Review: Pepsi Max Ginger

A quick review of the new Pepsi Max Ginger flavour. I've never been a big Pepsi Max drinker, I  do like it occasionally but I generally prefer the taste of Coke Zero. If I do buy Pepsi Max it tends to be their delicious Pepsi Max Cherry flavour. 

I have to admit that I was surprised to find out that Pepsi had released a ginger flavour - it's not the first flavour combination I would have thought of for Pepsi Max. Personally, I've always hoped that they would release a raspberry flavour one day. I also need the Pepsi Max Vanilla that was released in Australia this year - please bring this one to the UK too!

Of course I had to try the new Pepsi Max Ginger straight away but since ginger is not my favourite flavour, I decided on a multipack of cans (so I can give some away if I didn't like it). Thankfully the Pepsi Max Ginger is extremely enjoyable. The ginger is immediately evident and provides a zingy flavour and background warmth. It's similar to a ginger beer but without the heat or kick that a ginger beer can have. The original Pepsi Max flavour still comes through to give it a sweeter and milder edge. 

It's a lovely tasting drink and, whilst I don't think the Pepsi Max Ginger is as easy to guzzle down as some of the other Pepsi Max varieties, it's one that I would still enjoy in smaller quantities. I'll definitely be buying this one again but I'll still stick to the cans rather than getting a whole bottle. 

Grocery Gems Review: Pepsi Max Ginger

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Morrisons.

Gingerbread Whirls at Marks & Spencer

Cinnamon Whirls are one of my favourite pastries (although I honestly can't remember the last time I ate one!) so I was quite excited when I saw a new Gingerbread Whirl version in my local M&S bakery as part of their new Christmas range. 

It's similar in appearance to a traditional cinnamon whirl but instead of white icing, the M&S Gingerbread Whirls have a syrupy glazed icing. 

The pastry itself was absolutely delicious, exactly the kind of quality you would expect from M&S and totally worth the £1.00 price tag for just one whirl. It had a freshly baked flavour, with a soft inner texture, and flaky outer layers. Inside, the pastry is filled with a gorgeous gingerbread flavoured filling. It was surprisingly creamy with a lovely sweet tasting ginger flavour. It's not an overly strong ginger, and there certainly isn't any real heat to it, even though I did detect a few tiny pieces of crystallised ginger within the filling. However, the ginger flavour does build up nicely, and by the last bite I was totally hooked. It's a gorgeously spiced treat and if you're a fan of ginger then I recommend giving it a whirl (sorry... couldn't resist). 

Grocery Gems Verdict: M&S Gingerbread Whirl

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Absolutely!
Nutrition: No info.
Purchased: Marks & Spencer.
Price: £1.00.

New Instore: Asda Desserts & Fox's Biscuits

Many thanks to Lucy W. who spotted all these new products in Asda. It seems like Asda has plenty of new products in the frozen aisle and I'll definitely be taking a look next time I'm instore. Thanks for all the great photos Lucy!

Asda Chocolate Praline Cheesecake: This looks so good! It's a creamy hazelnut mousse and rich chocolate praline on a hazelnut biscuit base and all topped with roasted hazelnuts. £2.00.

Asda Ice Cream Trifle: A very festive looking ice cream dessert. It's a strawberry and raspberry ice cream with sponge pieces, layered with a custard flavoured ice cream and raspberry sauce, topped with cream ice cream and red & green sugar strands. I'm buying one! £3.00.

Asda Tiramisu Cheesecake: This looks like an interesting twist on a classic dessert. This cheesecake has a biscuit base, layered with sponge soaked in espresso extract and Marsala wine and topped with Mascarpone cream and dark chocolate shavings. £2.00.

Asda Toffee Apple Cheesecake: I'm tempted to get this for bonfire night. It has a biscuit base with vanilla cheesecake, Bramley apple, toffee sauce and a butter crumble topping. It's like a cross between an apple crumble and a cheesecake! £2.00.

Image: Asda

Asda Loaded Gingerbread Fudge Ice Cream: Many thanks to Natalie who let me know about another new ice cream at Asda - their Loaded Gingerbread Fudge ice cream. It has a gingerbread flavour ice cream with toffee sauce, gingerbread biscuit pieces and fudge pieces. I really MUST find this one! A bargain at only £1.50 at Asda.

Fox's Chocolatey Ginger Biscuit: Lucy also sent me this photo of these new Fox's dark chocolate & ginger biscuits from their Chocolatey range. There was also a new Choc Orange variety in the range too. 

