April 25th: Milka Loffel Ei Egg

Kcal 570 Fat 37.0g Carbs 52.0g (per 100.0g)

Easter is long gone now but this didn't stop Dean-German-Grocery sending me some of Milka's finest products for the season. The single serving egg market is one that is full of different offerings ranging from the traditional Cadbury Creme Egg to the more diverse Nestle Smarties Shaker Egg. Suffice to say I have reviewed a great number of them over the course of the last two years, though I have to admit todays Milka offering blew most of them completely out the water. Formed of 'milk chocolate with a milk creme filling' it certainly looked like a product with a lot of potential.

As you can see above this was one uniquely presented proposition. The product came in a traditional carton box and contained four 34.0g eggs each foil wrapped. Personally I thought this presentation style was utterly fantastic, and combined both nice aesthetic looks with an utterly fun concept. When split open the eggs appeared to have thick milk chocolate shells and a generous white fluffy centre. In addition to the fantastic presentation the aroma that emanated from each egg was suitably dairy led with atempting hint of nut.

In the carton a spoon was included to eat each egg but I much preferred using my hands. The milk chocolate that surrounded the filling was the normal Milka Alpine Milk and delivered its creamy, hazelnut noted flavours with its usual awesome thick melt. The real treat with this product though was the absolutely heavenly milk creme fillings. I was expecting a very light textured mousse but what I actually encountered was a far thicker dense whipped cream. It tasted absolutely delicious with the cream and vanilla flavours providing some divine, long lasting flavours. The filling was sweet yet was more notable for its rich dairy flavours which made a single egg an extremely satisfying experience.

Overall I never thought the day would come where I would rank an egg higher than the Cadbury Creme but this Milka Loffel Ei definitely deserves it. This egg combined a wonderful exterior chocolate with a really quite luxurious inner milk creme that oozed both flavour and a wonderfully smooth texture. If you like your Milka products then this is simply a must try - it is probably one of my favourite offerings of theirs I have ever reviewed. I have pushed this post right to the front of the review queue as I am not sure how much longer these will be around for. I strongly suggest having a pop over to Dean-German-Grocery if you fancy trying them.

9.0 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your German Candy & Grocery needs

April 25th: Niederegger Marzipan Rum & Walnut / Espresso

I have to thank ChocolateMission reader Phil for making this review possible - he so kindly bought these bars from his local shop in Newcastle. Ever since trying the delicious original Niederegger Marzipan bar I been looking to get hold of some of their flavoured marzipan variants. Well thanks to Phil this became a possibility; and he sent across two different Niederegger variants the 'Espresso' and the 'Rum and Walnut'. 

Both of these bars came in a different format to the tried, tested and liked 'loaf' bar, and came in a long fingers that were split into six blocks. Although the pieces still contained a nice amount of detail with the Niederegger logos, I wasn't all that taken by the long, thin bar format. For starters the blocks weren't that easy to break off, which actually made splitting them up quite messy. 

My thoughts on how they both tasted are below:

Niederegger Marzipan Rum & Walnut: 

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Unlike any other Niederegger bar I have tried so far this one actually implemented the marzipan within a milk chocolate coating. The product emanated a very obvious alcohol element in its aroma that I thought smelt particularly strong.

The rum smell was very indicative of the taste, and despite it only constituting 1.3% of the total bar it was very dominant. The milk chocolate base was all but brushed aside in the grand scheme of things, though it added a degree of additional sweetness. The marzipan more acted like a sponge for the rum and it had a noticeably more moist texture than any other Niederegger variant I have tried. The very small walnut, almond and hazelnut pieces did bring a slight nuttiness, though they largely figured in the aftertaste. As I have said the rum was indeed quite strong, and unfortunately not all that great tasting. It was sweet, yet sharp and to be honest just tasted like a cheap liqueur.

Overall this was a disappointment, with the rum element having an overstated presence. Not only did it ruin the taste, it also partially negated the texture of the marzipan as it gave it a rather soggy feel in the mouth. This isn't a variant I would really recommend.

6.6 out of 10

Niederegger Marzipan Espresso:

 

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

Given my love for both coffee and Niederegger marzipan this surely had to be a match made in heaven!? The additional coffee element was immediately evident from the smell and was very apparent between the sweet, nutty scents.

