These new biscuits come in three varieties – Crunchie, Caramel and Turkish – and are made for Cadbury by Burton’s Foods who sent us these samples. Now I’m not the biggest fan of biscuits in the world, so I took these along to my birthday party to share with guests and get there opinions.
My first surprise was that people were actually more interested in the biscuits than they were with some of the ‘proper’ chocolate I’d brought along. Partly, I suspect, because of the shiny wrappers, and partly because it was something new with a Cadbury logo on that they hadn’t seen before.
All the biscuits went down well. The Caramel variety disappeared before I could even try one myself. The Turkish were less popular – and to be fair, western “Turkish Delight” is a bit of an acquired taste anyway. But my favourites were the Crunchie variety.
These mixed honeycomb pieces in with the biscuit rather than having a separate layer, giving the whole thing a nice crunch as well as the unmistakably sweet, Crunchie flavour. I managed to save two of these to try myself, and I rather wish I’d saved a couple more.
I’m sure the range will be a hit, but I think the Crunchie is the winner. You can get caramel biscuits anywhere, and the Turkish flavour just isn’t that good. But who wouldn’t want a Crunchie biscuit?
Unfortunately, there’s no cocoa solids percentage on the wrapper, but it tastes like every other Cadbury chocolate (i.e. very sweet and not that great). But if you’re into that kind of thing, then at £1.59 per pack of 8 they’re worth a try.
I picked this up in Ireland last week, mainly for the novelty value but also because it seemed like the most Irish chocolate I could find. Obviously ‘Irish Cream’ is a version of that very popular alcoholic beverage Bailey’s, and I have seen Bailey’s chocolates, but obviously the ‘Purveyors of Happiness’ didn’t get the franchise and have resorted to another version.
Ingredients wise, we have 32% cocoa milk chocolate with 10% alcohol which is contained in a white chocolate truffle filling. The white chocolate is 20% cocoa solids, making this a fairly respectable confection. Having seen in the past how as little as 1% of a strong tasting ingredient can affect the flavour of chocolate it was no surprise to find that this bar gave off a fairly potent whiff of alcohol – more so when the bar was broken and the filling was revealed.
I’m pleased to say that my initial forebodings regarding overpowering tastes were unfounded. This bar has a pretty thick outer coating of milk chocolate which allows one to savour the cocoa flavours before the filling starts to melt and floods the mouth with the familiar combination of whiskey and cream.
As alcoholic chocolates go this one has authentic flavours which combine well with the milk chocolate. It certainly wouldn’t work as a dark chocolate bar – the creaminess of milk and white chocolate are ideal bedfellows for the whiskey and cream liqueur. Would I recommend it? Well, if you’re partial to chocolate and enjoy the odd glass of Irish Cream liqueur then this may well be your idea of perfect harmony. Whether or not it’s readily available outside of Ireland I can’t say, but I think it’s well worth seeking out if you’re reading this and licking your lips in anticipation. Butlers products aren’t the cheapest, but the ingredients seem to be of decent quality, and so one really can’t begrudge paying a little extra for that quality. Great for lovers of boozy, creamy confectionery.
I recently spent a few months in Tel Aviv. I couldn’t leave without reviewing (and, most importantly, consuming) one of the city’s finest dessert surprises.
Behold the kurtosh! A traditional Hungarian dessert / yeast cake tube thing, which must be a regional dish, as I have it on good authority it is rather absent from the cake shops and cafés of Budapest (at least those visited by my cake-greedy family and friends). It’s actually pronounced “kyortosh”, in case you’re wondering. There is a chain of Hungarian cafés in Tel Aviv that make and sell it. The process is quite exciting, as the dough is wrapped, strap-like around giant wooden skewers and then baked in the oven. The fillings are worked into the dough before the wrapping and the whole thing is then caramel glazed and covered in various, usually nutty toppings.
I chose the chocolate and halva variety because it is perhaps the most Israeli in style. They say Israel doesn’t have an original cuisine, but rather a style involving juxtaposition and the fusion of styles. What can be more so than a Hungarian cake mixed with a very obviously Middle Eastern filling? Halva is basically sweet, hardened sesame seed paste. I never know how well known it is outside of Middle Eastern countries (apart from India). To top off the Middle Eastern look and feel, the kurtosh is covered in sesame seeds.
The kurtosh is eaten by ripping bits off (which if you’re careful, will produce rings of dough). The dough is the same sort as the kind used in cinnamon swirls. In fact, they do make cinnamon kurtosh which tastes rather similar to those.
As you can see in the pictures, in this case, the chocolate is definitely not the main star of the show. You can see the swirls of it every once in a while, but they are not an overwhelming part of the dough. The experience is more about the combination of flavours. Neither of the fillings was very generous and both were noticeable more as an undertone that came through after the initial sensation of sweet caramel and slightly savoury sesame subsided. I found that the top half of the kurtosh had more in terms of the chocolate in it and the lower half seemed to have more of the halva. As each tube is handmade, I expect there to be a level of variation from one kurtosh to another.
I wasn’t sure at first about how the sesame and the chocolate would blend, but the caramel glazing and the dough seemed to tie it all together into a seriously addictive combination that created a whole new thing. It was sweet but moreish at the same time. Not too overbearing and overall quite light.
Luckily, I had company and help in consuming this, but when I was temporarily left alone with the tube, it took some determination to prevent me from eating far more than my fair share.
I’m interested in hearing from people who might know the original Hungarian kurtosh. What are the traditional fillings in the original?
I’ve known this bar was coming for a couple of months and I’ve sat and waited patiently for it to appear. Today it finally arrived, and I think my life may be complete. Yes, this is what happens when you let Paul A. Young loose in a kitchen with a jar of Marmite XO.
You may recall that we tried Paul’s Marmite (non-XO) ganaches when we first visited his Islington shop, and I fell in love with them. The Marmite flavour was quite subtle, and acted a little like the salt in a salted caramel – enhancing the flavour – rather than dominating the chocolate.
Marmite XO is a different beast though. And what we have is a 64% Madagascan dark chocolate bar, divided into 4 sections, each filled with the stuff. And while there is more chocolate than Marmite in the bar, it’s the strong, salty, fantastical Marmite flavour that wins through.
After a few seconds though, that sweet, fruity Madagascan chocolate comes into play and starts to overcome the saltiness. Frankly, it’s a bizarre experience. Eating this simple bar of chocolate makes me stick out my tongue, screw up my face, giggle, then go back in for more. I absolutely love it. This is my new favourite filled chocolate bar.
Of course lesser mortals (read ‘Marmite haters’) will despise it as much as I love it. If you’re one of those weird people that doesn’t like Marmite, then I can only suggest you seek medical attention, because there’s clearly something wrong with you. The only thing that rocks more than Marmite XO is Marmite XO enveloped in delicious Madagascan chocolate.
And the best part of all this is that Paul Young is giving away samples – this Saturday 21st May only. All you need to do is get onto Twitter and tweet about them, then pop into his Islington shop on Saturday and demand to be fed.
(While stocks last, I presume. Personally I intend to go back in at least 10 disguises to stock up.)
