Jordan’s Frusli – Apple, Sultana & Cinnamon Bar (Waitrose)

You know its autumn when the apple and cinnamon flavoured products start appearing. They seem to be the tastes of the Season, and I’m not about to complain because they are flavours I really enjoy. I’m not sure why we all fall out of love with cinnamon in the summer, but I am pleased to see it re-appearing on the shelves.
This bar is the latest flavour introduced by Jordan’s for the Frusli range. The thing I love about these Frusli bars is that they are so fruity, and juicy. The apple and raisins are moist, and sweet and the warmth of the cinnamon shines through, complementing but not overpowering the taste.
Despite the light moist nature of this bar, it still felt surprisingly satisfying, and did stop me from snacking until lunch time (I had this as breakfast bar).
I was really pleased with this cereal bar, and although I usually choose a chocolate flavoured breakfast item, this is one of the chocolate-free breakfast snacks I’ll be repurchasing.

Hairy Bikers Crisps: Keralan King Prawn (Waitrose)

I think I should start by confessing to having had a very different reaction to these crisps to the other testers who tried them with me. Everyone else who tried these crisps loved them, but there was something about them that just didn’t do it for me. If I was to describe the taste, I would acknowledge the strong rich creamy tones of coconut, and the authentic herbs and spices that fill your mouth with a decent warmth. I’d excuse the lack of prawn flavour too, there is a hint, but it is mild. I’d be a little disappointed by the lack of any sweet tones in the taste, especially when the ingredients include mango and lemon. Ultimately though I’d enjoy the saltiness and mix of flavours, and the lovely thick crunchy crisps. This is where the other tasters were, enjoying spicy crisps, all ignoring that little, tiny, almost unnoticeable hint of, and it pains me to say it, lemongrass. Everyone has at least one flavour they don’t like, it’s just how things are. You cannot love every taste, and there will be at least one flavour you have an unexplained hatred for. I am really easy going, I love lots of different tastes, and am quite adventurous in what I will try, but lemongrass is just horrid (beetroot too but I guess that’s irrelevant here). Lemongrass tastes like a really poor quality artificial lemon flavouring. We have lemons, why would we ever need lemongrass? If you are reading this thinking I am being irrational, I suspect you, like the rest of the testers, will love these crisps. If you sit in the camp of lemongrass haters, firstly a big “hi” as I thought I was alone, but it is probably best to give these crisps a miss.

Raspberry Love Hearts {by @NLi10} (Hotel Chocolat)

Just like tartan is the new black, Hotel Chocolat is the new Thorntons. The very definition of luxury gifts was once the biggest of the Throntons selection boxes you dared to carry home, or a little bag of someone's favourites as a special treat or present. Now the little boxes of six and the mini slabs from Hotel Chocolat are the best present a time-strapped idea-barren guy can get for those hard to buy for ladies in his life.

While I had bought many of these as gifts (across the range) this was the first I had been given and I'm glad to say that the quality and flavours are as good as I expected. I received mine for my birthday when my fiancée bought this lovely set of six mini chocs and I gradually worked my way through them.

The outside is hard white chocolate and high quality, the inside is strongly flavoured raspberry creme. These are one of my favourite flavour combinations (hence the gift) and go perfectly hand in hand. This particular example of the flavours is great as you only need to eat one at a time due to the way the tastes linger.

While I am happy to buy myself Thorntons (especially the coloured chocolate lollipops they do around Halloween and Easter) I am very unlikely to buy anything from Hotel Chocolate for myself due to the price, so I think there is still a place for both on the highstreet. And who knows - maybe Thorntons have some more luxurious items lined up for this Christmas. It's probably only a few short weeks until we find out.

by @NLi10

New York Delhi - VIP (Very Important Peanuts) Nuts [By Spectre]

Made in Connecticut these VIP Nuts were only launched in April 2009. The packaging has a space age silver look about them that appealed to my geeky nature. Looking over the packaging I was amused to find; "Allergen Warning: May contain peanuts". I suspect that if, on opening, this packet didn't contain peanuts most people would want their money back.

Chilli Lemon flavour

This bag is filled with the usual crunchy peanuts. It makes a nice 60g snack with your lunch. They have a salty very mild chilli flavour, but no heat whatsoever, having said that there is a good lemon zest when you suck on them. They have the moreish quality that some peanut flavours have that makes you keep wanting to shove, tip, scoop and dump as many of them in your mouth as possible until the bag is empty and you're left mourning the empty packet!

Hot Chilli flavour

There's a nice red colour to these nuts, which produces a burning sensation to your tongue when you start eating them. There's definitely a hot chilli taste to these peanuts and my nose started to run after just a couple of mouthfuls. There are other spices and herbs in there and black pepper, but the flavour is dominated by the hot chilli. A very tasty hot treat that made me sweat and dribble a bit, but at no point did I think that these were too hot or uncomfortable to eat, and I could taste each one. Having said that, don't forget the tissues.

By Spectre

Bramley Apple & Blackcurrant Crumble Cakes [Taste The Difference] (Sainsbury’s)

These rather lovely individual cakes can be eaten straight from the pack, or indeed heated and served with custard. I went for the first option and tried them ‘as is’, i.e. I was too excited to wait to have them as a proper pudding and just ripped straight into the box!
Each cake was wonderfully laced with fruit, and the rich flavours from these shone through. The apple pieces blended wonderfully with the blackcurrant and balanced their sharper taste. The very centre concealed some fruity sauce, that again had the lovely flavour of dark mature berries. The whole cake was well proportioned, and perfect for grown up tastes as each cake was not excessively sweet. This would also make it an ideal base for the addition of custard, which I think I am going to have to try at a later date.
The sponge section is light and easy to eat, and perfectly moist. There was a creamy sweet flavour to the sponge, and within it I could pick up on flavoursome brown sugar. I liked the topping too, there were pieces of almond that gave a gentle crunch, but nothing too heavy and not much by way of crumble from the texture.
The flavours in this cake are perfect for an Autumn treat as they contain all the rich but fruity flavours for the season. They make an ideal pudding especially now the weather is getting cooler, and I heartily give them a big thumbs up.