Many thanks again to Lucy and Natalie. As always if you spot any new products instore do drop me a line - grocerygems@gmail.com.

New Walls Gingerbread Sandwich Ice Cream

Thank you to all the lovely readers who informed me that the Gingerbread Sandwich ice creams could be found at Waitrose. I was able to rush out last week and pick up a box... okay I'll 'fess up, it was actually two boxes. Also thanks to Nicky, who commented on this post and let me know that the Gingerbread Sandwich ice cream has been sold in Sweden for a few years now in the months before Christmas. The rest of the year they have a chocolate Sandwich ice cream (you can see how similar they are to this UK version in this picture HERE). Both are made by the Swedish version of Walls (called GB Glace) which are both owned by Unilever. Anyway, I thought that was all very interesting and I'm really pleased that this product has now been released in the UK too!

The first thing I noticed about the Gingerbread Sandwich is just how big each one is. For reference, the Oreo cookie ice creams are about half the size of these. The second most noticeable feature is just how white and smooth the inner ice cream looks, everyone was just *wow* when they saw it, it's so inviting. 

When it comes to flavour, I'm going to cut straight to the point and say that I loved these Gingerbread Sandwich ice creams. The outer biscuit has a soft texture, which is usually the case with these types of biscuits and makes it ideal for taking easy bites without smooshing the ice cream out (sorry I know smooshing is not a real word but you know what I mean!). When it comes to the gingerbread flavour, the makers have not wimped and given us a bland barely spiced biscuit, they've kept it authentic with a deliciously spiced gingerbread with lots of warmth and depth. It also has a little salty edge to it which I really enjoyed. The ice cream inside is completely plain, it doesn't even taste of vanilla, but it just has a perfectly smooth texture and super sweetness that is sublime in cooling down the warmth of the outer gingerbread layers. 

So far I've been cutting these in half and sharing one with Mr. Grocery Gems, but even doing that, we're going to have to buy a few more boxes if we want to have any left for Christmas!

Grocery Gems Verdict: Gingerbread Sandwich Ice Cream

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes - my kids really enjoyed them too.
Nutrition (per Sandwich): 173 calories.
Purchased: Waitrose
Price: £2.00 (special offer).

New Mr Kipling Gingerbread Whirls

I wouldn't normally buy a Christmas themed product so early in the year but I couldn't resist these new Mr. Kipling Gingerbread Whirls. Even though the box features "maids a milking", the design is actually not too Christmassy. I think gingerbread is quite an Autumnal flavour too - that's my excuse anyway! 

The whirls have a gorgeous colour and light dusting of icing sugar - I think they look really pretty! Funnily enough, I've never tried a Mr. Kipling Whirl, even counting the regular variety, I'm not sure why considering I love Viennese biscuits. 

And I'm so pleased that I decided to give these shortcake biscuits a whirl (sorry!), they're far tastier than I though they would be. The biscuit itself is quite soft, sort of a cross between a biscuit and a cake, but the texture works well with the creamy buttercream filling. The winning element here is the gingerbread flavour which has a lovely gingery warmth and depth to it. I was expecting these Whirls to just be quite sugary and bland but the ginger flavour is very robust and joined by other spices such as cloves and nutmeg. I think these will be especially tasty once the evenings are colder - perfect with a hot drink too!

Anyone who was a fan of the Winter Whirls from last year will be pleased to know that they are back again this year. There is also a Halloween variety called Toffee Terror Whirls which I might have to pick up at some point! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Mr. Kipling Gingerbread Whirls

RATING: 8 out of 10
Buy them again?: I'd try their other varieties.
Nutrition (per whirl): 135 calories.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £1.00p (pack of six). 

New Beech's Fine Chocolate Bars (and a Discount Code!)

Beech's Fine Chocolates have released a lovely new chocolate bar range for 2014. There are six varieties; Lime & Chilli Dark Chocolate, Natural Ginger Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, and Anglesey Sea Salt Milk Chocolate. The whole range is made with 100% natural ingredients, gluten free and suitable for vegetarians. All the dark chocolate varieties are suitable for vegans. Each bar is 60g, perfect for sharing or for two individual servings, and costs £1.50.  

