&f=Calibri-Bold&ts=14&tc=d4d4cc&it=gif&c=round&bgt=gradient&bgc=ad6807&ebgc=d98807&be=on&w=125&h=30){kind=small}
------
Burton's Toffee Dodgers
Burton's Toffee DodgersKcal 83 Fat 3.0g Fat(sats) 2.0g Carbs 6.0g (per biscuits)
Speaking as someone who really dislikes normal Jammie Dodgers (ghastly sweet things!) I wasn't all that motivated to seek these out despite the several recommendations sent my way through my 'Snack of the Week' weekend posts. When I saw them priced at just £0.54p in my local Tesco though, it seemed like a good time to pull the trigger so a pack finally made it in to my basket this past week.
In the 'no s*** Sherlock' moment of the week I can reveal that these were of course the biscuits that I referred to above as not containing any chocolate. These came billed as 'Chewy toffee splodged at between two toffee flavour shortcake biscuits'. Packaging and presentation wise I was impressed with these - especially the caramel like scents which were very appetising it has to be said. The surprising impressiveness continued when it came to the taste, where the the toffee filling was a greater entity than just the sickly sweet substance I expected it to be. Indeed, the toffee had a lick of butter amongst it's brown sugar flavours, and this played nicely alongside the buttery, salty emphasis established by the outer shortbread biscuit. I'm as surprised as anyone to be writing this, but I would buy these again :D You guys must know what you are talking about! Good recommendations guys and girls!
7.6 out of 10
------
Arnott's TimTam Fingers
Arnott's TimTam FingersKcal 208 Fat 10.6g Fat(sats) 5.5g Carbs 25.4g (per 2 biscuits)
The amount of requests I received to review these Arnott's Tim Tam Fingers finally hit a breaking a point, and for the sake of my inbox I thought best get a review done. For those not familiar, Tim Tams are chocolate biscuits made by Arnott's in Australia. Arnott's claim to sell over 35 million packs a year ... that's 400 million biscuits ... which eqcuates to 1.7 packs per Australian citizen ... that's a lot of biscuits huh!? (thanks WIKI - See HERE).
Tim Tam biscuits comprise of three major layers - an outer coating of milk chocolate, a layer of milk chocolate cream, all sandwiched between two chocolate biscuits. sound familiar UK folk!? Well yes of course it does ... it sounds almost entirely like the McVitie's Penguin bar (See Here). Whilst it sounds like exactly the same proposition, I have to concede that our Aussie friends have a far superior product. Whilst the chocolate flavours aren't anything special I still found the chocolate hit to be far greater in strength than in the Penguin bar. Additionally the inner chocolate cream tasted of more than simply sugar, and had a creamier taste that complimented the salt licked shortbread like biscuit pieces very nicely indeed. Having now tasted these, I much better understand the cult following they have. The Aussies may have the better biscuits, but we have the Ashes :D Just you remember that chaps :D
8.3 out of 10
------
Cadbury Fabulous Fingers
Cadbury Fabulous FingersKcal 70 Fat 4.0g Fat(sats) 2.0g Carbs 5.0g (per serving)
For a part of the portfolio that had been largely ignored for years, there has been quite a bit of new product development for Cadbury Fingers in the last year. Already within the last year we have seen the launch of the Toffee Crunch (See HERE) and the Halloween limited edition Freaky Fingers (See HERE). As if these weren't enough for you guys already, Cadbury have most recently launched these new 'Fabulous Fingers'.
What makes these so Fabulous then!? The promise of 'crisp chocolate flavoured biscuits covered in milk chocolate and white chocolate' is supposed to do the trick. I recently decided to see whether or not this was the case or not having seen them on a BOGOF £1.99 deal. Straight from the pack they appeared no different to usual milk chocolate fingers, though once snapped in half there was an obvious milk and white layering system. Due to the thinness of both of these layers I wasn't expecting much differentiation from the norm, however to my pleasant surprise these definitely had a greater milkier, creamy emphasis than normal. I wouldn't go as far as saying the difference was hugely significant, but I enjoyed these for what they were and would buy them again over the originals.
