German Grocery Exchange Part 4 - Christmas Edition!

Followers of my blog may know that I've taken part in some wonderful grocery exchanges with the lovely Steffi from Germany. You can take a look at our previous exchanges posts; the original German Grocery Exchange HERE, Part 2 HERE, and Part 3 (the World Cup Edition!) HERE. I'm delighted that Steffi and I were able to arrange another snack swap (last month), and because it was so close to December we decided to make it Christmas themed. Germany is of course famous for it's Christmas markets and traditional yuletide snacks, so I knew that this was going to be an extra special exchange. Here's a quick run down of the delicious Christmas selection that Steffi sent me:

Haribo Color-Rado Winter Edition: This is a new limited edition of the classic Color-Rado Mix from Haribo. Steffi tells me that there are lots of new flavours in this pack and helpfully provided an explanation of all the flavous listed on the back. I'll have a full review soon. There are some really interesting flavours in here - far more unusual than we get in the UK:

Heiße Zitrone  - which is a hot lemon type drink (sounds like Lemsip!)

Winter Kirshe - literally translates as winter cherry 

Bratapfel - baked apple (yum!)

Vanillekipferl - a classic German Christmas biscuit 

Karamell-Lakritz - Caramel Liquorice

Schneeflöckchen - "Little Snowflakes" (they have a sweet fruity flavour)

Bunte Elche - "Colourful Mooses" - there are different flavours including gingerbread.

Nimm2 Lachgummi: A large bag of fruity gummies. These sweets come in lots of shapes that kids can use to build faces with, and this special limited edition includes Christmas shapes too. If you look closely at the left hand lower corner of the packaging you can see a reindeer made of the fruity pieces. My boys are absolutely loving these sweets - they are so sweet and fruity and the shapes are super fun too!

Yogurette Wintertraum - Bratapfel & Zimt: Yogurette are similar to Ferrero Duplo sticks (and are also made by Ferrero), but are seen as a healthier version as they are made with yogurt flavoured fillings. In our last grocery exchange, Steffi had included the World Cup, Brazil inspired, limited edition Yogurette, which were a tasty white chocolate and lime combination (see HERE). This time there is a lovely "winter dream" edition which is Baked Apple & Cinnamon flavour - doesn't that sound gorgeous? I really wish we could get chocolates with such wonderful flavour combinations here in the UK. These are Steffi's favourites and I can see why, the sweet apple and cinnamon flavours make a delicious pairing with the tangy yogurt filling.

Haribo Weihnachtssterne (Christmas Stars): Another festive treat in the shape of these Haribo Christmas Stars. These are large foam, star shaped sweets in three flavours; cream, vanilla and caramel. The packaging looks wonderful, like a little gift, and would make a lovely stocking filler.

Heilemann Confisene Pralinés: Heilemann is a brand I've never tried before but Steffi tells me their chocolates are delicious. This Christmas selection looks beautiful in it's festive box with a little felt Christmas tree on the front. Inside there are four different chocolates; Gianduja-Nougat, Caramel Crisp, Christmas Nougat, and a marzipan. Each chocolate has a very fine appearance - I'll try to have a review of these soon.

Gewürz Mandeln (Spiced Almonds): These are spiced almonds that are coated in milk chocolate with a Gianduja nougat. The spices in these are described as being not too strong so that even children can enjoy them. These are so delicious! They have a very sweet, almost sugary, cinnamon flavour that is fantastic with the milk chocolate and the crunchy almond inside. I actually found the cinnamon quite strong but these are so sweet that it doesn't become too spicy or overpowering. It's such a simple idea but it works perfectly. And yes, my kids love them too!

Marzipan Kartoffeln: This literally means "marzipan potatoes" and these are a traditional German sweet at Christmas. Not to worry though, they are not actually potato flavoured, just super cute potato shaped marzipan treats. They remind me of potato shaped chocolates that I used to get as a child - anyone else remember those?

Printen - Aachener Schokoladen: Some more traditional treats in the form of these Printen from the German city of Aachen. Steffi gave me lots of interesting information about these which is very useful to share here. Aachen is a city close to both the Dutch and Belgian borders. These Printen are similar to gingerbread, in terms of flavour, but are a bit firmer than Lebkuchen (German gingerbread). There are chocolate coated or plain versions available, and they are described as "spiced cakes" on the packaging but Steffi says that doesn't do them justice. This is one of the treats that I'm saving for Christmas!

