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Somehow or other, Halloween seems to be creeping up on us all already, but hey we have probably all known that for a while now given that our supermarkets have been stocking Halloween products for the last two months :D Over the course of this time I have been trying out various Halloween Cake Bars that have been created by both Cadbury and McVitie's. As you will see from the wrappers I think the presentation points have to go to Cadbury for making slightly more of an effort than McVitie's this year. The Jaffa Cake bars were a little subdued with their Halloween efforts don't you think? Below are my thoughts on the Halloween offerings this year.
Cadbury Cake Bars Scary Orange
Kcal 120 Fat 4.7g Fat(sats) 2.7g Carbs 18.4g (per cake bar)'Golden sponge with a red coloured orange flavour topping, covered with milk chocolate'
Someone at Cadbury must have put in an excessive order on the red food colouring for Halloween, you will see what I mean in the coming days - literally everything they are making this year contains the stuff!
This needn't be a long review as I pretty much said all I had to say about this particular product in my review of the Cadbury Jaffa Cake Bars back in January (See HERE). What with the market and 99%.0 of consumers already satisfied when it comes to Jaffa Cakes thanks to McVitie's, I personally think Cadbury needn't aswell bother. To be frank, the addition of the red food colouring did little change to my mind whatsoever from what I wrote in January. Compared to the unsweetened chocolate coating you get on the McVitie's Jaffa Cake Bars, the sweeter tasting milk chocolate simply didn't work as well. The orange flavoured filling was decent enough, but even that lacked the zingy, citrus flavour impact you get from the aforementioned competitor. Unless you really hate 'dark' chocolate I see little reason to buy these.
7.0 out of 10
McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Lemon & Slime Cake Bars
Kcal 95 Fat 3.5g Fat(sats) 1.8g Carbs 15.0g (per cake bar)'Dark crackly chocolate and light sponge with a lemon and lime centre'
This time last year I remember posting a news link on '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' announcing the launch of these McVitie's Jaffa Cake Lemon & Slime bars. Unfortunately I never actually came across them in the shops, thus I never got the chance to give them a try. This year I'm glad to say I managed to track them down in Sainsbury's amongst all the other Halloween cakes.
Despite my failure in 2009 to try these, you may remember my review of the McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Lemon Cake Bars which I posted just a few months back in June (See HERE). In that review I made the controversial call that I liked the lemon filling better than the original Jaffa orange - believe me I copped it a bit from readers for having that opinion haha!. The lemon and lime flavoured filling here was very similar in terms of taste, though there was just an extra sharpness coming through from the lime which made them ever so slightly more acidic compared to the solus lemon bars. As I did with the previous I thought this fruity filling was very well balanced with the chocolate and the light sponge, it's such a shame that McVitie's don't make these lemon varieties a permanent part of their line up. Please note these are 'limited edition' again so be sure to grab some if you fancy trying them - if you like Jaffa Cakes I advise you do!
7.6 out of 10
Cadbury Trick or Treat Mini Rolls Blackcurrant & Vanilla
Kcal 125 Fat 5.5g Fat(sats) 2.8g Carbs 17.7g'Golden sponge with blackcurrant jam and a vanilla flavour filling, covered with milk chocolate'.
If we were dishing out scored based on longest names ever then these Cadbury Trick or Treat Mini Rolls Blackcurrant & Vanilla would certainly give a lot of products a run for their money. I have to hold my hands up here, I really don't like jam of any sort and would never crucify a fine bit of toast by having that instead of my beloved marmite. When it comes to cakes I always find jam can make them taste to sweet for my own liking - this is probably why I have never bothered reviewing the original strawberry jam variant of Cadbury Mini Rolls.
Why did I review these then? Well truth be told I needed a third product to make up the numbers for this post - but boy am I glad I did buy them. Without doubt these are the nicest Cadbury Mini Rolls I think I have ever tried - in my opinion even better than the originals. I needn't remark about the chocolate or the sponge, you will all know the sweet milky cocoa treat they serve up. It was the combination of the genuine and real red berries flavours of the blackcurrant filling (which reminded me a lot of Ribena!) and the creamy vanilla centre that really made these special. Neither were too sweet or overly dominant in the taste, they were just nicely balanced and very surprisingly fresh tasting for a mass produced product. I liked these so much I've bought another pack already - easily the best out of the cake bar selection for this years Halloween.
