most of the chocolates on offer at Tesco Express! I ate it as soon as I left the store, hence the poor quality pic above! The chocolate is of course fair trade which is what Divine are known for, and unlike most of the chocolates in Tesco Express (I'm looking at you Dairy Milk, Kitkat and Snickers!) it contains ZERO vegetable fats - hurrah! This is important to me because vegetable fats are a cheap filler and also damaging to health, plus palm oil is unsustainable. So finding chocolate that doesn't contain any is always a plus in my book! (for more i

I've been experimenting with healthy snacks recently (see my review of Primal Joy Foods Paleo snacks HERE ), and whilst in Tesco Express these Nákd Fruit & Nut bits caught my eye. They come in a handy snacking bag and so are perfect for sharing...which means of course that I gobbled the lot all to myself! The "bits" are made up of dates, cashews, raisins, cocoa, rice flour and a hint of orange flavouring, which are then "smooshed together". They are wheat, gluten and dairy free, vegan and contain no added sugar. They're also apparently 1 of your 5 a day. Opening the bag and pouring some out I have to say I wasn't all that eager to try them - they looked like, well...lumps of poo springs to mind! (sorry, I had to say it!) Thankfully they had a chocolatey orange aroma and such unpleasant thoughts were quickly forgotten! They were quite fudgy in texture, and had a nice rich cocoa flavour with a zingy hint of orange. They were sweet but not

Whilst in Waitrose recently I noticed they were doing a BOGOF offer on GÜ Puds...how could I say no to that?! I plumped for two packs of these "New" After Dark Raspberry & White chocolate mousses, which sounded right up my street. They're described as "Velvety white chocolate mousse with a tart raspberry compote" and each pack contains two desserts. Like all GÜ Puds they come in glass pots, which are handy to re-use if you wish to make your own mini desserts! Peeling off the lid, the mousse had a lovely fresh, creamy aroma with a hint of vanilla. I didn't hesitate to get stuck in! The mousse tasted lovely; really fresh and with a nice sweetness from the white chocolate that was creamy but not overpowering. The raspberry compote was also very fresh and with a nice tanginess, although I did think it overpowered the mousse a little bit. That aside these are still absolutely delicious and I would recommend them to anyone who loves white choc