December 21st: Terry's All Gold Milk Chocolates

The big day isn't even upon us yet, but I'm sure a number of you have been tucking in to all manner of chocolate selection boxes overs the last few weeks. One of the boxes that I bought most recently was this Terry's All Gold Milk Chocolates, a selection that came billed as 'a fine assortment of milk chocolates'.

I bought this selection in it's 200.0g form (also available in 400.0g) and shared it amongst some colleagues as work. The box included nine different chocolates, each of which were portioned twice and annoyingly only identifiable through a menu detailed on the inner side of the flip-top lid. Having been produced since 1932 I was expecting a classical style of presentation, however I felt the characteristics and decoration of the exterior box was more unfashionable rather than retro chic.

Below are my thoughts on each of the chocolates. As usual ratings are from Awful-to-Superb.

Truffle Intrigue - Described as a 'smooth milk chocolate truffle' this was one of the plainer sounding chocolates in the pack, and this proved to be exactly the case. Although there were textural differences between the outer and inner constituents there was no flavour development from the sugary milky taste offered from the start. Standard.

Caramel Nectar - Being a big caramel lover this was the first piece I went for. Texture wise the caramel felt fantastic on the tongue and had a very pleasurable soft feel. Whilst the mouth feel was great, the taste of the caramel wasn't quite as prestigious as it lacked the buttery, salted flavours I desired. Standard.

Orange Blossom - If there was one piece from this collection that I was expecting to be good it was this one (I'm alluding to Terry's Chocolate Orange of course!). I didn't get to try this one myself, but my fellow tastees who did said it lacked the strength of orangey flavours they were expecting. One commented that the outer milk chocolate was too thick and subsequently dominated the centre orange truffle portion. Standard.


Terry's Hallmark - This was the only piece in the collection that was portioned the once, and to be frank I had no problem with this. This piece was a pure milk chocolate disc. You may have ascertained already that the milk chocolate was generic in it's sweet milky flavours already. This piece felt more like a 'filler' rather than a chocolate included for a reason. Standard.

Roasted Nut Harvest - This was one of the few chocolates in the box which actually had a differentiated tasting outer milk chocolate. The hazelnut flavours kicked in straight away when the chocolate was placed in the mouth. The inner praline did little to take the taste further aside from making it sweeter, but the nutty taste at least offered more than the majority of the chocolates. Good.

Vanilla Flourish - I thought this was one of the more interesting sounding truffles in the box and I liked the sound of a 'vanilla flavour fudge centre'. Unfortunately the centre didn't not come as described, and was totally un-fudge like in texture and taste. Against expectations it was very soft and melted very quickly after first establishing a very fake tasting sugary vanilla note. It did not go down well! Awful.

Hazelnut in Gold - This piece was essentially the same as the caramel nectar, but with an added whole hazelnut thrown in at the centre. Of course this all sounded great in theory, but unfortunately the hazelnut in my piece was soft and neither fresh or flavoursome. The texture differences were nice but the taste was disappointing. Standard.

Strawberry Bloom - I have to admit I was expecting this to be an abyss of fake, artificial tasting strawberry awfulness but I was pleasantly surprised. The centre could have done with being a little more viscous, but the soft runny liquid actually offered a fair set of real tasting fruity flavours. The other tastee who tried it also thought it was ok. Standard.

Burnished Nut Brulee - This sounded like the fanciest in the in the box, but it was essentially the roasted nut harvest piece reshaped. It does confuse me when manufactures try and do this in their selection boxes, I honestly don't know who they are trying to kid. Again the hazelnut flavours were more interesting than the majority of the other offerings, yet it was still pretty unspectacular. Good.

Overall you may have noticed that the majority of the pieces in this selection box achieved a 'Standard' rating - I think this would be a fair reflection on the product as a whole. Comparing a selection box like this to one from say Hotel Chocolat or Thorntons would be a complete nonsense - the price difference between the products is vast, with anything in the region of £10-15 likely separating them. When you put this Terry's All Gold offering in that context you have to say that the value on offer is fair enough. None of the chocolates in the box were anything better than 'Good', and there was one token 'dud' in the form of the vanilla flourish, but what can you expect for just £3.75!? I wouldn't like to pick a winner between this and the Cadbury Milk Tray, but one thing we can safely say is that it is much better than the Nestle Dairy Box.

