Caramelised Pineapple Drinking Chocolate (Hotel Chocolat @HotelChocolat ) By @Cinabar

It has felt like a bit of a slow period in terms of new hot chocolate flavours over Christmas, but Hotel Chocolat has gone for a very interesting-sounding new drink: Caramelised Pineapple Drinking Chocolate. 

The word pineapple triggers two things: one, a thought of tropical tastes, and two, an argument about whether it belongs on a pizza. It does, by the way. My taste buds have yet to find a pizza I don’t like; from ham and pineapple to pepperoni or meat feat, they are all good. 

Back to the hot chocolate. As I’m clearly not in the camp that has any aversion to pineapple, even I have to admit it sounds like a curious combination with chocolate in a drink. Inside the box are sachets, which you can either use in a hot chocolate maker or by heating milk on the hob. As a hot chocolate addict, I have a machine, so I added milk and poured in the sachet. It smelled amazing and was very fruity in aroma, and I couldn’t wait for it to finish so I could give it a try.

The drink itself isn’t quite as sweet as I thought it would be from the aroma. This drink is chocolate first and has gorgeous tones of cocoa, and the pineapple is well balanced. It is very much present and tastes zingy, tangy, and sweet, but the balance is in favour of the cocoa, which gives it an unexpected soothing tone too. This Caramelised Pineapple Drinking Chocolatedrink is a delight. It is different, but it works. Even the people who are anti pineapple on pizza might find they like it! 

Bikaji Soya Sticks - Masala Munch {@NLi10]

 Crisps are great, 'Bombay' Mix is great - so why not just buy a whole bag of the one crispy bit from the mix that you fancy?  It is Ramadan after all.

This is Bikaji brand version- and Masala Munch sounds exactly like what I want.

Oil, tapioca starch & gram flour - and more importantly Ginger, Chili, Tumeric powder - instead of potatoes makes this a little different in texture to British crisps, and a welcome change.

You can still have them as a side with your sandwich too - and it adds a little spice to the proceedings.   Lovely and crunchy, and just spicy enough to get your attention but not so much that you need a drink alongside.  I do plan to eat lots of these with a beer (maybe during today's Wrestlemania) but they are more of a snack.

As I'd taken this to Nanna's I also got an ace slice of home made cake with Damson jam - but made by her gardener!  Puddings at lunch time is always a welcome luxury.

Vocation Chocolate Caramel Cookie Stout ( @WeeBeerShop ) By @SpectreUK

After a long week there isn't much better than a gooey chocolatey liquid pudding. This Chocolate Caramel Cookie Naughty & Nice Chocolate Stout was produced by Vocation Brewery. At 8% in volume, it should have a nice alcoholic kick with all the sweet caramel and cookie flavours, and smooth milk chocolate. Gosh, it's making my mouth water writing about it.

Malted barley, oats and lactose were added in the brewing sporting flavours of biscuit, chocolate, and even salted caramel. I can't help looking forward to drinking this Chocolate Caramel Cookie stout whilst it washes down my Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate Easter egg for pudding tonight. I'm slowly working my way through quite a stash of chocolate after Easter.

On opening the can there was a powerful sweet chocolate caramel aroma from the deep dark brown, almost black liquid inside. On taste there were bittersweet roasted milk chocolate flavours combined with an oaty biscuit taste, sweetened with gooey caramel, and more roasted chocolate malt into the aftertaste. Gosh, this Chocolate Caramel Cookie stout washed down my chocolate Easter Egg a treat.

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Minis Exploding Candy (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Popping candy has a Marmite-like property; some may hate it for its childish nature, and some absolutely love the popping tingle. Whenever I see popping candy, it takes me back to my childhood and those little sachets you used to get in newsagents full of the stuff with fruity flavours.

A few years back, Terry’s brought out a popping candy edition in full size orange, which I haven’t seen for some time. These seem to be the next step in the evolution, and here we have a sharing bag of Terry’s Chocolate Orange Minis Exploding Candy. I can’t wait.

Firstly, the bag has one of those stickers for re-sealing, which I find useful and a reminder not to eat the entire bag in one session. Inside the pack are really cute mini Terry’s Chocolate Orange segments. They do look super sweet; each one has the logo on it. I gave one a try, and the chocolate was lovely, sweet, and smooth, and then there was a tingle and the exploding candy pops. It was a good, fun sensation, and it popped and crackled, and I really liked it. Terry’s chocolate is lovely and sweet, and the orange flavour is a good strength. The whole thing is a delight. I just have to remember that I don’t have to eat them all in one setting because the packet does re-seal! 

Chicago Town Weekender Stuffed Crust - Salt & Pepper Chicken [@NLi10]

We happened to be in Asda so got to see a different range of pizza to normal - including some more interesting stuffed crust options. 

I love 'salt & pepper' chicken which seems to be the catch-all term for little bits of spicy chicken (even though the salt & pepper batter is really a very specific thing.

Just looks like normal chicken - and the brown blobs melt into the pizza as sauce

The meat seems decent - but the flavour here seems to be all around the outside.

The whole official picture does look quite lovely 

Mine less so - I had it too low in the oven so it burnt the base and that meant the whole 'raw dough' thing didnt' really work.  I know what the pizza itself is like so that parts fine - the new topping though was the interesting part.  It's very much like the Marks & Spencer Chinese Chicken - only with a chilli kick.  I'd have this again - but keep an eye on it in the oven!

Bonus: Cheese

We did have two pizza in the oven - higher up and therefore cooked better was the cheese option

I added herbs to this so it looked less boring.

Lots of colours in their cheese

Reality is a bit mono - but the cheese had started to brown in places.  The herbs really added to the smells here which was nice - but my partner said that it was a little too salty overall and many pints of water had to be consumed in the night!

A good set of options for pizza night  -but I think I still like the thinner bases.