The dark chocolate was its usual unspectacular self, though it did lay some foundation cocoa flavours from which the coffee and marzipan elements built on nicely. After the initial unsweetened chocolate flavour base was established the coffee was next evident in taste. It was just about the right strength and despite its espresso billing wasn't overly imposing. Unlike the texture of Rum & Walnut the marzipan retained its firm, crumbly texture with the delicious buttery, nut flavours following the coffee hit soon after. 

Overall the combination of the coffee and marzipan was balanced nicely and definitely complimented each other well. I would love to try this implemented in the 'loaf' format as I think it would have been delivered that little bit better had the pieces not been so small. If you like coffee and marzipan this is definitely a product you should be looking out for.

8.3 out of 10

April 24th: Nestle Pixie Caramel

Kcal 235 Fat 9.1g Fat(sats) 7.4g Carbs 35.3g

I am still slowly making my way through the package of goodies sent from New Zealand by Shopenzed. Today I thought I would give this Nestle Pixie Caramel bar a try, a product that came billed as 'dark chocolate covered chewy caramel'. This seemed like a pretty fair proposition to me and was definitely one I was looking forward to trying.

The bar came in a 50.0g form that I ate over the course of a single sitting. I thought the presentation of the entire product was a little mixed. I think you will agree the look of the wrapper wasn't the most attractive, though the bar when cross-sectioned looked relatively enticing with both the chocolate and caramel appearing well proportioned. The smell of the product failed to tempt me quite as much as the appearance - the mild sweet smells didn't really give much of an indication to the taste.

As I mentioned earlier I ate the whole bar over the course of a single sitting ... it ultimately proved to be a very fulfilling snack. What the product gave in substantiality though, it unfortunately lacked in flavour. The outer chocolate in particular failed to register much to shout about in terms of its taste. Although the melt of the chocolate was well paced and smooth it lacked any sort of telling flavours, which immediately meant I found the bar somewhat disappointing. The caramel element didn't particularly fair all that much better. It had a nice, firm, dense texture, yet again it lacked many of the flavour elements you normally associate with good caramels. It had some sweet and mild fudge notes, but just lacked the desired butter and salt notes that would have put it up there with the better caramels.

Overall this was a disappointing product that sadly lacked volume in its flavours. Both the chocolate (which was supposed to be dark!?) and caramel did not the deliver the flavour hits that I would have liked which ultimately made for a really quite underwhelming experience. Although I would recommend this as a good bar to have if you are feeling hungry, it isn't one I will be recommending based on the prestige of its taste. This was far from being a bad product but its potential far great exceeded its performance. Suffice to say it unfortunately failed to live up to high expectations.

7.1 out of 10

April 24th: Lindt Caipirinha

Kcal 489 Fat 27.0g Carbs 54.0g (per 100.0g)

Dean-German-Grocery do send me a wide range of products, and I think this must have been my first encounter with a chocolate and lime combination. The Caipirinha according to Wiki is 'Brazil national cocktail', and is made with cachaca, sugar and lime. Incorporating this theme this Lindt bar was formed of 'dark chocolate with a lime flavoured rum filling' - including 10% lime and 3% rum. Lime isn't generally what I would regard as a favourite flavour of mine, but as ever I was willing to give anything a go.

This was another Lindt bar that came in the beautiful looking 'pod' like design. The 100.0g split into twelve separate pods, which I ate in four different bouts of three. In regards to looks, the product looked awesome. The wrapper was a vibrant green colour, and displayed the nature of the flavour variant well. I was also very impressed by the actual look of the chocolate - as ever the pod design looked interesting, whilst the middle lime filling looked unique with its green colour. The aroma was another impressive part to the presentation - the usual delicious Lindt dark chocolate cocoa smells were forthcoming, and were enhanced by some additional sweet, fruity hints.

