December 11/12th: Heavenly Cakes Midnight Mint

Kcal Plenty Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs Loads :D :D :D

The recent freezing weather conditions and Royal Mail may have delayed this review for a week or so, but boy I can tell you it was worth the wait! Replacing '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' this week I have the pleasure of bringing you another review of my favourite homemade cakes merchant - Heavenly Cakes. Before I launch in to telling you how wonderful their latest cake was :D I should probably make mention of the special discount that all ChocolateMission readers can use on the Heavenly Cakes website. Indeed it's Christmas time and Heavenly Cakes are in the giving mood!! If you enter the code 'JCM001' at the checkout stage of the order system, you automatically qualify for a 10% discount - nifty huh!?

Luckily for me Heavenly haven't just been in the giving mood in regards to some discounts for you lot :D They have recently sent me a whole batch load of their latest cake creations, one of which was this Midnight Mint cake that they have created especially for Christmas 2010. Essentially this cake constituted of a milk chocolate brownie base, topped with a layer of mint fondant and Belgian dark chocolate. The beady eyed ChocolateMission readers will also have noticed the sprinkling of icing sugar sat on top of the cake - it's funny how this simple addition can make any cake look Christmassy isn't it :D

This beastly single serving cake came in the usual cellophane packet with all the standard blurb nicely printed on the pink coloured label. Being in the Christmas sharing mood, and being full well in the knowledge this wasn't going to be a cake I could handle alone, I acquired the services of a fellow taste tester in my office. Looking at the cake it looked spectacular, but I had immediate concerns that the overflowing amount of fondant could potentially send me in to a sugar coma within a few mouthfuls. Taking my first bite in to the cake, the textural differences between the soft brownie, smooth fondant and dense crisp chocolate layers were the first thing brought to my attention - it simply felt amazing. At the base of each bite, the crumbly brownie was delicious and generated buttery chocolate flavours that stayed throughout the experience. The mint fondant layer obviously didn't hang around in establishing itself on the taste either. Thankfully, the injection of sweet mint was more passive than I expected - this wasn't a conventional fondant where the sugar hit became fast insufferable. The peppermint flavours were finely tuned and were delivered in a manner which allowed greater expression of the chocolate constituents. Speaking of which, the dark chocolate on top was equally well balanced. For my tastes it could have been a touch stronger, however the unsweetened, roasted cocoa flavours supplied were more than sufficient at finishing off what was a devilishly rich, chocolate and mint indulgence.

Overall this Heavenly Cakes Midnight Mint has been without doubt the best Christmas themed cake I have tried this year. Despite initial fears that Heavenly's willingness to take usual amounts of fillings and applying them by the power of ten may backfire on them with the mint fondant, I was proven totally wrong. The mint fondant was frankly implemented expertly - neither too sugary or lacking in peppermint prowess. This combined with the amazing quality of the fresh chocolate brownie and tasty Belgian dark chocolate placed on top, made for what was a cake of pure luxury. It seems horrendously corny to use this phrase on a Heavenly Cakes review, but I guarantee that this would be literally 'Heaven' for any fan of minty dark chocolates. For those of you wondering, both myself and my fellow taster polished off our half slices easily with both of us left feeling a great deal of satisfaction. Unfortunately for me I'm not going to be able to look at a mint flavoured cake bar from the likes of Cadbury the same ever again. The bar has just been raised to high by another superb Heavenly Cakes offering.

9.0 out of 10

December 10th: 'Bits n Bobs' Japanese Biscuit Sticks Superpost

My second 'Bits n Bobs' review this week features another three products sent to me by my friends at J-List. Indeed today we have a superpost battle between three of Japan's most renowned biscuit stick brands - Pocky, Toppo and the all new Picola from Nabisco.

These sort of products are the most commonly asked for when it comes to reader requests, so I asked my pal Pete at J-list if he would send me a variety of the most popular flavours they are selling at the moment. As ever I with 'Bits n Bobs' posts I will try keep the words short and let the photographs and scoring charts do most of the informing. Your thoughts are always very welcome.

Glico Pocky Caramel Milk
Kcal 165 Fat 8.1g Carbs 21.0g (32.0g pack)

I thought it best I start off with the originators of the biscuit stick format - Glico's Pocky. A few months ago I did a pretty thorough Pocky Superpost looking at the tablestake flavours in the range (See HERE). At that time one of the flavours I wasn't able to get hold of were these Pocky Caramel Milk, which are another of the common bestsellers on J-List.

These Pocky came in a 32.0g single pack and were attractive both aesthetically and sensually registering a pleasant set of toffee and biscuit smells. When it came to the taste the caramel element wasn't the strongest influence ever, but there were minor suggestions of burnt sugar detectable amongst the predominantly sweet dairy focused white chocolate flavours. The thin shortbread sticks were as ever a good match for the coating, and as annoyingly moreish as ever. It was more of the same from Pocky here - great taste, but frustratingly unfulfilling.