7.0 out of 10

December 20th: Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection

Kcal 75 Fat 5.4g Fat(sats) 2.7g Carbs 6.1g (per truffle)

With only a few days left until Christmas I have gone to the effort of bringing you a product review that ticks both the boxes of 'new product Monday', and also something that can be found on the highstreet for all you last minute present buyers! Indeed, the product in the spotlight today is the new KOKO Truffle Collection from Cadbury! Hold on a minute!? Didn't I review the Cadbury KOKO truffles already last year!? ... Why of course I did .... However, Cadbury the sneaky devils have brought out a new 'Truffle Collection' alternative for 2010 - they obviously just forgot to tell anyone about it!

I bought this Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection whilst in the highstreet drugstore 'Superdrug'. Like the originals the individually wrapped truffles came in a large 200.0g box and cost a very reasonable sounding £2.99. Sat amongst everything else on the shelf, it took my finely tuned 'new product chocolate hunting eyes' to notice the different light green colours used on the packaging. As far as I good see, this was the only noticeable differentiatior from the standard KOKO pack. Don't get me wrong it still looked lovely, as did the truffles, but I think it would have been worth while Cadbury making things a little clearer.

This Truffle Collection consisted of three different flavours - my comments on each of them are below:
Milk Truffle - These were essentially the standard KOKO truffles and had thick outer Cadbury milk chocolate exteriors, with a smooth truffle filling. I hate to spoil the review but these orgiginals still turned out to be the best. The flavour development of the sweet milky chocolate was little different from shell to filling, but the softer textured centre created a very pleasant overall mouth feel. Not Dairy Milk, but still nice enough sweet milk chocolate truffles.

Almond Truffle - These truffles included roasted almond nut pieces within the usual inner truffle centre which I thought made for a very tantalising prospect. Unfortunately the presence of the tiny almond fragments failed to generate any nutty flavours, and rather just upset the texture of the truffles by making them feel a little gritty. Sigh!

Hazelnut Truffle - The hazelnut truffles promised 'delicious hazelnut praline' within the milk chocolate truffle, which I thought again sounded like a decent proposition if executed correctly. Texture wise the smallness of the nut pieces did again upset the smooth, flowing nature of the truffle, but on a more positive note there were at least minor detectable notes of wooden hazelnut in the latter stages of the melt development.


Overall this Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection was a fair box of chocolates, but it could have been a lot better had there been some more thought given to how the nut variations were created. To put it in to an understandable context, both the hazelnut and almond truffles came across as more 'Cadbury Roses' in terms of quality, rather than chocolates that had been created especially for a premium Cadbury offering. Neither of the two variants were 'bad' so to speak, but at the end of things neither really offered enough in terms of being deemed anything like superior to just the original milk flavoured truffles on offer by Cadbury KOKO already. If you are stuck in a bit of a corner this Christmas and need a last minute gift for someone, then you wont be doing anyone a disservice by buying them a pack of these Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection (unless they have nut allergies haha!). If you have the time though, I would suggest you take a look at other alternatives, as these really aren't anything spectacular.

7.4 out of 10

December 18/19th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 63

*** Jim's Corner ***

Hi All,

Phew!!! What a week of chocolate reviews :D In case you missed anything let me fill you in what we have got through this week ...

Day 1 - Chocri Jim's Winter Warmer
Day 2 - Jim's Buyers Guide Part 1
Day 3 - Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Canapes
Day 4 - Jim's Buyers Guide Part 2
Day 5 - Heavenly Cakes Chilli Brownie

Thanks for all the feedback and input on all these reviews/guides this week :D It's been a battle getting everything up before Christmas - judging by all the comments it was well worth the effort.

This is the last '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' before the end of the year. It will return in 2011 better than ever - I already have plans for a whole new 'Stars & their Bars' aswell as a competition that I will run in January to clear out some leftover samples from 2010.