7.9 out of 10
------
McVitie's Quirks Chocolate / Double Choc
McVitie's Quirks Chocolate / Double ChocKcal 65 Fat 3.5g Fat(sats) 1.5g Carbs 3.8g (Chocolate)
Kcal 65 Fat 3.6g Fat(sats) 1.5g Carbs 4.0g (Double Choc)
Last up today we have the two remaining flavours of McVitie's Quirks that I was yet to review. After a less than inspiring showing from the Choc Hazelnut flavour (See HERE) back in August, I wasn't overly keen on trying these Chocolate or Double Chocolate variants. A combination of reader requests and £1.00 Tesco deals made me think otherwise :D
In terms of looks I was still pretty unexcited by both these flavours. The Double Choc was a little more interesting looking out the two, however both were still by and large underwhelming aesthetically. Ask any chocolate lover whether they are going to like a product named 'chocolate' or 'Double Choc' more and I think the answer you would get would be pretty straight forward everytime. It will come as no get surprise to you then that it was indeed the Double Choc variant they I preferred. The added cocoa to the biscuit gave it a creamier taste which essentially gave greater depth and chocolate flavour volume. The shortbread style biscuit of the standard chocolate flavour was fair, but as experienced before not anything worth going out your way to try. I wouldn't recommend them but if you are going to try one it would be the Double Choc.
Chocolate - 6.6 out of 10
Double Choc - 7.2 out of 10
Posts
64 comments:
Woah so many reviews and they aren't even small ones.
Nice work Jimbob.
I don't agree with some of the scores here Jim. I think you've under rated the Cadbury Fabulous Fingers by quite a bit. I think they are one of the nicest things to be made by Burton's for Cadbury for a very long time. The others you are just about right but the toffee dodgers weren't that bad either imo. We can't agree on everything I guess.
Classic bits and bobs post Jim. I like the shorter reviews better tbh. You should do more pictures and less words.
Where abouts are they selling Tim Tams then?
If you think they are the best of the best I wouldn't mind seeing what I would make of them just to see if we think the same.
I gotta say you are right about the toffee dodgers. I expected a lot from them becuase I like the jam ones but to me the toffee didn't taste like toffee at all. It was just a gloopy load of flavourless stuff that was mega sticky. I bought them only the one time.
What more evidence do we need that brands should stick to what they know. Mcvities should stick to cakes and jammie dodgers should just stick to being Jammie =)
There's alot to digest here ;) excuse the pun. The one thing im taking out is don't buy the quirk biscuits or the toffee ones though I do still think the latter sound like they could be quite nice.
Stick ya fancy pants biscuits. Give me a chocolate digestive over any of these lot any day. Theres only one king of biscuits.
You might have noticed they've stopped selling toffee jammy dodgers already. The toffee stuff in the middle was disgusting when I tried them. It wasn't like toffee at all.
Good review but we don't buy many packs of biccies around this time of year.
It's certainly going to be a while before we need to buy any for the moment. considering we just bought two big tins worth of Cadbury biscuits =) 2 for £10 you can't complain.
Awesome :) A bits and bobs on a Monday and we didn't even have to ask for it :)
In this one year we've gone from not being allowed any biscuit reviews at all, to you know dedicating whole days to the blasted things.
This isn't any fun for us folk who don't like biscuits you know Jim :(
Hey J
What did you make of the England win over Spain then? I couldn't believe the score when I first saw it (I didn't watch it live cause I was busy). I then saw the highlights and realised what had happened. To be honest I don't think spain played like they cared at all. They could have won if they wanted to I think. Contreversial to say but they didn't play with much desperation.
I can't believe the Toffee Dodgers have done this badly. I keep meaning to buy some but for some reason or other my mum never gets them even when I ask. It appears she was doing me a favour judging by what you say lol. Tim Tams sound great to me. I think they might be as cult classic to the aussies as the custard creme is to us you know.
Cheers
N
High quality post J.
Lovely pics + great reviews. Well done :)
You fancy yourself as a biscuit and chocolate expert now then do ya?? I don't know if you care but I agree with all your scores here. Good reviews.
Could they have tried to make those Quirk biscuits any more boring if they tried. What was the point in making them in the first place if they were always going to be as mundane as they are.
These companies love wasting money don't they.
I don't bother with all these UK biscuits now. It's all about the Oreos for me. Nothing beats double stuff dipped in milk.
The only thing putting me off buying some tim tams off ebay is that you say they are like Penguin biscuits.
It would be a bit stupid to buy them in at great expense just to find out they were something I could of just bought for a pound in my local.
This biscuit reviews you do always read a load better than they score. Why is that?
All your best reviews happen on a Monday lol.
I had some of those fingers this weekend! They are super yummy, I'm with you on that.
I'm drooling over those cadbury fingers. It's been way too long since I last had some and I have a big craving for them now thanks to you Jim.
So much for apologising about doing less reviews Jim. Lol only the four different ones today then :-) :-) I told you there was nothing to worry about.