8.0 out of 10


Nabisco Picola Green Tea
Kcal 141 Fat 5.1g Carbs 22.2g (29.4g pack)

I'm not 100.0% sure as to whether these are a totally new product from Nabisco, or just a product that J-List have started stocking in the last few weeks!? Suffice to say since they started appearing on the J-List website several readers have been in contact asking me to review these Nabisco Picola. Today I got the chance to sample their Green Tea flavour, which came in two packs containing 6 wafer pieces in each.

Had you told me I would be reviewing a green tea flavoured chocolate product a year ago I probably would have been shocked, but having eaten my fair share this year I'm almost starting to see it as a norm. Compared to Pocky, Picola are more of a European offering in that they comprise of wafer exteriors with flavoured inner coatings. Aesthetically they didn't look as impressive with the fillings hidden from eye, but when it came to the taste they were just as decent. Fundamentally they suffered from being every bit as unsubstantial, though the wafers were just as moreish with biscuity, honeycomb noted flavours. The inner coating was similarly delicious, and had creamy sweetness that took the partial bitterness off the herby, grassy flavours of the green tea. These were very nice and one of the better green tea flavoured products I have reviewed. I would recommend them as a decent alternative for Pocky lovers.

7.5 out of 10


Lotte Toppo Winter White Chocolate
Kcal 232 Fat 13.7g Carbs 24.8g (42.0g Pack)

You will have seen in my previous Toppo reviews that I have enjoyed other offerings from this brand before, so it was with great excitement that I received this Winter White Chocolate variant. As you can see from the package size (2 x 42.0g packs) and nutritional information, Toppo are a more indulgent, substantial biscuit stick product. The packaging and presentation did a good job of substantiating this with some attractive and tempting on-pack visuals and smells emanating from the packets upon their opening.

In terms of size, Toppo are longer and far thicker than Pocky sticks. The bamboo look alike biscuit outer portions were consistent from previous experiences in that they were buttery and brown sugar noted in taste - very nice. I was somewhat wary that the pairing of them with a sweet white chocolate filling might not work out, but I was pleased to find that the centre portion of the biscuits were more notable for their double cream, evaporated milk like taste than their sugar centric flavours. A single pack was vastly more fulfilling than the other two options showcased today, though this was always going to be the case given the size and weighting of each pack. Out of all three it would be the product I would recommend the most - where do you think your preferences would lie?

8.3 out of 10

December 9th: Hotel Chocolat Yule Log Dark & Fruity

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

The number of shopping days left until Christmas are starting to dwindle so expect a bombardment of Hotel Chocolat reviews over the next week or so. This time last year, Hotel Chocolat debuted a new format of product in the form of their Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Log. That pistachio based gianduja chocolate registered and impressive 8.6 out of 10 on the ChocolateMission rating system, and earned itself the glowing praise: 'the 72% recipe was once again outstanding with it's finely balanced cocoa rich taste wonderfully complimented by the superb hazelnut paste and chopped nut ingredients ... I would certainly recommend you take a look at grabbing one of these this Christmas'. This year, the format of the product is back - though Hotel Chocolat have seen fit to release three different varieties. Today I tried the Dark & Fruity offering.

This Hotel Chocolate Yule Log Dark & Fruity came described as 'gianduja praline with orange, cranberry and morello cherry pieces', and came in a plentiful 190.0g log shape. Compared to last years, the packaging and presentation had it's positive and negatives. On the bad side, the log no longer came in a smart looking box, and was rather just contained within a plastic sheath and clear cellophane packet. On the more positive side of things, the log looked altogether more tempting, with the fruit pieces clearly evident spread throughout.

Unsealing the plastic packet, I was immediately greeted by a waft of nutty, fruity chocolate scents. These smells turned out to be highly indicative of the taste of the taste to follow, which was equally bursting at the seams full of different flavours. The method for eating one of these logs was simple - grab a dark coffee, a knife, a napkin (messy stuff to eat I tell you!) and slice away. Although the fruit content was pretty well dispersed, the fruitier looking sections were the first to be cut in to when it came to sharing amongst my family. When it came to getting their feedback on the taste, I was met with whole hearted approval all round, and unsuprisingly I totally agreed with them! For my taste the chocolate could have been a touch stronger, but it was still packed full of delicious cocoa and hazelnut flavours that grew with intensity as the soft gianduja mouth feel was created once heated in the mouth. The fruit constituents were similarly well implemented, with the candied orange pieces and morello cherries really standing out in the bites were present with their juicey sweet fruity flavours. The delivery of the sweet fruit and savoury nut experience was absolutely top notch, and made for a rich tasting chocolate that left a serious impression in the mouth for a long time after.