Lets not hang around here ... this bar tasted fantastic. It had a wide variety of elements to its taste, which made it one of the most unique tasting chocolates I have had for a long while. The dark chocolate formula wasn't actually stated on the pack, though I am willing to bet it was about a 50% recipe. I say that as it wasn't one of the strongest Lindt dark chocolates I have tasted, though it still carried a great deal of flavour. It was a chocolate that substantiated its cocoa flavours as soon as it was in the mouth, which suited this bar entirely due to the sharp flavours of the centre being quite dominant once revealed. The dark chocolate was smooth in its taste, which complimented the stronger tasting lime filling. The filling was nothing short of superb - it was like a lime curd, with just a touch of alcohol. Its flavours were citrusy, juicy and to the point ... though still had a sweet moreishness, and jam like texture. Three blocks (pods) at a time provided a really substantial serving, and well complimented an after dinner coffee.

Overall the combination of the dark chocolate and lime cocktail fillings made for an utterly fantastic synergy of flavours. I wasn't sure about this combination before I tried it, though on reflection I would have to say this was one of the more enjoyable bars I have had this year. The lime flavours were exerted forcefully, yet kept in check by the sugary sweetness. What was probably more important was that the rum wasn't too overstated in the taste, whilst the dark chocolate still held its own against the strongly flavoured filling. If your intrigued by this bar it would be well worth you checking out - recommended!

8.7 out of 10

Fancy trying the Lindt Caipirinha for yourself!? Fancy any another Ritter Sport / Milka / Lindt / Storck or German Grocery ... head over to Dean-German-Grocery!!

April 23rd: Cadbury Energy Scroggin

Kcal 233 Fat 13.9g Fat(sats) 6.6g Carbs 24.1g

Little over a week ago I had an underwhelming experience with the Cadbury Energy bar. I thought it was a chocolate that frankly didn't know what it wanted to be; it seemed to be stuck at the junction between wanting to be a dark chocolate or a milk chocolate. Despite this I was actually quite looking forward to trying todays bar - the Cadbury Energy Scroggin which was again another bar provided to me by Shopenzed. Scroggin is the Australian/New Zealand word for trail mix, and generally involves a fruit and nut combination (more HERE!). This bar today came described as 'Rich chocolate packed with raisins and almonds'.

Although available in a larger size I was quite happy sampling this 50.0g snack bar. The wrapper looked very similar to the Cadbury Energy bar with its red colouring but of course included the added extra 'Scroggin' branding and fruit and nut pictures. When I opened the bar I was disappointed to find that it was inconveniently split into two really quite large chunks (see above!). I would have much preferred it to have followed suite with most other bars with it being split into smaller pieces, though I must say that both the fruit and nut ingredients looked well portioned. As well as adding aesthetic benefits the added elements also contributed nicely to the smell. The aroma had a very fruity nature about it and it certainly heightened my anticipation.

It would have been ridiculous to expect anything more from the chocolate itself and it of course delivered the same experience I had with the standard Energy bar. The 40% recipe again seemed to lack direction and delivered neither a creamy or cocoa rich taste - again I will reiterate that it was not a bad chocolate, but just one that needed to be more decisive in its flavours. In isolation the chocolate was again unspectacular, however the additional almonds and raisins certainly brought an added interest. Both were plentiful in number and certainly made a great impression on the taste. The almonds brought some delicious savoury roasted notes to the taste, whilst the fruit added a wonderful contrasting sweetness. The addition of these elements added another dimension to the Energy chocolate and made for a more satisfying snack.

Overall having been a little disappointed with the original Cadbury Energy I was quite impressed with the way that the simple additions of both the fruit and nut made for a far more flavoursome experience. I understand that the Energy recipe is quite old and traditional, though my opinion is that it needs a little refinement. Forgetting the average nature of the chocolate the raisins and almonds were as good as any fruit and nut combination we have here in the UK and certainly made this bar a little bit more exciting. If your a fruit and nut fan this is probably a bar worth you at least trying.

7.8 out of 10

April 23rd: Dove Desserts Tiramisu

Kcal 200 Fat 11.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 24.0g (per 40.0g - 5 pieces)

November last year I took my first look at the Dove Desserts range with my review of the Banana Foster variant. Well thanks once again to *IShop4YouII* I today got to try yet another from the selection in the form of the 'Tiramisu' offering. Considering I am quite the fan of a Tiramisu dessert I was rather looking forward to the prospect of 'caramel infused with a luscious taste of Tiramisu, surrounded by Dove dark chocolate'.