15% Discount Code:

Enter this promotional code at checkout - BFC18031410

Beech's Fine Chocolates have kindly offered my readers 15% discount on all purchases until the end of April. Delivery is free on purchases over £12.00. There are some gorgeous ideas for Mother's Day or Easter gifts. Take a look at their online shop:

www.beechsfinechocolates.com

Isn't the packaging gorgeous? I love the colors used, and the intricate design patterns looks both contemporary and traditional at the same time. My favourite is the Lime & Chilli Dark Chocolate bar (top left corner) which has a gorgeous red and green colour scheme and bold paisley print.

Firstly a review of the milk and white chocolate selections, all made with the finest natural ingredients.

The Milk Chocolate and Anglesey Sea Salt Milk Chocolate bars are both made with 30% cocoa solids, which has a wonderfully smooth and creamy flavour. The addition of the Anglesey sea salt in the second bar provides a salty edge which really highlights the sweet flavour of the chocolate. It can be an acquired taste but personally I love the combination of sweet and salty flavours in chocolate, and it's been wonderfully executed here by Beech's. Even my husband, who doesn't usually like this type of flavour, very much enjoyed this bar.

Milk Chocolate: 109 calories per 20g. Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Anglesey Sea Salt: 109 calories per 20g. Rating: 10 out of 10.

The White Chocolate is a supremely creamy and sweet bar with a delicious vanilla flavour. It's a great choice for anyone who is a fan of white chocolate, the all natural ingredients used really elevate this into the highest quality white chocolate. Even though it's the sweetest bar of the bunch, it's not overly sweet or too sugary, emphasizing the natural vanilla flavour within.

White Chocolate: 112 calories per 20g. Rating: 9 out of 10.

Next up, the gorgeous trio of vegan approved dark chocolates.

Like the two milk chocolate bars, these dark chocolates bars all have the same outer appearance, very glossy and inviting. The flavours however, all provide quite different experiences. The dark chocolate used in each bar has a 55% minimum cocoa solids base. I've always enjoyed Beech's dark chocolates, they have a rich depth of flavour and a sweet edge without any bitterness at all, and I was pleased to see that this continues in their Dark Chocolate. The Natural Ginger bar builds on this delicious dark chocolate base with a warming spicy flavour that fans of ginger will love. The Lime & Chilli bar might sound like a flavour too far but it actually one of my overall favourites from the range, mainly because of the gorgeous sweet lime flavour which comes through from the outset. The chilli flavour comes through as a secondary flavour with an initially mild heat that builds slightly in intensity, but perfectly compliments the dark chocolate. 

Dark Chocolate: 110 calories per 20g. Rating: 9 out of 10.

Natural Ginger Dark Chocolate: 110 calories per 20g. Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Lime & Chilli Dark Chocolate: 110 calories per 20g. Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Overall we were all impressed by this new chocolate bar range from Beech's Fine Chocolates. I've always enjoyed the high quality of the chocolate they use in all their confections, so I'm pleased to see this extended into this gorgeous range of chocolate bars.

Products sent for an honest review.

Review: Beech's Dark Chocolate Ginger

The lovely people at Beech's sent me these intriguing looking Dark Chocolate Ginger to try. These are dark chocolates with a stem ginger centre, made using the finest Chinese stem ginger. Beech's have been making fine chocolates since 1920 and have a wondeful selection of traditional and special occasion chocolates. Check out their full range here: http://www.beechsfinechocolates.com/

I loved the fact that each of these Dark Chocolate Gingers has it's own unique appearance, no two are the exact same in size or appearance. They are also very generously covered in a thick layer of dark chocolate. This chocolate has a wonderfully sweet and strong cocoa flavour without any bitterness.

Inside each chocolate is a large piece of stem ginger that is full of spicy flavour and warmth. It tastes divine with the dark chocolate covering and is a chocolate to really savour. There is quite a bit of heat in the aftertaste but it's mellowed by the sweetness in the chocolate. The whole thing is completely delicious and a perfect treat for any ginger fan.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Beech's Dark Chocolate Ginger

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Vegetarian: Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Price: £3.49p (100g box), £6.49 (200g box).

Product sent for an honest review.

Halloween Recipes for all the family from Ella's Kitchen

It's always fun to get the kids involved in cooking and baking, so I was delighted to receive some great Halloween inspired recipes from Ella's Kitchen to share with you all. They're all made with healthy ingredients and are easy enough for the whole family to get involved with - perfect for half term treats!

Swirly Whirly Cheesecake

Serves 12; Prep = 10 minutes + chilling

This is definitely among Ella’s favourite dessert of all time - it’s a delicious sweet treat

without any added sugar. Enjoy it when you have friends to tea.