I have experience with those chocolate fingers but I wouldn't mind getting my fill of some of those tim tams.
They are one of those things that I have heard about before from various places but never even seen what they look like at the same time.
Thanks for a wik-skid lot of reviews Jim. Thanks for doing so many at the start of the week. It gives me a decent amount of reading for the rest of the week now.
It's all about the tim tam slam http://breweddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/timtamslam.jpg
There is a good 'guide' how to do one on this blog http://breweddaily.com/2008/12/tim-tam-slam-how-to/
Jim do us all a favour and find us somewhere to buy some Tim tams.
The Aussies can't make better biscuits than we do!!! We are the best @ biscuit making.
Your bending your own rules all over the place here Jim
1- Biscuits without choc
2- Bits and bobs on a Monday
Lol its all gone hickeldy on JCM lately :-P
Shizer Whilhelm!!!!!! TIM TAMS!!! Man its been so long since I last had my fill of those bad boys.
You have woefully understated how amazing they are Jim. Without doubt they are THE best biscuits in the world. I will have it out right here with anyone that dare disagree. They are godly biscuits.
Note to self: must buy cadburys fingers next time I'm in town.
Do you really eat all these biscuits? You must be the size of an elephant.
Hey hun! What a treat :) You know we all love your BandB posts when you do them.
The tim tam things sound exactly like our bourbon creams but with chocolate on them! I can see how that could so work out lol. I think its for the best I don't go try buying my team time biscuits from australia LOL The Fabulous fingers might just be a little more realistic for tea this week.
Rxxx
Speaking about these sort of things - Jim I asked you the other day if the chocolate covered oreos were due out again this year? My fave things of Christmas time last year around were the white choc coated ones. Before I could buy packs to stockpile they ran out and never bought anymore back in. It was uber annoying.
Your Aussie readers will be well pleased you did this post Jim. Tim Tams are big time for them.
I don't know why I'm telling you this but I had my first mince pie this weekend :-)
Christmas is well and truly here now :) We are nearly half way through November you know ;)
I'm going to be so fat by the end of this Xmas. People are already bringing in bags worth of biscuits and cakes that they are getting on deals in the supermarkets. Just last week we had someone bring in all 3 flavours of thos quirk ones. I tried the hazelnut ones in the red packet and I didn't think they were that bad.
Dx
The nicest 'dodgers' are the lemon ones. They aren't half hard to find though. I think it's tesco that have them in stock most commonlly.
Lol single choc vs double choc was never going to be a fair fight now was it. Why the eck do you think they bothered with the single chocolate one if they knew they also had the double chocolate already!? It would make no sense whatsoever for anyone that liked chocolate in the first place to choose the brown ones over the blue. You would have to be a right dummy to choose the other.
Jim do you think these Fabulous Fingers are the fingers they are bringing out for Christmas this year? Normally they used to release the white chocolate ones for a limited period but now you can get them all year round + they just did them for halloween in a different kind.
It makes you wonder whether they have something up their sleeve or not doesn't it.
Sorry but these just look embarasing coming after the heavenly cakes shortbread from the weekend. These all look pathetic in comparison.
Biscuits are banned in our house at the mo :( My mums on a diet and they are her weakness. It's so unfair the rest of us have to put up with it whilst she miserabley fails at yet another diet attempt. I don't know why she bothers cause she always fails in the end.
So many biscuits its all overwhelming lol. Where should I begin with my commentary lol.
Those toffee dodgers aren't great I agree. I wouldn't buy them again that's for sure. I'll stick to the old reliable jam ones next time.
I really enjoyed this post today Jim. Are you going to be reviewing any of the chocolate biscuit tins they have out this year?
That would be an epic bits and bobs post you could do.
I could of told you not to waste your money on the Quirks ones Jim. They are so crap aren't they! Its funny as at the same time they released these biscuits all 'temptations' alongside them. They look ten times better than the Quirks and taste it to. I would recommend you try them some time if you can muster up the motivation for some Mcvities biscuits again.
Since when have Mondays been Bits and Bobs days?
I shan't complain :P I love them best out of all the ones you do because of all the picutres you do lol.
Those fab fingers look the total biz. Why haven't they thought of doing a milk and white choco mish mash b4? It seems stupid now you think about it. You would of thought it be the first ones they would have done considering it's so simple for them.
Awesome B&B's post. Well Burton's, you owe Jim one, or two really because that's how many toffee dodgers have just been added to my half-finished Tesco online groceries basket :D to be honest half the credit is due to Jim Sr as well. I adore jammy dodgers (the Indian bakery fresh ones anyway) so if these come anywhere remotely close I'll be happy.
