October 22nd: Cadbury Cake Bars Fudge & Mint

Having reviewed the Cadbury Chocolate and Cadury Caramel Cake Bars last month I thought I better be totally thorough with my research so picked up the two remaining Cadbury Cake Bar variants when I was in the supermarket last week. I bought both of these Fudge and Mint cake bars in packs of 5 and brought them into my work office last week. Before the greedy so-and-so's could gobbled them all up I nabbed two of each and ate them over the last four days.

Before I get into how they tasted it wouldn't be a ChocolateMission review without my passing comment on the presentation of both and my thoughts were very similar with each variants. Both variants came in purple coloured packets though contained different secondary branding in which to communicate the flavours. The wrappers looked ok to me but what excited me about these products were the fudge and mint creme fillings which both looked very well portioned - I think you will agree when you see the photos below.

Below are my thoughts on each variant:

Cadbury Cake Bars Fudge:
Kcal 135 Fat 5.5g Fat(sats) 3.3g Carbs 20.6g (per bar)

These came described as 'chocolate flavoured sponge with a fudge topping, covered in milk chocolate' and utilised the much under implemented Cadbury Fudge. I have long been calling for a larger, more satisfying Cadbury Fudge product so I was hoping that these cake bars might be right on the money.

In my previous Cadbury Cake Bar reviews I commented how disappointing it was that Cadbury decided not to use Dairy Milk and I still stand by this point. Although the chocolate on offer here was still very tasty with its sweet, milk based flavours it was noticeably lacking the creamy edge of Dairy Milk. If you peeked at the score already you will have noticed there was one thing fundamentally wrong these - the textures! I generally find cake a little too dry for me and this was only further accentuated by the dry, crumbly nature of the fudge. The combination of these left my mouth feeling like desert and it was lucky I had a cup of tea to wash it down with.

Overall there was nothing wrong with the taste on offer here whatsoever, however these Fudge Cake Bars were fundamentally flawed due to their dryness. The flavours of the sweet chocolate and fudge complimented each other well but the cake and fudge layers cloyed in the mouth resulting in a stodgy chew that was calling out for a bit of moistness. Nice tasting but sadly not what I would describe as an all round pleasant experience.

7.0 out of 10

Cadbury Cake Bars Mint:

Kcal 150 Fat 8.5g Fat(sats) 4.7g Carbs 17.2g (per 100.0g)

Out of the two I have to say these were the ones I was looking forward to least with their billing of 'chocolate flavoured sponge topped with a mint flavoured creme, covered in milk chocolate'. My view did start to change however as soon as I prised open the first plastic wrapper upon where I was met with a fresh smelling peppermint smell.

My thoughts regarding the chocolate are the same the above - it was a fair standard but crying out to be Dairy Milk. I tried these after the Fudge Cake Bars and I was expecting quite a similar experience in regards to dry textures as most mint cremes and fondants I have had before are normally quite solid as they are normally sugar based. I am glad to report though I was pleasantly surprised - the inner creme was far moister than I was expecting and really complimented the cake element well. The mint flavours were actually subtle in the creme with the majority of the taste being cream based. Despite being quite mild I thought the mint was strong enough and it provided a real fresh influence on the taste.

Overall these were easily the best out of the two and I would rate them just as highly as the Cadbury Caramel Cake Bars. One thing I did notice about these Mint Cake Bars were that they contained noticeably more fat and calories, though lets be honest it was well worth it given how much these were as an all round product. I wouldn't say these are a must try if your a fan of mint flavoured chocolates as the mint element doesn't actually come through that strongly. Personally though I think these make for a nice snack to have in the cupboard from time to time. The Thornton's Chocolate Cake Bars still hold the title as the best chocolate cake bars reviewed so far!

8.0 out of 10

October 21st: Lindt Nocciolatte

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

I have been wanting to see something like this from Lindt for ages and it took a random visit to WH Smith (popular book/convenience shop in the UK) for me to finally chance upon such a product. Personally I think the market has been screaming out for an 'on the go' chocolate bar from one of the more prestigious manufactures like Lindt for a long time and this Lindt Nociolatte seemed like the perfect product in which to fill this gaping niche. Produced in Italy the product came described as 'milk chocolate with hazelnut filling and whole hazelnuts' and came at the suitable price of 65p, which here in the UK is at a slight premium to a standard chocolate bar like Cadbury Dairy Milk that retails for about 55p.

The bar came in a 40.0g serving size that was split into three separate blocks. The bar itself wasn't the most conveniently designed as one block at a time made for a very large and almost uncomfortable mouthful. That slight issue aside I will happily exclaim that I thought the bar was aesthetically brilliant and I loved the subtle branding of each piece as well as the nice hazelnut pattern that was implemented on each block. The outer wrapper was equally well designed and incorporated the same smart looking design theme as Lindt's standard range with its dark blue colour and white and gold fonts. In addition to looking rather sleek the bar also smelt pretty nice out the packet and had a nice nutty scent in addition to the familiar Lindt chocolaty smell.

Despite parts of this bar tasting phenomenal I have to give it a rather mediocre 7.0 score when it comes to that taste test as there was just one aspect that let it down completely. The outer milk chocolate you will be unsurprised to hear was pretty phenomenal and provided a very familiar double cream rooted taste that delivered a wonderful chocolate hit with it's finally balanced cocoa volume and smooth longing taste. Below the wonderfully smooth melting chocolate sat the first hazelnut element which was a praline like substance that held the whole nut in position. In terms of quality these elements sat at different ends of the spectrum in that the praline was fantastic, whilst the wholenuts just simply weren't. The praline had slightly grittier texture than the chocolate which nicely differentiated the two in the melt. The cause of the rougher texture was of course the addition of the ground hazelnuts which provided a wonderfully fresh, woody nut taste. Whereas the praline tasted relatively fresh the same couldn't be said for the nut pieces. They had a slightly mushy, yielding soft texture and provided very little flavour in addition to the praline which was obviously pretty disappointing.

Overall this was a disappointing product on the whole considering how much promise the actual concept has. I think the decision to make a product like this was a great strategic move by Lindt as it brings a whole new 'occasion' to the table for their chocolate to be enjoyed. As good as Lindt chocolate is, their products are not the most convenient to eat out of home as they normally come in sizes upwards of 100.0g etc. As 40.0g bar this product solved that problem but didn't quite deliver the quality that is normally so consistent with Lint products. Despite being eight months in date the products nuts just didn't taste fresh and almost (not entirely) ruined the other fantastic milk chocolate and praline elements. If you see this bar around then I would say give it a try as maybe I just had a duff one? Unfortunately for Lindt though products on this site most the time only get one shot at the scoring system! Not great ... not awful, but Lindt can certainly do better than this.