What you need:

· 50 g /1 ¾ oz roasted hazelnuts, finely chopped

· 100 g/3 ½ oz Scottish oatcakes, broken up

· 50 g/1 ¾ oz stoned dates

· 50 g/1 ¾ oz unsalted butter, melted

· 400 g/ 14 oz cream cheese

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

· 300 g/10 ½ oz strawberries, puréed, plus extra to serve (optional)

· 300 ml/ ½ pint double cream

What to do:

· Line the base of a 20 cm/8 inch loose-based cake tin with baking parchment. Put

the hazelnuts and oatcakes in a food processor and blitz them for a few seconds

until everything is finely chopped and looks like breadcrumbs. Add the dates and

blitz again until the mixture is soft. Add the melted butter; mix well and press

the mixture into the tin with the back of a spoon. Chill this in the fridge for 15

minutes.

· Meanwhile, make the topping. In a bowl mix together the cream cheese, vanilla

extract and three-quarters of the puréed strawberries.

· Whisk the cream until it is stiff, but still soft. Fold it gently into the cream

cheese mixture. Remove the base from the fridge and spoon over the topping.

· Drizzle over the remaining strawberry purée in an outward spiral from the

centre and then run a skewer through the spiral to get a marbled effect.

Chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 1 hour and then serve with

strawberries on the side (if using).

Marble-ous: Try out your tot’s artistic talents by asking him or her to have a go at making the swirly whirly marbling pattern on the top of the cheesecake.

Ella’s Shortcut: You can sidestep making the strawberry purée by substituting 2 x 90g/3 ¼ oz pouches of Ella’s Kitchen Smoothie Fruits – The Red One.

AWESOME GINGER AND ORANGE CAKE

Makes 8 cakes; prep=20 minutes, cook=30-35 minutes

This cake is a sweet and scrummy introduction to ginger – have fun helping your little

ones discover new tastes for their developing taste buds.

What you need

· 75 g/2½ oz unsalted butter

· 150 g/5½ oz golden syrup or black treacle

· 225 g/8 oz self-raising flour

· 2 teaspoons ground ginger

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 225 g/8 oz coarse cut orange marmalade

· 1 egg, beaten

· 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice

What to do

· Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark. Grease a 20 cm/8 inch square cake

tin and line the base with baking parchment.

· Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring well to combine.

Remove the mixture from the heat and set aside.

· Sift the flour, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl, then slowly pour the syrup

mixture into the flour mixture and stir to combine. Add the marmalade, egg,

orange juice and 1 tablespoon of hot water and combine to make a soft mixture.

Add a further 1–2 tablespoons of hot water if it is too stiff.

· Pour the mixture into the cake tin and spread evenly. Bake the cake for 30–35

minutes until golden and firm to the touch.

· Allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes in the tin before carefully removing it to a

wire rack. Serve it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or cold with a glass of

freshly squeezed orange juice.

SMILEY SPIRAL APPLE TARTS

Makes 6; Prep=20 minutes, cook=15-20 minutes

Who knew apple tarts could taste this good? Little ones will love to get involved using

pastry cutters and decorating the tarts with apple slices.

What you need:

· 320 g/11¼ oz ready-made puff pastry

· 2 eating apples (Granny Smith or Royal Gala work best)

· 1 tablespoon lemon juice

· 50 g/1¾ oz unsalted butter, cut into 6 cubes

· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 25 g/1 oz soft light brown Sugar

What to do:

· Preheat the oven to 200ºC /400ºF/Gas Mark 6.

· Roll out the puff pastry until it is 0.5 cm/¼ in thick. Using a 10 cm/4 inch pastry

cutter, cut out 6 circles from the pastry and place them spaced well apart on a

baking sheet.

· Core the apples, then cut them into very thin slices and put them in a bowl with

the lemon juice. Toss the apple slices well to coat them in the juice. Arrange the

apple slices on top of the dough circles in a ‘flower’ pattern.

· Place a cube of butter on each tart, then sprinkle the tarts with a little

cinnamon (to taste) and the sugar.

· Bake the tarts in the oven for 15–20 minutes until golden brown. Serve them

warm or cold with vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche.

Can I help?: Roll, cut, fill.

Tots of all ages get to play at being baker with these simple apple tarts. Making them is

a brilliant activity for a play date. One friend rolls the dough, another cuts the circles

and another fills the tart with pieces of apple.