As with the Banana Foster variant I received these in a 165.0g pack. I thought the presentation was all rather good, though I was surprised that the outer packaging looked nearly exactly the same as the other variants from the range - there seemed to be no real effort on display to really distinguish it. The pieces themselves looked relatively appetising, with the inner caramel appearing plentiful in its portioning. Once released from their foil wrappers the chocolates had a really quite distinct sweet, coffee aroma. Personally I thought it smelt a little artificial and could relate to Gigi's reckoning that it was very similar to the powder you get in instant mix cafe latte sachets.

Much as I found when I tried the solus Dove Dark Chocolate bar I really quite enjoyed the dark chocolate when it was tasted in isolation from the inner caramel. Its flavours were not overly cocoa rich, though its unsweetened taste was friendly, welcoming and thoroughly deserving of a better caramel filling than the one that was delivered. Frankly I thought the Tiramisu flavoured caramel was really rather poor. Much like its smell suggested it was very artificial tasting. The coffee element was very one dimensional, and just tasted exceedingly sweet and chemically derived. What I found most disappointing about the Tiramisu caramel was the flavour influences that I was expecting, yet were frankly missing! Where were the liqueur, Mascarpone and Sponge Cake elements? Sadly they just weren't there.

Overall despite the attempts of the fair quality dark chocolate I was left resoundingly disappointed with this Dove flavour variant. I guess delivering a Tiramisu flavour variation was always going to be ambitious - to be honest Mars got nowhere near it here. As I have explained above so many of the key Tiramisu flavours were absent here, leaving just a rather fake and sickly tasting coffee tainted caramel sitting in a okish dark chocolate coating. Unless your really intrigued by these and just can't resist trying a 'Tiramisu' flavoured chocolate I really wouldn't recommend this product.

6.8 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

April 22nd: Junior Caramels / Mints

I mentioned in my review yesterday that Yankee Soda & Candy had sent me a whole host of new items to review in celebration of them opening their new online store (See HERE!). Over the past few weeks I have been tucking into these Junior Caramels & Mints, which believe me has taken a while since they came in rather large 149.0g/156.0g packs. I hadn't heard of the Junior brand before, though a quick look at their packaging revealed that they were 'manufactured in the US for Tootsie Roll Ltd'. Speaking of the packaging I have to admit I wasn't all that impressed. The actual aesthetics of both products was pretty standard, though I wasn't all that enamoured by the way the chocolates loosely rolled around inside their cardboard boxes ... would it really have hurt to have them kept in plastic/foil bags?

Below are my thoughts on the two different variants I tried:

Junior Caramels:

Kcal 190 Fat 6.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 33.0g (per 42.0g - 13 pieces)

When I first saw these I immediately thought straight back to my review of the Hershey's Milk Duds. These were entirely the same proposition, though these caramel centres were actually coated in real milk chocolate rather the fake Hershey's stuff.

Due to the cardboard packaging the aromas that emanated from the box were mild to say the least and did very little to excite.

Placing the first piece in my mouth I was surprised at the texture as it was a lot softer than I was expecting. In my opinion the softer texture worked and gave the piece a nice chewiness that meant each one lasted longer in the mouth. Unfortunately the flavours of the milk chocolate were far from spectacular and had a somewhat lazy dried milk taste that did little apart from substantiate an unexciting sweetness. Thankfully the caramel centres were a little better and brought some buttery toffee flavours that made the whole experience a lot more positive.

Overall these weren't the best caramel product I have had but they were a little better than the comparator Hershey's Milk Duds. The milk chocolate coating was a little devoid of flavour, which ultimately meant they weren't the most substantial of snacks. This coupled with the quite mediocre nature of the presentation and subsequent effect on the aroma has brought down their score quite a bit.

6.6 out of 10

Junior Mints:

Kcal 170 Fat 3.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 35.0g (per 40.0g - 16 pieces)

These were the second I sampled out of the two and were probably the variant I was more looking forward to trying. The packaging stated that these Junior Mints constituted of 'semi-sweet chocolate coated mint centres'.