7.5 out of 10

October 20th: Green & Black's Milk Chocolate

Kcal 558 Fat 35.9g Carbs 49.7g (per 100.0g)

I don't know about you all but I am still hugely undecided on Green & Black's as a brand. Some of their products I have tried before and thought they were rather good, whilst others I thought were decidedly average. It is a well known fact that Green & Black's are actually owned by Cadbury, so when I saw this new 'Creamy Milk' variant I was wondering whether it was going to match up to the UK's most notorious milk chocolate - Cadbury Dairy Milk. Organically made and with a greater cocoa proportion (30%) all the evidence suggested that it was going to give it a good run for its money.

Like all Green & Black's chocolates this one came in a 100.0g size which was split up in to several very small sized blocks. I have complained about the Green & Black's packaging before but If you look closely at the the photo above you will notice that that the traditional brown colour and flavour indicating secondary colour have been swapped around in terms of position compared to the standard bars in the range. Personally I think this gave the product far more standout and when you see it on-shelf in the retailer it looks far more inviting than the rest of the standard range which carry the boring looking primary brown colour scheme. Inside the chocolate was nicely wrapped in a gold foil layer but it did little to excite aesthetically given the tiny size of each of the blocks. Whereas it was a little underwhelming in terms of looks the same couldn't be said for the aroma of the chocolate which had a nice fresh dairy smell.

Lets just cut right to the chase - was it as good as Dairy Milk? For my money it wasn't, but that is not to say it wasn't a reasonably good milk chocolate. I shared this with a few work colleagues over a mid morning coffee and we all pretty much drew the conclusions. What we certainly all agreed on was that this chocolate had a delightfully smooth melt that really effortlessly transcended into a very soft chocolate liquor when simply just placed on the tongue. Although the chocolate was quite fast in the pace of it's melt it didn't really generate much in the way of flavours until it had progressed quite far in the melting process. Whereas the initial taste was disappointingly mild only substantiating quite a sweet milk based cocoa tone, once the chocolate had gained warmth strong notes of cream and vanilla came through relatively strongly and made for a well rounded taste. To be honest this wasn't the most satisfying of chocolates I have ever eaten and my colleagues and I did manage to consume about a third of a bar each with relative ease.

Overall despite this bar being at a premium price to its even grander mass produced equivalent Cadbury Dairy Milk I have to say in my estimation it didn't match up in terms of quality. Cadbury Dairy Milk has such a distinctive cream based that this Green & Black's offering just simply couldn't match up to. Although I would say that this chocolate was a little more elegant in terms of it's flavours I wouldn't say that was necessarily a good thing and I think in comparison I would rather the more burly, stronger and more distinctive taste of the Dairy Milk. As I said in the previous paragraph this was by no means a bad chocolate whatsoever but at the same time it did very little in terms of establishing itself as a distinctive chocolate that is any more worthy of trying than any other fair standard milk chocolate on the market at present. Given the smooth texture and flowing taste of this chocolate I would suggest that Galaxy lovers give this chocolate a try as it may be more a chocolate they might quite enjoy. For the moment though I think I will stick with my Hotel Chocolat for my premium milk chocolate and my Cadbury Dairy Milk for my everyday.

7.9 out of 10

October 19th: Hotel Chocolat Munchkins

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

Believe it or not Halloween has rolled round once again on our calendars with the day falling in little under a weeks time. I wont be giving to much coverage to Halloween this year for the sole reason that I simply don't like it :) but regardless I was hardly going to be turning down some more goodies from my chums at Hotel Chocolat. Last year you may remember me reviewing their Boo! milk chocolate collection (HERE) aswell as some of their other Halloween themed products. This year they have extended their Halloween range further with some additional products like these Hotel Chocolat Munchkins which came described as 'mini shortbread biscuits covered in orange flavoured white chocolate and icing sugar'. To me they sounded completely different to any other Hotel Chocolat product I had seen before and I was hoping that this new found adventurism would pay dividends.

These mini chocolates came in a 115.0g bag that I managed to wolf down in nearly in a single sitting. You may have noticed that the packaging was exactly the same as Hotel Chocolat's Chocolate Puddles range in that they were stored within a clear plastic packet decorated with a label and sealed with a stylish looking Hotel Chocolat ribbon. On the whole I do like this style of presentation though my one slight gripe with it is that it is quite hard to reseal once opened. Inside the pieces looked really groovy with their bright orange colour though they did have quite an awkward feel in the hand with their dusting of icing sugar making them feel dry, but at the same time a bit clammy - it was odd to say their least. Not to be perturbed by their odd feel I was more welcoming of the tempting dairy and fruity orange scents that emerged when the packet was opened.

Although above I have described not liking the feel of the icing sugar on my fingers it did provide a very welcome cooling sensation as the pieces hit my tongue and it gave a pleasant fizzling sensation to reveal the chocolate layer below. As expected the white chocolate was nothing short of delicious and combined a cream based, vanilla hinted taste with a wonderful note of fresh tasting zingy orange which brought a lovely bit of variation to the traditional Hotel Chocolat white chocolate. The shortbread biscuit that sat below was unsurprisingly overwhelmed by the orange white chocolate though it did bring a pleasant crunchy element to the other softer, smoother textures. As I stated above I nearly managed to eat my way through a whole pack of these in one sitting and this was solely down to something I call the 'Maltesers' effect. These Hotel Chocolat Munchkins tasted absolutely superb but just were not satisfying or fulfilling in any way whatsoever.

Overall I think when judging this product it will make more sense to look at the different attribute scores rather than the aggregated average as I think it doesn't give a fair reflection on the product. The only sole problem with these Hotel Chocolat Munchkins was that they provided very little in terms of hunger fulfilment which was a real shame when put in the light of how nice they tasted. These were yet another nicely presented and great tasting product from Hotel Chocolat and fans of their white chocolate will absolutely love these if they also happen to like orange flavoured chocolates. Though these wouldn't probably wouldn't purchase these for myself again in the future if I was to be gifting small presents at Halloween (which I wont be!!) then I would see these as a sensible option given that they both look and taste great. These were by no means the best Hotel Chocolat product ever but I feel a step in the right direction in terms of new smaller, fun products in their portfolio.

