M&S Strawberries & Cream Choux Buns

A light, choux pastry filled with whipped cream and strawberry conserve.

I really liked the choux pastry; it was very light, but the pastry seemed a lot more flat than the other choux buns. The strawberry conserve was delicious; really fruity and tasty. The whipped cream was nice, but I felt that there wasn't much of it. 

For the price, I was expecting a slightly bigger choux bun with more filling - like the custard choux buns. I just thought that these were a bit stingy for the price; both the size of the bun and the filling. 

Price: £2.50 for two

Rating: 4/5

M&S Dessert Menu White Chocolate & Blackcurrant Spheres

I've been dying to try these White Chocolate & Blackcurrant Spheres; a lovely summery combination of flavours.

These spheres consist of a white chocolate mousse, a blackcurrant curd centre and a blackcurrant mousse with a white chocolate plaque.

The White Chocolate mousse is incredibly light, and actually tastes of white chocolate ( a lot of products with white chocolate tend to not have much of a white chocolate taste, as the chocolate content is very low), so I was very pleased with this.

The blackcurrant centre is delicious; just the right amount of tang without being too sharp. A beautiful contrast against the white chocolate mousse.

Finally, the blackcurrant mousse was lovely and light, again with the same amount of tang as the curd centre - absolutely perfect.

These are absolutely delicious - light and summery. Highly recommended!

Price: £4.00 for two

Rating: 5/5

M&S Blackcurrant Eclairs

I look forward to the Summer range every year by M&S. This year, they seem to be focusing on a blackcurrant and Strawberry theme in their range of Summer desserts and sweet treats.

These blackcurrant eclairs are filled with a blackcurrant mousse instead of the traditional cream filling, and is then topped with a beautiful blackcurrant and white chocolate fondant glaze.

These eclairs were really, really nice. The blackcurrant mousse actually tasted of fresh, tangy blackcurrants, the choux pastry was lovely and light and the fondant glaze was lovely and sweet. The tanginess of the blackcurrant filling and the sweet fondant glaze worked really well to balance out the flavours. The blackcurrant mousse had the perfect amount of tanginess without being too sharp.

A beautiful summer treat, I really recommend these.

Price: £2.50 for two

                                                                         Rating: 4/5

M&S Salted Caramel & Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

I have been dying to try these for weeks, despite being rather skeptical about how these flavours could possibly work in a hot cross bun.

I was wrong, VERY WRONG.

Now, I like to eat my hot cross buns un-toasted, just because I find that heating them changes their soft, bouncy texture and the flavours aren't quite the same.

The bun itself is extremely soft and fresh, with a lovely caramel colour. The Belgian chocolate chips scattered throughout the bun are perfect; they are gooey whilst still holding their shape. The salted caramel fudge and toffee pieces were perfect; fudgy and gooey, again holding their shape, with a lovely silky caramel/toffee flavour. 

The surprising part? Despite all of these delicious flavours, I could still taste the warm,  fragrant spices amongst the chocolatey caramel goodness.

I am thoroughly  impressed with these hot cross buns, especially considering the perfect balance between all of the flavours.

M&S, please please please bring these back next year!

Price: £1.70 for four

Rating: 5/5

M&S Colombian Coffee Ice Cream

Despite my reservations about this Colombian Coffee Ice Cream tasting like actual coffee due to the stingy 1% coffee listed on the ingredients, this ice cream has a strong, rich coffee flavour  which was rather pleasant, at first.

After  3 spoonfuls, the ice cream seemed less appealing; the coffee was now bitter and overpowering and the ice cream lacked a nice, creamy taste. It tasted watery and unpleasant; so much so that I threw the remainder in the bin.

This is another of those products with amazing potential, and I really hope M&S will improve the recipe. A more subtle coffee flavour perhaps, with a higher cream content. There needs to be a better balance between the cream and coffee flavour.

Price: £4.00

Rating: 1/5

M&S Salt & Black Pepper Combo Mix

I really love these bags of 'combo mix' snacks; they are great value and incredibly moreish!

I particularly like the different shapes which produce  a variety of crunchy textures. This salt and pepper flavour was really tasty - the black pepper added a nice kick, too. 

Price: £2.50

Rating: 5/5

M&S Extremely Chocolatey White Chocolate Rounds

Oh my. White chocolate shortcake style biscuits? This is my idea of heaven.

As it says on the box, these M&S Extremely Chocolatey White Chocolate Rounds are more chocolate than biscuit, but that's okay, because they taste amazing.

A buttery, crunchy shortcake style biscuit is covered with a delicious, creamy, chunky white chocolate, making these biscuits irresistible. The chunky white chocolate also gives these biscuits a lovely 'bite'.

These biscuits are too good for dunking in your tea/coffee, you will also have great difficulty in sharing them. 

Price: £1.85 for eight biscuits

Rating: 5/5

M&S Chocolate Coated Peanut Butter & Choc Chip Cookies

I've never tried peanut butter cookies before; they seem to be a relatively recent thing in the UK. I'm pleased to see M&S keeping up to date with these food trends and adding a touch of their own M&S magic.