Review posting winds up on the 24th this year, at which point I will take a week off to charge my ChocolateMission batteries after this hectic Christmas run up! Until then lets go 100 mph - I hope all my UK readers are surviving the latest bout of weather!

JIM


*** News from the Chocolate Market ***

* Nestle have announced they are bringing back the Aero Orange bar ... See HERE

* Nakd have launched a new healthy snack range - perhaps I should take a look at these in January ... See HERE

* Now these are intriguing ... McVitie's announce the launch of Hobnob cookies ... See HERE

* Sad news at this time of year with the closure of a factory that makes one of the UK's most renowned Nestle products ... See HERE

* I think The Independent need to check out ChocolateMission if they want the lowdown on some of these 'crazy Kit Kat flavours' ... See HERE

* According to this site - 'Thinking about chocolate makes you thin' ... yep I cringed at that to ... See HERE


***Blogs I enjoyed this Year***

GiGi Reviews - Gi really stepped up the quality of her site this year. The products featured are wonderfully random, but the photo quality and writing detail in precise as anything ... See HERE

The Impulsive Buy - Marvo has recently made some new additions to his Impulsive Buy crew. If 2010 is anything to go by, 2011 will be another exciting year of product reviews from these guys ... See HERE

CandyBlog - Cybele's site continues to set the standards for Candy & Chocolate reviewers. Her photography is the best in class and her grasp of the English language is second to none. I can't say too many nice things about CandyBlog ... See HERE

Chocablog - Dom and co. continue to do a fabulous job covering all corners of the globe with their fantastic chocolate reviews. There are some very talented writers over there, I suggest it as another you keep a constant eye on ... See HERE

Chocolate Reviews - Lee is a very talented web designer with a site design that is envied by one and all in the Chocosphere. He has a keen eye for great quality chocolate and has a flair for writing some excellent reviews ... See HERE

Foodstufffinds - Liz over at Foodstufffinds is always the first to hunt down the newest consumer goods out on the market. Be sure to keep a close eye on this blog in 2011 if it is new products you like ... See HERE

... apologies if I have forgotten anyone ... I could go on forever talking about any of the blogs featured in my Blogroll but honourable mentions must also go to ZOMGCandy, Rodzilla Reviews, Gone Chocco, It's all about Limited Edition, Sugar Pressure, Snackspot and Foodette Reviews.

December 17th: Heavenly Cakes Chilli Brownie

Kcal 'a few' Fat ??? Fat(sats) 'a smidgen' Carbs 'minimal of course'

Before I launch in to my final Heavenly Cakes review of the year, I must first give you all notice that they are still able to fulfil orders that are placed by midday tomorrow (December 18th)!! That means all you ChocolateMission readers still have the chance to take advantage of the 10% discount they are offering you all - just enter the code 'JCM001' at the checkout stage online and the amount will be deducted from your final basket. One of the cakes you may want to consider putting in that basket of yours is this Heavenly Cakes Chilli Brownie, which is another of their specialist creations for Christmas 2010.

I received this Chilli Brownie in a single serve portion, though like I always do I shared it with a friend to get a second opinion. Aesthetically this brownie looked innocent in regards to it's chilli content. If I could suggest one improvement to be made for this cake, I would tell Heavenly to make the chilli contents a bit more obvious on the eye. If the ingredients are in there, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't have more attention brought to them. I think it would create a nice talkability factor for the cakes also.