Just as with the Caramel variant the product lacked a telling aroma due to the nature of the packaging - I found this even more surprising given they were mint flavoured.

In truth the semi-sweet chocolate didn't do much for me either. Apart from delivering some very mild cocoa base flavours to each mouthful the actual impact of the chocolate was pretty minimal. Despite the disappointing chocolate coating the mint centres were truly wonderful, and were so very moreish. The peppermint flavours were cool, fresh and most importantly balanced nicely in their sweetness which is a hard thing to do with sugar based fondants. On the other hand though these Junior Mints were a little disappointing in their texture as they were so soft they lasted only seconds in the mouth.

Overall just as with the Caramel variant these were a nice tasting product, but just with a few flaws. The mint element was well executed and particularly enjoyable, however the chocolate, presentation and aroma were again disappointments. Despite the lowish score these are still a product I am sure chocolate mint fans could get some pleasure from and I would hesistently recommend them on this basis.

6.6 out of 10

April 22nd: Weight Watchers Double Chocolate Mousse Chocolates

Kcal 160 Fat 10.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 24.0g (per 40.0g - 3 pieces)

At the start of the year I was looking at the lighter options available to us all on the chocolate market (See HERE) - subsequently *IShop4YouII* thought I might want to check out these Weight Watchers chocolates (produced by Whitman's Candies!), and included them in my latest sampling package from the US. Billed as 'dark chocolates with double chocolate mousse centres' and containing only 53 calories (one WW's point) per piece I was interested to see how they would fair.

I received these in a 92.0g bag that contained about 12 chocolates. The packaging was all rather sound looking. The gold colouring was a little garish, though I appreciated the fact that the chocolates were kept nicely fresh within individual foil wrappers. In terms of size the chocolates were pretty big, and looked reasonably appetising out their wrappers. In addition to looking like a sound proposition the chocolates also smelt reasonably pleasant, and emanated some subtle sweet chocolate like scents.

Chances are you have peeked at the score already, and I can tell you that things completely nose-dived from this point onwards. After placing the first piece in my mouth I was utterly astounded at the lack of flavour that I could detect. The piece melted into a thin liquid that tasted rather like extremely weak water based hot cocoa ... the water: cocoa ratio being 99:1. Where the dark chocolate was completely feeble in its flavours, the inner 'mousse' was utterly horrid. It took the form of a syrup type substance that had a terrible fake sweet taste to it. It tasted really quite repulsive with its curiously bitter, starchy aftertaste - frankly after the third piece I spared myself the prospect of the rest.

Overall these were one of the worst tasting products I have tried whilst reviewing on this site. In terms of taste these were utterly horrible in every way ... how Whitman's can claim these can be associated with the word chocolate I really do not know. Even if you are trying to stick to a diet, I would seriously urge you to avoid these at all costs - please save yourself the punishment. Had it not been for the misleading look and smell of the product we could have been looking at a new all time low on the ChocolateMission rating system ... I hope this provides some perspective!?

3.8 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.

April 21st: Hersheys Almond Joy

Kcal 220 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 8.0g Carbs 26.0g

A few days ago when I wrote my review on the Hersheys Almond Joy Cookies, I remarked that I hadn't actually yet give the original Almond Joy bar a review. Well Yankee Soda & Candy noted this and were kind enough to send across an Almond Joy aswell as some other goodies that will be appearing soon. Yankee Soda & Candy have recently expanded from their Ebay shop and have set up their own website which is well worth paying a visit HERE.

Todays product came described as 'coconut and almonds, dipped in milk chocolate' and as you have probably realised already this is the US equivalent to our UK Bounty bar. The packaging looked all rather good with the cool blue colour cutting a nice look - I also liked the subltey of the Hershey branding that wasn't plastered all over the packaging. As you can see above the bar itself looked pretty appetising with the coconut filling especially looking very enticing. Having been contained within a foil wrapper the product also maintained a very forthcoming aroma that released a strong set of nutty, sweet scents that I found particularly enticing.

