Toffifee White Chocolate (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

I think this is the first time I have even seen a limited edition variety of Toffifee, and believe me I have had my eyes peeled. That means that despite Toffifee being a firm favourite chocolate of mine for decades, I’ve never written about them here at Foodstuff Finds. So Toffifee chocolates are a soft toffee base, they have a hazelnut in the middle and they are topped with chocolate, usually milk chocolate but in this case white chocolate. The boxes always used to amuse me as a kid, where you could press in the circles to make a chocolate pop out or pop up and hopefully not jump across the room. Or when that fails, lift up the tray and use your fingers to push from underneath!

I opened up the box of Toffifee White Chocolate and the format hadn’t changed, the only difference was the circles of white chocolate on the top. It made the chocolates look a little bit like fried eggs, I think I’m just really used to them being milk chocolate topped.

I gave one a try and the flavour of toffee and white chocolate were a delight together. The Toffifee is sweet and rich and the white chocolate brings balance, a creamy soothing flavour. I love when you get to the nut and the crunch hits, but I’ve always been about the texture. Toffifee aren’t too sticky either, the toffee element holds without getting stuck in your teeth. These are a joy to eat and I think I had forgotten how much I love Toffifee, never mind White Toffifee. Dear Father Christmas can I have some of these as a stocking filler please? Turns out I rather like them and the box didn’t last very long.

Soda Folk - Blueberry Muffin Soda (@NLi10)

 While on holiday I spotted a lovely artisanal bakery shop full of treats.  As we were looking for a meal and on a time-budget I popped in, grabbed a cool-looking can and popped out.  Shame really as they had so much to offer.

I chose this exciting Blueberry Muffin Soda with the intention of being able to share it with the group.

It was even low sugar so the diabetic could try it too.

But - unfortunately it was essentially just a sparking water with a hint of a blueberry muffin flavour.  I'm sure that's great if that's what you are expecting for the price/size but for us this was a little disappointing.  I expected a strong Blueberry lemonade style experience, but I guess Soda is a fairly ambiguous term.  Also - Blueberry is a hard flavour to get right at the best of times, so I can't fault them for trying and getting me excited at the prospect - but this wasn't for me.

As a clear drink in a bottle with a 500ml size I'd have known what I was in for - and probably not picked it up - but it was refreshing enough but not interesting enough to make me want to try the other flavours in the range.

Chocolate Orange Popcorn (Popcorn Shed) By @SpectreUK

I haven't tried chocolate orange popcorn before, so here's a first. I do like the odd chocolate orange pudding. I usually go for various chocolate orange bars and an orange flavoured Wagon Wheel or two. I fancy a bit of a change, so this Popcorn Shed Chocolate Orange gourmet popcorn should go rather well with the chocolate orange doughnut that Cinabar brought back from the shops earlier. I'll have it with a pot of low calorie vanilla ice cream and some chocolate buttons too.

 

As you can see from the photograph I used the Krispy Kreme Doughnut box as a tray. The Popcorn Shed Chocolate Orange popcorn was covered in dark chocolate. There was a toffee flavour immediately underneath the dark chocolate coating, and then the orange flavour mixed perfectly well with the sweet toffee taste. Gorgeous and moreish, this chocolate orange popcorn went very well indeed with my ice cream and chocolate buttons, and the Krispy Kreme chocolate orange doughnut too. Yum.

Information on the packet; The 24g packet has 106 calories, with 3.9g of fat, 9.5g of sugar, and 0.2g of salt. Please see the photograph for the ingredients.

McVities Jaffa Nut (Krispy Kreme) By @Cinabar

Is a Jaffa cake a cake or a biscuit? Cake surely as there is sponge? Is a Jaffa Nut a Cake or a Donut? Donut? Snacking can be a complex business when snacks collide. This is the latest of the hybrid snacks with McVities in conjunction with Krispy Kreme turning Jaffa Cakes and Donuts into Jaffa Nuts.

The chocolate coating these Krispy Kreme McVities Jaffa Nuts is quite dark, and a little sticky. I was just trying to turn the donut to take a look and my fingers were getting chocolate on them. I do like the look, the icing looks very similar to Jaffa Cakes. I assumed from looking at that the central part, the bit that looks like the top of a Jaffa Cake, would be where all the orange jam would be loaded. I bit in and didn’t get any filling once I hit the middle, just a nice soft donut and the darker chocolate topping. A couple more bites was sadly the same. At this point, there was no orange taste, I thought my donut was broken.

Then I tucked in around the edge and found the jam, off centre at the edge but present at least. It was a lovely filling, it had a good zesty sweet orange taste, and was a bit more runny than you’d find the traditional Jaffa cake. I think it was a bit more zesty and sour too, but I liked that contrast with the rest of the sweetness. The orange jam filling made it, so it was a shame I had a few bites without it, but once discovered, I was thoroughly enjoying the flavour.

