We don’t get as many limited-edition Valentine’s Day products as we should, but I spotted this funky pink box in Tesco and couldn’t resist. These are the limited edition Krispy Kreme Valentine’s Doughnuts, and there are four in the box.
We had a heart-shaped Strawberry Kreme Delight, a heart-shaped Choc Raspberry Escape, a round Sprinkled with Love and a heart-shaped Salted Caramel Temptation. All the doughnuts looked stunning, and there was a good mix of flavours. I hadn't had a Krispy Kreme in far too long, but these were the perfect after-dinner treat.
My favourite was the Salted Caramel Temptation, not only because it was nicely decorated but also because it was a divine caramel overload. The filling was fantastic, just the right amount of rich buttery caramel. Seriously, I could have spooned that on toast! I really must keep an eye on the Krispy Kreme doughnut editions going forward and not leave it so long next time.
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful day.
I love the idea of the popcorn bars you can get at Marks and Spencer and frankly I am happy to make any excuse to buy them. The latest is their Valentines edition, Heart Go Pop Choc Corn. This bar is stunning, the packaging is all reds and pinks, but the bar itself is just lovely to look at too. On top of the popcorn we have pink chocolate hearts, white chocolate, milk chocolate and pink shelled chocolates, it is such a smart looking bar.
I broke a chunk off and it actually breaks apart pretty well, which is against the odds when you look at. I only dropped one candy chocolate on the floor while sharing some out, which I’m putting down as a win. This bar is all about the texture, each piece is so interesting to eat. The popcorn pieces are big and fluffy the chocolate creamy and sticks everything together and the decorations are crunchy. It is a delight to look at and delight to munch on, I love varied texture. These bars are fairly pricey but for a quiet night in, curl up on the sofa, share some posh popcorn in the form of this Heart Go Pop Choc Corn bar and stick on a good film. Sometime the simplest things make for the best evening.
My partner went to Sainsbury's big new store in Selly Oak and came back with lots of great things for me to review (and the cats to view with suspicion)
The first of these is this fairly simple chicken & leek pie.
Sorry - TRIUMPHANTLY simple free range chicken pie, with ham and leeks (range unknown). Surprisingly it says you could eat it cold. I'd never really considered that with other brands - but Higgedy are the masters of the cold pies with seeds and yummy goodness on top - it makes sense they'd pre-cook all the ingredients. And the insides are like something out of a farm shop - but more on those later - first we have to deal with the outside...
My partner claims that she didn't deliberately buy one with a big heart on the top for valentines day. She may not of consciously noticed, there is a big window on the box though so clearly her brain did. I accept my loving gesture on Valentines week and look forwards to further spontaneous romantic things.
The big heart pie forms part of a lovely nutritious meal too - with those crispy potato things I always forget to buy.
And the insides are as expected - huge chunks of meat that actually require cutting up! Recognisable leek and tasty ham. I'd happily have these again as a variation on my typical Pie Minister, and I'm now intrigued about the possibilities of me taking these to work and eating them cold!
The poster advertising this new Starbucks Limited Edition Berry Hot Chocolate doesn’t actually specifically mention Valentines day, but their new hot chocolate is only available until next weekend, so has launched for a very brief time that does coincide with Valentine’s day week. The flavour is called Limited Edition Starbucks Berry Hot Chocolate but it is a much more delicate drink than you might expect from that title. The hot chocolate is infused with berry tea, an unusual start, and has a berry foam on top of the drink.
I was lucky enough to be at the front of the counter when the lady in Starbucks was making this Limited Edition Berry Hot Chocolate, and I saw how she made the foam. She placed a sachet of berry powder in the smoothie blender and and added milk and let it whisk, the amount in the blender went pink and doubled in size creating a mouse like substance. She poured this over the berry hot chocolate which had been made with hot milk and then sprinkled some berry powder on top. The drink was visually stunning. The temperature of the thick foam was cold, but the flavour was wonderful. It was quite zingy, especially when you tasted the powder topping, but otherwise it was fruity without being too sweet. The hot chocolate was delicate too, the strawberry taste was subtle, but the sweetness from he chocolate enhanced it. This is very different to the syrup filled hot chocolate they have at Christmas time, this is a mature gentle flavour that still manages to be soothing. It was a yummy drink, and one I think it is heart breaking (pun intended) that it has such a short shelf life.
