New Instore: Tesco Free From Choc Stick Ices, Twix Spread & More

Thank you to Lucy W. who sent me all these great photos of her new finds this weekend.

Tesco Free From Choc Sticks: It's fab news that Tesco are expanding their Free From ice cream range. They successfully launched the Tesco Free From Strawberry & Vanilla Cones last year and have now added Free From Toffee & Vanilla Cones and Choc Sticks to the range. I've also seen online that there are Free From Fruit Splits available too. I'll be tracking these down soon! £2.00p at Tesco.

Eat Natural Bars: A new Apple, Ginger & Dark Chocolate flavour which looks very tempting! £2.00p at Tesco for box of three.

The Collective Dairy Choccy Orange: A big pot of Collective Dairy yogurt which features a dark chocolate infused with orange flavour. Available at Asda and Sainsbury's - £2.00p. 

Alpro Go On Blackcurrant Soya: A new alternative to strained yogurts from Alpro Soya. The Alpro Go On range is available in three flavours; Blackcurrant, Mango or Passion Fruit. I buy a lot of Alpro Soya 'yogurts' so I was really pleased to hear about this new range. I'll try to review these soon. Spotted at Asda.

Arla Protein Snack Pot: I can't find any information about these online but from the photo these consist of a portion of thick Arla yogurt with a crunchy topping. There are two flavours; Mellow Vanilla or Warm Ginger. £1.25p each in Asda.

Twix Spread: The latest addition to the Mars range of chocolate bar themed spreads turns the Twix bar into a chocolate and caramel spread. The range already includes a Bounty Spread and a Maltesers Spread so it makes sense that Twix was next. Available at Asda.

Bioglan Raw Bites: Lucy said she usually buys this brand in Holland & Barrett but she actually spotted this new Cacoa+Coffee+Coconut flavour in Tesco. This combination really appeals to me - it sounds delicious. £1.99p at Tesco.

A massive thank you to Lucy W. for all of these great finds and photos - she's an absolute star! If you spot anything new instore and fancy sending me a photo then let me know via email: grocerygems@gmail.com or Twitter: @grocerygems.

Review: Bounty Coconut Spread

A very quick review of the new Bounty Spread. Thank you to @eveningtreats who let me know about this one a few weeks ago. My initial thought was that it looked very similar to the extremely popular, and often hard to find, Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread. The new Bounty Spread is part of a range of chocolate bar spreads by Mars that already includes a Maltesers Teasers Spread and a new Milky Way Spread.

My first tasting confirms that it's a very similar flavour with the same type of Milk Spread base and added bits of coconut flakes. As I described in my original Lidl spread review it tastes a bit like the super sweet and creamy filling from a Kinder Bueno combined with a fairly natural tasting coconut flavour (which is only found in the added coconut flakes rather than in the milk base itself). 

Whilst this was fine for the Lidl spread, I don't think it fits the 'Bounty' theme at all. I'm not actually a fan of the Bounty chocolate bar - I find the coconut flavour in those far too artificial and cloying. However I'm sure that a stronger coconut flavour of that type would be expected in this spread. Also - where's the chocolate? Wouldn't a milk chocolate based spread (rather than this plain milk one) be a better fit with the Bounty branding? 

It's interesting to note that the ingredients also look the same compared to those that I listed in my Lidl spread review of sugar, vegetable oil, skimmed milk powder powder and some cocoa butter, although the Bounty Spread lists rapeseed oil rather than vegetable oil (which I believe is still be the same thing). 

Grocery Gems Review:

RATING: 7 out of 10 (it's just not Bounty enough!).
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition:  117 calories per 20g.

Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £2.00p.

New Instore: Ben & Jerry's Speculoos Ice Cream, Easter Cakes & More!

A round up of new products spotted instore - let me know in the comments if you've tried any of these!

Ben & Jerry's Speculoos? Specu-love Cookie Core: Any regular readers will know how much I love Speculoos as a flavour. I'm barely over the excitement of the Krispy Kreme Biscoff doughnut and along comes another awesome speculoos biscuit inspired product. There are two other new varieties available in this Cookie Core range; What-a-Lotta Chocolate Cookie Core and Utter Peanut Butter Clutter Cookie Core. I'm sure I'll try those last two eventually but look out for my review of the Speculoos variety soon! £3.00p at Sainsbury's.