Thinking about it now, it is funny how some food trends develop. Not so long ago if you had mentioned that someone had flavoured a chocolate brownie with chilli, it would probably have been suspected that they were being used for some sort of practical joke. Nowadays chilli and dark chocolate is almost considered a classic combination - this brownie supplied further evidence to why this should be so. Taking the brownie out the packet it felt almost worrying how familiar the tempting brownie scents were to my senses - too many Heavenly Cakes this year perhaps Jim? ... Never!!! Hopefully from my photograph above you can get an idea of how well the cake had been baked. It had a terrific crisp exterior and a soft, gooey, viscous centre - texturally it was almost perfection. I always pull out the corny phrases for Heavenly Cakes reviews, but this really was 'love at first bite'. The base brownie taste was packed with buttery chocolate cake flavours and was nicely enhanced with solid chunks of plain 50% cocoa chocolate chunks which had been dispersed throughout. Although the chilli didn't play so much a role in the taste of the brownie with it's weak to mild pepperyness, boy did the Jolokia chillis (pictures HERE) come to the party in the latter stages of each mouthful. The heat feel generated for the vast majority of the bites was amazingly balanced and delivered a very pleasant winter warming mouth sensation. My friend did comment at times that the chilli was perhaps a little too eager, but I would probably put that more down to the fact we at our portions so quickly :D

Overall Heavenly Cakes have a lot to be proud of here again as they crafted yet another fine tasting and unique cake offering. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, the idea of a chilli flavoured brownie not so long ago would have just been treated as a joke. Heavenly have proven here that this combination is suitable not only for plain chocolate bars, but is also more than appropriate to be enjoyed in cakes and brownies - now I can't recall any other of the mass manufacture brands being as bold as this yet!? Although I would have loved Heavenly to have used a slightly stronger dark chocolate, the friend that I tried this with said it was spot on in terms of richness so I'm guessing they have got the cocoa strength spot-on for the common consumer. The chilli fire power was also well integrated - it wasn't excessively peppery in the taste, and brought a magnificent, warm cosy feel to mouth. Recommendations are easy here - get involved if you like your chilli flavoured chocolates.

8.8 out of 10

December 16th: JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 2

If you saw my Buyer's Guide Part 1 (See HERE) you will have noticed that I mainly focused on the online retailers. With order & postage times dwindling, Buyers Guide Part 2 focuses on the options you will more likely find in your local supermarket and highstreet stores. Remember these are just a few of my own picks - please share your own top products for Christmas time this year and share them with us all ...

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WHO: Hotel Chocolat
WHAT: Orders are still being fulfilled online, but if you are lucky enough to live within distance of a Hotel Chocolat store you might want to check out this delicious Dasher Reindeer. This chap mainly comprises of the amazingly delicious Hotel Chocolat 40% milk chocolate, but his white chocolate belly and dark chocolate scarf and hooves bring a nice bit of variety for just £6.00. A great gifting option.


WHERE:


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WHO: Mr Kipling
WHAT: These Mr Kipling Rum & Raisin Slices come with a seal of approval from ChocolateMission readers Phil and . It took me a while to find them myself, but I'm sure glad I found these 'moist cakes with rum, juicy raisins, topped with caramel and chocolate'. Heavenly Cakes may be leading the way forward when it comes to the speciality homemade cakes, but if you are looking for a quick fix option I can confirm these are 'exceedingly good' :D :D

WHERE: Sainsbury's or Lidl

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WHO: Ritter Sport
WHAT: The bars pictured below are the Limited Edition Goldschatz (only available around Christmas time!) and Schokocreme which were sent to me by Ritter Sport in Germany. Whilst you may not have much luck finding these in the UK, I would suggest you have a hunt around for the Marzipan, Peppermint and Whole Hazelnut variants which we can all easily find. Ritter Sport chocolates are perfect if you are looking for tasty, but affordable gifting material this Christmas.

WHERE: Major Supermarkets and other Highstreet merchants.

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WHO: Milka
WHAT: The general public may not have been best pleased with Kraft's takeover of Cadbury this year, but there is no denying that they don't make some half tasty chocolate with their own Milka brand. If you know want to impress your friends and family with some sweet milk chocolate this Christmas, but dont want to go down the predicatable Cadbury or Galaxy route, then why not treat someone to a Milka Alpenmilch Santa or a bag of these Milka Feine Kugeln Truffles (Nougat-Creme and Noisette flavours pictured below) I can highly recommend either options :DWHERE: Major Supermarkets and other Highstreet merchants.

December 15th: Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Canapes

I will warn you all now that the Hotel Chocolat reviews are going to be coming thick and fast in the next few weeks - there are still a great amount of reviews to be packed in before Christmas time!

