McVitie’s Summer Collection Strawberries and Cream Flavour (Iceland) By @Cinabar

I spotted these new Strawberries and Cream cake bars from McVitie’s in Iceland and, as a sucker for anything that screams summer, they were straight into the basket. Strawberries and cream is such a classic warm weather flavour, it is hard to resist.

The packaging is bright, bold and almost a bit punk in its colour scheme, so they definitely stand out on the shelf. Inside, the bars are individually wrapped, which makes them perfect for lunch boxes, desk drawers or a quick grab and go treat.

As soon as I opened the first one, I was hit with a lovely strong scent of strawberry and chocolate. Always a good sign. The cake itself is a soft vanilla sponge, topped with a pretty pink strawberry flavoured creme and finished with a layer of milk chocolate.

Flavour wise, they are very sweet and properly fruity. They actually reminded me of those strawberry cream chocolates you get in the big tins at Christmas. There is a solid chocolate hit from the coating too, so it does not feel like just a fruity sponge bar. It is definitely more indulgent than that.

They are genuinely yummy, the only downside being that they disappear in about two bites. Still, as a little summery treat, they are spot on. If you love that strawberries and cream combination, these are well worth picking up while they are around.

Banoffee Iced Capp (Tim Hortons) By @Cinabar

We were out at the shops on Saturday and decided to stop for a drink at Tim Hortons. It is a well known Canadian coffee chain, but still fairly new to my city. As I am not that familiar with the brand, I naturally scanned the menu for anything labelled ‘new’, while Spectre went straight for a black coffee. We definitely sit at opposite ends of the drinks menu.

I chose the Banoffee Iced Capp. I have to say, “Iced Capp” is a very cute name for their iced cappuccino, and this version comes with added banoffee flavour.

I ordered a small and it was still a generous size, topped with a mountain of cream. It looked fantastic and genuinely made me smile. From the first sip, I got a rush of sweet toffee followed by fruity banana, and that smile stayed put. The coffee flavour was slightly hidden beneath all the sweetness, but honestly, I did not care. It tasted like an indulgent banana milkshake with a toffee twist, and it was pure joy.

The little pearls on top were a lovely touch. They reminded me of tiny banana and toffee fudge pieces and added a bit of texture as well as extra sweetness.

For balance, Spectre thoroughly enjoyed his black coffee too, no milk and no sugar.

Luxury Pompidou Pies - Gloucester Services [@NLi10]

The benefit to driving back through Gloucester services at the end of the day is that there are bargains to be had.

Still not cheap, but these Pompidou Pies look perfectly positioned to be a late dinner

They look wonderful, if not a little fragile

And cooking exposes their weak bellies - and the fresh ingredients flavours fill the air.

Both were fantastic - I had the chicken and apple - and my goodness were the flavours explosive.  Well worth full price and a bargain at the yellow sticker price.  Another to add to the list to pick up when we visit.

And an apple crumble Danish for dessert - yum!

 

Vault City - Mini Crunch Chocolate Honeycomb Stout (Morrison’s) By @SpectreUK

I have steak and chips tonight. It's a bit of a treat for a Saturday night. I'm used to a quick sandwich or toastie before a comic con or toy fair the next day. I have tomorrow off, so I fished out a couple of steaks from the freezer. Now all I need is a stout to wash my meal down with.

This Mini Crunch Chocolate Honeycomb Stout was brewed by Vault City. At 6% in volume, it pays homage to Cadbury's Crunchie. As well as malted barley and oats, hops and yeast, this stout was brewed with milk, Cholaca, brown sugar, cinder toffee, and vanilla.

On opening the can, Mini Crunch Chocolate Honeycomb Stout, had a heavy chocolate, as well as sweet toffee and malted barley aroma. On pouring this almost jet black stout had an initial taste of chocolate and malted barley.

I had been concerned that this Mini Crunch Chocolate Honeycomb Stout would be a pudding stout. However, the hops tickled some bitterness, only to be cowed by velvety chocolatey goodness mixed with brown sugar and toffee. It was the ingenious touch of roasted coffee into the aftertaste that gave my steak and chips that special send off down into my tummy. Gosh, what a weekend treat.

Galaxy Croissants (Ocado) By @Cinabar

I started Friday by upgrading my breakfast. I was looking for some croissants and spotted these new Galaxy ones on Ocado, so thought I would give them a try. I would normally have croissants with butter, but these come pre filled with Galaxy chocolate. Well, a Galaxy chocolate cream at least.

There are four croissants in the bag and each is individually wrapped. Good for the lunchbox, not so great for the environment. I opened the wrapper and found a fairly chunky Galaxy croissant inside. It was notably missing the classic crescent shape, but it still looked appealing enough.

I bit in and the pastry was softer than expected. This is not one of those crisp, flaky, buttery pastries. It is almost more cake like in texture, probably because these are fairly long life. The best before date was April 2026. The flavour was still nicely buttery though. The filling was impressive, as they were not at all stingy. Almost every bite had Galaxy cream inside and it was thick, creamy and sweet, adding plenty of chocolate flavour. There was a big dollop in the centre too, so it definitely felt like a proper breakfast treat. I would definitely buy these again.