Kev's Snack Reviews

Recently, folks got rather excited when two new Munchies varieties were announced by Nestle: the first being today's review; Munchies Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and the other being Cookie Dough. They're possibly the first new products from Nestle in a long, long time (maybe since the Munchies Bar in the 90's?) so this was indeed quite exciting news! The Chocolate Fudge Brownie variety had me rolling my eyes initially, because it sounded like it would just be chocolate flavoured caramel. However it turned out to be quite different - they've removed the caramel and replaced it with a chocolate fudge mixture! And in my opinion this is actually a good thing as it makes these a bit different. The Munchies look like the regular ones, but cutting them open reveals the fudgey chocolate filling with the classic biscuit centre in the middle.  I have to admit it does look a bit wrong without the caramel - that's what makes a Munchie a Munchie, after all! It...

Usually it's random companies that go balls to the wall with weird and wacky new flavours, but this time it's good old "British" institution M&S that have brought out a range of not just any new treats, but a "Taste of the British Isles" range, sure to make any Brexiteer dance with joy. It includes products like the  Sea Salt and Vinegar Caramels shown above. Wrong, just wrong! What next, fish and chip truffles? (they probably do exist somewhere!) In more weirdness, they're also selling not just any nuts but British Beer Coated Peanuts ! Plus they're doing a variety of alcoholic sweets, such as Milk Chocolate Truffles made with Somerset Matured Vintage Cider . Plus a Gin Chocolate Collection for the gin lovers... As well as Craft Beer Fudge ! Plus, Fruity Summer Punch Mallows ... And Rum and Raisin Toffees . Now these sound more up my street! There's also Mocktail Jellies ... And the non-alcoholic and pure Unicorn...

There seems to be a war going on in the snacks world at the moment...who can shrink their products into miniature size the fastest?! Maybe it's a stealth tactic...to get you to part with your money of course.  Cadbury launched Dinky Deckers - bite size versions of Double Decker - only recently, but now they've gone a step further and chopped up their fudge bars to make them mini too...at first I thought this actually was a bag of Dinky Deckers since the packaging has a similar orange and purple colour scheme. These cost £1 in Tesco Express, and contain 120g of mini Cadbury Fudge pieces, which are suitable for vegetarians, but it's not stated if they are manufactured near gluten or nuts. Opening the bag, they had the typical milky comforting aroma usually associated with Cadbury fudge... They tasted as expected; very sweet, with the chocolate tasting milky but not particularly chocolatey. Cadbury's chocolate quality really has gone downhill ...

I recently reviewed the new Thorntons Fruit Collection , and at first I wasn't going to bother with any more, until I noticed that this Toffee, Fudge & Caramel Collection also contains some new chocolates! Yes, this pack contains the new "Granola Fudge" as well as a white chocolate "Nutty Caramel", plus a dark chocolate Fudge, a milk chocolate "Gooey Caramel" and a "Tempting Toffee". These cost £1 a bag at WH Smiths or two bags are £1.60 mix and match. First up is the Tempting Toffee...this one had a truffley toffee flavoured centre coated in milk chocolate. It was very pleasant and rich, with a nice creamy flavour. Next up was this Nutty Caramel, which is a white chocolate containing praline and gooey caramel. It was very yummy indeed..the perfect balance of sticky flavoursome caramel with a creamier white chocolate coating. The praline wasn't as noticeable, but it did give a faint nutty flavour that complimented the res...

As ridiculous as it's been to have this Spirit of Summer range from Marks and Spencer out wayyyy before Summer even begins, Summer is almost around the corner...and I know of a certain chopsy pal who might even start buying some stuff from them soon...but I thought I'd start early, and get myself in the mood. After all the weather has been pretty pants (at least it has where I am), so what better way to lighten the mood than fudge?! This isn't just any fudge...this is of course M&S Spirit of Summer Cocoa & Pecan "soft Penuche fudge". Penuche is a new word on me, so I googled it to find that it means fudge made with brown sugar rather than white sugar. Here's a more in-depth article about it for anyone interested. For £2 you get 132g of  "a mix of brown sugar fudge with pecan nuts and cocoa", some of the chunks are cocoa flavoured and the others are regular fudge with pecan nuts added. It all smelled very inviting!  Both ...

As a little birthday treat recently, I decided to spoil myself and give these new desserts from Thorntons a try. Thorntons are the masters of toffee and fudge, so combine that with "real Devon clotted cream" and surely they're onto a winner?! The desserts cost £1.50 at Tesco and are described as "fudge mousse with a layer of toffee fudge dessert". Each pot contains 65g which is small, but they're so tasty and rich this is a good amount. Naturally though, I ate both in one sitting...call me piggy, but I can't imagine many people would eat just one pot! It was a little difficult to distinguish between the layers as both are the same color, but the fudge layer had a nice sticky texture and was full of rich butterscotch flavour, whilst the mousse was smoother and lighter but equally as tasty. These are very indulgent desserts indeed, and far nicer than the similar Pots of Joy from Cadbury. Overall, these are a win from Thorntons, I just wish I...

A big thankyou to Ultimate English who sent me some products from their lovely toffees and fudges range to review recently! Ultimate English are a company based in Harrogate, Yorkshire producing hand-made fudge and toffee in the traditional English way. They describe their fudge as "The grandest butter fudge in the world", which is quite the claim...luckily I can say they may just live up to it! Below are my thoughts on their Fudge and Honeycomb Nuggets... Simply Marvellous All Butter Fudge: This fudge was simply divine! The texture was firm and crumbly, and although I generally prefer softer fudges like Thorntons, this was pretty amazing. It tasted extremely buttery, with a moreish golden syrup and brown sugar flavour. It melted in mouth and tasted heavenly...it was mega sweet of course, but so nice I accidentally ate too much at once! Overall, seriously amazing fudge - some of the best I've tasted. I've seen this on sale in B&M bargains recently so...

Thorntons recently announced the launch of their own chocolate blocks to compete with the likes of Dairy Milk and Galaxy , and by chance I happened to spot some whilst in WH Smiths the other day. The wrappers looked similar to Galaxy bars so I had to look twice! Both contain Thorntons most well-known products: Special Toffee and Fabulous Fudge. It must have been a no-brainer to put them in bar form, after all most confectionery companies *cough* Mondelez! *cough* are putting their brands into chocolate bars these days. Thorntons Special Toffee Milk Chocolate: This is described as "Toffee flavour milk chocolate with toffee pieces" and contains 30% cocoa solids. Opening the wrapper I was salivating...the chocolate had a lovely burnt toffee aroma that was very strong. The bar is split into blocks with cogs printed on, matching the "chocolate factory" themed wrapper, which I think is quite a fun design. The chocolate was very nice; smooth and milky wit...