7.5 out of 10

October 18th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 19

### Jim's Corner & QOTW ###

Hi All,

I have been busy writing some festive themed reviews this week with a few Halloween and Christmas products consumed in the past few days.

As I am not a big fan of the holiday itself Halloween wont be covered off to a great extent but some of the chaps from Hotel Chocolat were kind enough to send me some of their latest products and I also bought some of the Halloween themed cakes bars from the likes of Cadbury. These reviews will be published in the last week or so of October.

The Christmas reviews will kick off on November 20th and will no doubt cover Nestle, Cadbury and Hotel Chocolat's ranges this year ... maybe the odd white chocolate covered Oreo biscuit from Kraft too ;) ... which brings me to question of the week ...

'Are there any specific Christmas products you want to see reviewed?'

If so please give me an indication so I can make sure I can cover them all off!!

Unfortunately the guys at Hotel Chocolat are still ridiculously busy with preparations for Christmas, thus no answers to the questions just yet! I got promised them by the end of this week so fingers crossed they will make appear next weekend in '7Days of ChocolateReviews'.

Have a great week and please continue the great contributions to the site.

JIM


The ChocolateMission Omnibus:

I always like to get the week off to a good start and pleased with the response I got to my post Monday which looked at the new Mars Dark (UK) vs Mars Midnight (Poland) ... SEE HERE. At the present reader comparisons were a little limited with Russ, Alan and Alex all oddly having tried the Polish bar but not the UK one - I hope they all let us know their thoughts when they finally track one down.

Moving on in the week I got to try a bar that is no longer available in the UK but still has presence in South Africa - Cadbury Flake Snow (SEE HERE). Personally I found it a little on the sweet side, however it seem to evoke good memories for the likes of Rachel, Cin & Lottie.

Also this week I really kicked on my investigation of the UK cake bar range reviewing the McVitie's Penguin (SEE HERE) and Cadbury Original & Caramel offerings (SEE HERE). As pointed out by a few readers I did epically fail when it came to providing the joke on the back of my Penguin Cake Bar but don't you worry the same mistake hasn't been made in my review of the normal Penguin bar that will be published in early November.

Lastly Friday was the first outing for Moser Roth on ChocolateMission in the form of their Dark Chocolate & Orange variant (SEE HERE). I have to really once again thank ChocolateMission contributor Susanne for providing me with the chance to try this bar and I obviously wasn't alone in my thinking given the positive response from the likes of Phil and Ana.


News from the Chocolate Market:

* Mikado has become the fast selling everyday product in the impulse sector ... SEE HERE

* Hannock's has created a new gifting range in collaboration with Beeches ... SEE HERE

* Cadbury & Maryland have announced their Christmas biscuit line ups - if you want to see any reviewed see QOTW above ... SEE HERE

* Cadbury have been accused of racial stereotyping in their latest fairtrade advert ... SEE HERE

* Quality Street & Matchmakers are again going to receive big marketing spend this Christmas ... SEE HERE


Posts from other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* Chocablog - If your going to look at one other site this week it has to be Chocablog. Despite many an invite unfortunately due to work commitments I could attend myself but their coverage of Chocolate Week has been extensive and brilliant with all their contributors going into overdrive with articles each day with the latest news ... SEE HERE

* CandyBlog - I loved this review looking at Hershey's Cookies n Creme vs a cheap supermarket alternative! Bravo Cybele ... SEE HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Tried some posh hot chocolate this week from Butler's ... this has got me thinking on some new mini ChocolateMissions for the new year ... SEE HERE

* GiGi Reviews - It has been gum week on GiGi Reviews! As an avid chewer it has been amazing looking at the different flavours they get in the US ... SEE HERE

* Japanese Snack Reviews - The award for bizzarest review of the week has to go to JSR - what on earth is a Pizza Weiner Rapper ... SEE HERE

October 16th: Moser Roth Dark Chocolate Orange & Almond

Kcal 529 Fat 33.1g Fat(sats) 19.3g Carbs 51.7g (per 100.0g)

Once again I must start off another review by thanking ChocolateMission reader Susanne for sending this bar for me to try. As I always do with brands I don't recognise I attempted to do some research about Moser Roth before I wrote this review but I have come up a little dry. The limited information I have found says that Moser Roth was formed in 1841 and became a protected name in 1902 before being sold off to German manufacture Storck. Storck's site doesn't have any further details or even recognise it as part of their brand portfolio but from what I can tell now Moser Roth is solely produced for Aldi the discounter supermarket. Boring stuff out the way, my first look at the range came in the form of this Dark Chocolate Orange & Almond bar.

The product came in a 125.0g form that was split into 5 smaller 25.0g bars which I thought was handy given that 25.0g made for a perfectly sized serving. The packaging I thought looked really good and gave the product a nice premium feel with the gold coloured fonts giving nice standout without looking tacky. One thing I did notice was that the graphic designer at Moser Roth might not know his nuts all that well ... take a closer look at the packaging photo and you will see that peanuts are displayed rather than almonds!! Error!! Inside each bar was coated with a foil/paper wrapper which kept the chocolate not only looking fantastic but smelling absolutely wonderful with an enticing orange fruity smell evident once opened.

All was great up until this point so there was real thing left to do. If you take a look at the photo above you will see that the chocolate was actually relatively thin in terms of thickness which left me a little worried before I tasted it. What concerned me about this was that if the chocolate wasn't strong enough it might not last long enough in the mouth for it's flavours to truly develop. Luckily this was a non-issue as the chocolate was immediately forthcoming in taste with several different flavours coming to the party. As soon as the chocolate hit the warmth of the tongue some non-bitter cocoa flavours made themselves apparent and were kept flowing and smooth in the taste with some nice milk based undertones. As suggested by the smell the orange element was also evident from out the outset, providing a solid fruity, zesty flavour to the background which in simple terms was delicious. What I really enjoyed about this chocolate was letting it slowly melt away on the tongue appreciating the fruity dark chocolate before then crunching away on the nutty, buttery almond pieces left in the mouth. The nutty element in the aftertaste nicely added to the orange flavours left in the mouth which left me feeling both refreshed and satisfied.