I think they have done a good job of combining the two snacks and I would gladly pick up more of these Krispy Kreme McVities Jaffa Nuts while they are available. What is next? I’m hoping for a Hob Nut (HobNob Donut). Yes, maybe don’t leave me in charge of picking the names, that sounds more like a spare part for an oven!

Loin of Pork Roast and Sausages (Swaledale Online Butchers) By @cinabar

The very lovely folks at Swaledale asked if we wanted to try out their website and purchase some goodies from the Swaledale Online Butchers. I have to admit this is the first time I’ve used an online butcher, I wasn’t sure how the process would work. Certainly, around where I live, we don’t have access to a butcher with a good selection, just the usual supermarket variety. Swaledale meats are native breed and they pride themselves on their techniques.

I had a browse through their website and picked out some nice meats to try. My favourite roast is pork, especially with nice crunchy crackling, so I picked the Loin of Pork Roast. My mum is from Yorkshire so I also went with the Yorkshire Breakfast Sausages. 

They arrived the next day and were packed and chilled, so I knew they were still fresh. To start with, we tried the sausages and had them for dinner rather than breakfast, but I think that is okay. Firstly, these sausages are so much bigger than the branded ones from the supermarket, they felt like a proper treat. Even from the aroma of cooking I could tell they would be good. These have a lovely meaty flavour, and they have perfect seasoning too. The flavour of the pork is just so rich and juicy. These sausages were the star, each bite was mouthwateringly good.

For our next meal, we had the Loin of Pork Roast. This is rolled pork with no bone and perfect for crackling. 

A couple of hours before cooking, I rubbed salt all over the skin and left it in the fridge. Just before roasting, wipe off all the salt, rub in some oil and sprinkle some more salt on. Cook the pork for the recommended time for the weight, but for the last five minutes or so increase the heat and watch that beautiful crackling form.

The meat was perfectly tender and carved beautifully into slices. The crackling too came easily from the roast. The pork was perfect, so full of flavour, despite not having much in the way of seasoning on it, it managed to hold out on its own. We had it with apple sauce and gravy and were practically licking the plates clean.

I am converted to the idea of an online butchers and will certainly be having a look to see what other meats they do. I will happily trust them with my Christmas roast too, and perhaps a few other treats when the season comes.

Morley's Birmingham (feat @Sipshack) by @NLi10

One of the most popular Fish & Chips shops in the area closed, and everyone was sad. Then the familiar white & red signage of the Morley's shop appeared and we all celebrated.

Morley's is a famous enough shop that even though they only really have shops in London we have imitation ones in the Midlands - and now we have a real one! The pre-opening shop wrap suggested it was the first in Birmingham, and as the original was a magnet for artists and general coolness I knew I had to try it out. Took me about 6 weeks though...

Situated on the Dudley Road outside my hospital it's already become a favourite place to go to lunch for the IT guys.  It's known for generous portions & quality ingredients. Cheaper than Nandos (or Peri Fino) but a lot more single-focused. No Haloumi pitta breads here - just chicken.

And the grocery store next door is my hook-up for all things Sip Shack so if I'm going to have to walk past anyway it's rude not to stock up.  You can read all about the best indy fruit drink on the market here.  The grape flavour really tamed the sauces and I could have happily drunk 2.

And what did I choose? 5 bits of BBQ chicken!

It's a little hard to photograph the smell - but it's sweet & sticky and awesome.  More like a restaurant sauce than a chicken shop.

And the chips were good too - wasn't expecting that - decent quality and actual potato flavours.  Not many of them - but that wasn't an issue.  This is only half the bag in the picture, no sense in letting them all get cold while I take pics and defend my dinner from cats.

Luna was excited by the chips and chicken - but due to the sauce couldn't really join in.

And again - hard to capture the quality of the chicken - and the sheer amount to. For £5.50 this covered my evening meal and then lunch the following day.  That's a pretty good deal for a trendy take-away - no wonder that I've already seen two influencers and a full film-crew shooting outside (drama not news).

There are more traditional things on the menu so my plan is to go back and try some other things, and if it's not too obvious maybe I'll take some pics of the store too!

King Slayer Beer (Tesco @BuxtonBrewery) By @SpectreUK

I picked this beer because I like big monsters. I love monster movies like King Kong, Godzilla and the Jurassic Park films. There's nothing like watching raging monsters fighting whilst snacking and drinking beer. This King Slayer appealed because I've been watching the Godzilla movies. Granted I started with King Kong on Skull Island. I have Godzilla Versus King Kong after this Godzilla King of the Monsters movie, which I'm watching whilst drinking this beer.