Gesüllte Lebkuchenherzen (Filled Gingerbread Hearts): Another traditional treat that I'm saving for Christmas itself are these filled gingerbread hearts. They are coated in dark chocolate and have an apricot jam filling. These are made by a company called Lambertz who are well known for their biscuits. I think they sound really delicious and I'm looking forward to giving these Lebkuchenherzen a try.

Butter Spekulatius: "Spekulatius" is the German version of the speculoos biscuits. There are two kinds available in Germany; Butter or Gewürz (spiced). I have to admit these delicious buttery biscuits were the first to disappear when I opened the parcel from Steffi - everyone wanted to give them a try!

Ritter Sport Winter Editions 2014: Ritter Sport is one of my favourite German chocolate brands and Steffi very kindly included lots of mini sizes of the three new Winter Edition flavours. There is Kaffee & Nuss (Coffee & Hazelnuts - reviewed HERE), Gebrante Mandel (Caramelised Almonds - reviewed HERE), and Vanille Kipferl (Vanilla Crescent Cookie). These mini sizes are adorable!

Ritter Sport Schokowürfel: Steffi tells me this is not a Christmas related product but she had to include it in her parcel because it's new - thank you Steffi! Each selection box is filled with individually wrapped segments of Ritter Sport chocolate. There are three flavours that are all covered in white chocolate; Latte Macchiato, Nut-Almond-Brittle, and Caramel Nut. I love that fact that all the chocolates here are white chocolates - it's such a super sweet collection! Full review coming soon.

I will update here with a photo of the parcel that I sent Steffi in return (once I know she's received it as I don't want to spoil the surprise!). Once it's up I will put "updated" in the title of this post.

In the meantime, I want to send a huge THANK YOU to Steffi for such a special festive Grocery Exchange. I've always wanted to visit Germany at Christmastime (especially for their world famous Christmas markets) and I'm delighted to have so many lovely German Christmas treats to try this year.

Let me know in the comments below if you would like to see any specific reviews for the products above or which one you would like to review first! :)

New Instore: Halloween Yogurt & Bonfire Cakes

A few new products spotted instore.

The Collective Dairy Limited Edition Spiced Pumpkin: Thanks to the commentator on a previous post who alerted my attention to this yogurt. I spotted the spookily decorated pot instore a few days ago in Sainsbury's. Given how much I've complained about the lack of pumpkin spice products, it's ridiculous that I haven't give this a try yet. In the meantime check out the verdict from someone who knows exactly what real pumpkin spice should taste like - read Creamy Steaks review HERE. £2.40 at Sainsbury's.

Ritter Sport Rum Raisins Hazelnuts: I know this is not a new flavour for Ritter Sport, but it's the first time I've seen this flavour in a UK supermarket. It's currently on offer for a bargainous £1.00 at Sainsbury's.

Geo Watkins Mushroom Ketchup: Looking like a wonderous herbal potion that belongs in a travelling 'doctors' medicine cabinet is this Mushroom Ketchup by Geo Watkins. If you've given this one a try, first of all, BRAVO, and secondly please leave a comment to let me know what the heck it's all about! £1.79 at Sainbury's.

Greggs Hot Dog: Yeah so THIS happened. Greggs are now selling New York style hot dogs in their bakeries from 11am onwards. They're £2.50 and absolutely massive (for reference they're at least double the size of Ikea hot dogs). 

Cadbury Dairy Milk Winter Wonderland: The festive edition from last year is back, see my original review HERE. The packaging is slightly different (last year's was much nicer in my opinion) but I'm assuming it's exactly the same bar inside. £1.00 at Asda. 

Lyle's Golden Syrup Bonfire Toffee Cake: Also back are these Bonfire Bakes from Lyle's Golden Syrup. There are two flavours to choose from Bonfire Toffee and Sticky Toffee Apple. It's nice to have a few products designed with Bonfire Night in mind, and I like the new firework inspired packaging. £1.00 each at Sainsbury's. 

Lyle's Golden Syrup Sticky Toffee Apple Cake: I've never tried either of these cakes before but I'd like to give them a go this year. If you've had them before then please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below! 

Big thanks to Lucy W. for the last two photos! If you spot any new products instore then I'd love to hear from you - email me: grocerygems@gmail.com.

I was sent a voucher to try the new Greggs Hot Dog. 

