Review: Milka Vanilla Cream & Milka Raspberry Cream (Poland)

I've seen these Milka Cream bars around for a long time now and I finally decided to try the Raspberry and Vanilla flavours. I reviewed the interesting Milka Elderberry Cream a few years ago which was surprisingly good.  

The Milka Raspberry Cream is quite a thin looking bar but still manages to have two layers inside of raspberry jam and creamy filling. The raspberry jam layer looked quite runny but it did have an enjoyable, if a bit sweet, raspberry flavour. It's the sort of flavour you would find in a raspberry candy rather than a natural fruity one but I still found it tasty when combined with the creamy layer and sweet milk chocolate. 7 out of 10.

Unfortunately I didn't have as much luck with the Milka Vanilla Cream bar. The bottom vanilla layer had visible flecks of vanilla which looked promising, but the sugary vanilla layer on top is a rather unappetising shade of bright yellow. The flavour was horrible too, with an overpowering and artificial vanilla taste. Even though the chocolate itself was fine, I couldn't eat more than a few bites of this one because of the flavour in the bright yellow layer. 3 out of 10.

Grocery Gems Review: Milka Raspberry Cream and Milka Vanilla Cream

Rating: See individual descriptions above.
Buy again: Yes for the Raspberry Cream.

Purchased: Local grocery shop.
Price: £0.99p each (100g).

Review: Milka Corn & Choco Forever

The Milka Corn & Choco is a fascinating combination of crunchy, salty corn pieces and chocolate. This one is made in Poland but it looks quite similar to the Milka Crunchy Corn from Germany. I found the Milka Corn & Choco in an international grocery store in East London that sells quite a few different Milka chocolate bars from Poland. 

Even though there's a picture of a nacho on the front of the packaging, the Milka Corn & Choco seems to be filled with whole salted puffed corn, the kind that can often be found as snacks on their own. They give the chocolate an added crunchy and crispy texture, and a surprisingly delicious corn flavour. 

The corn tastes more like those little salty and roasted corn snacks rather than Doritos, but there is a more of a nacho flavour that builds as an aftertaste. Corn and chocolate might sound like a questionable combination but it works incredibly well here, creating a successful blend of sweet chocolate and roasted corn flavours. Even my sceptical family members who looked on this Milka Corn & Choco with extreme caution, all found they really enjoyed it.

Overall, this is a great combination of flavours, and one that's delicious enough to be a tempting chocolate bar and not just a novelty one. 

Grocery Gems Review: Milka Corn & Choco Forever

RATING: 9 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes - hoping to find it again.
Purchased: A local grocery store with Polish chocolates.
Price: £0.99p for 100g.

New Instore: Mars Extra Choc, Mars Hazelnut & More!

Maryland Soft Baked Cookies: Available in two varieties; Caramel & Choc Chunk and Double Choc Chunk. I wonder if Maryland have released these in response to the Chips Ahoy! UK release? They certainly look like an improvement on regular Maryland cookies and I'm sure I'll give them a try at some point. If you've tried them then please leave a comment as I'd love to know what you thought of them! £1.50p at Sainsbury's.

McVities Deli Choc Biscuits: I've seen these in quite a few different shops. They are biscuits made with a thick layer of Belgian milk chocolate in either white, milk or dark chocolate. £0.98p in Asda.

Limited Edition Mars Xtra Choc: I finally found the latest UK Mars release in my local newsagent. Here's my review → it's a Mars chocolate bar with slightly thicker chocolate *yawn*. THAT'S IT. £0.70p at local newsagents.

Limited Edition Mars Hazelnut & Snickers & Hazelnut:  These new Hazelnut editions for Mars and Snickers look FAR more interesting. They're actually from Poland but they seem to be easy to find in UK shops. Thanks to Richard W. for spotting these in a train station shop. Check back later today for my review. £0.69p each in large newsagent.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Hoppy Bunny: The lastest Limited Edition Cadbury Dairy Milk sees the return of the Hoppy Bunny. It's a similar to the Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Wonderland, with it's simply milk and white chocolate combination, but I still think it's a cute chocolate bar for Easter. £1.00p at Sainsbury's.

Müller Corner Hawaiian Dream Pineapple: I mentioned these before in a previous round up, but it's the first time I've seen them instore. I'll have a review soon. £0.70p at Sainsbury's.

Milka Corn & Choco Forever: I couldn't resist picking up this crazy combination of corn nachos and chocolate from Poland. Review coming soon! £0.99p at an "international grocery store".