These chocolate coated peanut butter and choc chip cookies are exactly what I'm talking about!

These cookies are made with peanut butter, studded with peanuts and milk chocolate chips and half- dipped in milk chocolate.

These aren't the sort of cookie I was expecting. I was expecting the traditional soft and chewy cookie, but what I got was a very hard, crunchy biscuit. 

I couldn't taste the peanut butter, but the peanut and chocolate chip pieces were lovely. The milk chocolate coating was nice, too.

A disappointing cookie/biscuit, but these are so crunchy that they are perfect for dunking with a cuppa! All is not lost.

Price: £2.00 for 8

Rating: 2/5

M&S Gastropub Empire Pie

This Empire Pie is from the Gastropub range at M&S. It consists of spiced lamb with mango chutney and is topped with crushed potato and herbs.

As it was cooking in the oven, the smell was beautiful and comforting; I couldn't wait to tuck in!

The spiced lamb ragu was full of flavour, very tasty with plenty of sauce. There was plenty of minced lamb which went really well with the various herbs and spices.

The potatoes were a lovely addition. They were very soft and sprinkled with onion seeds which added a nice depth of flavour.

Overall, I was really impressed by this product. It was really delicious and very comforting, I highly recommend this and would definitely buy it again.

Price: £4.50

Rating: 5/5

M&S Christmas Yuletide Log

I picked up this scrumptious looking Yule log a few days before Christmas; I wanted to compare it to the previous Yule log as this one is refrigerated and the other one isn't. It consists of milk chocolate ganache instead of chocolate buttercream, along with a chocolate mousse and sauce throughout the centre.

I'm not usually a fan of rich, chocolate desserts, but I had to make an exception for this Yule log.

The chocolate sponge was incredibly moist and chocolatey; the milk chocolate ganache and mousse was rich, chocolatey and indulgent. There was also plenty of the ganache; it was thick and fudgy. I didn't notice the chocolate sauce at all, but it was so delicious I didn't care.

This is probably even better than the previous non- refrigerated Yule log I reviewed. I am extremely possessive over this Yuletide log and have had great difficulty in sharing it.

Price: £10

Rating: 5/5

M&S Turkey & Stuffing Pie

I'm going to cut to the chase; this pie was AMAZING! This is the best pie that I have ever tasted.

"All butter pastry with pieces of turkey breast and thigh, pork, sage and onion stuffing and smoked bacon in a cranberry gravy".

There were plenty of tender chunks of turkey and smoked bacon, tasty and full of flavour. The stuffing was nice and I loved the cranberry gravy which was subtle but sweet without dominating the other flavours.

The pastry was outstanding. I have never tasted such a rich, buttery shortcrust pie pastry before. It was flaky and light and held the filling perfectly.

This was a brilliant idea which brought some of the traditional Christmas trimmings all together into pie form, and it worked!

Well done, M&S! 

Price: £3.50

Rating: 5/5

M&S Snowy Road Mini Bites

"Clusters of sweetened dried cranberries, candied ginger, biscuit pieces, crisped rice and white mallows, in a yogurt flavoured coating".

I loved the concept of these Snowy Mini Bites; a festive version of the traditional rocky road with a twist.

The candied ginger was the most noticeable flavour; it was too overpowering against the other flavours which I couldn't really taste. The contrasting texture of the soft marshmallows and the crisped rice was nice, though.

Some of the mini bites didn't seem to contain any ginger pieces, so I was able to taste the other flavours a little better. I liked the buttery biscuit pieces, the slight sharpness of the cranberries and the yogurt coating was pleasant.

Whilst I really liked the idea of these, I felt that it was all very sickly and overwhelming as there were so many sweet flavours. The ginger was so strong it ruined it a bit, too. I really don't think the ginger is necessary as it doesn't complement the other flavours.

Price: £2.60

Rating: 2/5

M&S The Collection Mince Pies

I've been looking for the perfect mince pie since last Christmas; I think my search is finally over.

These mince pies are from The Collection range at M&S. They are beautifully presented with a pretty snowflake design. I love their compact, neat shape, too.

Slight criticism: The edges of the snowflakes were a little overdone, although this didn't affect the quality or flavour in any way. This may need to be revised slightly, although it does give the mince pie a more home-made look.

The pastry was just perfect - it held together well without being a crumbly mess, it had a nice buttery flavour, too. It reminded me of that nice, buttery shortbread taste, which was just what I was looking for!

The mincemeat filling was delicious and packed full of juicy fruits. The beautiful citrus clementine flavour was the first thing I noticed, along with a lovely hint of brandy. 

I just loved everything about these mince pies; the design, the shape, the pastry, the citrus notes of the mincemeat filling. Absolutely scrumptious!

Well done M&S, please don't change the recipe!

Price: £2.50 for six

Rating: 5/5

M&S Top Iced Bar Christmas Cake

I'm not a huge fan of fruit cake, but I do like marzipan and icing, so I'm willing to compromise as it's Christmas.

Firstly, I loved the Holly leaf pattern on the icing- a nice little touch!