8.2 out of 10
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39 comments:
Thank you for another great read on a Monday Morning!
In contrast to you, I like all things jam and the mini rolls do sound nice, as blackcurrent usually works well with sweeter flavours.
Btw. Lidl has the Lemon and Slime bars (and also cake versions)on offer at the moment. Not sure if they are cheaper there than elsewhere though.
Cool post Jim. I loaded my house up with some of those screme eggs that cadbury have made for halloween. They are exactly the same as normal creme eggs but they don't look as cool I don't think. You will review them right?
Mmmm yummy I really want to try the Jaffa Cakes lemon and lime ones. I'm sure it will just be one of those things that I try once and end up thinking that the originals are better, but still it would be interesting to try them to see how the match up. Thanks for the post.
Rxxx
I saw these all being sold for £1 in sainsburys at the weekend so I bought some of the cadburys orange and toffee flavoured ones. We are yet to open the orange ones but the toffee flavoured I thought were really disappointing.
I think the filling tastes really fake and not toffee like at all. It tastes just like burnt sugar.
Here I was thinking you dont like Halloween Jim! Great post thank you ever so much for doing it.
I don't like fruit but if I was forced to try one it would the orange cadbury cake. I think Jaffa cakes are ok so it would be a nice face off between the two.
Why have you never reviewed the jam flavoured mini rolls? Jim this is a glaring error! They are so much better than just the plain ol' original ones.
Take this as a request you do so please ;)
I love the Bits and Bobs reviews Jim :). I think that is the first Cadbury Mini Roll I have ever seen that has plain cake in the middle. All the rest of them normally have chocolate flavoured cake. I bet you didn't know that observation did ya lol.
I don't fancy the jaffa cake lime cakes at all. I think they would be too sour for me.
Dx
Nom nom nom cake in my tummy. Im going to have to buy some halloween cakes now.
I dunno if this is just me but I tend to think all these cakes things taste remarkably the same.
They keep coming out with endless types of different ones but honestly I can never tell there is that much difference between the majority of them.
Lol I haven't even thought about Halloween this year, I really can't be bothered with it.
If I see some of these on sale I will give them a go (blackcurrant sound lush!!!!) They aren't the sort of thing I would go out of my way to buy or make a special trip to the shops to get etc.
Top pictures btw Jim.
I don't often have cakes like these ones because I think the cake parts taste really fake and sweet. I think they must be packed with loads of preservatives and odd stuff to make their shelf lives longer. I just don't enjoy them I'm afraid. That doesn't mean I did enjoy looking at these reviews though lol :P
Lol Jim shall I just not mention the football this weekend? I saw you have taken the mick out of my predictions already mate.
I would be happy eating any of these. I have the odd mini roll from time to time, but normally we just buy stuff like kit kats or twix fingers if we get stuff like this in from the supermarket.
Halloween is so gimmicky they would stick anything out there wouldn't they.
I can rate both the cake bars because we bought them a few weeks ago when they came out.
Me and my sister thought the orange ones were a pale imitation of the jaffa cakes version.
The lime and lemon jaffas we thought aren't as good as the original orange cakes but they are a worthy competitor. I would happily eat them again if we bought them, it's a shame they are limited edition if you report correctly.
According to the price comparator websites Sainsburys are doing these all for £1 a pack and Tesco are doing 'buy one get one free'. Lol I think I'm off to tesco to load up on mini rolls.
God give us a break. 'scary orange' and 'slime and lemon' lol they both say it all.
How much time do you think they put in to making those names up? Lol Cadbury didn't even bother making a stupid name for those mini rolls. All they did was stick the word trick or treat infront and wolah they had a Halloween themed product. It's pretty pathetic when you think about it.
@ David where did you buy the Screme Eggs? I want to get a couple of them for my brother in Germany (just for teh fund of it *g*) but have not managed to find them yet!
Oooh how interesting. I don't like the jam mini rolls but I do love blackcurrant squash so I might like those cakes.
One thing I have never liked is lime so I think I will be leaving those jaffas well alone. You wouldn't ever beat normal jaffa cakes ...cakes lol anyway so I don't see the point in them.