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

Candy German Subscription Box Review

Some of you may have seen my German snack exchange posts, so you'll know how excited I was to hear about the new subscription box from Candy German. After trying out quite a few different subscription boxes it's great to finally see an option for German goodies and I'm sure it will be very popular. 

Candy German promise to send out boxes filled with up to 1kg of surprise treats, including chocolates, cookies and sweets. All the products are hand-picked by the founders of Candy German, Mark and Natascha, to ensure they are high quality and always made in Germany.  Subscribers can join for 1 month, 6 months or 12 months, and prices start at €24.00 (around £19.00).

Here's a look at what all the gorgeous products I received in the July Candy German Box:

Milka Choco Twist: I was so happy to see these cakes included in the box! I've reviewed them before (see HERE for the full review) and they were utterly delicious. They're not the same as most pre-packaged cakes. These are moist and melt in the mouth, with thick chocolate chips. The only problem with them is that it's hard to stop at one, and our box of five cakes disappeared far too quickly!

Coppenrath Spritzgenuss:  Coppenrath is a Germany bakery company dating back to the 1930's that is now best known for it's biscuit range. These Spritzgenuss Zartbitter Schoko are lovely and buttery shortbread biscuits dipped in dark chocolate. I enjoyed their melt in the mouth crumbly texture combined with the sweet leaning dark chocolate. 

Katjes Back to the Roots: Vegetarian licorice! Katjes are probably best known in the UK as the makers of the M&S range of Percy Pig sweets. In Germany they are well known for producing vegetarian sweets in many different shapes and flavours (I reviewed their Bears HERE!). This soft and mild licorice is called Back to the Roots because one of the first products Katjes ever produced, back in 1910, was a licorice sweet (the Katjes Licorice Kittens!). 

Hitschler Apfel Schnüre: The founders of Candy German are based in the beautiful town of Cologne. In my mind Cologne must be some kind of candy wonderland as my lovely German Grocery Exchange friend Steffi, is also from there. She has sent me a few Hitschler products in the past and this Apfel Schnüre was one of my kids' favourites. They're so excited to get to try these tasty apple flavoured laces again! 

Feodora Erdbeer Smoozi: This was my favourite product in the Candy German box! Feodora is a new brand to me but apparently it dates back to 1910 and is seen as a noble brand with a strong heritage.

The packaging is gorgeous with a sleek tube filled with a row of circular chocolates with a strawberry cream centre. Even though the outer coating is white chocolate these are surprisingly not too sweet, instead they're deliciously creamy which stops them being overly sugary. This Smoozi range of disc shaped chocolates is available in a classic Mint, as well as several new flavours for summer; Raspberry, Strawberry and Banana. I seriously HAVE to try the banana ones!

Zentis Belnuga: This one was really unusual but ended up being another favourite for me. My husband wasn't so keen however so I'd describe this as one of those love it or hate it type of products.

German company Zentis is actually best known as a jam producer but with the Belnuga they have produced a range of marzipan and praline chocolates. It's a unique combination but one that works really well (in my opinion at least!). The marzipan is smoother and more delicately flavoured then the heavier type we get here in the UK. The innermost layer is a soft hazelnut nougat that is just delicious. The flavours reminded me quite a bit of Mozart chocolates from Austria!

Kinder Joy: When I first saw this in the box I have to admit I assumed it was a regular Kinder egg that was just wrapped in plastic rather than foil. Well, I was wrong, this is a different product altogether.

The two plastic halves pull apart easily to reveal separate sections. Under one side is the toy and under the other a tasty chocolate and milk cream, with two crispy chocolate balls (that sounds so wrong!). 

The chocolate and milk cream needs to be scooped out with a little spoon. It's very sweet and creamy, and really did appeal to the kid in me! I do have a soft spot for Kinder chocolate, so I loved trying out this completely new version. 

Moam Cola: These were also included in the box as a little extra. I think Moam sweets may be hard to find in some of the countries that Candy German ship to, but here in the UK these are widely available. It was still one of the first products my kids wanted to take from the box! 

Overall I was delighted with the products I received from Candy German. Before I started this blog I wasn't that familiar with German snacks but I'm pleased to have found such a world of delights! They really do have an awesome array of products in Germany and a Candy German box is a great way to discover more.

To subscribe take a look at the Candy German website for more details: www.candygerman.com

German Candy & Snack Review Round Up!