Overall I have to give a big thumbs up to my first ever Moser Roth product - it is one that has certainly left me wanting to try more from this brand. The dark chocolate here perhaps wasn't the grandest I have ever tried though it provided a very suitable background taste to the really well implemented orange fruit which made for a really eventful and exciting taste. The almond influence didn't really surface until the stronger tasting chocolate and orange elements had gone though I have to say that it certainly left a nice lingering nutty flavour note in the mouth. If Moser Roth isn't a brand you have come across before, based on the evidence of this bar alone I would say it is worth trying some of their products out. It may not have been the best chocolate I have ever tried but it was an extremely tasty one nonetheless. It gets a recommendation from me anyway!

8.6 out of 10

October 15th: Cadbury Cake Bars Milk Chocolate / Caramel

Yesterday I informed you all in my review of the McVitie's Penguin Cake Bar that I would next be moving on to looking at Cadbury's offerings in the cake bar market. Well as always I have kept my word and today I bring you one of my double reviews looking at both the original 'Milk Chocolate' and 'Caramel' flavoured offerings.

Each variants was bought in a multi-pack which contained 5 bars. Both flavours sported the usual purple Cadbury theme though the caramel one of course also had the yellow secondary colour influence. Inside the cake bars themselves were contained within film wrappers which did a reasonably nice job in maintaining the inner bars in pretty good condition. Before I start rambling on too much lets get stuck in to what I thought of each:

Cadbury Cake Bars Milk Chocolate:


Kcal 150 Fat 7.4g Fat(sats) 3.8g Carbs 18.7g (per bar)

On pack this one came described as 'chocolate flavoured sponge with a milk chocolate filling, covered in milk chocolate'. I have to admit that out of the two this was the one that less appealed to me at first as it sounded more or less exactly like the Galaxy and Penguin McVitie's bars I had tried before.

One of the first things that you may have picked up on when reading the start of this review is that the words Dairy Milk haven't appeared yet and sadly I can confirm that Dairy Milk chocolate was nowhere to be seen. As suspected the bar incorporated Cadbury's secondary milk chocolate recipe which meant that the taste was a little more sugar rooted than it was creamy. Don't get me wrong the chocolate still had a sweet, milky appeal but I couldn't help but think it could have been all that bit better had it been proper Dairy Milk. You may also have noticed from the photo above that this milk chocolate coating was also a little bit flimsy and thin in its portioning which meant it got dominated by the far greater portioned inner cake. On the plus side the inner chocolate cream filling did bring a much needed moistness to the dry cake, though admittedly in did little in terms of bringing any new flavour influences to the table.

Overall this 'Milk Chocolate' variant had undertones of Cadbury charm but at at the end of the day it didn't strike me as anything that special when put in the context of the cake bars I have had recently. As stated above I think it would have been better for at least the coating to have used the Dairy Milk recipe though I think even that would have struggled to exert its presence given the thin nature of the outer coating. This was by no means a bad cake bar (better than the Penguin one at least), but at the same time nothing all that special either.

7.5 out of 10

Cadbury Cake Bars Caramel

Kcal 145 Fat 6.7g Fat(sats) 4.7g Carbs 19.3g (per bar)

The back of the outer wrapper described these bars as 'chocolate flavoured sponge topped with caramel, covered in milk chocolate' which I thought certainly sounded like the more exciting out of the two at hand. These Caramel cake bars were flatter and a little smaller in appearance compared to the 'Milk Chocolate' variant though they looked appetising when cross sectioned with the golden caramel layer really catching the eye.

Just like the 'Milk Chocolate' bars Dairy Milk chocolate wasn't in the offering here again though I felt it didn't matter quite so much as the caramel layer was the real focus of the taste. Despite the bar being thinner itself, thankfully the outer chocolate wasn't an area of cut back so the initial milky, sweet flavours were still well and truly substantiated. I felt that with the cake not being quite as heavily portioned in these it was actually beneficial to the product overall as there was still enough to make it feel like a substantial snack, though it also didn't dominate the other elements of the bar quite as much as it did in the 'Milk Chocolate' bars. Despite the caramel not being implemented quite the same as is in standard Cadbury Caramel bars as it was a bit stodgier in texture, it still brought the usual butter and sugar elements to the taste which made brought a nice variation to the rather placid cake. Although this was the smaller out of the two bars its greater variation in flavours made it the more fulfilling and satisfying out of the two.

Overall this was defiantly the better out of the two variants I tried today and would certainly be the one I would more readily reach for if I was to buy either again. In comparison to the Galaxy Caramel cake bar I have to say that the McVitie's offering is the better out of the two as the Galaxy chocolate is portioned far greater and lack of Dairy Milk used here means that the quality of chocolate is greater on the latter. Whereas I wouldn't say that either of these cake bars are necessarily bad I can't help but feel that Cadbury could have done just a little better with these products. If your a fan of Cadbury chocolate then these could be worth a look at but for the rest of you I wouldn't be in a massive rush to try these.

8.0 out of 10

October 14th: McVitie's Penguin Cake Bars

Kcal 132 Fat 7.5g Fat(Sats) 3.7g Carbs 15.0g (per cake bar)

If you have been paying attention to the site recently you will be aware that the battle of the cake bars is in full effect at the moment with Thorntons and McVitie's Galaxy bars all attempting to take the crown of best in the market. When I was a kid the Penguin bar was a firm favourite of mine and at times when the Kit Kat supplies were running low I often happily settled for one as a fair substitute. Today however I took a closer look at the Penguin brands cake bar offering, which came described as 'milk chocolate covered cake bars with a layer of chocolate cream.

Apologies if it seems like I am carrying on about price in my latest reviews but a pack of five of these cake bars cost me only a bargainalicious 45p from Tesco as they were on a half price deal. In regards to presentation they looked almost no different to the usual Penguin bar multipacks and the red outer packaging held different colour inner wrapped bars (red and light blue displayed above). Personally I like the classical Penguin outer packaging branding etc but I have to say that the actual product was pretty plain and boring aesthetically. In addition to not looking the most spectacular product going the cake bars also failed to generate much interest with their smell. A gentle chocolaty aroma could be detected when the film wrappers were opened though it was nothing that really got my anticipation up.