Overall when a product is met with such wide spread recognition for being totally delicious I can do little but award it a score that is as worthy as 8.6 out of 10. The size of this Yule Log Dark & Fruity was pretty big (190.0g) yet it only managed to survive a day in a household of four as we all couldn't resist slicing off a piece everytime we passed it on kitchen sideboard. Fundamentally it just tasted great - the gianduja was both luxuriously nutty and sinfully chocolatey, whilst all the added fruits brought an extra flavour dimension with their fresh tasting, sweet appeal. Compared to the Christmas Log last year I would have liked to have retained the pistachio nuts as well, but those looking for a nuttier alternative could always check out the Yule Log Nutty. Just like I did last year, I have no problems whatsoever recommending this to anyone that fancies it. I can promise you if you like your praline/gianduja chocolates that you wont regret it.

8.6 out of 10

Have you done your Hotel Chocolat Christmas Shopping yet?
Dont Miss Out - SEE HERE

December 8th: 'Bits n Bobs' Christmas Cake Bar Special # 2

Last weeks 'Bits n Bobs' Christmas Cake Bar special drummed up so much interest from you lot, I this week decided to take a look at some more of the festive market offerings. If like me you aren't the biggest fan of mince pies, then I'm sure you will agree that all these different seasonal cakes are a welcome addition to our supermarket shelves. I don't know what you all think, but this year in particular there seem to be a load more limited editions this year - with likes of Mr Kipling, McVities and Burtons all throwing out seasonal flavours.

Today in 'Bits n Bobs' we touch upon offerings from Cadbury, McVitie's and good old Mr Kipling. Given I am reviewing so many today I will keep the words light, but wont skimp on the pictures :D As ever all your thoughts are very welcome - I wouldn't expect anything less than all your candid views :D

Mr Kipling Frosty Fancies
Kcal 106 Fat 2.7g Fat(sats) 1.2g Carbs 19.5g (per cake)
'Golden sponge with a vanilla flavoured topping, covered in fondant icing'

I found these on sale in my local Tesco marked on a £1.00 'special offer', which bought me eight individual cakes. My British readership will be aware that these Frosty Fancies are a variation on the iconic 'Frech Fancy' (familiarise yourself HERE), which is a cake that has been made by Mr Kipling since the dawn of time.

Suffice to say the presentation was suitable, yet lacking any real imagination, and the taste panel said they thought the cakes looked 'boring' and 'plain' compared to the original brightly coloured varieties. Taste wise the cakes weren't differentiated from the originals in any manner aside from the small portioning of vanilla topping versus the traditional buttercream. Experts told me (I don't ever eat the originals myself!), that the vanilla cream was superior as it was more flavoursome and less sweet. I would have perhaps been able to appreciate this myself had it not been for the near throat burning sensation caused by the icing and ever so sugary inner cake. These were fine, but certainly not a 'must-try'.

6.3 out of 10




McVitie's Penguin Yule Logs
Kcal 110 Fat 5.5g Fat(sats) 2.7g Carbs 10.2g (per mini roll)
'Chocolate sponge logs with a creamy filling'

If you thought my bargain hunting skills were being pushed to the max finding all these £1.00 deals then you are all going to be super impressed to hear that I found these on a £1.00 BOGOF offer! Indeed, just one single British pound got me twelve of these Penguin Mini Rolls. These were first introduced last year for Christmas 2009 - See HERE.

Wrappers aside these mini rolls looked absolutely identical to the Cadbury Mini Rolls, with the white icnoic filling peeking out of the swirled sponge layers. To make things interesting I did attempt to pass these off as Cadbury Mini Rolls with some work colleagues who I conducted a blind taste test with (I removed the wrappers!). Within a group of six, two of them remarked upon the fact that the outer chocolate wasn't Cadbury chocolate, and they said that they didn't think they were as nice. The other four were probably just being polite, as I similarly thought the more generic sweet milk chocolate made these a little less superior to the immediate Cadbury alternatives. Nothing horrible but stick with the Cadbury ones. Another point - where was the traditional dusting of icing sugar to create the traditional snow 'Yule' effect?

6.6 out of 10




McVitie's Galaxy Mistletoe Kisses Cake Bars
Kcal 147 Fat 7.9g Fat(sats) 4.1g Carbs 13.5g (per cake bar)
'Chocolate cake bar, with chocolate sponge, chocolate cream and caramel, covered with Galaxy chocolate'

Whilst the above Penguin Yule Logs were available last year, these Galaxy Mistletoe Kisses Cake Bars are a new 'innovation for 2010' from McVitie's. Price aligned with the rest of the market £1.00 bought me a pack of five of these - note these were biggest sized cake bars I have reviewed for a long while (each weighing 31.0g!).