Following on from my awesome Grocery Snack Exchange with Steffi last month, here's the last of my reviews of the German snacks I received. Most of these are World Cup themed. At the time I was surprised at how extensive the range of World Cup themed snacks available in Germany was, especially compared to the UK. I guess it shows just how much I know about football! 

Milka Champiolada Coconut: First up it's the epic Milka Champiolada chocolate bar. Apparently Milka always release the Champiolada for big football tournaments. It's a mammoth 300g bar with fun football shapes on each segment. And luckily for me, this year's limited edition Champiodada bar is coconut flavoured!

I don't think I've ever tried a coconut Milka chocolate and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I'm not sure if this is just because it's filled with dessicated coconut, but as you can see in my photo above the chocolate has a slightly aerated texture. This meant it was essentially like eating a coconut flavoured Wispa bar (if only Cadbury would make that!). The combination was absolutely heavenly! I loved everything about this Champiolada, from the sweet coconut flavour to the lighter texture of the chocolate. 10 out of 10.

Ferrero Duplo Coconut: These are small chocolate batons with a wafer and coconut cream filling. I'd previously reviewed the Ferrero Duplo Hazelnut and enjoyed them so I had high hopes for this limited edition coconut version.

Each 18g bar has a crunchy layer of wafer topped by a thin layer of creamy coconut filling. The flavour profile is similar to many Ferrero products, with that sweet alpine milk chocolate and light wafer combination. It's perfectly suited to the subtle coconut flavour here, creating a very tasty little treat. I find these quite irresistible and usually can't stop at just one! 9 out of 10.

Yogurette Brazilian Summer: These are very similar in size and appearance to the above Ferrero Duplo. Steffi mentioned that in Germany these are marketed as a "healthier" treat, and even though they have fewer calories compared to the Ferrero Duplo (73 calories versus 108 calories), it's probably only because they are even smaller at 12.5g. 

The flavour here is definitely unique, it's a combination of white chocolate outer, filled with a lime flavoured yogurt centre. The filling is quite tangy and tart with a lovely lime flavour, but it works well with the sweeter white chocolate coating, and it's certainly a flavour I enjoyed. Other members of my family were not so keen on the tartness of the centre, so the enjoyment of this one really depends on whether you like yogurt fillings in chocolates. 8 out of 10. 

Fritt WM-Pack: The 'WM' stands for Welmeiesterschaft which means World Cup in German. This special WM-Pack is made up of three packs of chewy Fritt sweets, with a new Blackcurrant flavour included.

Each pack has five individually sealed sweetie strips. There are three flavours, Cherry, Lemon and Blackcurrant. I was pleased to find that these sweets have a softly chewy texture that is akin to a flattened out Chewit sweet, rather than being like a horribly hard Wham bar. Each Fritt flavour is delightfully fruity and sweet with a pleasantly natural aroma. A real hit with all my testers! 8 out of 10.

Thanks again to Steffi who sent me all these fantastic treats and good luck to Deutschland in the World Cup final match tonight! :)

Quick Review: Milka ChocoLilaStix

I bought these Milka ChocoLilaStix a while ago from a local Polish shop. I've posted a few Milka versus Cadbury reviews in the past so I couldn't resist comparing these to Cadbury Fingers. 

The boxes have a similar purple colour but I prefer the Cadbury domino line up and tagline "one may lead to another" compared to the Milka swirl.

Top: Milka Bottom: Cadbury

The biscuits are in a similar black tray but the Milka version has separated sections which keeps the sticks a bit neater. I have to say the Milka ChocoLilaStix also looked nicer than the Cadbury - they have a smooth appearance compared to the Cadbury Fingers which are covered in knobbly imperfections, although they are also slighter longer and thinner. The Milka chocolate layer is also noticeably thicker.

Top: Milka Bottom: Cadbury

The flavour was actually very similar, even down to the chocolate which I found surprising, I was expecting Cadbury to win hands down on the taste test! The inner biscuit especially was virtually identical, a basic shortbread affair. The chocolate in both had the same sweet and creamy notes, making them hard to distinguish in a blind taste test, but I have to admit that overall I preferred the thicker chocolate on the Milka version!

German Snack Megapost - Grocery Exchange Part 2!

Last year I took part in a brilliant grocery exchange with Steffi, a lovely reader and fellow snack fan from Germany. We both enjoyed the experience (it was so much fun choosing what to send!) and we agreed to do it all over again! You can find the details of our first Grocery Exchange HERE. Safe to say I had a great time taking part again! Take a look at all the wonderful goodies Steffi sent me and a few quick reviews. There will be more reviews once I've devoured more of the contents! I've also included a photo of what I sent to Steffi at the end of this post.