As unexciting as the build to eating one of these cake bars was the taste did little change my mind. By my reckoning the textures of this cake bar were just about right - the outer chocolate was thick, the cake was firm yet spongy and the chocolate cream was portioned nicely to add a great deal of needed moistness. Unfortunately where the textures were pretty good the taste didn't quite measure up and on the whole I was pretty disappointed with the product in this sense. The chocolate simply didn't have anything special about it with its musty, milky, sugary flavours that lacked an authoritative cocoa note to its taste. The chocolate used on these bars seemed far more sugar based than the other cake bars I have had before from Galaxy and Thorntons. The taste was in no way repulsive but at the same time in terms of chocolate quality the standard I would saywas pretty low.

Overall having tried some other brands with more distinct tasting chocolates I guess these Penguin cake bars were always going to struggle. For a cake bar that was purely chocolate flavoured the poorer quality ingredients used were exposed in the taste and the greater amounts of sugars and lower cocoa implemented in the recipe very much shone through. I haven't had a proper Penguin bar for years though I can imagine that the greater flavours generated by the biscuit base slightly make up for the lack of flavour from the sponge; I guess this is something I can explore in a future review. In relation to cake bars I have to say that whilst these were relatively good value for money and provided a pleasant enough snack but if it is quality in terms of taste your after your better looking at some other alternatives on the market. Cadbury's attempts at this cake bar niche are coming up next!!

7.3 out of 10

October 13th: Cadbury Flake Snow

Kcal 166 Fat 9.0g Fat(sats) 5.6g Carbs 19.8g

A few days ago I told you all that ChocolateMission reader Eric had kindly sent me a few goodies that he bought from a Aussie themed shop on a recent trip to Covent Garden, London. The first product I reviewed from this selection were the Cadbury Astros which I used to have quite frequently when I was younger. The product in the ChocolateMission line of fire today I similarly remembering having at least a few times in my childhood but it is now long gone from the UK marketplace - the Cadbury Flake Snow. As you can probably guess from the name this was your standard Cadbury Flake but with a white chocolate spin and came described as 'folds of white chocolate, covered in milk chocolate' and was produced in South Africa.

The bar came in a 32.0g serving and looked not to dissimilar in size to the standard Cadbury Flake we have here in the UK. Presentationwise this product gets a thumbs up from me. The foil wrapper looked good with the usual yellow Flake colour scheme incorporating a subtle touch of light blue to communicate the 'Snow' variant. Despite some very careful attention by myself to keep the product in A-spec condition what was held inside wasn't the most enticing looking product ever as the crumbled bits of inner white that had escaped gave the outer milk chocolate a dusty looking complexion. Although the bar was foil wrapped the chocolate lacked a truly telling aroma and did little to really entice me with its mild dairy scents.

When I used to have this as a kid I can recall always being quite excited at the prospect of the white chocolate but then I can remember it being too sweet for my taste. Obviosuly with me getting older since my tastebuds would have matured so I was expecting the mismatch between my taste and this chocolate to have grown even more extreme. Having tasted the chocolate I have to say I was quite surprised at how it tasted, but unfortunately the surprise wasn't all that great itself. Whereas I was expecting this chocolate to be overly exertful in terms of flavour strength the reality was that this bar delivered completely the opposite. The milk chocolate coating was adequate with a mild milk centric taste that melted with a relatively smooth, flowing melt but it was the inner white chocolate that was really the disappointment. Cadbury aren't know for their white chocolate *ahem Cadbury Dream* but this was pretty poor. The white chocolate had the usual delightful crumbly Flake texture but was completely devoid of any meaningful flavours and just tasted completely uninspiring. At best I would say I could detect a subtle sweet, dried milk like taste though to be honest it really just tasted of very little whatsoever.

Overall Cadbury still haven't managed to perfect this Flake Snow and I have to say I was left feeling disappointed which isn't an often occurrence when it comes to Cadbury products. Despite Cadbury seemingly solving the problem of their white chocolate being too sweet they have now swung round to completely the other side of the spectrum and delivered a white chocolate that was almost completely devoid of flavour entirely. The milk chocolate coating was pretty good and solved the normal issue Flake bars suffer from in that they usually crumble all over the place. What probably made the milk chocolate look even better than it probably was though, was the inner white chocolate which was just meagre and dull in terms of flavours. If your a Flake fan then this might be worth you trying at some point but I honestly wouldn't recommend it as a must try bar for the rest of you.

6.8 out of 10

October 12th: Mars Dark (UK & Poland)

What better way to get the week started than to not only cover off the latest product released by Mars in the UK, but also at the same time to compare it with the same product from Poland!? Before I crack on with the review I must firstly thank ChocolateMission reader Alan who sent me the Polish bar to make this possible.

When Mars announced that the Mars Dark would be making a reappearance again here in the UK (See HERE) I don't think I was the only one that was quite pleased. Having tried the equivalent bars from Canada (See Here) and the US (See HERE) I knew that this was a bar with real potential.

I know I am always going on about confectionery bargains but I felt £1 for a multi-pack of four was really very good and found a pack in my local Sainsbury's supermarket. I am not sure what price Alan paid for the Polish bar but I am sure he will be kind enough to fill us in via the comments box.

Looking at both the wrappers and cross-sections I have to say that I thought that overall the UK bar was slightly the nicer presented product out of the two. Aside from the obvious 'Dark' & 'Midnight' branding when it came to the packaging there was very little difference with both sporting a black background and royal blue secondary colour behind the Mars logo. Where I did feel the UK looked aesthetically better was the actual bar where I thought that the cleaner looking surface of the chocolate and golden coloured nougat had more of an appeal to Polish comparator. When considering the smell of the bar I have to say that both didn't measure up to the sweet dairy scents of the original UK Mars though I guess this would have been down to the different chocolate involved.


Mars Dark (UK):

Kcal 236 Fat 9.9g (per bar)

Despite it being from a multi-pack this was actually the bigger of the two and came in a 52.0g size. On the wrapper this bar was billed as 'dark chocolate with with white nougat and caramel' which having eaten it seems a pretty inaccurate description.

Why is it inaccurate? Well in my opinion the chocolate wasn't what I would describe as dark and the nougat wasn't white ... was this a problem? Not in the slightest! The chocolate was noticeably not as sweet as the milk chocolate coated original Mars but it was nowhere near 'dark' in any manner. The milk undertones were still present throughout the taste with the only thing lacking was the sugar. With the sugar mostly out the equation the volume of the cocoa in the taste was raised but it never reached levels that I would describe as strong. Although the nougat that lay below was not as billed it tasted utterly fantastic with its chocolate noted, vanilla flavours that could be enjoyed for a long time in the mouth when simply sucked on. As with every Mars caramel the layer that sat on top of the nougat was divine and had a wonderfully soft feel in the mouth whilst providing some divine butterscotch flavours.

