Mr. Kipling Rich and Gooey Salted Caramel Brownie Bites (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I was hunting for snacks; really, I was looking for Halloween snacks, but hidden behind a packet of pork scratchings in the supermarket were these Mr. Kipling Rich and Gooey Salted Caramel Brownie Bites. I’m not sure how new these are, but they appealed, so I picked them up. I will go on a further hunt for more seasonal items, but for now I’m happy with my choices, and these are perfect for an afternoon snack with a coffee.

Inside the box, I discovered the Mr. Kipling Rich and Gooey Salted Caramel Brownie Bites are much smaller than I thought they would be. They are called ‘bites’ I suppose, but I still hoped they would be bigger. I decided to have a couple, as one just wasn’t going to be enough. I bit in, and the milk chocolate shell cracked and gave way to a chocolatey, moist sponge and a rich, buttery dollop of caramel. These were a delight, a two-bite delight. The flavour was full of chocolate and sweet from the caramel and rich too, as the sponge had a heavy cocoa content. They were lovely; I ate two but could easily have had more. I haven’t given up on the search for Halloween goodies, but these were a yummy find in the meantime. 

Reese’s White DJ Santa’s Disco Lights (Tesco) By @Cinabar

The next big event that will be upon us is Halloween. My local Tesco Express has skipped this and is stocking Christmas goodies. Oh my. I love Christmas, but if I’m honest, I’m not really feeling ready for it; I prefer to wait until mid-November. That being said, I also can’t resist a new product, so here we are with Christmas chocolates in October. This bag of chocolates is called Reese’s White DJ Santa’s Disco Lights, which is quite a lot to unpack in the name. Is being a DJ what Santa does the rest of the year? Are they called Christmas lights because of the shape? Because,  let me be honest, aren’t all Reese’s peanut butter cups the same shape?

I opened up the bag and found foil-coated chocolates. I unwrapped the foil, and then under that I also had to unwrap the brown paper wrapper. That is some serious packaging. The chocolates themselves are yummy. There is loads of thick white chocolate and a good dollop of peanut butter. The flavour combination is sweet and nutty and an absolutely delight. The links with Christmas are a bit bizarre, but the Reese’s White DJ Santa’s Disco Lights chocolates are a brilliant flavour combination. 

Asda Festive Pie (not that kind, or the other kind, a new one) [@NLi10]

 Ah - Festivus - the celebration of all things Festive.  Today Asda have provided us with a Festive Pie.

      No - not a mince pie.

            And no, not a Turkey & cranberry pie (although I wouldn't say no to one of these - maybe they are in another part of the store)

It does look good by my parents fire - and it wishes us a Magical Christmas.

This Festive Pie can be found on the floor above the Horror Emporium spooky green foods, and is only £1.50 for two which I thought was worth a risk - but what is it?

Oddly - it's gingerbread and winter (ish) fruits!

Spiced pear and date filling might not be everyones cup of eggnog, but I thought it sounded interesting and worth a try.  With the gingerbread too I found it just a little too spicy for my enjoyment, but then ginger isn't my go too Festive Flavour.  The pastry/gingerbread was spot on - but you'll want a plate.

They certainly look the part too, and for people that don't like Mince Pies (heresy!) like me they allow us to join in the fun.

If you have an older relative that likes strong flavours then give them this with a warm drink at night and they will probably go all misty eyed.

Perfect for leaving out for Santa too!

My mince-pie & ginger loving partner said she'd definitely have them again, so I suspect that I'll get to try them in colder weather too - if they are still around by then.

Enville Ale - Honey Ale (Cost Cutter) By @SpectreUK

I fancy a sweet brew tonight with my Rotisserie Chicken, salad, and cold meats meal. Here is a honey pale ale from just down the road from where I live in the West Midlands. At 4.5% in volume, Enville Ale, is brewed with natural well water, Pale Maris Otter malted barley, English hops, and pure blossom honey.

I haven't had a pint of this Enville Ale for many years. I recently saw it in a local garage, and had to pick up a can. On opened the can there was a sweet honey and pale malt aroma. Pouring with a good head, this clear golden pale ale beckoned me from my waiting beer glass.