Ritter Sport Cookies & Cream and Baiser Nüss: I'll start with the Cookies & Cream because it was the one product that I asked Steffi to include if she could find it. I love anything Cookies & Cream inspired and being such a fan of Ritter Sport Chocolate, so this is one I had to try. Steffi also included a new bar from Ritter Sport, Baiser Nüss, which is an interesting meringue and nuts combination. I'll have a review of both of these soon!

Haribo Sweets: I loved the liquid filled Haribo Cola Bottles that Steffi sent me in our last swap so I was thrilled to find some more Haribo in the parcel.

The Haribo Bärchen Päachen are completely adorable! They are cute little bear couples that are holding hands and are sour on one side and sweet on the other (Steffi's brilliant description!). There was lots of oohing and aahing when I showed these to my family, and I had to take very quick photos as everyone was so eager to give these a try! There are six fruity flavours; apple, orange, lemon, cherry, blueberry and blackcurrant. The bear on the left of each pair is the sour one. They're not too sour but but each one has a completely different flavour from the sweet side of the pair. Isn't it just such a clever idea?

The Haribo Jogi Fari are yogurt animal shaped sweets. Steffi tells me these are new and already very popular in Germany. I can see why, as they taste absolutely delicious! There is a varied mix of fruity flavours; apple, pineapple, apricot, strawberry, cherry and passion fruit. The white pineapple flavoured ones were my favourites, so fruity and sweet but with a pleasant yogurt kick too.

Milka Brezel Time: Steffi made the valid point that most new German Milka bars are quite similar to Cadbury products we can already get in the UK, but she still managed to find me a brilliant exception. I had to exert real willpower not to just crack this open straight away. I love Milka chocolate and this one sounds so good - salty pretzels in milk chocolate. Review coming soon!

Jumpys: Another cute snack! These are paprika flavoured potato snacks that are kangaroo shaped! Steffi tells me that these have been around for a long time and she remembers them fondly from her school days. I had sent some llama shaped snacks in my parcel so it made me smile that we both selected animal shaped savoury snacks!

And, oh my goodness, these are so tasty I could just devour the whole bag in one sitting! The Jumpys are hollow potato snacks with a wonderfully crunchy texture, very similar to crisps. The flavour is of a sweet paprika rather than smokey one, making them incredibly moreish. I need to find a shop near to me that stocks these!

Alnatura Nougat Oster Tierchen: The ingredients in these Alnatura Easter shapes are wonderful in their simplicity. They're made from; organic cane sugar, cocoa butter, hazelnuts (13%), milk powder and cocoa mass. I'm going to save these gorgeous looking organic chocolates for Easter. 

Vivani Weisse Mango Cocos: I was so happy to see this Vivani chocolate bar included in the parcel! I've actually tried this one before and it's a heavenly combination of white chocolate with mango and coconut. A real gourmet treat of a chocolate bar.

Dinkelchen: These are little organic spelt cookies covered in chocolate. I don't think I've ever had a spelt cookie before so I'm looking forward to these! Steffi recommends them for snacking but also for adding to muesli with fresh or dried fruit. I've been eating muesli for breakfast everyday recently so I'll definitely be giving that suggestion a try.

Hitschler Apfel Schnüre: Hitschler is a sweets manufacturer based in Cologne. Steffi included these especially for my boys and it was a spot on choice because they were super excited when they saw these! Apparently these Schnüre (laces) are often used to make "nests" of grass for giving sweets and chocolates at Easter. It's so close to Easter now that I decided to save these sweets for that very purpose. I'll hopefully share some photos before they all get eaten :)

Since Steffi doesn't have a blog I took a quick photo of the parcel I sent to her before packing it up (don't worry it won't spoil the surprise as she's already received it!). There were quite a few smaller snacks but some of the main items were; Propercorn Coconut & Vanilla, Eat Natural Almond & Apricot bars, Chokablok Banoffee Bonanza, Prestat Cinnamon Chocolate, Yu! Snacks, Nakd Crunch bar, some M&S Easter sweets, and a few other bits and pieces.

A massive THANK YOU to Steffi for another awesome Grocery Exchange! I love everything that I received and the products are all ones that I would buy for myself and my family if I went to Germany! That's it for now but look out for some upcoming reviews from this yummy swap! :)