8.7 out of 10


Mars Midnight (Poland):

Kcal 190 Fat 7.7g Carbs 28.5g (per 42.0g)

Now I am afraid this part of the review is going to lack a little bit of detail as I still haven't managed to grasp the Polish language yet :) What I could understand from the wrapper was that the this bar was slightly smaller than the UK one and weighed in at 42.0g - yep 10.0g smaller! Whilst this was obviously beneficial calorie wise it was less satisfying as the UK 'Dark' bar.

Comparing the two photos above you will clearly be able to see that the polish bar had darker coloured chocolate and the nougat was more of a ghostly white. Despite the chocolate looking darker this didn't translate into the taste and it actually tasted a whole lot blander than the UK bar. Unlike the 'Dark' this bar lacked both the milk and the sugar influences in the taste and only offered a mild coffee like note throughout its time in the mouth. Below the chocolate the lighter nougat offered much the same in the way of its vanilla led taste however it didn't last as long in the mouth given its far softer, yielding texture. One redeeming aspect of this bar was the caramel which certainly was up to scratch with the UK offering and had a touch more salt in it's sugar based flavours.

7.9 out of 10

Overall you will be able to clearly see from the scoring charts that I have rated the UK Mars Dark ahead of the Polish Mars Midnight. Although I would say that on whole these are two pretty good chocolate bars if you have read the above you will understand that I have scored one above the other for a fair few reasons. Firstly the size - simply put you get more bang for your buck with the UK bar and with it's denser more viscous nougat it made for a more fulfilling snack. Secondly I felt that the quality of the 'dark' chocolate was just a touch better with the Mars 'Dark' as it's flavours were just a little more forthcoming. Given the bargain price and 'limited edition' nature of these bars I would strongly suggest that you give them a try. With the dark chocolate being 'mass consumer friendly' i.e. weak they were never going to be quite as good as the original Mars but they were still very tasty chocolates. What these bars do make you wonder though is that if they were properly done with some fine quality dark chocolate - how good could they really be!?

October 11th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 18

### JIM's Corner & QOTW ###

Hi All,

Edition 18 already and Christmas in 10 weeks ... where does the time go!?

Exciting news this week is that I will soon be getting a sneak preview of Hotel Chocolat's Christmas stock, whilst I will also be publishing the answers to the questions that we all sent a few weeks ago very soon.

In other news the chaps at CandyPirate are going to be sending me the latest limited edition Snickers out in the US and more locally Montezuma's have sent across some of their latest new products.

Question of the week is going to have a bit of a cake bar spin on it, as in the coming week you will see me reviewing quite a few products from this section of the market:

'What is your favourite chocolate cake bar product?' ... for in inspiration I would check out the site later this week or simply look at the reviews I have done already (HERE)

Have a great week

JIM

The ChocolateMission Omnibus:

The week got off to a great start with me reviewing both the new caramel products from Cadbury & Mars. Although I thought the Galaxy Pieces were slightly the better product out of the two quite a few readers such as Lottie, Phil and George were a little alarmed by the high price. I say if milk chocolate and caramel are your thing then you should give them both a try. See HERE.

Despite Cadbury getting off to a good start this week they did offer up some more disappointing products in the form of the Cadbury Raisins (See HERE), Cadbury Duo (See HERE) and Cadbury Astros (See HERE). Although none of them were despairingly awful, when you have comments like 'You hit the nail on the head when you labelled them boring' you know that these were not only disappointing for myself.

More positively there were far better reviews for Kraft's Oreo Chocolate Creme (See HERE) and Lindt's Blueberry Yogurt (See HERE). Those of you who are wondering what has happened to Dean-German-Grocery I am afraid I still have no answer for you and I am still awaiting to hear back from them.

News from the Chocolate Market:

* Ferrero have launched a funky new website ... See HERE

* Cadbury is launching a new on-pack price promotion. 39p for all your favourites ... bargain ... See HERE

* Mars are now the sponsers of the England football team ... See HERE

* Galaxy probitoic drinks - chocolate drinks that are good for you, oh really ... See HERE

* Muller are bringing out a new limited edition white chocolate and raspberry yogurt ... See HERE

Posts from Other Blogs I enjoyed this week:

* CandyBlog - Cybele tried one of my favourite dark chocolates of the year the Lindt with a touch of Sea Salt ... See HERE

* Foodstufffinds - Cin found the legendary stuff that is Um Bongo ... See HERE

* GiGiReviews - Gi had be licking my computer screen reviewing another Dreyer's/Edy ice cream ... See HERE

* Chocablog - Deanna's review of the Reese's Whipps had me thinking of fond memories ... See HERE

October 10th: Cadbury Astros

Kcal 183 Fat 8.2 Fat(sats) 5.0g Carbs 26.6g (per pack)

I wont be surprised if many your initial reactions follow along the same lines of my own - 'I remember these!'. Indeed I remember having Cadbury Astros when I was younger but they are long gone from UK nowadays. Luckily for me though ChocolateMission reader Eric was kind enough to send me a load of goodies he tracked down on a trip into London recently. He said he found these in a Australian themed shop in Covent Garden - I will fill you in with the name of the shop when we finally pin it down. If you have never come across Cadbury Astros before they are described as 'candy and chocolate biscuit bites' - ahhh I could feel the nostalgia building up inside already!

These came in 38.0g box that contained several pea sized pieces inside. On the whole I thought that the presentation was really pretty good. Despite the outer cardboard being marked by an unfortunate permanent marker 'X' I still thought it looked rather cool and I liked the way the product was a nice size to carry around on the go. Inside the pieces were colourful in appearance and when bitten into had distinct layering between each of the three different layers of the sugar candy, chocolate and biscuit. Whereas I was impressed by the packaging I was little less enamoured by the sweet, sugary aroma of the product which wasn't particularly strong due to the lacking of an inner packet.