I am a big fan of Bounty bars but I found this bar to actually be better. The milk chocolate was nothing too special in its taste, though it still substantiated a nice degree of chocolaty flavours in the mouth with its smooth melting texture. Below this milk chocolate layer sat the quite terrific coconut centre, which differed slightly to the filling in our Bounty. The Almond Joy centre had more of a dense moistness to it, whilst its flavours were slightly fresher tasting in its nut flavours than the sweeter sugar based Bounty bar. The almond pieces on top of each piece nicely brought some additional buttery nut flavour elments that further added levels of interest to the taste.

Overall I found this to be a highly enjoyable product, and despite coconut not being one of my favourite flavours I would say this was one of the best bars I have tried this year. As I said above I would even rate this bar higher than the Bounty bar in the UK. The nuttier focus of the filling flavours, and the additional almond pieces just made it the more attractive proposition, and  just added some extra elements to the overall taste. If you are a fan of coconut products then this is a bar I would highly recommend - if the Bounty bar is one that you particularly enjoy I really urge you to give this one a try.

8.7 out of 10

VISIT THE ALL NEW YANKEE SODA & CANDY WEBSITE .... CLICK HERE

April 21st: Cloetta Plopp

Kcal 162 Fat 8.3g Carbs 20.0g

The person who came up with the name for this product must of been having a giggle. I thought it actually might mean something in Swedish (where the bar is manufactured), though passing 'Plopp' through Google translator gives an exact translation ... 'Plopp' ... hmmm!? To be honest I was more giving this bar a review for its novelty factor - I have read on various websites that the milk chocolate with toffee filling isn't actually all that good ... oh well, only one way to find out.

The bar came in a small 33.0g serving that split into four different blocks. Name aside, the presentation was pretty good. The wrapper ensured a nice freshness to the product, whilst the bar itself was carefully protected by a cardboard sleeve. Whats more the actual chocolate pieces were branded with the Cloetta logo, which is a thing I always like to see. The bar looked pretty appetising, though the same cannot be said for the smell, which had a dominant floral aspect to it. The aroma was rather puzzling to be honest ... if I was to liken it to anything it would have to be hand soap!

Thankfully the product didn't taste of soap, but I dare say the chocolate may have faired better if it actually had. The chocolate had a surprising array of erratic sweet flavours that ranged from over powering vanilla to brown sugar. It definitely wasn't that pleasant and lacked the chocolaty impetuous I was hoping it would deliver. This was all a bit of shame as the toffee lying at the centre of the chocolate was actually rather good. It seemed a sort of hybrid between caramel and fudge, and although itself quite sickeningly sweet it delivered some quite pleasurable honey like flavours. The texture of the centres was also quite delicately delivered with a soft velvety feel in the mouth. Additionally it must be noted that the 33.0g really didn't go all that way to curing my afternoon munchies, although I would have been cautious to consuming anymore as the back of my throat was beginning to burn with the overload of sugar.

Overall the novelty factor of this product quickly wore off as soon as I placed the chocolate in my mouth. Indeed the product has a funny name and was presented quite nicely ... it even did a rather good job of its toffee filling. Unfortunately however, Plopp did fail to deliver a respectable milk chocolate, and also failed in providing a fulfilling snack. Unless your buying this product as a joke for someone I really wouldn't recommend it - frankly its just a bit s***!

5.4 out of 10

April 20th: Cadbury Clusters

Kcal 175 Fat 8.2g Fat(sats) 5.1g Carbs 23.2g (per 37.0g)

When I first saw these announced a few weeks back (see HERE) I must admit I was really looking forward to seeing what Cadbury were going to deliver. These Cadbury Clusters are one of three new Cadbury snacking products, with Cadbury Raisins and Cadbury Peanuts being the other two (reviews coming soon!). On the packaging they came described as 'crunchy flakes and raisins tumbled in Cadbury milk chocolate'. 

I am aware that these are available in larger sized bags, though for the purpose of this review I picked up a 37.0g for the pricely sum of 65p. I liked the presentation of the outer wrapper which incorporated the same matted foil material that the standard Cadbury chocolate bar range is currently using. I personally thought that the red colour scheme worked well and I must admit it did make the product stand out on the shelf. What I didn't like about the presentation however was the product itself. The actual clusters were a lot smaller than I envisaged and the surface of all of them had a dusty appearance which suggested they weren't all that fresh. Despite the rough round the edges look the clusters had an enticing aroma that had a nice fruitiness about its chocolaty smell. 