Ritter Sport Karamell + Keks (Caramel Biscuit)

I've been wanting to try the Ritter Sport Karamell + Keks ever since it was released earlier this year so I was thrilled to receive a (massive!) bar from the lovely people at Monster Sweets. Check our their full range of Ritter Sport bars here. The Ritter Sport Karamell + Keks is filled with a caramel cream embedded with caramel biscuit pieces. It's a fairly simple flavour combination but even so, it's not one I have come across before.

This is a 250g bar which doesn't sound too big but is more than double the standard size Ritter Sport (shown above next to a 100g Ritter Sport Knusperkeks). I've seen these large Ritter Sport in Lidl but only in standard flavours. 

How many pieces? This is seriously big and it will take a long while to get through it. Good job that it's so tasty!

I usually enjoy chocolate and biscuit combinations and this one is no different. The caramel filling has a creamy toffee like flavour with a very sweet edge. The biscuit pieces within didn't really add too much flavourwise, as they have a similar caramel flavour to the filling, but they do make their presence known in the crispy texture they provide. They almost seemed to be bits of wafer within the creamy layer, rather than hard biscuits, probably because the pieces are quite small. The whole thing is wrapped in the recognisably sweet and creamy Ritter Sport milk chocolate, which provides the perfect background to the rest of the flavours. If you're a fan of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Nutty Caramel then I would highly recommend the Ritter Sport Karamell + Keks - it's like a biscuit version of that bar! 

Take a look at Monsters Sweets online to view their full range of US and European chocolates and sweets. 

Product sent for an honest review. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Ritter Sport Karamell + Keks

RATING: 8 out of 10.
Buy it again?: Yes.
Purchased: Available at Monster Sweets
Price: £3.30p.

Ritter Sport Cookies & Cream and Meringue Nuts

I've been getting my chocolate fix a bit early this year thanks to Steffi and our recent Grocery Exchange. As a fan of Ritter Sport I was excited to try these two varieties from the Spring 2014 range; Cookies & Cream and Baiser Nuss (Meringue Nuts).

First up, the Cookies & Cream which is a flavour that was released as a Spring limited edition last year, and that I somehow failed to try. I'm always drawn to "cookies & cream" chocolates so I was keen to put that to amends this year!

The Ritter Sport Cookies & Cream is identical to most chocolate bars of this type in having a vanilla cream centre with chocolate cookie pieces. The textures were all excellent, with a smooth chocolate and vanilla cream, coupled with plenty of crunch from the biscuits. The vanilla flavour is quite strong and reminiscent of a vanilla milkshake, whilst the cookie pieces were sweet, but in comparison didn't really add much flavour. It's still an enjoyable chocolate, but more of a crunchy vanilla flavoured bar rather than a cookies & cream one. 

Next up is the new Baiser Nuss which provides the unusual combination of meringue pieces and roasted hazelnuts in a milk chocolate. 

The chocolate is packed full of crumbly meringue and crunchy nut pieces. Steffi had described this bar as a love it or hate it type of chocolate, and luckily enough we all enjoyed it. I can understand why some might not like it as the meringue pieces make this a very sugary sweet chocolate bar. However, I found that the robust flavour of the roasted hazelnuts more than made up for the sweetness of the meringue, creating an unusual but tasty harmony of flavours. 

Many thanks again to Steffi for sending these out! If you'd like to find these bars in the UK then I highly recommend Monster Sweets for all your Ritter Sport needs.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Ritter Sport Cookies & Cream and Baiser Nuss

RATING: Cookies & Cream: 7 out of 10, Baiser Nuss 7.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.

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! :)

Review: Ritter Sport Winter 2013 - Caramelised Almonds

There are three releases in the Ritter Sport Winter 2013 collection; Caramel Orange, Coconut Macaroon and Caramelised Almonds (see review from Kev's Snack Review). The Coconut Macaroon and Caramelised Almonds are both returning flavours from last year, although this is the first time I've tried the latter (see my review of the Coconut Macaroon from last year here). 