At a roaring strength of 8% in volume (see what I did there?), this King Slayer is a Double India Pale Ale from the Buxton Brewery. Often called an Imperial IPA, a Double IPA usually has a stronger ABV (alcohol by volume), and a stronger malt and hop profile. So I'm expecting big on flavours and a small amount of dizziness after drinking this King Slayer. Let's hope it doesn't slay me too.

On opening this fetching green fiery can there was the usual pop and fizz, and then there was full flavours of malts and hops that seemed to be crashing and wrestling each other to be first to be smelt. This was a murky beer like the dust of two giant monsters such as Godzilla and MUTO fighting it out. Talking of giant battles there were heavy sweet malts in this beer, as well as those troublesome herbal hops storming into each other with great gusto. There was no dominant aroma here, they both gave as good as they got and they packed one heck of a punch on drinking too.

POW punched the sheer bitter herbal hops to begin with from a thundering right hook. BOOM countered those heady sweet malts with an upper cut from the depths of this murky deep golden clouded beer, which seemed to form this impenetrable murky pint of King Slayer. No sword and shield could help him here. This strong in ABV double pale ale would sheer the sword in twain of any medieval monarch. The two monsters of bitter herbal hops and malty goodness fought each other all the way into the aftertaste, and bizarrely slightly beyond. I reckon the king would need a bazooka to get through this lot. I definitely need to find a dragon movie to watch next. Cheers.

Disclaimer- no Kings were harmed during the writing of this blog, especially new ones of Great Britain and the Commonwealth.

Toblerone Gold - Golden Caramel With Honey and Almond Nougat (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I think I have to start this post with a bit of back history about the price. I rarely write about the price of items we’ve bought for Foodstuff Finds, as most items cost us less than £2 and those that are a little bit more expensive from time to time are a bit of an indulgence. When Toblerone first announced their new Toblerone Gold Edition Golden Caramel With Honey and Almond Nougat bar, I wanted one, naturally. I went to buy one online as it was an online exclusive at the time and it came with a personalised pack and a price tag of £17.50. I stopped, it was a ridiculous price for a bar and even though I did consider it, I couldn’t do it. I speak as someone who has spent several pounds on exotic foreign Kit Kat specials, but one bar for that price and I knew I’d have to let it go.

So, as you may have spotted from the title, I went on to find this bar in the supermarket with a much more palatable price tag of £3.50, and excitedly snapped one up. I’ve not had Toblerone for a while but the rush of nostalgia from Christmases past hit me. Finding a large Toblerone under the tree was super exciting. I opened the bar and ripped into the foil, the aroma of caramel was sweet and strong. Toblerone is an awkward shaped bar, it makes it unique but also difficult to eat. The internet has taught me how to break the pieces off. As a kid I’d wrestle them off outward and in an undignified manor, but apparently the internet said if I pressed the piece inwards toward the rest of the bar it would break off, and it did! Who knew! Did they add more space between the pieces? Is that why it is easier?

These are big chunky pieces, and they are still a bit difficult to eat, but that is my kind of problem. The flavour is sugary sweet, with soothing tones of caramel, and then the honey almond nougat kicks in. The bar doesn’t have the best texture as the nougat is sticky, but I like it because of the memories that it generates. I love the sweet new caramel version of Toblerone, it is rich and comforting. I will definitely try and pick up another Toblerone Gold Edition Golden Caramel With Honey and Almond Nougat bar, so long as it is £3.50!

Planet Donut - GIANT Jammy Dodger Doughnut from Tuffins (@NLi10)

 Driving back from Wales we needed a refreshment break, so ducked in to a services just outside of Shrewsbury and found this gem!

I have to put the best picture at the top for Instagram & Twitter previews spoiling the surprise, but it’s still quite a find.

The services was Tiffins, which appears to be a chain, but in the same way that Co-op is a chain. Lots of local brands and surprises inside.

Like this - 4 cakes - but one cake - and already cut for sharing! Perfect for any office or meeting. But declined because I’d already seen this.

These doughnuts are awesome in appearance and can compete with the Kings of Krispy Kreme by just being twice as big! Not only does this make them meal sized doughnuts (or like a cake you could share as quarters) but it opens up so many new possibilities.

Whole biscuit on a doughnut? Sure - why not. And not a look-a-like either, a real Jammy Dodger!

It’s also covered in Rice Krispies (possibly not Kellogs brand) covered in white chocolate which were awesome, and filled with rich rich jam.

Amazing. At £2.75 a pop (or 2 for £5 which I totally should have got) it’s not a daily thing, but as a post holiday treat it was certainly the correct choice.

Lovely shop too - would happily deliberately time breaks to visit this chain again.

Lik-m-aid Fun Dip Sour (A Taste of the States) By @SpectreUK

Some bizarre names were added to this product. If Lik-m-aid Fun Dip Sour wasn' bizarre enough, there was Strawberry Smackeroo Dip, Watermelon Whammo Dip, and Tartastic Mystery Dip. Some people in marketing had fun creating those names I suspect, and why not? This Lik-m-aid Fun Dip Sour is supposed to be fun after all.