Ella's Kitchen The Cook Book - The Red One is out now (£14.99 Hamlyn)

POM Wonderful Cocktails & Competition!

I was excited to be asked to try out the range of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice, and to give one of their delicious summer cocktails recipes a try. Be sure to keep reading until the end of this post for details of a competition for one of my readers to win THREE bottles of POM Wonderful!

Pomegranates are well known as a superfood because of their high antioxidant and vitamin content and POM Wonderful have used this to create a nutritious juice that's full of flavour. On it's own it reminded me a bit of cranberry juice with it's slightly tart edge but sweet finish. The strong fresh flavour means this juice also works wonderfully well when mixed with other drinks - it's especially delicious when mixed with lemonade.

APPLE & GINGER POM (Non- Alcoholic)

Ingredients

50ml POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice

50ml ginger ale

Quarter fresh apple

1 nail of ginger

2 lime wedges

Garnish: Apple Fan

Preparation

• Shake the ginger, apple and lime in a shaker
• Add POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice and shake with ice
• Strain into an ice-filled glass and top with ginger ale
• Garnish with an apple fan
• For an alcoholic version this recipe works great with Whiskey.

I was so pleased with my finished Apple & Ginger POM (above photo) - it turned out really well! I used extra lime wedges for the garnish rather than apple but the rest is the same as the recipe. The ginger gives this mocktail an extra zingy and refreshing quality, and makes it the perfect drink for a hot day. It's so simple to make and the resulting drink looks fantastic too!

COMPETITION!

POM Wonderful have very kindly offered the chance for one of my readers to win THREE bottles of POM Wonderful. The winner will be sent three vouchers for POM Wonderful worth £3 each.

How to enter:

Retweet one of my competition tweets on twitter (HERE) & follow @grocerygems.

Or leave a comment on this blog post in the section below and simply email me your name and address to grocerygems@gmail.com with the subject "POM Wonderful Competition".

The winner will be chosen at random and the competition closes at 5pm on Tuesday 2nd June. 

Good luck everyone!!

Tea India Cardamom Chai Review, A Cookie Recipe & A Free Tea Offer!

Last year I reviewed some fantastic teas from Tea India, whose beautiful packaging and fragrant blends completely enchanted me. At that time, Tea India was quite hard to find, but in the last few months I've been pleased to see a full range of different Tea India blends for sale in my local Tesco. Tea India very kindly got in contact again and sent me a fabulously presented box of tea, including their Black Tea (reviewed here) and a Cardamom Chai blend.

Tea India is also offering a FREE selection of their finest tea blends for you and your family and friends via a Facebook promotion - keep reading for more details at the end of this review.

I just love the pretty and vibrantly coloured packaging of the Tea India range! I couldn't wait to try the Cardamom Chai  - the tea bags have such a wonderfully exotic and spicy cardamon fragrance.

The tea is made in the usual way, with milk and sugar to taste. The cardamom gives the tea a deliciously authentic flavour that is so warming and comforting. I absolutely love this tea and I'll definitely be buying it again in the future.

Tea India have also teamed up with chef Ravinder Bhogal to create some gorgeous recipes using their tea. I used the Spicy Black Tea Cookie recipe to make the above biscuits that were delicious and a huge hit with all the family! I've never thought of adding black tea leaves to an oaty biscuits but it's just genius! Do give them a try - they're very easy to make!

Spicy Black Tea Cookies - recipe by chef Ravinder Bhogal.

Ingredients:

2 Tea India Black Tea Bags (leaves only)
125g butter
100g soft brown sugar
70g self raising flour
120g oats
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp mixed spice.

Method:

1. Preheat Oven to 160c
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar.
3. Add the oats, flour, Tea India black tea leaves and spices, mix until well combined.
4. Roll the cookie dough into a log shape approx 5cm in diameter. Wrap in cling film and chill for five minutes. 
5. To bake, remove from the fridge, unwrap and slice into 12 even sized pieces. Place on two baking trays lined with baking paper. (Instead of slicing I actually used a flower shaped cookie cutter).
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the edges are just golden brown.
7. Allow to cool on the baking tray before serving warm.
8. They will keep in an airtight container for four days.
9. Enjoy with a cup of tea! (sorry couldn't resist adding that one!).

FREE TEA OFFER!

To claim a FREE selection of Tea India, including their Vanilla Chai and Masala Chai blends, then join in with their "You & I with a cup of Chai" campaign via Facebook by filling in your details here.  The offer is open until 6th June!