The first thing I noticed when tasting these was that the chocolate seemed a little sweeter than traditional Cadbury milk chocolate. After looking at the ingredients list I decided to give myself a pat on the back as it stated that the chocolate only contained 14% cocoa and not the usual 20% that Dairy Milk contains. The chocolate was still pretty good but just didn't have the usual creaminess and relied a bit more on its sugary sweetness. The cereal element constituted of cornflakes, which whilst providing a nice crispy texture to proceedings failed to really bring a great deal to the taste aside from a mild saltiness. Although the cereal was disappointing the raisins brought a nice sweet fruit element to the taste and certainly brought a bit of interest. I ate the 37.0g bag in a single sitting; it wasn't the most fulfilling product ever but it did an adequate job in this regard. 

Overall these didn't really live up to my expectations though I guess this could be Cadbury suffering by their own normal high standards. At the heart of the matter the product was just a little unexciting. The chocolate was of a fair standard but lacked the usual Dairy Milk sparkle, the cereal was pretty bland and the raisins whilst quite flavoursome, were at the end of the day just raisins!! One thing that is bugging me is who are Cadbury trying to aim these at? With over 8.0g of fat they are hardly the healthiest product going .... with these your looking at the same nutritional intake that you do with a standard pack of Walkers crisps. So if it isn't the healthy part of the market they are going for, what part is it? These are hardly a ghastly product, yet at the same time are pretty mediocre and nothing too much to get excited about.

6.8 out of 10

 

April 20th: Hershey's Cookies Reese's

Kcal 140 Fat 7.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 18.0g (per 28.0g - 2 cookies)

Liz at *IShop4YouII* thought these cookies were a product I simply had to try given my love for almost anything gracing Reese's peanut butter. Hey, I was never going to argue with that - these sounded very tempting indeed and came billed as 'crunchy chocolate cookies layered with real milk chocolate and filled with Reese's peanut butter creme'! One thing that I did notice was that these contained only 140 calories for two cookies, which to me sounded pretty good.

*IShop4YouII* were kind enough to provide me with a 225.0g family sized box that took me a good few weeks to get through. The outer packaging was all pretty fair, it incorporated the famialiar orange Reese's theme and featured a pretty enticing looking picture of the cookies up close. Thankfully they looked just as good in reality as they did on the box. As you will see above the outer biscuit pieces featured the Reese's branding, whilst the inner icing layer appeared plentiful and thick. As ever with Reese's products the smell was very distinctive and immediately forthcoming when I opened the plastic wrapped tray.

So how did they taste? ... pretty damn awesome! The cookies were formed of three notable layers. The biscuit layers were a little lacking in their chocolaty flavours, and rather just substantiated a shortbread like sugary buttery taste. The chocolate hit was unsuprisingly delivered by the milk chocolate layer, which sat between the biscuit and the peanut butter creme. It brought a nice moistness to the dry biscuit, aswell as some milky, cocoa influences. The real defining element to the taste though was the inner peanut butter icing, which immediately added a wonderful contrasting salty, nuttiness to the sweet taste ... simply delicious and just ridiculously moreish.

Overall these provided a fantastic option to snack on during an afternoon and retained all the good attributes of most Reese's products. The biscuit element could potentially be bettered by having a greater chocolaty taste, though to a large degree this was a minor problem as the cookies were all about the peanut butter filling. I have said before I am not the biggest biscuit fan, but I simply just couldn't get enough of these. If your a fan of Reese's products and Oreos then these are simply a match made in heaven.

8.5 out of 10

*** EU & UK Readers Attention*** Ever been been browsing Chocolate Mission or any other Candy Site and felt frustrated not being able to get hold of an American bar/item!??? .... well feel frustrated no more!!! 'I SHOP 4 YOU II'!! is a great service that provides a unique "one stop shop" international shopping experience!!! Visit the Ebay shop - if they dont have the item you want instock simply give them a message - there is no harm in asking. This service comes with a Chocolate Mission Seal of Approval!! It is a genuinely great, fast and friendly service... Just say you came from Chocolate Mission.