Propositionally these were a simple cross breed between the Galaxy Mistletoe Kisses bar, and the normal Galaxy original/caramel cake bars - what on earth was there ever going to be here not to like? Well I'm pleased to say nothing at all. The taste panel loved these cakes, and there were several positive remarks about the extra chocolatey caramel moistening the sponge layer expertly. The outer chocolate was crisp to the bite and delivered the creamy sweet Galaxy experience that was expected with it's delightfully soft melting mouth feel. For a cheap Christmas themed cake offering I would recommend these.

8.1 out of 10



Cadbury Festive Cakes with Flakes
Kcal 120 Fat 6.1g Fat(sats) 3.1g Carbs 10.2g (per cake)
'Golden sponge with a layer of white chocolate cream, covered in Cadbury chocolate, dusted with icing sugar and topped with a Cadbury Flake'

Shock horror I had to pay a little more than £1.00 to buy these and ended up forking out a whole £3.00 for a two pack multi-buy deal. I don't think even Cadbury can claim these are a new 'innovation' for 2010 - I've even seen very similar cakes (minus the icing sugar) appear during Easter time down the years.

Before eating these I was little concerned that they were going to be more of the same in regards to the Cadbury Snow Star Cakes (See HERE), which were by all means pretty poor. Luckily my taste panel and I were in agreement that these Flake Cakes were superior to those last lot of Cadbury cakes I shared with them. The main reasons cited for the perceived superiority were the thicker exterior milk chocolate, the Flake piece and more subtle white chocolate filling. My own opinion was indeed that these were better, but they were still not as good as the likes of the Galaxy Mistletoe alternative above. Flake fans might think they are more than worth a look at.

7.3 out of 10

December 7th: Kit Kat European Cheese Mini

Kcal 25 Fat 1.5g Carbs 2.8g

As soon as this appeared in the J-List top selling snacks widget in my sidebar, the review requests came flooding in to my inbox. I have tried several of odd flavoured Kit Kats in the past - everything from Green Tea, to Sweet Potato etc, but this one I tried today really took the biscuit (awesome pun there haha!). This Kit Kat European Cheese is Nestle's latest variant out in Japan and from what I have read in other websites it is proving to be one of the most popular and hard to find Kit Kat flavours for a long while. This however didn't stop my buddies at J-List winging across a box for me to try - there were no willing fellow taste testers for a second opinion today, I can't think for the life of me why :D

These Kit Kat European Cheese Mini came in a 'petit' format, with each piece only being half the length of an original Kit Kat finger. Calorie wise I guess this was a somewhat attractive prospect for any dieter, but for those of us just trying to have a decent snack it was annoying having to keep opening mini foil wrappers (whatever would the eco-freaks think!). Size issues aside, the presentation was admittedly utterly fantastic. The mini sized Kit Kats came in a treasure chest like packet that opened with via a nifty little side mechanism pictured as a lock and key. As annoying as they were, the mini Kit Kats were cute looking in their yellow and orange wrappers. If it weren't the pungent cheesey smell that emanated out from them you could almost say they looked attractive :D

Cheesey smell!??? Indeed there was, and it wasn't all the appetising!! Doing a spot of translation I managed to figure out that these white chocolate Kit Kats were flavoured with a cheese called Gouda, which is normally made in the Netherlands - See HERE. Constituting 58.0% of the ingredients it was no wonder why the cheese was so strong in the taste. Placing one of the Mini Kit Kats in my mouth the immediate flavours I was met with were sweet, milky and focused on establishing a set of white chocolate base flavours. Within a matter of seconds a smokey, slightly sour dairy saltyness soon came to the party, taking over the taste for the rest of the duration of the flavour journey. The inner wafer added a touch of sweetens back to the taste when crunched on, however it really was the cheese element that was the dominant influence. To my taste I found it neither particularly pleasant or otherwise, just frankly a little weired, and suffice to say very unique.

Overall my lasting impressions of these Kit Kat European Cheese Mini are ones of both bewilderment and surprise. If I start with bewilderment - I guess I'm still at a loss as to why anyone would ever want to have cheese flavoured Kit Kat? I can often see the sense in trying out new flavour combinations that people might not immediately think of (my Zotter reviews are testimoney to that!), but I'm genuinely struggling to imagine anyone ever requesting a Gouda flavoured chocolate. Moving on to my feelings of surprise, well I'm left feeling surprised because it wasn't as bad as I dreaded it would be. The taste wasn't the most pleasant I have ever come across, but at the end of the day it was more palatable and had a certain uniqueness about it. This wouldn't ever be a Kit Kat product that I could recommend to anyone based on it tasting great, but as one of those novelty gifts it's one that will leave a lasting impression on someone that's for sure.