From the very first 'Astro' I placed in my mouth I had a huge sense of nostalgia sweep over me and they tasted exactly how I remembered them all those years ago. The outer candy shell provided a nice crisp texture to bite into though was nicely implemented quite thinly so it avoided the taste ever becoming too sugar based. Inside the chocolate was surprisingly strong in flavour and provided a sound set of milky, cocoa flavours to each and every piece. The inner biscuit was also nicely crunchy in texture and released a tasty malty influence into the taste when bitten into - think Maltesers but with slightly less of a honeycomb influence. What I liked so much about these was that they were a real joy to eat and I really enjoyed sucking away the outer shells and chocolate and then crunching on the exposed biscuit centre after. A whole packet certainly wasn't the most fulfilling snack I have ever had but at the end of the day they did a job tieing my hunger over until later that afternoon and were relatively satisfying.

Overall in a way I can understand why these aren't available here in the UK anymore but I that still doesn't make them a bad product - far from it in fact. Nowadays retailers are very pushed for shelf space to give to confectionery so there isn't always an argument to give room for unremarkable products like these. Personally I actually really like them and I loved reminiscing with the familiar candy, chocolate and biscuit centre combination that I used to love as I child. Whilst I very much enjoyed tasting these 'Astros' again. I am not entirely sure I would be reaching back for another packet all that soon, and that is where I think the main problem with these Astros lie. Looking at the packaging it says these are produced in South Africa so if you are UK based and what to get hold of some of these yourselves your best chance is probably trying the Internet. These were a nice little trip down memory lane but not one that left me really hoping that these would make a dead certain comeback.

7.9 out of 10

October 9th: Lindt Blueberry-Vanilla Yogurt

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

Just when you thought I had run out of Lindt flavoured yogurt bars to review I have been able to pull out yet one more (only one more after this one I promise!!) thanks to the never ending selection that was sent to me by my pals at Dean-German-Grocery. When I do these reviews I never know whether to keep the German name or translate it into English like I have done here!? Well this Lindt Joghurt Heidelbeer-Vanille bar came described as 'milk chocolate with a blueberry and vanilla flavoured yogurt creme'. Last time I checked blueberries were on the list of 'superfoods' though thinking back to my experience with the last superfood and chocolate combination this didn't mean this was going to make for a 'super chocolate' HERE.

You will see from the photo above that this was another yogurt filled chocolate from the 'pods' range and it came in a 100.0g size that was split into 24 individual pieces. Like I say with most Lindt products the packaging looked pretty sharp and I liked the used of the royal blue colour to communicate the type of fruit used. If you also look above to my cross-section photo you will be able to see that it looks disturbingly like the picture that is featured on the front of the packaging. Unlike the wrapper the inner creme was a darker in complexion (almost purple!) but I still thought it looked appetising with some flecks of fruit thrown in the mix for good measure. Smellwise this chocolate wasn't all that remarkable; out the packaging a nice chocolaty smell was established though it wasn't until the centre was revealed that a fruity scent could be detected.

If you have read my hundreds of reviews this summer of all the different yogurt filled bars you will have probably noticed that a lot of them have been white chocolate based. In my opinion Lindt made a good decision using white chocolate here as I don't think the mixture of white chocolate and blueberry would have worked quite as well. It wont surprise you to hear that the standard of the milk chocolate here was high. It established a nice cocoa based chocolaty taste in the mouth which was neither to strong or weak. The melt of the chocolate was thick and double cream like in texture which was fitting given the wonderful dairy flavours of the inner creme. After the tasty chocolate had melted away it revealed a cool feeling inner filling that started off very milky and vanilla based in terms of flavours though as it warmed in the mouth the blueberry fruit came to the party. What I especially liked about the blueberry element here was that it lacked any sort of artificalness which can often be the case with fruit flavoured chocolates. I found a fair and fulfilling serving of this chocolate was about six of the pod pieces at a time.

Overall due to me not being a huge fan of blueberries I wasn't expecting to like this product all that much but I have to conclude that this was a damn fine chocolate. I think a large reason as to why I liked it so much was largely down to the fact it did exactly what it said on the wrapper. There were no surprises with this chocolate, it just combined a fine tasting milk chocolate with creamy fruit flavoured centre. The usual sour tang that is present in most yogurt chocolates wasn't all that detectable here though I think was mainly down to the vanilla element which played a large part in the flavouring of the centre. As you can probably tell by now I am a huge proponent of the 'pods' format and I hope Lindt continue to use this with the endless amount of innovation they are pumping out at Lindt HQ. Coming from a guy who has had a huge amount of yogurt flavoured chocolates this year I wouldn't say this one you have to try but I would say it is at least on par with the rest. Certainly one for blueberry lovers.

8.3 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery and take a look at their wide range of German chocolates

October 8th: Cadbury Raisins

Kcal 400 Fat 14.4g Fat(sats) 8.6g Carbs 64.8g (per 100.0g)

Having not been inspired by the Cadbury Peanuts from this range I have hardly been in a rush to try these Cadbury Raisins, though when I saw them on half price in WH Smith this weekend for 65p a bag I thought I best buy them now. Although I quite enjoyed the Cadbury Clusters from this new pouch collection I felt the Cadbury Peanuts were a complete let down - the chocolate was all but non-existent and the peanuts were pretty bland and flavourless. Suffice to say I was really hoping for a far better showing from these Cadbury Raisins which came described as 'juicy, plump raisins in Cadbury milk chocolate'.

Rather like the peanuts these raisins came in a stupidly large 200.0g bag that if I am being honest I didn't even get half way through - I have too many other products to review!! As I have already commented on the rest of the products from the range, the outer packaging was altogether rather good and I thought the purple colour suited the type of product nicely and looked nice with the matted like finish. Inside the coated raisins looked far from glamorous, though I guess this was always going to be the case. Despite not being the most appetising things to look at, the raisins smelt more enticing and had a nice fruity, chocolaty aroma.

It wasn't going to be hard for these to taste better than the Cadbury Peanuts but without ever surpassing any great levels of quality these did just that. Unlike with the peanuts the milk chocolate had a greater say in the taste as the nature of the raisins meant that it was more natural to let the chocolate melt off in the mouth before chewing on the inner fruit. I have commented before that the chocolate used in this range isn't Dairy Milk which of course isn't ideal but it again was pleasant enough and had a nice sweet, milk based flavour set. After the dismal quality of the peanuts I was half expecting the same poor quality from these raisins however I was pleasantly surprised. The raisins seemed fresh and just as described were mostly quite juicy and provided some fine sugary, fruity flavours. A handful of these raisins was not the most fulfilling of snacks ever but it did a job of tieing over my hunger from mid afternoon until tea time.