Thank you for the reviews Jim.
It was the combination of the genuine and real red berries flavours of the blackcurrant filling (which reminded me a lot of Ribena!)
Ribena = amazingess. Must try these now.
As you will see from the wrappers I think the presentation points have to go to Cadbury for making slightly more of an effort than McVitie's this year
Defo. Mcvities didnt even bother to make theirs look pretty.
I never bother trying to keep up with the flavours they make for all these cakes. It would be impossible for any normal person to keep up with them all.
I'm more interested in what cadburys make with their chocolate. I've always said that if they made as many new chocolate bars as they did cakes it would be so much better.
I think this is really cheeky of cadburys because both of those things aren't new at all. I swear they have sold both of those in normal wrappers before. It looks like they just put silly names on them and some halloween names.
God I'm really in the mood for cake now. I knew I shouldn't have looked in here this morning :-)
If I was given the chance to try them I think my favourites would be the orange cake bars. I have tried jaffa cake copies from cadburys before and they haven't been that bad. The only reason I don't like normal jaffa cakes that much is because of the crappy chocolate they insist on using.
Oh no you have picked my one real vice to write about three times lol this isn't going to do my diet willpower any good.
Cadbury mini rolls are one of my favouritest things in the world. The originals are amazing but the jammy ones are the best. Can I also request you review the strawberry ones please.
Please review screme eggs and dead heads please. They are both new this year.
Some of these of these companies will do anything to make a quick buck wont they. These flavours aren't anything to do with Halloween at all when you think about them.
Where are the pumpkin pie flavours? All these are just a cheap cash in.
Brill photos Jim. I think in all likelyhood you have made these look about ten times nicer than they actually taste lol.
I really do fancy the mini roll you have on today. Blackcurrant jam is my all time fave.
@Daisy actually the normal jam ones have the vanilla cake also.
@Mark I think you are correct they do seem to put little or no effort in to these things it is a little sad.
If I knew you were going to be writing about cakes today I wouldn't have looked lol. There is nothing better than a spot of tea and cake to greet in the week. I will have to buy some of the lime jaffa cakes if I can find them. Waitrose can be a bit rubbish for this sort of thing though.
Thanks for another great BnBs review. I'm not really a mini cake person but that Cadbury Blackcurrant and vanilla one sounds lovely, I might give it a try. I don't really buy into Halloween but overall, I'm impressed with Cadbury this Halloween as they seem to be coming up with some different ideas instead of relying on churning out the same, safe products. I've tried the screme egg but will need to remember and buy the Deadheads.
I've seen all these on offer in Sainsbury's, I was very tempted lol interesting out of the three Cadburty varieties, all the Cinder Toffee ones disappeared leaving the orange cake bars and blackcurrant mini rolls. I thought that quite odd lol. The lemon and slime doesnt appeal that much but the cadvury ones do. I agree about the wrappers, theyve done a great job on the Cadbury ones havent they.
@Ryan it's highly unlikely any manufacturer in the UK would produce anything flavoured like pumpkin pie.. thats a very US thing really. I cant see Pumpkin Pie jaffa cake or mini roll really taking off! :P
The US is so lacking in the blackcurrant department. That last variety looks and soudns really good.
Review the strawberry ones you will think they are better I swear.
Argh, I just tried to post a comment but it got lost.
Anyway, great review Jim I'm hungry for cake now :)
But I agree with Will, they're just using fancy packaging to market something that isn't really new. The lemon and slime in particular is really pushing it. I prefer actual seasonal flavours such as toffee apple. Sadly it seems the british public don't like true innovation :(
Hi All,
Well its good to see that you guys are appreciating the effort I am putting in to my Halloween coverage this year. I did get a few e-mails last year complaining that the amount of products I covered was poor so I'm looking to go better this year ...
Anne / Golden / Richard - Re:'Lidl has the Lemon and Slime bars (and also cake versions)on offer at the moment.' & 'I saw these all being sold for £1 in sainsburys at the weekend' & 'According to the price comparator websites Sainsburys are doing these all for £1 a pack and Tesco are doing 'buy one get one free'.'
Thanks for sharing that with us anne / golden. I get countless e-mails a day from people asking where they can buy these products. It always helps when people chime in with where they find them.