On taste Enville Ale had a light refreshing sweet pale malted barley flavour, with a crisp herbal hop bitterness into the aftertaste. This honey pale ale was gorgeous. It washed down my chicken and cold meats meal perfectly. Cheers.

Golden Blond Chocolate Spread (M&S) By @Cinabar

A few days ago I was talking about Caramac making a temporary comeback and how it had lost its market share as everyone was doing golden caramel chocolate-like products. Well, Marks and Spencer has brought out Golden Blond Chocolate Spread, so they are taking the golden caramel chocolate to the next level. I picked up a jar because one of my favourite treats is chocolate spread on toast. And I have a sweet tooth. 

Once home, I put the toaster on, ready to give this the taste test. I opened the jar, and the first thing I noticed was that there were bits in the spread. The texture was light and fluffy and easy to spread, but I couldn’t work out what the bits were. I checked the jar again, and it turns out they were waffle pieces. I have no idea why they are there. I have this on toast, so I don’t think it adds anything for me. The flavour though was sweet, rich caramel tastes, and was absolutely delicious. Maybe they do a smooth version without the bits too. I really enjoyed the taste; it was the perfect sweet treat for an afternoon snack or a naughty breakfast at the weekend. 

Will Anyone Survive The Horror Emporium (Adsa) Creepy Green Cookies [@NLi10]

Is green food safe to eat? I mean, probably, they don't want to get sued...

Asda have decided to take the calculated risk of competing with M&S for the Horror Stakes and opened the Horror Emporium!  And no - it's not just the in-store toilets at the end of the day - it's a whole range of Halloween goodies - with green & spooky.

And yeah - this is totally just the bake-in-store white cookie (they get delivered as dough and the store cooks as many as they need each day which is why they are much nicer than the olden days versions).

But green.  And Spidery.

You can have a spooky muffin if you live in a posh neighbourhood too.

But the most important thing about the green cookies is that they still taste great - they look scary enough - but the kids will actually eat them.

I mean, our neighbours kids won't - ours didn't last til today - but in theory this is a nice spooky addition to a Halloween House Party.

Oreo Gingerbread Cookies (Ocado) By @SpectreUK

I do love ginger biscuits, and crunchy Ginger Nuts. Trying not to think about Basil Brush's joke about dunking his Ginger Nuts, I can see they've brought out these Oreo Gingerbread cookies for Autumn. They are two gingerbread cookies with a vanilla centre. I'll have them with some salted caramel ice cream after my Thai Green curry for dinner tonight.

 

As you can see from the photograph, these Oreo Gingerbread cookies were ginger coloured. I slid the top off the first one and took a bite. On first crunchy taste these Gingerbread cookies were quite heavy on spicy cinnamon. I don't mind cinnamon so much, but I was expecting a lot more ginger flavour than anything else.

Nevertheless, the vanilla cream inside married the cinnamon and ginger flavours together very well, and these Oreo Gingerbread cookies went very well with my Jude's Salted Caramel ice cream and a few Lotus biscuits on the side.

Information on the wrapper; The packet weighs 154g. Per 100g these cookies are 481 calories, with 20g of fat, 33g of sugar, and 0.78g of salt. Please see photograph for the ingredients.

Nestle Caramac Buttons - They're Back! (Iceland) By @Cinabar

Last year there was a terrible loss in the world of confectionary, and I am here to tell you that we have a brief reprisal. They took away our Caramac, which was heartbreaking to us sweet toothed fans; they had been making it since 1959, so I guess we all thought it was permanent in every way possible. I grew up on Caramac and absolutely loved the stuff. There has been a huge increase in the number of companies producing a caramel-based ‘chocolate’, including Cadbury, and I guess that took away their market share. 

After a number of people mourned the loss, Nestle finally conceded and brought back Caramac, initially as an Iceland exclusive, but now it is back for a limited time only. I opened up the bag of Caramac Buttons (bars are also available), and it was so nice to see those caramel discs. The flavour was as I remember that lovely, rich, sweet caramel taste, with a texture similar to chocolate; it has a similar melting point at least. Wow, for me, these come with a wonderful serving of nostalgia as a post-school treat on a Friday. I have a sweet tooth; I love these Caramac Buttons and will pick up a multie pack of bars when I’m next in. Unfortunately, the return of the caramac is short-term. If you miss Caramac like me, it is time to stock up. Walk, don’t run.