I received a selection of teas from Tea India for review but all views expressed are my own. 

Options Hot Chocolate: Limited Edition Jazzy Ginger & More

I recently reviewed Cadbury's new Wispa Hot Chocolate which has completely rekindled my interest in hot chocolate as an evening drink. As soon as Becca from The Sparkling Recoverer recommended the Options range and the Wicked White hot chocolate I knew I had to give it a try. Thank you Becca! When I went to have a look instore, I was surprised by just how many flavours there are including this Limited Edition Jazzy Ginger. I don't think I have ever tried a ginger hot chocolate before and I absolutely loved it. The ginger flavour is sweet rather than being too spicy, with a lovely warmth that builds as you drink. It's a delicious combination that works well with the chocolate.

The Wicked White chocolate drink is just as Becca described. It's very creamy (especially if you make it with milk or add a splash of milk) and has a smooth vanilla flavour. It really does taste of white chocolate and is great for anyone who likes sweet milky drinks.

I hadn't intended to buy so many varieties but there was no way I was leaving this Caribbean Coconut flavour behind on the shelf! I had no idea this even existed. Imagine getting a chocolate coconut treat for only 38 calories - heaven. I made this one with just water and it was still quite frothy and thick. If you've read this blog before you won't be surprised that I loved this.

Yes I did buy the Mint Madness too! At the time of buying (from Sainsbury's) these sachets were on a 7 for £1.50 deal, which is a fab price. I don't want sound repetitive but I really enjoyed the Mint Madness too - basically I liked all of them! It has just the right amount of mint flavour for the chocolate. I've also seen online that they also do a banana hot chocolate called Go Bananas, which I simply MUST find!

The chocolate flavour in all these drinks is very satisfying. It's described as Belgian Choc on the front, which doesn't really mean much, but it's a perfectly decent chocolate flavour. It's not as indulgent as the Wispa hot chocolate but it's much nicer than I was expecting for the calories. Of course, as these are low calories drinks, they all contain artificial sweeteners, but I didn't find they had a dominant aftertaste that you sometimes get with these kinds of drinks. They're great for anyone who is trying to reduce their calories, or reduce their sugar intake, but still enjoy a chocolate treat.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Options Hot Chocolate

Overall my favourite from the range was the Caribbean Coconut which I will definitely be buying again.

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Definitely.
Nutrition: From 38 to 44 calories.
Purchased: Sainsburys.
Price: £0.36p per sachet or £2.79 per jar.

Ikea Gingerbread Dough Review (Pepparkaka Deg)

Even though it is not best known for it's food, I can't seem to visit Ikea without coming out with bags of produce from their Swedish food section. Anything that makes the festive season a bit easier always catches my eye and I immediately saw lots of potential for this block of gingerbread dough, or Pepparkaka Deg.

The dough was extremely simple to use. Even though it seemed like a hard solid block it can still be used straight from the fridge. There were no problems at all in rolling the dough out, it was very smooth and easy to work with. Purely in the interests of this review I had a sneaky taste of the unbaked dough. If you are one of those people that likes to eat raw cookie dough, I can tell you that this one tasted pretty good!

Instead of the usual gingerbread men, we cut out Christmas tree and Snowmen shapes... and of course one or two pac-man and ghost shapes!

I can't take any credit for the Snowmen, my hubby is much more artistic than me and he helped the kids create some super cute Snowmen using white icing and a few mini smarties. For decorating the trees we made some green icing and then used Dr. Oetker Soft Gold Pearls and Dr. Oetker Sugar Stars to finish. I also had a little bag of yellow and green star shaped sweets that were ideal as the tree toppers.

The finished biscuits tasted absolutely delicious. They have a lovely sweet ginger flavour, with added cinnamon and clove undertones. Kids will love these as there is no heat from the ginger. The biscuits also had a soft chewy consistency, pure bliss compared to shop bought biscuits, which are often rock hard. Overall I was very impressed by this gingerbread dough; it was easy to work with, baked perfectly, tasted good, and most importantly, was lots of Christmas Eve fun for the kids!

The only question is; which one should we leave out for Santa tonight?

Grocery Gems Verdict: Ikea Pepparkaka Deg

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Ja!
Nutrition: None given.
Purchased: Ikea.
Price: £1.85 for a 550g block. 

 And to everyone who reads this blog, I would like to wish you all:

A Very Merry Christmas!