David - Re: Cadbury Screme Eggs
I'm not having any luck finding them I'm afraid. I will do my best but I can't promise anything.
Steven / Alicia / Mysterio - Re: Jam flavoured Mini Rolls'
It sounds like you guys think I need to expand my Mini Rolls horizons. Let me see what I can do in the coming weeks. A Cadbury mini roll superpost might be in order.
Justin / Andy - Re:'Top pictures btw Jim'
Really? I took these all with my worse camera!
Nigel - R e:'Lol Jim shall I just not mention the football this weekend?
It's probably best you do that chap. If we could avoid the topic of our top striker not signing a new contract aswell that would help haha!
Mark / Will - Re:'How much time do you think they put in to making those names up?'
They are a bit on cheesey side aren't they. To be honest I could care less about the names and more care about the products within. Halloween itself is just one big gimmick in my opinion.
Paul - Re:'I'm more interested in what cadburys make with their chocolate. I've always said that if they made as many new chocolate bars as they did cakes it would be so much better'
You have to remember that very different parts of the business run things on a day-to-day basis so I wouldn't have though what one does effects the others that much. To be honest theres been loads of innovation from Cadbury chocolate anyway this year - I wouldn't of wanted to see anymore.
Peter - Re:'I have tried jaffa cake copies from cadburys before and they haven't been that bad.'
Really? I didn't think they were a patch on the originals myself. It's good to see they got delisted from Tesco :D I didn't like Cadbury encroaching on McVitie's space there.
Anon - Re:'Please review screme eggs and dead heads please. They are both new this year.'
Dead Heads coming this week. Screme Eggs I'm having difficulty in finding.
Ryan / Alan - Re:'Where are the pumpkin pie flavours?'
I agree with Alan on this one. Pumpkin isn't something I would think the average UK consumer would go for, I think they chose quite wisely with the flavours myself. It would be interesting to try a pumpking pie flavoured cake but I honestly don't think it would be something kids would buy in to.
Ria - Re:' I've tried the screme egg
Where did you buy it from?
Phil - Re:'Toffee Apple'
Now you come to mention it I'm a little surprised this wasn't an avenue they went down. It would have made sense for at least on of the products they made to have been toffee apple flavoured. I guess they nearly went there with the Cinder Toffee. I hope you got your fill of cake now I got you interested haha!
Thanks for the comments today everyone. If anyone can suggest some places to buy the Screme Eggs that would be much appreciated. I can't wait until all this Halloween stuff goes away. We can then focus on the real holidays like Christmas then haha!
JIM
Camera doesn't always matter :P I also think today's pictures look great :)
The fillings sound really nice. I like the vanilla & blackcurrant combination. And I like anything citrus even more :D
Jim, I picked up my Screme Egg in Asda. I was surprised that there was no real advertising in store and there wasn't a huge display with them. They were just in their boxes that must hold about 50 of them at the end of the check-out. Nearly didn't spot them. If you still have trouble, I could always send you one.
I couldn't find screme eggs instore anywhere either...don't know if this helps but: http://www.socialshopping.com/Asda/promotions/Cadbury-Screme-Eggs-available-at-ASDA-Groceries-201010130196/
@Ryan that's funny I just had the same discussion with 2 friends today, trying to decide how to use their Halloween pumpkin leftovers. They screwed up their faces at my suggestion of pie lol, and they are even American, one added it is simply not a British flavor. Maybe it's one of those acquired tastes...like Marmite? :D
Re Lidl has the lemon and Slime Bars
Checked price again today, definitely less than £1, was either 89 or 69!
I bought a pack of the Blackcurrant mini Rolls - theyre gorgeous! They do taste exactly like Ribena don't they! I also think they are easily the best Mini roll flavour about! Cadbury should introduce this as a permanent flavour!
Ana - Thanks Ana. I do try my best with the photos each day.
Ria / Thea - Doh I was hoping you weren't going to say Asda. I don't have one anywhere near me. How incredibly annoying.
Anne - Now that is a bargain! I would buy yourself a few packs at that price. They will be gone before we know it.
Alan - Great news. It's always good to hear that a product I recommend is enjoyed. The ribena taste is undeniable. I will be buying myself another pack before they get rid of them.
Thanks guys/gals
JIM
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