Overall I think a work colleague of mine summed these up perfectly when he said 'they are nice, but aren't anything special'. Personally I think that conclusion was right on the money - these Cadbury Raisins were a fair enough snack, however there was nothing overly amazing or wonderful about them that left me thinking I must have them again. All in all these were really just fair standard chocolate covered raisins. Had they been coated in Cadbury's premier Dairy Milk chocolate recipe I may have thought a little more of them, though even that assumption might be pushing things a little ... after all they would still just be chocolate covered raisins. Unlike the Cadbury Peanuts there was nothing wrong here with the actual execution of the product - if anything I would say it was just the concept itself that was just a little lacklustre and dare I say it ... boring!? If you like chocolate coated raisins then these are well worth you looking at as they have actually been done quite well, with fresh tasting raisins. For the rest though there isn't too much to get excited about here - to coin a phrase they just do 'exactly what it says on the pouch'.

7.2 out of 10

October 7th: Oreo Chocolate Creme

Kcal 50 Fat 2.2g Fat(sats) 1.1g Carbs 7.2g (per cookie)

I don't think the Oreo brand is ever going to be as big here in the UK as it is in America but Kraft are slowly bringing different parts of their portfolio to our shores. The latest addition to our supermarket shelves are these Oreo Chocolate Creme which are being backed by TVC media support as well as some magazine prints which you may have seen doing the rounds recently. I am normally a little reticent to do biscuit/cookie reviews but I found these in my local Sainsbury's last week on a special introductory offer of 65p a pack - obviously no fool in their right mind was ever going to turn that down.

65p of my hard earned monies bought me a 176.0g box which contained four packs of four cookies. I have always rather liked the look of Oreo products and was pleased to see that the American style box art had been kept from the US version of the product. Although I think the white coloured filling of the original Oreos looks a little more iconic I still thought the dark coloured branded biscuit pieces looked nice with the light coloured brown filling that was sandwiched inside. Personally I would have preferred the biscuits to have been kept in packets of two as that was more than enough for one sitting, however this is a very minor complaint as I understand there are very firm packaging regulations nowadays.

As soon as I opened the foil packets a very familiar Oreo cookie smell revealed itself which brought back nostalgic memories of visits to America when I was younger. As the photo above shows you these cookies ticked one very important box for me and that was that the cookie pieces could be pulled apart with relative ease (just like the advert shows!!). Of course the only way to enjoy these was with a cool glass of milk which i duly obliged with each time I reached into the pack. The outer cookie pieces were nothing out of the ordinary with any other Oreo biscuit I have ever hard. They had a very distinct sugary, wheat taste that had a nice gritty, crunchy texture in the mouth which created a pleasant snap when bitten into. What was really on show here though was of course the chocolate creme and I am happy to say I thought it was very tasty indeed. Its flavours went that little bit further than the standard white Oreo creme and had more of a buttery element to its taste with a nice added hint of cocoa. One thing that was also noticeable was that it was slightly softer and lighter in texture which I thought was nicer as it added a nice bit of moistness. Personally I found two of these at a time a nice little snack with an afternoon tea though I have witnessed packs of these disappear in seconds when one has been opened in my work office recently.

Overall I have actually rated these higher than the original Oreo cookies however I wouldn't say they are quite up to scratch with my favourite Oreo biscuits of all time the Oreo Double Stuff Mint that I got from America last year. In my opinion the the chocolate creme at the centre of these cookies is just a little bit superior to the white coloured original creme. I thought that the flavours were just that little bit more forthcoming and liked the additional butter and cocoa elements to the taste which I think just made it a little more interesting. As always I like to base my ratings on whether I would buy a product again and if posed that exact question my answer would have to be a resounding yes. I hope Kraft keep on releasing more and more Oreo variants as I for one will keep on welcoming them if they are they continue to be this good.

8.0 out of 10

October 6th: Cadbury Dairy Milk Duo

Kcal 521 Fat 29.5g Fat(sats) 18.4g Carbs 57.2g (per 100.0g)

It has been a while since I have reviewed something from Australia so I thought I would put that right and delve back into the box of treats sent my way by Shopenzed. Today I decided to review the Cadbury Duo bar, which was described as 'Old Gold dark chocolate with Dairy Milk milk chocolate'. I am sure we used to have a product just like this one on our UK market shelves not all that long ago, but for now the land down under appears to be the only place it is in manufacture. Now I come to think of it, it is not all that often you actually see milk and dark chocolate used in the same product!? Off the top of my head I can't think of another mass produced offering that uses this combination.

This bar came in a 220.0g bar that was split up into 50 or so small sized chunks. What with there being so much I shared this with some friends who were more than happy to provide some second opinions which I will share later. Firstly though lets talk about the presentation - everyone agreed that both the both the outer packaging and inner chocolate looked aesthetically good and the inner product certainly caught the eye with its two tone chocolate colours. The product itself was protected by an inner foil wrapper which maintained both the look and smell of the chocolate nicely. It was noted by all that a pleasant sweet chocolaty smell made itself known once the foil was split, however it noticeably faded in strength after a few minutes to air.

As you probably predicted this was a tale of two chocolates - one very good one, and one exceedingly average. As the photo above displays the base of this chocolate was made up by the Old Gold dark chocolate which I personally thought was pretty lacklustre in terms of taste and texture. All that tried this chocolate felt that the melt of the Old Gold was slower and a little waxy when compared to the Dairy Milk which melted with great ease and a lovely thickness. In addition to not melting quite so well I also felt the Old Gold lacked telling flavours - it wasn't as if it tasted bad or anything, but its non descript unsweetened flavours were really shown up by the creamy Dairy Milk. Unfortunately out of the two the Old Gold actually made up a greater proportion of each block which meant that it took more chunk to deliver a chocolate flavour hit than just a plain Dairy Milk would have.

Overall on the whole I was left feeling a little disappointed by this chocolate and I was expecting something a little better. It is worth bearing in mind that Cadbury do set themselves very high standards but with a little more rational thinking this bar could have been made that bit better. In my opinion I think they should have made the base of this chocolate their premier chocolate (Dairy Milk), and then supplemented it with the Old Gold placed on top i.e. they should have swapped the chocolates round. This way I think the Dairy Milk would have had a greater say in the taste, whilst the Old Gold could of just provided a little twist of unsweetened cocoa. In conclusion, unless your an avid Cadbury fan I don't think there is any great urgency for you to rush out and buy this one as there are far superior Cadbury products on the market.

6.9 out of 10