Limited Edition Fab Tropical: I didn't get the best picture of the box - it shows lots of tropical fruits along the bottom. I'm a fan of the Fab range, especially during the summer, as it's a relatively low calorie choice for an ice cream/lolly and I'm looking forward to trying this new Tropical variety.  Review coming soon! £2.00p at Sainsbury's.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Ice Creams: For some reason I'm not that excited about these ice creams from Cadbury, and I wasn't really tempted to buy them at £4.00p a tub. The flavours above are; Zingy Raspberry Choc Brownie and Jelly Popping Candy. The first one doesn't sound too bad but I think I'll pass on the second one. £4.00p each at Sainsbury's.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Marvellous Ice Creams: There was also this yellow tub which is a bizarre Salted Caramel & Sour Cherry concoction. I was disappointed that this wasn't a banana ice cream instead! If you try any of these varieties then I'd love to hear from you in the comments below. £4.00p at Sainsbury's.

Magnum Pink Raspberry: I've posted about the new Magnum Pink and Magnum Black before. I had heard that they were available at Tesco but I haven't been able to find them in a Tesco near me. I finally spotted them today in Sainsbury's at £3.40p.

Magnum Mini Pink & Black: I was hoping that the new Magnum Pink & Black would be available as Mini version but I didn't expect to find them both in a Multipack too. I much prefer the mini sized Magnums, as I find the large ones a bit too much to eat in one go, but the smaller sizes are perfect. I picked up a pack of these too - my freezer is now well stocked with ice creams! £2.00p at Sainsbury's.

Walls After School Family Favourites: Not new, but an interesting new rebranding as "after school" snacks for this selection of classic Walls ice creams. £3.00p at Sainsbury's.

Walls Push Up with Haribo Gold Bears; I think these have been available individually in freezer cabinets and from ice cream vans but I don't remember seeing them for sale in a multipack before. I wonder if they are replacing the Walls Haribo Dino Candy Ice Lollies? £2.50p at Sainsbury's.

Walker's Limited Edition Linda's Chicken & Chorizo: I can't find any information about these but they don't seem to be part of any new Walker's flavour competition. I tried these today and they're very tasty with a distinctive smoky chorizo flavour, I'll have a full review soon. £1.50 at Sainsbury's.

Bahlsen Choco Leibniz White: These are white chocolate covered cocoa biscuits. I've tried the Choco Liebniz Milk Chocolate and Caramel varieties before but never this White chocolate version. I picked up a pack while they're on special offer. £1.00p at Sainsbury's.

McVities Marie Biscuits: I was quite surprised to see McVities branded Marie biscuits in the UK. Marie Biscuits (also known as Maria in Spain/Portugal) are the European version of Rich  Tea biscuits. They have a slightly different taste and I always used to pick up a few packs on holiday. At least McVities didn't release their Finger Marie version here in the UK! £1.20 at Sainsbury's.

Mr Kipling Lemon Fancies: Once again there are lots of lemon and orange flavoured cakes for Easter. I'll refer you my post last year "New Instore: Easter Cakes" as I spotted most of the same products - just with different packaging. Also back are the Mr. Kipling Lemon Whirls and Mr Kipling St. Clements Slices. £1.00p at Sainsbury's.

Shape Pineapple & Coconut Special Edition: A tropical inspired 0% fat yogurt with 63 calories per pot. £1.00p at Sainsbury's. 

Müller Light Inspired by Barbados Piña Coloda: This is quite similar to the Müller Light Inspired by Bali yogurt from last year, except with added Rum flavour! £0.70p each at Sainsbury's.

Lidl Jolly Choc Spreads: I'm not sure if these are exactly new but it's certainly the first time I've seen them. These are chocolate spreads with added chocolate drops - basically mini Smarties - in either Chocolate Spread or Milk Spread. They're available this week as part of the Lidl "Taste of the USA" promotion. £1.29 at Lidl. £0.99p each at Lidl.

Don't forget if you spot any new products in store please let me know via email - grocerygems@gmail.com. Thank you!

Grocery Gems: Top 10 Reviews of 2014

Following on from my Best of 2014 list yesterday, here's a look at the readers favourites - the Top Ten most read reviews of the year on Grocery Gems. It's always a surprise to see which reviews are the most popular and I have to admit that I was completely surprised about some of the posts which made the top ten, including the number one most viewed post on Grocery Gems in 2014! For this list, I left out any post that made the top ten that wasn't actually published in 2014 (there are a couple of reviews from 2013 that are still very popular). You can click on the product name for links to the original review.

10: Coke Life

Just making the top ten is my review of the first new core brand to be released by Coca-Cola since 2006 - Coke Life. This also made my personal favourites of the year list. It's no surprise to me that this is in the top ten, in fact I'm just surprised this review from back in August it wasn't higher up on the list.