A few months ago I asked you all what products you wanted to see reviewed on the site during the countdown to the festive period. To my surprise not all the requests were for posts on chocolate shaped reindeers and Christmas Wreathes. Indeed a great deal of you went down a more sophisticated route - possibly seeking good chocolate options for you to take to various dinner parties (that's my theory anyway :D ). One of the most commonly requested products you all told me to take a look at was this Chocolate Canapes Selection, thankfully Hotel Chocolat were more than willing to oblige with a sample.

I received this selection in a thin box containing 24 chocolates. In terms of presentation everything was to the usual Hotel Chocolat standards. Being able to see the canapes through a transparent plastic cover was a nice touch (if difficult to photograph!), whilst I'm sure you will agree the canapes looked stunning themselves. Speaking of the canapes they came in three different varieties ...

Chilli & Almond - These canapes combined a dark chocolate base and had a fresh almond piece placed on top. Somewhat curiously the chilli element in the chocolate didn't come through for me whatsoever - manufacturing fault in the factory perhaps!? Luckily the rich dark cocoa flavours of the 70% chocolate and the buttery, savoury almond nuts flavours were more than sufficient to entertain my tastebuds.

Pecan & Vanilla - This canapes was formed of a milk chocolate base, topped with a roasted pecan nut and drizzled with vanilla chocolate. It was utterly delicious, and I loved the way each canape progressed it's flavours from cream based cocoa, salty nut to a longing bourbon vanilla aftertaste. For such a small chocolate the flavour journey was incredible.

Caramel Florentine Square - What can I say about this canapes? This was my favourite in the selection without doubt, and combined a caramel milk chocolate base with a lovely Florentine square. The creamy caramel chocolate base was superb, but the extra toffee and nut flavours brought to the party by the Florentine piece created a luxurious, delicious taste with it's unique crunchy texture. When I shared these amongst my family these Florentine pieces were the first to go.


Overall this wasn't a perfect Hotel Chocolat product by any means, but if you are going to be hosting/turning up at a Christmas party get together this month they are the perfect thing to whip out at the end of a meal or gift. The three different flavours on offer are pretty perfect in terms of what they offer. The dark chocolate and chilli canapes I had in my selection were lacking the chilli, but I will rule under the assumption that this was just an error in the pack I received. As I said above the dark chocolate and almond was sufficient anyway, whilst the two milk chocolate canapes were just simply quite phenomenal. My only real criticism about this product as a whole was that Hotel Chocolat didn't actually include one of the best canapes they make. The dark chocolate and ginger canapes (See review HERE) they produce are just as fantastic as any of these three, and they would have been a good option for anyone not interested in nuts. That gripe aside I can whole heartily recommend these. If you are looking to impress at the dinner parties this year, make sure you are the guest/host whipping these out!

8.2 out of 10

December 14th: JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 1

Welcome to JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 1 featuring my top buys for Christmas 2010!! If you have any of your own 'top tips' for this Christmas be sure to share them with the ChocolateMission community!

Sit back, relax and contemplate the tasty treats to come in the coming weeks!

WHO: Heavenly Cakes
WHAT: These guys have a wide range of different handmade cakes on offer for you this Christmas. Showcased below is their Cappuccino cake which combines a 'Belgian dark chocolate & real coffee biscuit base with a layer of white chocolate and sprinkled cocoa' Trust me - it's absolutely delicious and just one of many of the superb cakes these guys have to offer. Don't forget to use the discount code available to all ChocolateMission readers - 'JCM001' to recieve 10% off your order!!!!

