Foodie News July 2014

It’s that time again when I bring you a round-up of all the latest things from the foodie world. So let’s see what’s hot and what’s not!

Jelly Belly Gift Bags

Jelly Belly have just brought out their full range of confectionary, which has only been available in the US thus far, to the UK. I remember my first Jelly Belly experience as a teenager and was very taken with a green jelly bean. Hence on a trip up to Harrods Food Hall I looked at the menu and was sure it must be Jalapeno flavour that I’d liked! That was the day I learned what a Jalapeno was and realised that it had been the Apple flavour which I’d liked (doh)! We were sent 2 brightly coloured foiled gift bags to sample: Candy Corn and Gummi Bears (there are many more flavours). My children were over the moon to be trying Candy Corn as they are so immersed in American culture via games and the internet that these treats were very familiar to them if only in name. They were different to how I imagined, they had a subtle waxy chew to them and broke up in the mouth really easily and together with their vanilla flavour were far too moreish, I think my son & I had the lion’s share but my daughter wasn’t quite as keen. The Gummi Bears were very tasty too and again I think my son and I had most of these! If I had my way with these sweets though I’d find a way of replacing the numerous E numbers with more natural colourings!

Available in John Lewis & Selfridges rrp £6.62. For more information check out Jelly Belly on Twitter.

Marks & Spencer’s New Summer Dessert Range

When Marks and Spencer asked if I’d like to try out some of their new summer desserts I didn’t hesitate to say “yes please”! I showed my family a list of possible contenders and I my daughter’s first choice was the Summer Jelly Cubes pot (£1.30) with pineapple, pomegranate and lime flavoured jelly. The jelly was softer than one you’d make at home, the flavours were refreshing and it was a novelty to have the jelly cubes stacked on top of each other in flavour order. My daughter is a huge jelly fan and really liked this. My only criticism is the pots they come in are far to flimsy and one of our pots split and when I was in M&S I noticed a split pot on the shelf too – so handle with care! Next we sampled the Sunken Salted Caramel Cheesecake (serves 6) which is a Madagascan vanilla cheese cake with sunken salted caramel centre with chocolate coated malt and honeycomb balls on a digestive biscuit base – what can I say, a huge hit with the whole family! If you like chocolate then I’m sure you’ll love the Milk Chocolate & Salted Caramel Dulce de Leche Dessert £3.50 for 2 slices. It had chocolate sponge layered with milk chocolate ganache, milk chocolate and dulce de leche caramel mouse and salted caramel pieces covered in milk chocolate finished with a glaze and chocolate decal – this was our favourite dessert! Lemon Eton Mess (£1.50 per pot) was a refreshing delight – creamy Madagascan vanilla mouse, Sicilian lemon curd, a white chocolate coating and squishy little meringues – we all liked this, even my son who was reluctant to try it! Finally we tried Blood Orange Cheesecake (serves 2, £3) which we ended up serving to extended family at a BBQ! There was a mixed verdict on this baked cheesecake topped with a vibrant blood orange glaze and creamy blood orange mousse on a bourbon biscuit base. My mother in law enjoyed it, her brother found it too sweet, my husband and daughter thought it was okay but looked a bit artificial and I have to say I found the orange mousse topping too artificial looking and over flavoured.

I think we’ll be on fruit salad for the rest of the month now LOL!

Do check out M&S on Twitter for more information.

Kallo Organic Rice Thins with Belgian Chocolate

Kallo are famous for their rice cakes but I hadn’t realised they had a range of Organic Rice Thins with Belgian Chocolate! They come in 3 variations: Belgian Dark Chocolate, Belgian Milk Chocolate and Belgian Milk Chocolate with Caramel Pieces. At between 55 calories and 65 calories each I think they make a great, low fat, filling and tasty snack and the Belgian chocolate makes them utterly delicious! The dark chocolate ones are my favourite but it’s a difficult choice!

They retail for around £1.69. For more information check out Kallo on Twitter.

Speculaas Spice Company – vandotsch speculaas spice mix

The Speculaas Spice Company sent me a sample of their vandotsch speculaas spice mix which is a mixture of 9 different organic or fairtrade sourced spices including high grade cinnamon from Sri Lanka, cloves, ginger and 6 other spices. They suggest using it in place of regular cinnamon for a change so I made myself some “Speculaas Toast” and very enjoyable it was too! With the recent interest in Speculoos (Lotus Biscuit Spread) arriving in this country last year I’m sure this spice is going to do really well.

The refill I was sent retails at £3.99 online. For more information check out vanDotsch spices Twitter page.

James Martin Baker’s Dozen Swiss Roll Tin from Stellar

Sometimes a celebrity will put their name to a range and it’s all a bit of a let down but not so with the James Martin Baker’s Dozen range from Stellar. I was sent a Swiss Roll Tin and I can’t tell you how impressed I am with the weight of it, it’s seriously heavy with its high grade 1mm steel – no danger of warping here! I have longed for a Swiss Roll tin and have avoided making any up until now as all the tins I have of this size are thin and warped. Together with its “easy care non-stick surface” and 5 year guarantee I think if the Swiss Roll tin is anything to go by this range is an absolute winner and I can’t wait to start baking in it! There’s also an added bonus as James provides a recipe for 9 or the 13 items in the range!

The rrp for the Swiss Roll Tin is £10.50. For more information check out Stellar Cookware on Twitter.

So that’s all for this round-up. If your brand like to be included in my next Foodie News do get in contact via my contact form!

NB: Thank you to all the brands who provided samples this month, I was not paid and all opinions are my own as always.