The Gebrannte Mandel, or Caramelised Almonds, bar is based on the kind of sugar roasted almonds which are popular at Christmas markets around Europe. Each bar has lots of crushed pieces of these caramelised almonds embedded throughout. Texturally I found the pieces a bit too small, I would have preferred some larger chunks in there. However, the flavour is completely delicious, as always from Ritter Sport. The milk chocolate has a rich cocoa flavour, whilst the almonds add plenty of crunch and a sugary, slightly burnt caramel edge. The flavour in the almonds also reminded me somewhat of the sugared almonds that are available at Easter. The whole thing is quite sweet but it was enjoyed by all my fellow testers here who tried it with me. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Ritter Sport Gebrannte Mandel

RATING: 7.5 out of 10
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: German deli, Borough Market, London
Price: £1.75. 

Ritter Sport Knusperflakes - Cornflakes

I've been meaning to review this bar for absolutely ages. However, it's one of my favourites from the Ritter Sport range so it usually doesn't stick around for long enough to allow any photos to be taken.

From the top, the Ritter Sport Knusperflakes looks like any other milk chocolate Ritter Sport bar, but the view from underneath shows that this chocolate is crammed full of cornflakes.

Ritter Sport milk chocolate is always smooth and delicious and that's certainly the case here too. The cornflakes within have a distinct golden corn flavour, and provide a superbly crunchy texture without any added sweetness. These cornflakes pieces really are very crunchy, especially compared to the more popular cereal to chocolate bar ingredient - rice crispies. I find it surprising that there are not more chocolate bars with cornflakes in them because the combination does work very well (as anyone who has tried homemade cornflake chocolate crispies knows!). The contrasting textures and simple flavours in the Ritter Sport Knusperflakes bar make this an thoroughly enjoyable chocolate bar.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Ritter Sport Cornflakes

RATING: 8.5 out of 10.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Available at Monster Sweets.
Price: £1.75p.

Review! Mini Ritter Sport

Cuteness alert! These adorable mini Ritter Sport were very kindly sent to me for review by Monster Sweets. Each mini Ritter Sport is a diminutive 16.6g in size, which equates to a four chunks squared bar - ideal for a snack sized serving.

Ritter Sport Hazelnuss

The Ritter Sport Hazelnuss is a milk chocolate with crunchy pieces of chopped roasted hazelnuts.

As always the Ritter Sport milk chocolate here is deliciously smooth, creamy and sweet. There is no hazelnut flavour in the chocolate itself, unlike the Noisette bar I reviewed previously, but the hazelnut pieces do provide a lovely nutty flavour and crunchy texture. It's a simple enough chocolate but one that is very well executed. (8 out of 10)

Ritter Sport Nugat

I found the Ritter Sport Nougat slightly strange, only because my hitherto experience of nougat has been quite different to what I found here. I was expecting a white honey flavoured filling with chopped nuts, but instead found a smooth praline. That's not to say the bar itself isn't tasty. It provides more of the delicious Ritter Sport milk chocolate, this time coupled with a smooth "hazelnut and cocoa praline". It's another satisfying combination of nutty flavour and milk chocolate. (7 out of 10).

Ritter Sport Joghurt

There are plenty of chocolate bars with fruity yogurt centres, usually strawberry flavoured, but I've never tried one with a plain yogurt filling. It might sound unusual, but this combination of creamy milk chocolate and tangy yogurt really works perfectly together. It's sweet but tart at the same time. (8.5 out of 10).

Ritter Sport Knusperkeks

A more traditional combination is presented with this Ritter Sport Knusperkeks (shortbread biscuit). It's basically a whole biscuit wrapped in the deliciously sweet and creamy Ritter Sport milk chocolate. Ultimately this is more of a glorified chocolate biscuit rather than an actual chocolate bar, but it's still a very tasty one! (7.5 out of 10).

Ritter Sport Edel-Vollmilch

Lastly, a mini bar of Ritter Sport Edel Vollmilch, which translates as Fine Milk Chocolate. It's a 35% minimum cocoa solids milk chocolate, a higher content than the previous bars above (they were mostly 30% minimum). The chocolate melt here is extremely silky and smooth, with a richer cocoa flavour, and slightly less sweetness overall. The stronger chocolate flavour is particularly suited to this smaller size of bar, and it's an ideal introduction to the Ritter Sport range. (8.5 out of 10).

Monster Sweets kindly sent me these products for an honest review but all views expressed are my own. Check out the newly revamped (and looking fab!) Monster Sweets online shop to view their full range of US and European chocolates and groceries.  

Grocery Gems Verdict: Mini Ritter Sport

Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Available at Monster Sweets
Price: A bargainous £0.30p each!