WHERE: http://www.heavenlycakes.co.uk/
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WHO: Cadbury
WHAT: If you are a fan of Dairy Milk then you will want to be checking out this Cadbury Dairy Milk Christmas Cracker. Available for the bargain price of £2 this carboard box cracker contains several individually wrapped Dairy Milk Blocks - a sure fire winner for any Cadbury fan surely?WHERE:


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WHO: J-LIST
WHAT: Where else would you head for all the latest Japanese chocolate & snack items? Featured below you will see the Meiji Chopan Framboise / Original, Meiji Creamy Air Chocolate w/ Marshmallow and Glico's Powan Marshmallow Chocolate ... these are just a few of the great chocolatey snacks currently on offer. Get your orders in quick before it's too late to recieve them for Christmas!WHERE:

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WHO: Hotel Chocolat
WHAT: Need I really remind you to stop by Hotel Chocolat? Haha probably not :D They have a huge range of Christmas products this year for 2010! One product you might not have considered yet are these Hotel Chocolat Christmas Table Crackers - 'Ribbon-tied and ready to finish off your carefully laid table in style. And being filled with premium Christmas chocolates, there’s not a novelty toy in sight!'WHERE:

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WHO: Nestle
WHAT: I'm sure you will all be working extremely hard up until the Christmas holidays - why not have a break? Have a Santa Claus Kit Kat :D WHERE: All Major Retailer Supermarkets

December 13th: Chocri 'Jim's Winter Warmer Creation'

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

My last few Chocri reviews have been met with some real enthusiasm from ChocolateMission readers, so it is with great delight that I today bring you another of my Christmas themed creations. The weather in the UK in the last few weeks has been absolutely freezing, with temperatures getting as low as -5.0c even down here in the south. This recent influx of cold weather was the inspiration behind my latest festive bar - 'Jim's Winter Warmer Creation'. As I mentioned on my last Chocri review, Chocri have now added several seasonal toppings and ingredients to their existing range - I suggest you get a wriggle on and place your order now if you are to receive your bars before Christmas (Chocri Website HERE).

Like every Chocri bar this came in a 100.0g size to which I added five additional toppings. My choice of base for this 'Winter Warmer' was the Chocri Dark Chocolate, on which I added cinnamon, ground chilli, roasted almonds, cinnamon cornflakes and orange bits. Altogether this would have cost £5.10 - exactly the same price as the 'Jim's White Xmas Creation' that I featured last week (See HERE). As you will have read in that review last week, Chocri have a handy re-order code functionality on their website. If 'Jim's Winter Warmer Creation' tickles your fancy, you can try it for yourself by using the code 'u7ark0' - let me know if you do :D

When my bar arrived I was again relatively impressed with the presentation and packaging of my bar, and it was again pleasing to see that each of the different toppings had been nicely dispersed and portioned. Unsealing the plastic packet, the aromas that were immediately forthcoming were ones of cinnamon, sweet cocoa and minor hints of biscuit. When it came to the taste it was indeed these toppings that took hold of the taste, with the dark chocolate of course taking charge from the outset. In melt the dark chocolate was well paced and smooth flowing, though for my taste it could of been stronger with less sugar focused sweetness. When it came to the toppings, once again there were both 'hits & misses'. The 'hits' were the both the cinnamon constituents and the ground chilli, as both delivered the desired and enhancing spicy flavour credentials, as well as a pleasant degree of warmth mouth feel wise. The 'misses' for me were the roasted almonds and and orange bits, as both were lacklustre in flavour - the nuts being noticeably soft and not crunchy fresh. When I offered some of this bar to a friend they were able to pull out the cinnamon and chilli, but were confused to what the golden coloured pieces placed on top were (the orange supposedly).

Overall this was a fair to decent bar of chocolate, but if I was to create a 'Winter Warmer' mark II then I would make a few adaptations to my original creation. The dark chocolate base was fine in terms of quality - like I have said about the milk and white alternatives the base chocolate from Chocri is never anything special, but it does the job to a decent enough standard. The toppings I would keep for my second attempt at this bar would obviously be the cinnamon and the chilli - they were both exactly how I expected them to be. The obvious changes would be the riddance of both the orange and roasted almonds - the orange pieces were especially disappointing and I felt the lack of fruity flavours was something really holding back the potential of this bar. It would be great to hear from ChocolateMission readers what toppings they would replace these two with - perhaps it would be cool if I did a follow up review of the suggestion I think sounds best!?

7.1 out of 10

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