PS Jim that is an oval egg pun on the news page...simply oval ;)
Nice round-up Jim.
Is there a difference between the construction of regular timtams and the fingers? The both look like fingers to me.
Hi All
I'm slowly getting a handle on things again with the site. I thought you guys might want a bits n bobs review today as you hadn't seen one for awhile.
Those of you enquiring about the Christmas reviews please don't worry they are inbound. I'm just getting the photography done etc (there is a lot to do!!) Please bare with me in that regard.
SAMMY - I got them from a specialist Aussie shop. We haven't started stocking them in any UK retailers as far as I know.
NIGEL - I thought Spain were very unlucky but you get results like that in Football from time-to-time. The style of play wasn't glamarous, but that is pretty much the only way a poorer side like us is going to beat a team like them. If we tried to outplay them football wise we would have been destroyed.
DUNCAN - I'm an expert of everything :D j/k
ANON - Biscuits could probably do better with their own scoring chart you are correct.
JAMES - Thanks for the links. Funny stuff.
ANON - Haha I don't eat the whole packet to write a review. I mostly share them with people and get their views involved aswell.
YASMINE - RE: Chocolate covered Oreos. I have no idea if they are due out. I've not yet seen them anywhere so you aren't alone in that.
THEA - I'm interested to hear what you make of them! Be sure to report back!
RODDY - I think the fingers are just longer versions of the originals. Perhaps one of my Aussie readers is better placed to tell us about this.
Thanks for the feedback everyone! It seems the Tim Tams are the daily winners if the comments are anything to go by.
JIM
My friend from Aus is always going on about those bloody Tim Tams. They are well famous down under I believe.
Your ratings of biscuits are always so low. I think you need to change the criteria you judge them on. For starters you need a criteria bit that accounts for dunking in tea/coffee/hot choc etc. That would be a good place to start I think.
The only bad thing I found with the Fab fingers is that they are doubly expensive compared to the normal fingers.
It would be ok if they were doubly as good lol. They aren't though I don't think, yes they are nice, but no, not twice as good.
I'm so pleased you did away with that silly review policy of yours and have started doing biscuit reviews. It's cool seeing all the Heavenly Cakes and hotel Chocolat reviews all the time but in reality this is the stuff we all eat on a daily basis. I need to get me some of them fabulous fingers. I used to eat fingers by the bucketload when I was smaller.
It must be hard having to review all these biscuits eh jim?
Cor blimey you lucky bugger. Your're like a researcher of all things tasty. Seeing what I have here I think I will be buying some of those cool looking fingers next time I go shopping. It's just a case of bloody remembering to buy them.
Is there a JCM app yet? That would be sweet if there was. If there isn't (which I'm assuming there's not lol!) then you need to get someone to design one for you.
I love your joke about the ashes lol. It's so true! Two in a row! Home and Away they can't beat us anymore.
I hung my hat on the fab fingers last weekend when I took a pack of biccies to a friends for afternoon tea. Judging by the way we ate the lot in an hour I think I can safely say it proved a good choice.
Epic pictures man. Despite the review saying they are crappy you don't half manage to glam up those toffee ones.
Did you ever get around to trying the double chocolate dodger Jim? They came out about the same time as these toffee ones did. I just thought you might have done a double up review like you have done for the quirks here.
My mum loaded the cupboard with those bloody quirk things when they were on buy one get one free. We aren't ever going to get rid of them. No one wants to eat them cause they are so boring.
Jim you see that England performance at the weekend? Talk about playing boring football. If we were handing out biccies for entertainment they wouldn't get a crumb lol!
I was fully expecting average scores all round. Choc biscuits are funny things. You never really come across ones that are much better or worse than any others are. It's not exactly difficult to make something with an average biscuit with some chocolate on the top. Fundamentally that is what all these things are (apart from the toffee ones of course lol).
I agree with the others about the Toffee Dodgers - I found them gloopy and sickly, and they didnt really taste of toffee to me.
The Fabulous Fingers were great though, very moreish.
As for Tim Tmas..I tried those years ago when Tesco used to sell them, and they're amazing. You should try the "Tim Tam Slam", where you bite the ends off and drink tea through them. There's a guide for how to do it on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Tam#Tim_Tam_Slam
It may have just been the pack I tried but I couldn't taste much besides sugar in the Toffee Dodgers :( though I brought several into work as a contribution for the snack pool and they vanished pretty quickly.
Post a Comment