9: Müller Corner Bliss Whipped Greek Style Yogurt

This is one of those reviews that I had completely forgotten about so I was completely surprised to see it anywhere near the top ten. The photos are ones that I had taken on my kitchen worktop which usually means that I'm not planning to even review the product (I pretty much take photos of everything now just in case!). Anyway, I'm certainly glad I posted this review in the end, as readers were obvioulsy curious to know more about this new Whipped yogurt from the Müller Corner range. 

8: Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread

Coming in at number 8 is the Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread review. This was definitely one of my favourite finds of 2014. Even though it had been around before in previous years, this is the first time I had managed to find and review it. Lidl brings out the Deluxe range of spreads for sale at sporadic intervals during the year and it remains a frustratingly difficult product to find.

7: M&S Toffee Fudge & Belgian Choc Hot Cross Buns

At number 7, the M&S Toffee Fudge & Belgian Chocolate Hot Cross Buns. I was quite shocked to see this review amongst the most popular of the year, I didn't really remember these hot cross buns at all. Looking back, however, they were one of the more interesting products released last Easter, along with the equally tasty Double Chocolate Hot Cross Buns from Tesco. I hope we'll see some interesting hot cross bun flavours for 2015 too.

6: Haribo Minions

I'm pleased to see these Haribo Minions in the Top Ten even though the sweets themselves were quite disappointing in terms of flavour. Despicable Me 2 is one of our favourite family films and I think the cheeky Minions characters are here to stay as popular characters for products aimed at children. In fact, I spotted Minions products for Easter already - check out my instagram photo of these Minions Eggs. 

5: Asda Piñata Cake

Asda came up trumps with this great value piñata cake - a celebration cake filled with sweets. Piñata cakes were already popular on blogs and Pinterest but it's handy to have a supermarket version for anyone who is not a keen baker. Asda often releases celebration cakes with wow factor - such as the Asda Rainbow Cake back in 2013. 

4: Tesco Custard Cream Spread

Reaching the number 4 spot, this review of the Tesco Custard Cream Spread, was the post I was expecting to hit the number one spot easily. I hands down thought this was my most popular review, especially after it was mentioned on various news sites and my photos used on Buzzfeed. However, not only wasn't it number one, there was actually another sweet spread review that beat it on viewing figures.

3: Maltesers Teasers Chocolate Spread

Surprisingly, there are a total of three chocolate spreads in this top ten! I posted this Maltesers Teasers Review just a few days before the Tesco Custard Cream review but I didn't expect it to have been more popular. I guess that's what happens when you turn a favourite chocolate brand into a spread. Here's hoping that 2015 sees the release of a proper Bounty Chocolate Spread! 

2: Walkers Ranch Raccoon Crisps

Of all the crisp reviews I posted in 2014, I didn't expect the one with the worst rating to become the most popular and certainly not to be the second most viewed post. This was a variety that divided crisps fans with it's love-it-or-hate-it gamey meat and sour cream flavour. I wasn't even going to review this variety, having already reviewed all the other varieties in Walkers Do Us A Flavour promotion. However, even though I hated the flavour, I decided to review them just to complete the series. Funnily enough this review was also posted in the same week as the above Tesco Custard Cream Spread and the Maltesers Teasers Chocolate Spread. Looking back that was an important week for Grocery Gems!  

1: Kinder Surprise Disney Princess & Marvel Heroes

And finally, easily being my most popular post of 2014 is this review of the Kinder Surprise Disney Princess and Marvel Heroes range. It's funny to look back and see a Disney Princess product that doesn't include any of the characters from the movie Frozen! This review from back in February 2014 was my most popular post by far in 2014. It even attracted a staggering amount of comments, with a mini swap-shop taking place via the comments section. I thought that was just wonderful! 

I hope you enjoyed this run down of the Top Ten Grocery Gems posts of 2014. Thank you to all my readers, commentators, and anyone who's sent me photos over the year. I really do appreciate your support. Here's to more foodie gems in 2015 :)

Hotel Chocolat Christmas Gingerbread Chocolate Spread

If you're a regular reader of my blog then you'll know that I'm a fan of the growing popularity of gingerbread inspired products this Christmas. On a recent visit to Hotel Chocolat I discovered that they had a few gingerbread treats available this year too. The most appealing of which was this Limited Edition Christmas Chocolate Spread - it's described as a warming blend of a 50% milk chocolate hazelnut praline spread, and gingerbread spices. 

Each pot is 150g which Hotel Chocolat estimate provides 10 servings. The ingredients give a lovely festive twist to the classic hazelnut chocolate spread and include; 50% minimum cocoa solids milk chocolate, hazelnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and and ginger powder. 

The Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread Chocolate Spread has quite a thick texture, but it's refreshing to see a chocolate spread that is not all slick and greasy. I decided to try the Christmas spread on a croissant and, despite the slightly dense texture, it was still easy to spread. I haven't actually tried a Hotel Chocolat chocolate spread before, and I found the base chocolate flavour here incredibly rich and intense, without being too sweet or too bitter. It's clearly a high quality chocolate being used and it makes all the difference to the base flavour. The added gingerbread spices are robust and complex, adding a lovely depth of warming flavours to the indulgent hazelnut chocolate, especially from the ginger and cinnamon. A little goes a long way with this spread, as the spiced flavours are all quite strong, and I'm sure I will get more than 10 servings from one pot. It's a real festive treat and I think it would make a unique gift for anyone who's a fan of gingerbread and Christmas spices. 

I actually bought this Christmas chocolate spread as part of a gingerbread themed hamper that I made for Mr. Grocery Gems' birthday this week. Aswell as some gingerbread coffee syrup and gingerbread cakes, I also included the Hotel Chocolat Christmas Drinking Chocolate with Gingerbread Spice and a pack of the Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread Chocolate Truffles. It's an expensive selection but well worth it in my opinion for a special present. We haven't had a chance to try the Hotel Chocolat Christmas Drinking Chocolate or Gingerbread Truffles yet, but do leave a comments below if you would like me to review those too. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Hotel Chocolat Christmas Chocolate Spread

RATING: 10 out of 10 - a gorgeous blend of high quality chocolate and warming spice.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Hotel Chocolat.
Price: £6.00p.

New Tesco Custard Cream Biscuit Spread

This Custard Cream Spread has been creating a buzz even before most of us could find it instore. I don't think I've ever had a photo on instagram or Facebook attract as much attention as the photo I posted of this spread when I spotted a jar in Tesco. I completely understand the appeal, I had a similar OMG!! moment when I saw it - it's a custard cream SPREAD for goodness sake! Complete genius on the part of Tesco to take such a classic Biscuit biscuit and turn it into a spreadable delight. I bought a jar of the Custard Cream Spread as soon as I saw it (last week in one of those massive out of town Tesco Extras) but it's taken me longer than usual to review it. I guess I needed to give it a rigorous testing!

For any overseas readers not familiar with custard cream biscuits, they are golden biscuits filled with a creamy vanilla flavoured layer. In 2007 they were named Britain's favourite biscuit by 9 out of 10 people asked! One thing I've realised about custard cream biscuits is it really doesn't matter which brand I buy, from cheap supermarket value ones to more expensive branded versions, they all pretty much taste identical. It's like there's only one factory that churns these things out. Is anyone out there loyal to a one particular brand of custard creams? 

The Tesco Custard Cream spread is described on the back as "vanilla flavour spread with biscuits". The main ingredients are; custard cream biscuits (37%), rapeseed oil, sugar, palm oil, natural vanilla flavouring, and hazelnuts (and of course the separate ingredients for the biscuits themselves). The good news about this spread is that it really does have that familiar custard cream flavour, along with an extra creamy edge to go with the biscuity taste. It's tastes just like liquidised custard cream biscuits! Unfortunately the bad news about this spread is that it has a difficult texture - it's just TOO soft. It looks okay in the jar but as soon as it meets even the slightest warm surface it becomes too runny. Even the bagel in the photo had to be practically cold before I could take the photo - and it still went gloopy. I've tried keeping the jar in the fridge but it didn't really help for serving the spread on something warm, like a waffle or toast. 

Has anyone else had this same experience? I don't think I've ever come across a spread with such a soft texture, it definitely needs to be more robust when warm. It's a shame because the spread does taste very good!

There are several other biscuit spreads available in this new range from Tesco - check out my photos at the end of this post HERE.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Tesco Custard Cream Spread

RATING: 6 out of 10 - more if I can find a colder use for it!
Buy them again?: I might try the other spreads in the range.
Nutrition (per 15g): 89 calories.
Purchased: Tesco.
Price: £1.99 (400g jar).

New Maltesers Teasers Chocolate Spread

There are quite a few new chocolate and biscuit spreads on the supermarket shelves this month but the one that appealed to me the most was this Maltesers Teasers with Malty Crunchy Pieces spread. 

The spread has a great appearance - it looks very thick and is packed full of the malted honeycomb pieces. Unlike the other Mars branded chocolate spreads, Galaxy and Milky Way, that were released last year in squeezy plastic tubes (see review HERE), the Maltesers Teasers spread comes in a reusable glass pot.