There were two Lik-a-Stix in the packet, just in case one wasn't enough. Fortunately so too, been as though one of the Lik-a-Stix was broken, but it was a well travelled import product. As mentioned earlier, there were three Sourlicious Flavours; Strawberry Smackeroo Dip, Watermelon Whammo Dip, and Tartastic Mystery Dip.

I decided to try the Tartastic Mystery Dip first, which was bright blue. I thought it might be blueberry, but I ending up thinking it was sour cherry flavour, despite the colour. Why is one of the flavours always cherry? I'm not a big fan of cherry flavour. The flavour of this sour cherry developed the more I ate it. I thought it was strangely masochistically nice.

The Watermelon Whammo Dip was very pink in colour. It tasted like sour watermelon, and again, the taste was stronger and stronger the more I tried it. There was a sherbet taste to begin with, and then sour watermelon with a sherbet aftertaste. This flavour was quite nice, slightly less offensive than the sour cherry, but still not something I'd run out to a shop for.

Strawberry Smackeroo Dip was a darker pink. It smelt like strawberries, which was a good sign. You have to be careful how you smell sherbet though, just in case you get it up your nose. There was a strong strawberry flavour straight away, slightly sweeter and as predicted, it was really good. Not particularly sour though. I had left it until last as strawberry is one of my favourite flavours. I didn't really like strawberries as a child, but I do like them now that ancient. This dip was really nice and moreish, and I would have been quite happy if all three sachets were that flavour. Gosh the strawberry is really lovely.

I managed to eat all three dips using one Lik-a-Stix as it lasted all the way across. I have to admit this Lik-m-aid Fun Dip Sour was fun to eat, and that's what it's all about, I guess. It was a fun dipping sherbet sweet to cheer up the young kids, and to make the old'uns like me feel young. I still preferred the Strawberry Smackeroo Dip above anything else though.

Information on the packet; 50 calories per 2/3 Stick and 1 Packet Powder. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Red Velvet Popcorn (Popcorn Shed) By @Cinabar

For those of you who watched Bake Off last week, you will know that the technical was a Red Velvet cake, and that reminded me that I had a small bag of Popcorn Shed Red Velvet popcorn in the Foodstuff Finds cupboard. I have to be honest, my knowledge of Red Velvet cake was a chocolate cake dyed red, which is definitely mostly true, but it has a cream cheese frosting too and it is made with buttermilk.

I wondered whether this popcorn went down the easy route of just a chocolate flavour or if it attempted to create quite a complex flavour. I opened it up and poured the popcorn out. It smelled chocolatey and didn’t look red, not a bad thing. I gave a piece a try and found it to be a very rich indulgent flavour, with a proper cake taste. I could pick up on plenty of chocolate, but also a sweetness and creaminess like the cream cheese frosting. Every piece was generously coated and it was a proper treat. I’m really enjoying these small bags, perfect for a light snack too. These were originally sent to me by the lovely people at Popcorn Shed and I can’t wait to try some more flavours.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Today is a sad day and the end of an era here in Britain. From everyone at Foodstuff Finds we join the nation in thanking Queen Elizabeth II for her lifetime of service and our thoughts are with the Royal Family. We have been having a quiet day here and thinking about the time my grandad met the queen, which is where the photo above came from.

A few days ago, I baked a Parkin Cake and we enjoyed the last pieces of that, watching the service. It seems the right time for a bit of comfort food.

Welsh Holiday Cottage Goodies - Choc, & Black Garlic Ketchup (@NLi10)

 On our trip to Wales we got goodie packages in both our accommodations - here is the one from the farmhouse in Pembroke

And we got the more traditional breakfast stuff in the waterfront apartment in Penarth.

First up was the Welsh truffle (or trwffl) which had a great smell

We liked these and they were tangy and fun

It's basically just a really nice local chocolate though!

Didn't get a good picture of the garlic ketchup - but once you got it moving it just poured right out!

With the Anglesey Sea Salt and all the tangy flavours this was a hit - I let someone else take it home, but if I'd have seen this one in the local produce shops I'd have picked one up for home.

Great pizza dip too!

The marshmallows were the oddest of the presents - double chocolate

Fish gelatine? Cool idea - I guess it's halal and suitable for pescatarians that way!

Spotty cubes of Mallow - but chocolate covered chocolate probably doesn't go well with hot chocolate so we just ate them!

They do look a little like dog-treats but they are quite luxury.  We finished these before we left.

Last up are the Bara Brith biscuits, which I had a nibble of, but aren't really my style.  The others loved them - raisins, and Christmas spices.

Very pretty too!

Overall a lovely, local, luxury care package and definitely something to recommend the site to others on (plus the hot-tub, and views, and complete lack of neighbours).