I can’t help browsing in Hotel Chocolat and when I do I can’t help hoping somebody will wander around with samples, as they do sometimes. This time I noticed that they had their Valentines chocolates in, and I had a little look. In the “Selectors” section I found these Salted Espresso heart chocolates and picked them up. Then a lady came around with some cashew chocolates, and gave me a sample, so I picked up some of those too!
Anyway these Salted Espresso Hearts looked very pretty, and combine my chocolate and coffee which is always a favourite of mine. The chocolate hearts looked very pretty too, with their marbled top of pink and yellow, very much in the colours of spring.
I thought the flavour was pretty intense when I tried one. The filling was thick but smooth. The coffee flavour is full on and it takes the sweetness of the chocolate to help soften it. I liked the addition of a rich hazelnut flavour in the mix, and I hadn’t quite expected it from the title of the product; Salted Espresso, but the nuts are mentioned in the text. What I was finding it more difficult to pick up on was the salt, there was just the gentlest touch, and I was okay with that as there were already quite a few strong flavours competing for my attention. As a coffee lover I thought these were a treat, and would be more than happy if someone treated me to some more on Valentines.
How do you follow a massive Valentine's day haul review (with a video)? By finding the perfect single gift solution instead!
If I were planning to buy an edible present for my significant other (which I'm not - we have so much chocolate still from Christmas I'm worried that Hansel & Gretel will come round) then it would be this. I've no idea how much they are, as we got them for Christmas from my little sister, but it was from Tesco. Also I've had two other people recommend that we review the brand since Christmas so I think it's one to watch.
So - what is it?
In this fantastically designed box we have award winning truffles. I expected them to be laid out like a chocolate box...
...but no - these are individually wrapped delights. Each importantly comes with its flavour marked and they a packaged large enough that they all travelled well and each was in tact.
Here we see the cookies and cream variety - the first I tried - and it's essentially a really good chocolate truffle with bits of Oreo style flavour in it. The real magic is that the outside is covered in fine, dark chocolate powder which really makes it a mouth watering proposition!
There are 6 varieties and we ate two of each between us and barely made a dent in the box - we didn't count but I'm guessing 24 to 30? The choccy one is the basic formula, but then they add cookies, fruity popping candy, orange peel, and for the two star versions Nutella style hazelnut, and Crunchie butterscotch.
Usually I'd try and pick apart all the flavours and choose a favourite but here it seems pointless, they are all magical and whichever I most recently ate is usually my favourite.
The fact that these showed up in Tesco means that the boutique chocolate shops like Hotel Chocolate really need to up their game to compete - these are better than a bag of Thorntons and I can guarantee your chosen Valentine hasn't had their fill of these.
What makes these especially perfect for the V day present is how shareable they are, you can pass them around, choose straight from the box and they provide an instant sumptuous talking point. Tempted as I am to buy more right away we still have a few left - and I'm going to go have an orange one right now!
I got three plain brown parcels in the post in the space of two days so I decided to try our first unboxing video!
I'd thought about trying these ever since I received the manger full of quinoa in the post (which I STILL haven't written up due to festive posts)
Without spoiling too many surprises here it is!
To catch up those of you that didn't watch the three parcels all turned out to be from Asda - as did two more that arrived on Mon & Tue this week! I'd not really thought much about the offer of free valentines stuff but when it looks like this...
I'm pretty happy I did! I mean the pack says that it's Asda so you probably won't get points for indie credentials and organic stylings on your brownies (but they are only £2)
unless of course you take them out of the box first! Super indulgent breakfast in bed? Maybe.
The taste isn't up to that much really, it's all sugar and showmanship, but it's nice and I'd not turn these down. Also - I couldn't bring myself to give the other box away as planned so they must have done something right. Having the choc layer at the bottom be a little firmer gives them a nice bite, and the caramel flavour is more distinct than the red is so maybe I'd give this the edge - but if you are a couple you clearly should be having half of each.
Next up we have the I <heart> U cupcakes (£1.50) - skewed a little younger I feel. These weren't that special, but were just decent little cup-cakes with a not too sweet frosting on top. I forgot to take a solo pic so here is the whole haul.
There are of course better shots in the video ;) If you want a little gesture or something for the children to give out then these are the ones for you.
The other two boxes contained novelty heart mallows (£1 - great as a display or part of a larger gift, but essentially just flavoured sugar) and romantic chalk boards. The mallows are a fairly standard idea, a heart shaped version of something that's already familiar - and they do taste OK - I'm happy to finish the bag, but the rest can go to work.