7.0 out of 10

December 6th: Chocri 'Jim's White Xmas Creation'

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

Hopefully last weeks successful 'Jim's Nutty Delight Creation' managed to vanquish all memories of soy bacon from ChocolateMission reader's minds. As I mentioned in that review, that was the first of three new bars I had created - the second being the focus of things today. Indeed, after spoiling my last white chocolate Chocri bar during my disastrous bacon episode, I thought it only fair that I give Chocri's white stuff another try - presenting 'Jim's White Xmas Creation'. Indeed, with Christmas fast approach I thought it appropriate to make my other two remaining creations Christmas themed. Chocri have recently just added a whole load of new Christmas ingredients and toppings for people to use on their chocolates, you can see them all HERE.

As with every customised Chocri creation, my bar came in a 100.0g size and I was again given free licence to add as many toppings as I wished (a full five it was then haha!). My 'Jim's White Xmas Creation' comprised of a white chocolate base with mini Spekulatius cookies, marzipan stars, walnuts, star-decorations, and candy cane pieces. Out of all of my Chocri creations thus far, this one was one of the cheaper options and altogether would cost £5.60. If you fancy trying this combination of ingredients for yourself you can use the code '1I7wvb' on the Chocri site to quickly rebuild it rather than having to go to the effort of inputting all of the toppings again manually. I think this is a pretty cool functionality to have should you ever wish to repurchase one of your previous orders.

As you will have determined from my choice of toppings, I went for some added ingredients that were going to make my chocolate hopefully look nice and festive. I have to say that when my bar arrived I was impressed with what I saw, as all my toppings were well distributed and made for an aesthetically interesting bar. When it came to the taste the good dispersion of the toppings made for a variable and persistently interesting experience. At the base of every bite, the white choccolate was of a fair to good quality, and established a very sweet, but vanilla hinted flavour set. Out of all the toppings my favourite bits were definitely the Spekulatius cookies and the marzipan stars. Both of these were the most forthcoming with their respective gingery biscuit and almond nut flavours, and they progressed the taste nicely in every block they had presence. The rest of the toppings were a little hit and miss, with the walnuts not particularly cutting through the far sweeter tasting components, and the star decoration and candy cane pieces struggling to establish themselves in any great manner. Like most white chocolates I didn't find it the most satisfying ever, but on a more positive note it wasn't like the taste became overly sugar dominant like a lot of white chocolates can do.

Overall I was happy with how this bar turned out given that I was a little distracted trying to create a Christmas themed chocolate rather than one that had the best possible mixture of toppings. Looks wise, if I say so myself this was one of the better looking chocolates I have eaten recently :D It's always hard photographing white chocolate so you may not quite be able to appreciate it, but trust me it looked impressive and the Christmas themed outer wrapper further helped create a festive feel for my bar. In regards to taste I will again reiterate the point it wasn't the best white chocolate I have ever had. Some of the toppings I have mentioned above though are certainly worth your consideration if you are going to be creating your own Chocri creations in the near future. I hope you enjoyed seeing my attempt at creating a 'White Xmas' bar, I would be interested to hear what toppings you would have chosen yourselves. More Chocri coming to ChocolateMission next week!

7.8 out of 10

December 4/5th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 62

### Site Update ###

Hi All,

I hope you have all survived 'THE BIG FREEZE' this week if you are UK based. I've never seen snow like this before in Surrey, it's hard to believe we are only at the start of the winter.

You might not have thought it possible, but the adverse weather conditions managed to affect the running of the site this week. Forget school and road closures ... this latest bout of white stuff brought a delay to my latest Heavenly Cakes delivery! Fingers crossed next week I will receive my delivery safe and sound. In better news, one package that did make its way to me earlier in the week though, was one from my friends at J-List. Believe it or not some of the items delivered are the weirdest from Japan yet! Reviews will of course start appearing next week - keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks again for all the comments and feedback this week - in case you missed any of the ones this week please see below:

Chocri 'Jim's Nutty Delight Creation' ... See HERE
Berry Scrumptious Mulled Berry Chocolate ... See HERE
'Bits n Bobs' Christmas Cake Bar Special ... See HERE
Nestle Coffee Crisp (Original Post - October 17th 2009) ... See HERE
Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection Without Alcohol ... See HERE

The Christmas themed reviews are going to keep coming this week. Lets hope this snow doesn't hamper us anymore.

JIM


News from the Chocolate Market:

* Kraft reveal their plans for Cadbury here in the UK - I hope the majority of this is true ... See HERE

* This happened a while ago but Cadbury has redesigned their Starbar and Picnic wrappers ... See HERE

* Muller have come out with some new festive themed 'Corner' yogurts, including one chocolatey one ... See HERE

* Kraft brand hurt by Cadbury takeover? ... See HERE

* This is an interesting article documenting the most successful product launches for convenience stores in 2010 ... See HERE

* Pure chocolate? No such thing according to the EU ... See HERE


###EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT###

I've got two more Hotel Chocolat goodies to show you guys this week. Indeed, in my generously filled sampling package this year, both these 'Tiddly' themed festive chocolate moulds were included.