The cake was very rich, as it should be! There were plenty of sultanas, currants, raisins and cherries which were juicy and plump, very tasty. 

Sadly, my favourite part (the icing and marzipan) was a huge let down. The layers of marzipan and icing were both very thin. The marzipan was very dry and crumbly and pretty tasteless. 

The icing wasn't very soft; a little on the dry side. 

As fruit cake is so rich, the marzipan helps break it up a little with the contrasting almond flavour - but this marzipan was rather bland.

Overall, a lovely fruitcake with lots of plump, juicy fruit. However, the icing and marzipan let this fruitcake down. The layers of marzipan and possibly the icing, need to be much thicker. The marzipan also needs to be improved as the texture was far too dry and it lacked that nice, distinct almond flavour.

Rating: 2/5

M&S Yule Log

I'm so pleased to hear that M&S have brought out this yule log again this year. I had written a review for this yule log last year, but never got around to uploading it to the blog.

A rich, chocolately light swiss roll, filled with a superb chocolate buttercream, and finally covered in a rich chocolate fudge coating.

This chocolate yule log by M&S was perfect in every way. It was incredibly indulgent with a lovely, rich chocolatey flavour. The chocolate buttercream filling and chocolate fudge coating was to die for - very good.

This is a really impressive yule log by M&S and is highly recommended!

Price: £5.00

Rating: 5/5

M&S All Butter Sultana Cookies

These All butter sultana cookies remind me of childhood, my grandmother always had these in her biscuit tin every week when my brother and I would visit.

They used to be a lot bigger back then, but the luxurious buttery taste has not changed at all. A deliciously melt in the mouth buttery cookie, with sweet, juicy sultanas. The texture of the cookie is spot on; slightly crunchy with just the right amount of softness towards the centre. Absolutely delicious!

Price: £2.00 for 15 cookies

Rating: 5/5

M&S Millionaire's Mini Bites

Following on from the Chocolate Chunk Flapjack Mini Bites Review I posted yesterday, I present you with the review of these M&S Millionaire's Mini Bites.

These Millionaire's mini bites consist of crisped rice, shortbread and digestive biscuit pieces, with a layer of caramel and covered in milk chocolate.

These were nice and crunchy; I couldn't taste the flavour of the shortbread or digestive pieces, though. That was quite disappointing as I love shortbread.

The caramel was lovely and smooth with plenty of flavour. The milk chocolate covering was creamy and indulgent.

I must say I was expecting a bit more from these. They were nice but the description of the shortbread and caramel made me think of something more indulgent, like a caramel shortbread. 

I think this product could be improved by using just a thick layer of caramel and sticking to one biscuit to really appreciate the depth of the flavours. I just felt the biscuit pieces along with the crisped rice was too much, and the caramel flavour and the texture of the puffed rice dominated the other flavours.

Price: £2.60

Rating: 3/5

M&S Chocolate Chunk Flapjack Mini Bites

These various tubs of mini bites are great! Good value for money, they taste great and there are a generous amount in each tub. Check out previous reviews of M&S Chocolate Brownie Mini Bites and M&S All Butter Flapjack Mini Bites.

I loved the buttery smell of these chocolate chunk flapjacks, which hit me as soon as I opened the tub. Each mini flapjack is just right in size with a lovely rich, homemade buttery taste.

They taste exactly how a flapjack should - soft, chewy and buttery. The chocolate chunks were a lovely addition, too. I really enjoyed these and would buy them again!

Price: £2.60

Rating: 5/5

M&S Strawberry Meringues

These little strawberry meringues are so pretty, with an attractive two tone white and pink meringue. The meringue is extremely light, perfectly crisp on the outside, while the inside just melts in the mouth. 

The strawberry flavoured whipped cream was absolutely perfect, not too sweet with a fresh and subtle strawberry taste. The sweet white chocolate on the inside was a superb accompaniment against the fresh strawberry.

A delicious, light dessert that everyone will enjoy. Highly recommended!

Price: £1.50 for two

Rating: 5/5

M&S All Butter Mince Pies

It's that time of year again, where I will be reviewing many of the delicious M&S Christmas food products in the run up to the festive season. Please comment below if there is a Christmas product from their range that you would like me to review on this blog.

M&S have a lovely varied range of mince pies, some of which will be featured on this blog. Last year I reviewed the M&S Frangipane Mince pies  which were a nice twist to the traditional mince pie. Today I will be reviewing these cute star all butter mince pies.

I always like a mince pie to have a nice, soft and rich buttery flavour. The shortcrust pastry on these all butter mince pies was exactly what I was hoping for. Lovely, rich and buttery which reminded me of shortbread. However, a tad on the dry and crumbly side; the pastry could've been a little softer.

The mincemeat filling was bursting with juicy sultanas and currants, but there wasn't quite enough of it and it was also a little on the dry side.

Overall, this is a nice mince pie with a beautiful buttery pastry and a tasty mincemeat filling. The slight dryness of both the pastry and the filling is somewhat overlooked  due to the lovely pastry and mincemeat flavours. Definitely worth a try!

Price: £2.50 for six

Rating: 4/5