The chalk board is a little bit special however - as you can write your own message on it before you go to work and leave it out for a loved one. Or use it to promote your blog!
I'd expected the fun to stop there and for the things inside to be fairly boring. The wrappers are cheap and flashy, the chocolates are adorable and well worth a try.
Essentially they are a little bit Lindt (Lindor?) with the ball with a crispy shell, and a little bit Kinder where the two chocolates combine for a fantastical taste. If you know (or want to know) someone whose tastes are in this area, and have a witty or romantic thing to write on the box. At £2.50 it's not going to break the bank either, but the recipient needn't know that...
Finally - conspicuous only by the fact that it's shown up in the other pictures and is the main thing we talk about in the video is the Extra Special Truffles. These really are the business.
Note the unwrapped chalk board ball hiding in the box for scale.
They look like a fairly expensive gift, but at £3 you can forgive only getting 9 in the pack. These, as I mentioned, have a lovely chocolatey hit, with the raspberry floating over the top. What I hadn't appreciated was just how alcoholic that third bite and aftertaste would be. This put some of the lucky people getting to try the remaining ones off, but even though I'm not a fan of prosecco it was a nice touch. It felt like a grown up chocolate and a gift that can be enjoyed even if you are watching the calorie intake. Sometimes a small luxurious portion is better! A lot harder for me to share than the other items - these would be my top pick - but not by much.
I wouldn't usually include the prices but these are only available in the one store (Asda) and - if you just take the brownies, the truffles and the chalk board home with you it's £7.50 - and you could probably get a card on top for under £10. There wasn't anything disappointing about these parcels - and hopefully we'll be getting more interesting things to open in future weeks.
Spectre spotted these new Krispy Kreme Valentines Love Bug and Honey Bee Doughnuts in a branch of Tesco we had stopped at on the way back from a spa break. They were so cute they caught our attention and we ended up buying some (well several because we "needed" to fill the large box).
Love Bug
The first one we tried was the cute looking ladybird style doughnut. The doughnut is heart shaped, and decorated in a raspberry icing. My first bite caught both the icing and the cream filling. I discovered that the filling was rather like strawberries and cream, as it was a milky strawberry mousse. It had a good fruity flavour, and the mix of berries and cream worked very well. A totally yummy doughnut.
Honey Bee
My first bite here only had the soft doughnut sponge and the icing, and I had a lovely hit of vanilla. I couldn't help thinking the icing should have been honey flavoured, if you are going to make a bee shape and call it a Honey Bee, you'd think it would be honey flavoured somewhere along the way. The filling was a beautiful rich thick chocolate, which overpowered the vanilla icing a fair bit, but still tasted good. Don't get me wrong it is a fab chocolate and vanilla flavour, and again was a very enjoyable tasty treat.
The Krispy Kreme Valentines Love Bug and Honey Bee Doughnuts are available until 21st February, so get them while you can. Certainly a sweet Valentines gift, just make sure whoever you are getting them for will share. ;-)
I like flavoured coffees, I have selection of syrups at home such as vanilla and caramel. We can usually find gingerbread lattes at christmas but Starbucks have gone an exciting step further forward with their new creation for Valentines.
The new drink is a Pistachio and Rose Mocha, which sounds like quite a complicated set of flavours. The drink isn’t openly available to all yet, you need to have downloaded the app, and be in the know, in order to try it early. I ordered my drink, and paid using the app, but when she called my drinks she said; “hot chocolate and… err… the other flavoured mocha” which made me smile, and made me feel like I was in a secret club. I’m easily amused. It launches properly on Valentine's Day.
The drink is a mocha which is half hot chocolate and half coffee, in this is mixed a Pistachio and Rose syrup, it is then served with a swirl of pale pink rose scented cream with chopped green pistachio nuts sprinkled on top.
The drink looked pretty, with its delicate pastel colours topping the flavoured mocha. I gave it a bit of a taste test and discovered that the mix of flavours came together nicely. I started by tasting the cream on top of the drink, and it had a slight hint of sweet rose, but a gentle flavour. The nuts on top were firm but not hard and the addition of the nutty taste was very pleasant.