Having lauded over both of these chocolate recipes for the best part of three years now, I don't think I could spin out a whole review on them, so I thought I would just post up some pictures for you to look at, as well as some obligatory scoring charts.


Both of these 'Tiddly Santas' and 'Tiddly Reindeers' come in 85.0g packs and are one of the cheaper priced Hotel Chocolat options available this Christmas priced at £5.00 each. In terms of presentation and packaging both look very impressive with their intricate detailed surface moulds. I was told by a friend that the reindeers looked especially cute, but I personally thought the santas looked the coolest. Tastewise my preference also sat with the caramel chocolate santas as they offered the same cream based cocoa experience, just with an extra touch of buttery, salted toffee in the latter stages of the melt.

Overall both of these would make fantastic little gifts this Christmas if you are looking to gift Hotel Chocolat on a budget. You really can't go wrong with either of these.

Hotel Chocolat Tiddly Reindeers - 8.5 out of 10
Hotel Chocolat Tiddly Santas - 8.7 out of 10

December 3rd: Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection Without Alcohol

When I posted my review of the original Hotel Chocolat The Sleekster Christmas Selection a few weeks ago (See HERE), a number of you commented that you didn't like seeing the liqueur flavoured chocolates in the box. Well the chaps over Hotel Chocolat picked up on this and wanted to make you all aware that there is currently an existing product in their range that includes several of the original pieces, but with the alcohol filled ones substitute out for some non-alcoholic alternatives.

Included in this Hotel Chocolat The H-Box Christmas Selection Without Alcohol box you can find the Cinnamon Praline (portioned twice!), Milk Liquid Caramel Egg, Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut paste, Dark Liquid Caramel Egg, Caramel Chocolate, Gingerbread Truffle, Milk House Praline, Crunchy Praline and Mousse au Chocolat pieces - if you wish to see my thoughts on these I suggest you head HERE.

In addition to these original chocolates there were also three new ones - see my thoughts below with ratings Awful-to-Superb.

Orange & Almond Crunches - This was an attractive looking pieces that consisted of a milk chocolate baste with added whole roasted almonds and candied orange pieces. The combination of zesty fruit and buttery almond nuts made for a delicious taste that complimented the creamy chocolate nicely. My only thought was whether it might have been nicer with a dark chocolate base? Hmmm! Very Good.

Peanut Passion - When I read the description of this one I was tremendously excited at the prospect of 'praline bursting with freshly milled peanuts'. The outer shell of fused milk and white chocolate was of course delicious, but when it came to the praline centre I was a little disappointed. Compared to the hazelnut pralines I thought it lacked flavour, as it only registered some minor peanut notes. It didn't deliver the contrasting salt element I was hoping for unfortunately. Standard.

Brownie - I've reviewed this one a few times before but I had to test it again for quality control purposes Haha :D Well you will all be glad to know that this was as good as always. The exterior milk chocolate was an exquisite match for the inner pecan and rice crispie truffle filled centre. It was nearly perfect in both taste and texture - make sure you make a bee-line for this one if you are sharing. Superb.


Overall for those of you demanding a Hotel Chocolat selection box con (as opposed to sans!) alcoholic content this is obviously an ideal offering for you. Whilst I wouldn't say some of the decision making behind the chocolates included in this selection was the best (why are there two cinnamon pralines?), the variety on offer is still pretty good and covers a wide range of caramel, nut and spiced alternatives. One area of weakness for this box, and all the other Hotel Chocolat Christmas Selection boxes now we mention it, is that if you don't like nuts then you are in a bit of trouble. Indeed a lot of the chocolates in all the different boxes contain hazelnuts, peanuts, almonds or pecans - if these interest you little then there is an argument that there isn't much there for you. Alternatively you could just be like me and enjoy each and every one of them. If that is the case then I suggest you seriously consider gifting one of these Hotel Chocolate boxes this year. They come with a glowing ChocolateMission recommendation whatever your tastes.

8.4 out of 10

December 2nd: Nestle Coffee Crisp (Original Post - October 17th 2009)

I'm sure that many of you are scratching your heads but please let me explain :D What with this site containing thousands of reviews for chocolates from all over the globe you can probably imagine that I get my fair share of e-mails and comments telling me that my views on a particular product are 'wrong'.

My response to 99.0% of these e-mails (if they are courteous enough to warrant one!), normally goes along the lines of "this is just my opinion" ... "there isn't the time in the world to re-review products" ... "they only get the one shot" etc.

There is one product however, that has managed to justify a second look at given the sheer amount of contact I have received about it's original review - see below. One ChocolateMission reader in particular (by the name of Patrick), felt so strongly that my original review was so wide off the mark, that he sent me a box (yes a box!) of these Nestle Coffee Crisp to give another try .... I had to oblige.