I really enjoyed the texture of this spread, the generous amount of malt pieces provides that recognisable crunch that gives way to a slightly chewier feel, just like the Maltesers Teasers chocolate bar. The chocolate itself has a very sweet flavour that reminds me of previous Mars spreads I've tried. The actual malt flavour from the crunchy pieces is quite subtle, it's not as distinct a flavour as within a Malteser itself, but it's still very delicious. Overall, the Maltesers Teasers Chocolate Spread is an enjoyable and unique product and I know this jar will not last long at all. Mr. Grocery Gems suggested we use it to decorate chocolate cupcakes - with a few extra Maltesers on top too! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Maltesers Teasers Spread

RATING: 7 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Nutrition (per 20g): 108 calories.
Purchased: Sainsbury's.
Price: £1.99 (200g jar).

Lidl Deluxe Coconut Spread

The elusive Coconut Spread from Lidl! I'm not sure when or where I first heard about this spread, but I knew it existed and had always hoped I'd be able to track it down. Luckily enough, last week I happened to spot the Coconut Spread in a Lidl promotional leaflet for this weeks offers (starting 20th March). There are lots of other fabulous products in the Deluxe range which are only available this week, so I'd advise a trip to Lidl pronto! 

Don't worry about the above photo, I'm not recommending eating this with a spoon. It's purely for illustrative purchases *ahem* to show just how thick and creamy this spread is. The main ingredients are; sugar, vegetable oil, skimmed milk powder, dried coconut flakes and some cocoa butter. So it's basically a thick white chocolate spread with coconut - now doesn't that sound like something you need in your cupboards? 

The flavour is completely gorgeous, so creamy and coconutty - just like the centre of a Ferrero Raffaelo. Think Kinder Bueno meets coconut - absolutely divine. Last week Hannah from The Review Addict reviewed the M&S Buttermilk Pikelets, and I thought that their pancake-crossed-with-a-crumpet flavour, would be the perfect base for the Coconut Spread. And it really was! I only needed a little of the spread to have an indulgent creamy coconut treat. Even my kids who are not fans of coconut, but love Ferrero Raffaelo chocolates, loved this spread on the pikelets. 

Now I just need to head back to Lidl to pick up a few more jars! I can imagine it will be great eaten straight from the jar with a spoon for using in baking and even as a cupcake topping. My end of year Grocery Gems Best of 2014 list will have a new category of "Best Spread" just so I can include this gem!

There were also other varieties available in this range; Toffee Spread, Mocha Spread, and a Chocolate & Hazelnut Spread with Hazelnut Pieces. I took a photo but my phone is not happy at the moment, will try to upload it a bit later so check back! 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Lidl Coconut Spread

Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition: No information.
Purchased: Lidl
Price: £1.29

Quick Review: Sunpat Crunchy Hazelnut Spread

I picked up this Sun-Pat Crunchy Hazelnut Spread yesterday in Sainsbury's. As soon as I saw it I was hooked by the idea of a hazelnut spread - it conjured up the image of a chocolate-less Nutella! Obviously that is not the case here, since this Sun-Pat Crunchy Hazelnut Spread has the minuscule word peanut just before the word Spread. Didn't catch that? It's PEANUT. On the back of the jar it's actually called a Peanut & Hazelnut Spread, with roasted peanuts making up 62% of the ingredients and hazelnuts only 12%. I was in quite a rush when I picked up the jar so perhaps I should have stopped to read the label properly - especially the back!

Once I got home and realised that this is basically a peanut butter with 12% added hazelnuts I lost the initial excitement I felt about reviewing this, so excuse the lack of photos. The spread itself is nice enough. It's a very crunchy peanut butter. The nut pieces seemed to be larger that usual, giving it a much crunchier consistency. The flavour comes mainly from the peanuts, and at first it tasted like any other peanut butter. However, I could certainly taste the hazelnuts as the secondary flavour and they added an extra creaminess to the peanut butter. 

Sun-Pat seem to be releasing some very unusual products lately. Firstly the Choc-a-Nut peanut spread that contained cocoa powder rather than any chocolate, and now a Hazelnut Spread that is mostly peanut. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Sun Pat Choc-a-Nut Peanut Spread

RATING: 6.5 out of 10
Buy them again?: Probably not.
Nutrition (100g): 645 calories.
Vegetarian: Suitable for Vegetarians.
Ingredients: Roasted Peanuts (62%), Vegetable Oils (Palm, Sunflower), Hazelnut (12%), Sugar, Sea Salt, Glucose Fructose Syrup.
Purchased: Sainsbury's.
Price: £2.25.