The Canada Shop recently sent me a lovely selection of Canadian goodies to review. They have a great online shop with a full range of Canadian groceries, chocolates and candies - along with an array of maple syrup products!
I genuinely had no idea that maple syrup could come in such different guises, so I'm very thankful to The Canada Shop for giving me the opportunity to try some of these out. Firstly this gorgeous trio of mini Brien jars featuring; Maple Jelly, Maple Butter and Maple Sugar. These are so adorable! All three are 100% natural and have an intense maple syrup flavour, giving them a dark, rich taste, with a deliciously burnt caramelised edge.
Maple Sugar - This crunchy granulated sugar is great for baking or general cooking, but can also be used in hot drinks and as an ice cream topping.
Maple Butter - This "butter" is actually made of pure maple syrup that has been boiled and then whipped for at least 30 minutes to give it a smooth and creamy texture. There are countless uses for Maple Butter but I'm thinking it would be great as a replacement for straight-up maple syrup on pancakes - then I wouldn't even need to add any real butter.
Maple Jelly - Usually I get confused by the whole jelly/jam issue but this one is definitely more of a soft wobbly jelly (in the English sense). It has a lighter flavour than the previous two maple products, meaning it works well simply on toast or scones.
I was also sent these gorgeous Maple candies, again made by Brien and containing 100% natural ingredients. There are two types of Maple candy available, which are both appropriately maple leaf shaped; the rich amber coloured hard candies, and the larger soft candies.
The hard candies have an intense maple syrup flavour which is obviously sweet, but this is balanced nicely by a dark, slightly bitter edge. The larger pale coloured candies are robust at first but quickly give way to a crumbly melt in the mouth texture. I loved the appearance of both of these candies, and their deliciously different flavour.
I was also sent these two Canadian chocolates, both of which are new to me; The Cadbury Pep, and the Hershey's Cherry Blossom (both £0.95p).
The Cadbury Pep is a large circular chocolate disc with a milk chocolate coating and a peppermint cream filling. The appearance reminded me of a massive After Eight! I cut this one up to share it around and I have to say it disappeared in seconds - everyone enjoyed it immensely. The filling here is more solid than an After Eight, and less sticky, but not as hard as a Fry's Mint Cream. The mint layer is very sweet but has a creaminess to the minty flavour that makes it very moreish.
I'll be reviewing the Cherry Blossom in a separate post soon - it's an epic combination of cherry, coconut & roasted peanuts so be sure to watch this space!
Check out The Canada Shop full selection here: http://www.thecanadashop.co.uk/
Next on my wishlist is the Cinnamon Spread - I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried it!
The Cinnamon spread is an OBSESSION in my house - we brought three tubs back from Canada with us, and I've never managed to fins a UK source, so thank you. The closest taste to it in the UK would come from the Lotus biscuit spread - it' utterly amazing.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this comment Lily, that's exactly what I was hoping to hear! We're obsessed with cinnamon in general so I can't wait to try this spread. Also a fan of the Lotus spread, that stuff is sooo good :)
DeleteI have actually never tried the cinnamon spread! That's now on my to-do list :)
ReplyDeleteThey have so many great things on that site ... this is what my Canadian taste buds recommend trying (if you haven't already!)
Choc: Crispy Crunch, Coffee Crisp and Wunderbar (Mr Big is also good but is very similar to Lion bars).
Chips: All-dressed!
Other: Swiss Chalet Dipping Sauce packet and either of the Tim Horton's Cappuccino drink mixes (it's what my aunt over there usually requests!)
Dani, this is wonderful, thank you! I haven't tried any of these recommendations, so I now see this as a list I must conquer!
ReplyDeleteI have tried Tim Horton's hot chocolate many years ago that a friend bought back from a trip to Canada and I thought it was amazing. I'll definitely be trying the Cappuccino too :)
Glad you're enjoying these Canadians treats! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on them :)
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