Since I last reviewed the product over a year ago, the packaging and presentation hadn't really changed. Aside from a tweaks to the on-pack graphics the bar looked no different from the last time I saw it - no differences there.

Piercing the film wrapper the smells of biscuity chocolate immediately suggested that a finer proposition may be at hand. Indeed, whilst the outer layer of milk chocolate was still criminally thin, it was at least fresher tasting and more forthcoming with it's sweet, milk based flavours. Breaking the bar in to pieces, the crisper, snapping sound of the wafer was evidence enough that this bar was in fact in ten times better condition than the one I tried for my last review. In addition to being superior in texture, the wheaty biscuit flavours were far more Kit Kat like, and obviously all the better for it. The coffee cream, whilst still underpowered for my taste, also offered a more in it's contribution to the taste with it's creamy cappuccino like influence. The bar in totality still wasn't the satisfying thing ever, but the greater flavour contribution certainly made it more fulfilling than the last time I reviewed it.

Overall this isn't the best chocolate bar in the world, but in life you sometimes just have to hold your hands up and say you got something wrong, and this is one of those instances for myself :D This bar was never worthy of the rating it originally received and I would now like to rescind that and replace it with the far more reflective score of 7.3 out of 10. Whilst I would say there is room for improvement with almost every component of the Coffee Crisp, the combination of them all do make for a tasty tasting wafer bar that is certainly worth a look at if you are a fan of Kit Kats and the such. So there you have it ChocolateMission readers :D you were all right .... now quit it with the e-mails :D about the damn Coffee Crisp haha!

7.3 out of 10



Original Post - October 17th 2009
Kcal 260 Fat 13.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 34.0g

This has been a bar that has managed to allude me for quite a while though I kindly had one sent to me by ChocolateMission reader Eric last week. The Nestle Coffee Crisp is a product that doesn't come with any formal description on the wrapper though as you probably ascertained it is a wafer based bar with coffee creme filling, covered in milk chocolate. What the packaging did state was that the bar was produced in Switzerland which didn't surprise me all that much given that Nestle have such a strong presence in the country. Given my love for coffee flavoured chocolates I was well and truly looking forward to this one and devoured it during a mid morning coffee break.

For a wafer based bar I was surprised to see that it actually weighed 50.0g and amassed a rather large 260 calories and 13.0g of fat which kinda contradicted the on pack slogan of 'makes a nice light snack'. In regards to looks the product on the whole was presented pretty well. I didn't care much for the yellow film wrapper but at the same time it was distinctly Nestle like with its bold red branding. On closer inspection the bar itself had distinct layers of chocolate, wafer and inner creme, though it noticeably lacked a real aroma of real note apart from a very minor biscuit scent.

From the photo above you will be able to see the thinness of the outer chocolate layer so I guess it really wont surprise you to hear that it was really not that impactful in regards to flavour. The milk chocolate was pretty quick in its melt and it's milk chocolaty flavours felt like they were sucked up by the drier wafer as soon as they transcended into a liquor state. Where the chocolate was poor the wafer element was even worse - it was almost flavourless aside from a minor malt note and had a very stale like texture that yielded with very little crispness when bitten into. Had it not been for the relatively tasty coffee creme this bar would have been an absolute disaster but even that wasn't anything that special. Looking on the positive side of things the inner creme added a degree of welcome moistness to the reservoir dry wafer, as well as bringing a mild coffee influence to what on the whole was product severely lacking in flavour. Despite consuming the whole bar in one sitting I neither found that it fulfilled my hunger or left me wanting more - what a disappointment!

Overall I guess it says it all that I was reaching for the wrapper to check the best before date after only my first bite. Frankly I couldn't believe that Nestle could get a wafer based bar so wrong what with them being the kings of the sector with their glorious Kit Kat range. Conversely to the Kit Kat model this bar had a wafer thin layer of outer chocolate and criminally poor inner wafer that was not only horrible in terms of texture but also devoid of flavour almost completely. As I said in the paragraph above without the sound quality coffee creme layer this bar would have been an absolute car crash ... and we are talking pile up proportions here!! As you can probably tell this is not a bar I would have again in the near future and it is not one I would recommend you get involved with anytime soon. Even though I am a huge fan of coffee flavoured chocolate I can't defend this bar on any level, it is simply just really poor.

4.8 out of 10

December 1st: 'Bits n Bobs' Christmas Cake Bar Special

What better way to really get in the festive mindset than by kicking off December with a 'Bits n Bobs' post focused on all the different Christmas themed cakes available to us in the UK supermarkets this year. Indeed, for the last few weeks I have been doing some very thorough research looking at the quality of the Christmas Cake offerings from both Cadbury and McVitie's for 2010.

Below are my thoughts on four different products. These have each been given mini reviews based on my own thoughts and input from some of my work colleagues who I shared them with. If you have tried any of them for yourself I would really welcome your views so drop me a comment.

McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Orange & Cranberry Cake Bars

Kcal 95 Fat 3.5g Fat(sats) 1.8g Carbs 10.1g (per bar)
'Bittersweet dark chocolate, light sponge and a orange and cranberry centre'

Breaking the Cadbury monopoly today I found these McVitie's Jaffa Cakes Orange & Cranberry Cake Bars on a £1 deal in my local Sainsbury's supermarket. In terms of their packaging and presentation they looked none to different to the standard Jaffa Cake Bars, though McVitie's at least went to the effort of placing some snowflakes on the wrappers. When it came to the taste there was no differentiation from the normal bars in regards to the outer 'dark' chocolate or sponger layers. When it came to the filling however there were some noticeable, yet pretty minor changes, with the usual zingy orange taste of the originals taking more of a sweeter flavour stance. The filling in these bars had a forthcoming red berry flavour note that took the edge away from the more acidic orange. The panel were when it came to these - some prefered them, some didn't and some thought they were just equally as nice as the originals.

7.5 out of 10



Cadbury Merry Mini Rolls Sweet Cranberry & Vanilla

Kcal 120 Fat 5.6g Fat(sats) 2.8g Carbs 13.3g (per Mini Roll)
'Golden sponge with cranberry jam and a vanilla flavour filling, covered with milk chocolate'

The second of our two cranberry flavoured cakes came in the form of these Cadbury Merry Mini Rolls which I found on sale in Tesco. £1.50 of my pennies bought me a multi-pack of 6 wrapped rolls that I shared amongst another load of workmates. First impression from my panel were that they were confused by the packaging. With the 'Merry' wording aside there wasn't really anything else to give these any sort of festive feel!? What happened here Cadbury!? Moving on, when it came to the taste test these were more to the approval of my panel. You may recall that the blackcurrant limited edition flavour from Halloween have gone down as my favourite Cadbury Mini Rolls to date. Well in my opinion these Cranberry flavour rolls weren't as good as those, but they were at least a step up from the Strawberry Mini Rolls which I later tried and found excessively sweet. To be honest the cranberry jam filling here was a bit of a half way house between those two aforementioned variants. The sweet red currant flavours weren't quite as fruity or 'real' tasting as the blackcurrant, though they at least avoided the sickening sweetness of the strawberry. Fair but not the best.

7.0 out of 10



Cadbury Frosty Snow Star Cakes

Kcal 140 Fat 7.3g Fat(sats) 4.5g Carbs 14.2g (Per cake)
'Chocolate flavoured sponge layered with vanilla flavoured buttercream, covered in milk chocolate, decorated with a white chocolate star and a sweet dusting'

Phew what a long product description :D These were the most expensive of all the cakes I bought for the reviews today, and they cost me £2.00 from Tescos. Once again I tried these out with the help of some handy taste testers, who were all very approving of the very festive looking packaging and appetising look of the cakes. Fundamentally these were large slices of Cadbury chocolate roll, dusted with icing sugar and filled with buttercream. Two out of these three components got the seal of approval all round from everyone, the chocolate cake was tasty and the dusting of icing sugar was a nice touch to create a cooling mouth sensation with every bite. Unfortunately a lot of of people felt that the vanilla buttercream was overly sweet and it's combination with the horrible Cadbury Dream star on top created an overly dominant sugar led taste in the bites where it was most present. It was a shame that these didn't quite live up to expectations - they were the most disappointing out of all the cakes featured for this 'Bits n Bobs'.

6.7 out of 10



Cadbury Mini Yule Logs

Kcal 130 Fat 6.5g Fat(sats) 4.0g Carbs 13.0g (per Yule Log)
'Chocolate flavoured sponge with chocolate flavoured buttercream, covered with milk chocolate and sprinkled with light dusting'

Last but not least these Cadbury Mini Yule Logs were promising a triple chocolate experience - expectations were high :D By putting them last out of all four I have probably given the game away already so I can indeed confirm they were mine and panel's favourite from the selection posted today. Just like most of the others I bought these in my local Tesco for £1.50 - a sum which bought me six cakes. The presentation of the packaging and cakes were both very attractive looking - my only slight annoyance being with the fact they didn't come in individual wrappers, so consumption outside of the home wasn't possible. Forgetting that minor negative, these got a big thumbs up from everybody that tasted them. The outer chocolate layer was fantastic, and far ticker and crisper than standard Cadbury Mini Rolls. The cake inside was rich and chocolatey, whilst the chocolate flavoured buttercream was far superior to the vanilla variety in the cakes above, and provided an additional raft of Cadbury chocolatey flavours aswell as a much needed sense of moistness to every bite. Following me bringing an initial pack of these into the office they have already been repurchased by some of the people that tried them. That is always the ultimate test for any product - I have no qualms recommending them.

8.0 out of 10