July 26th: Cadbury Bar of Plenty Honey Flakes & Caramelised Pecans

Kcal 515 Fat 27.6g Fat(sats) 16.0g Carbs 59.2g (per 100.0g)

Back at the start of 2010 Cadbury announced the launch of their new Bar of Plenty range, and of course I was straight on the case reviewing all three flavours for the site. If you wish to remind yourselves of what I thought of those bars take a look HERE, but to cut the long story short my order of preference (best-to-worst) was the Hazelnut & Cashew, then the Berry & Shortcake and then lastly the Toffee Apple. Back in then February I was lucky enough to review those bars before they hit the marketplace thanks to a PR agency distributing samples on behalf of Cadbury. Last week that very same PR agency contacted me again offering me the opportunity to try a new special 'Charity Pack' flavour that Cadbury are releasing in the coming weeks, this Honey Flakes & Caramelised Pecan bar.

This bar came in the standard 'Bar of Plenty' size and weighed in at 140.0g. This 'Charity Pack' is being distributed solely in Morrisons supermarkets here in the UK, and for every pack bought Cadbury will be donating 10p to a charity called 'Help the Hospices'. A small criticism I have about the wrapper is that very similar aesthetically to the Hazelnut & Cashew variant, which also happens to use of a orangey/yellow secondary colour. Looking at it from a more positive perspective, a few work colleagues who I shared the bar with did pick up on the 'Charity Pack' logo on the front so I guess there is evidence that Cadbury have done a good job raising awareness for the charity. Inside the chocolate was blocked in the usual Cadbury size, and looked relatively attractive with the cornflakes especially visible throughout.

One thing you can always rely on with any Cadbury product is that you are going to be treated to some glorious aromas whenever you open one of their chocolate bars. The smell of Cadbury never fails to put a smile on my face, and this bar did so once again with it's delightfully poignant scents. Rather than waste time describing the taste of Dairy Milk for the hundredth time, allow me to just quickly inform you that it delivered the usual creamy sweet cocoa flavours within it's unique smooth melting thick texture. What was of more interest to me, and I'm guessing to all of you lot, were what the inner cornflake and pecan elements were going to bring to the party. I have to admit that to my surprise it was the cornflakes that had the better cut through in the taste, with the cereal flavours coming through strongly when munched on once the surrounding chocolate had melted away. The cereal flakes benefited hugely by the glazing of honey that lined each piece, as the sweet floral flavours made them far most distinctive flavour wise than they would of been had they just been plain. To my disappointment the caramelised pecans generally failed to materialise in the taste - no doubt this was largely down to the fact that the nut pieces were so small in size they were barely detectable either visibly or in the mouth. Despite the lack of input from the pecans, this still felt like a reasonably satisfying and enjoyable chocolate. The bar I opened in the office disappeared within a matter of minutes which is always a good sign.

Overall this Honey Flakes & Caramelised Pecans proved itself to be a welcome, yet unspectacular addition to the Cadbury Bar of Plenty range. With Cadbury you can always feel safe in the knowledge that you are going to get decent tasting milk chocolate, but one thing you aren't always assured of is the quality of the filling that goes along with it. Hopefully you will have been able to interpret from my ramblings above that cereal element of this bar was implemented pretty superbly, with the honey coated cornflakes having a very favourable impact on the overall taste. The pecan element on the other hand was not done quite so well, as they lacked presence in both flavour and texture due to their small sized nature. Luckily the absence of the pecans didn't particularly hinder my enjoyment of the product overall, it was more just a matter of disappointment that this chocolate had the potential to be even tastier than it was. If I was to slot this in my order of preference of the Cabdury Bar of Plenty range, I would place it above the Toffee Apple, Berry & Shortcake flavours, but not quite up there with the Hazelnut & Cashew bar. Those of you who are fans of the Ritter Sport Cornflakes will no doubt get a lot of enjoyment from this bar if you like Cadbury chocolate. At the same time you can feel good knowing that some of the proceeds are going to a good cause.

8.2 out of 10