The rose in the syrup, combined with the chocolate in the Mocha and gave the drink an air of Turkish Delight, the floral rose and sweet chocolate being the highlight of the drink. The aftertaste reminded me frangipane, which I think is because of the combination of sweetened nut in the syrup. I enjoyed the drink far more than I expected too, and I would happily have another. Somehow all of those ingredients have nice complex tastes that complement each other well.
The only negative element of the drink was that the pistachio bits from the topping. Some of them ended up in the drink as the cream melted, and that meant some sips ended up withs a bitty pistachio piece. My advice is to spoon these off and eat with the cream before you begin. If you want to try the new drink before its Valentine’s day launch, ask nicely in your local Starbucks. It is certainly worth it for Turkish Delight fans.
Valentines day isn’t far away, and Hotel Chocolat have brought out the most stunning selection of chocolates I have ever seen. This is a box designed to impress. The chocolates are presented in a huge heart shaped box, and it is filled with a wonderful selection of chocolates, many keeping the romance theme and are heart shaped.
When I opened the box I found myself saying “Wow” repeatedly. The chocolates look beautiful. The colours on the fruit creams look stunning as do the chocolate hearts. There are also plenty of pralines, caramels and some with a boozy kick for good measure.
At the base of the heart are two Praline Oysters. They are coated with a fabulous mix of dark and milk chocolate, which encases the rich praline centre. The chocolate shell is thick, but the praline is silky underneath. This is perfect for the nut fans.
On a theme of oysters and champagne another romantic chocolate in the box are the beautiful Pink Champagne truffles. They have a dusty pink colour, and are made with thick milk chocolate. The spark of champagne in the truffle is offset by a hint of strawberry, giving this a warming but sweeter kick.
The heart shaped chocolates have a variety of fillings, from Amaretto Almond Kiss to the Blood Orange fruit cream. The orange fruit cream was a favourite of mine, I do like fruity chocolates. The orange taste was zesty and strong and balanced perfectly by the milk chocolate.
For white chocolate fans I thoroughly recommend the Blueberry chocolate. Underneath the high cocoa white shell is a wonderful burst of berry flavour, again so perfectly balanced.
Fancy trying some Hotel Chocolat chocolates for yourself? For your chance to win do enter our competition using the Rafflecopter widget below:
Terms/Conditions
One winners will be chosen at random and win Hotel Chocolat Valentine’s Chocolates
• UK residents only
Entry is by Rafflecopter
• If we can’t get in touch with the winner in a reasonable amount of time to obtain an address another winner will be selected. If the winner comes forward when the Valentines chocolates are no longer available an equivalent substitution will be made.
If you have any questions about this competition, please send me an email or leave a comment below.
This lovely selection of goodies from Hotel Chocolat is reminder that it isn't long to Valentines Day! The lovely folks from Hotel Chocolat asked if I wanted to review their Valentines Goodie Bag, and how could I resist. The smart gift bag comes sealed with a ribbon and looks like it is packed with contents. I really enjoyed diving into all the goodies and seeing what was there.
The first thing I noticed was the lovely bag of champagne truffles. The dusted milk chocolates have a thick milk chocolate case, and a silky smooth truffle inside with a nice twist of champagne. They taste very luxurious and the flavour balance is spot on. The champagne is strong enough to be noticed, but it works with the chocolate rather than against it. There was a duo of chocolates too, with an Eton Mess and a praline heart to bring some tastes of the selection boxes available.
There are two milk chocolate bars in the bag, one of which is ornately decorated with a solid heart on the front, the other is undecorated, but just as nice. Hotel Chocolat milk chocolate is in a league of its own, it is one of the few chocolates where you can really pick up on impressive cocoa taste, and appreciate all its tones. It isn’t the creamiest milk chocolate but it is pleasantly sweet and moreishly smooth. There are beautifully decorated milk chocolate hearts hidden the Nudge Nudge box too for good measure, each with doves and flowers embossed on them, so romantic.
My favourite item in the box were the Passion Fruit Truffles. They are heart shaped and decorated with bright Valentine’s pink. I love fruit creams and these were so much more than that. The thick white chocolate shell was mellow and creamy and helped tone down the strong zingy passion fruit truffle inside. The combination was perfect the soothing chocolate bringing out the best of the sharp fruity taste.
There is a good variety of chocolates in the bag, something for every taste. This the sort of gift that would be perfect to share on Valentines, but try not to judge your loved one if they don't split the bag with you. These chocolates are a bit too nice. ;-)
