Perfect World Caramel Pecan Ice Cream

Today's review (and upcoming reviews) are specially thanks to the makers of Perfect World ice creams, a company specializing in vegan, sugar and gluten free ice creams that are suitable for pretty much any dietary needs. I first reviewed the brand a few years ago with the Taste Of Carrot Cake Ice Cream, and since then they have totally revamped their range, removing egg from the ingredients and adding new flavours such as Raspberry Ripple, Mint Choc Chip, Sweet Espresso, Pistachio, Double Chocolate Chip and this...the delightful Caramel Pecan!

With only 4.7g of natural sugars and 423 calories in a tub, this ice cream is completely vegan and dairy free and made with a mixture of coconut milk, cashew nuts, vegetable fibre and the sweeteners xylitol, erythritol and stevia. It's also high in 12 vitamins and minerals, making it a truly healthy ice cream indeed! As impressive as all that is though it would mean nothing if it didn't taste good...so does it?

I would shout this out loud if I could...but that's a resounding YES! This ice cream is bloody amazing! I started with the Caramel Pecan because it was hands down my favourite of the range (which isn't to say the others aren't great too) and I would urge anyone who is vegan or avoiding dairy/sugar to seek out a tub immediately - you won't regret it!

The melt of the ice cream is great, it's lighter than luxury ice creams which is to be expected, and is somewhere between a sorbet and whipped ice cream. It's super creamy and has a delicious authentic caramel flavour. I honestly couldn't tell it didn't have real sugar in, because it allowed the toasty flavour of the pecans to shine, without overpowering them. It was so, so moreish! I must admit that I got a bit greedy and nearly ate the whole tub...probably because I have missed out on ice cream like this for ages!

If you're vegan, avoiding dairy or just avoiding sugar, then this is the icecream for you! Seriously, you can't find anything better currently in UK supermarkets in my opinion.

9 out of 10. 

Available from Ocado.com and Tesco.

More info: http://www.perfectworldicecream.co.uk/

Ingredients: Water, Sweeteners (Erythritol, Xylitol, Steviol Glycosides), Coconut Milk, Soluble Gluco Fibre, Almonds, Cashews, Pecans, Tapioca Starch, Vegetable Glycerine, Stabilisers (Guar Gum, Carob Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum), Mono and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, Natural Flavours, Natural Colours, Salt, Vitamins (D, E, B1 Thiamine, B2 Riboflavin, B3 Niacin, B5 Pantothenic Acid, B7 Biotin, B12), Minerals (Chromium, Manganese, Copper, Zinc).

Suitable for Vegans; No Added Sugar.

Nutrition (per 100ml): 85 Calories, 5.23g Fat, 11.1g Carbohydrates, 0.83g Sugars, 4.03g Fibre, 2.1g Protein.

New M&S British Isles Range...and Salt & Vinegar Caramels?!

Usually it's random companies that go balls to the wall with weird and wacky new flavours, but this time it's good old "British" institution M&S that have brought out a range of not just any new treats, but a "Taste of the British Isles" range, sure to make any Brexiteer dance with joy. It includes products like the Sea Salt and Vinegar Caramels shown above. Wrong, just wrong! What next, fish and chip truffles? (they probably do exist somewhere!)

In more weirdness, they're also selling not just any nuts but British Beer Coated Peanuts!

Plus they're doing a variety of alcoholic sweets, such as Milk Chocolate Truffles made with Somerset Matured Vintage Cider.

Plus a Gin Chocolate Collection for the gin lovers...

As well as Craft Beer Fudge!

Plus, Fruity Summer Punch Mallows...

And Rum and Raisin Toffees. Now these sound more up my street!

There's also Mocktail Jellies...

And the non-alcoholic and pure Unicorns Jellies...

Plus jelly Watermelons!

A new variety of Whip - Summer Fruits Whips!

Ooh - these look nice, Neapolitan Inspired Popcorn Bites!

As do these Sticky Toffee Pudding Bites!

You can't go wrong with Sea Salt Fudge Bites.

They're even getting in on the Speculoos train with these Speculoos Biscuit Truffles.

These sound lovely - Cornish White Chocolate Clotted Cream Truffles with a Cornish clotted cream ganache.

There's also this Sticky Toffee Pudding Bar, if you don't fancy sharing the bites!

Plus a Nostalgic British Fudge collection, with flavours like Eton Mess and Raspberry Fool.

Plus Ice Cream Inspired Toffees with raspberry ripple, mint chocolate and banana split flavours. Woo!

And plain Mint Toffees, made in York.

Gourmet Caramels, with strawberry, blackberry, mango & passionfruit flavours.

A Chocolate Maltball Selection - aka Maltesers - with salted caramel, dark chocolate and milk chocolate flavours.

Handmade Toffee Nut Brittle - made to a classic recipe with almond and pecan pieces.

Taste of The British Isles box - featuring Scottish Raspberry, English spring honey, Welsh sea salted caramel, and Irish cream liquer.

English toffee and milk chocolate drizzle cookies. Yum!

Last, but not least - Milk Chocolate Emotions. Because M&S are too posh for emojis...

Well, that's all for today's post - there were a few other new things in at M&S but I've included the most interesting here. If you try any of these treats, as always do let me know in the comments!

Karma Bites Popped Lotus Seeds: Caramel & Himalayan Pink Salt

Today I'm reviewing something a bit new and innovative on the UK "healthy snacks" market, one that is truly a first: popped lotus seeds! Who knew such a thing even existed? I've heard of lotus seeds and roots before - I've tried fried lotus root in fact and it's rather nice, a bit like fried potato. But popped seeds is something I didn't think possible. Turns out it is and it makes for a tasty, light popcorn-like snack!

According to the pack Lotus seeds come from the Euroyale fox flower - a type of water lily. They contain protein as well as fibre and iron. They make a nice substitue for popcorn if you're grain sensitive or looking for something a bit lighter.

Caramel:

Being more of a fan of sweet rather than salty flavours, of course I went for the Caramel variety first. The flavour here is achieved simply through sugar and vanilla coating the popped lotus seeds.

And they tasted rather nice indeed! The sweetness isn't too overpowering like what you get from caramel coated popcorn, rather it's gentle and subtle and works well with the texture of the seeds. They're nice and crunchy and super moreish, and somehow feel pretty substantial.

Overall, as my first introduction to the brand I was pretty impressed with these!

Himalayan Pink Salt:

Saving the trendy Pink Salt variety for second, these had a slightly paler colour when I poured the bag onto a plate.

There were little specks visible on them which I presume is part of the lotus seed kernal. They tasted very nice, again they were light and puffy like the Caramel version, but also crunchy and rather moreish. They're very easy to eat!

Overall, for a healthier snack Karma Bites are a great alternative for anyone avoiding grains like corn or gluten, or if you're vegan or dairy free. I'd definitely buy a bag of these again if I see them in shops, it's always nice to have alternatives to regular old potato crisps!

8 out of 10. 

For more information on Karma Bites and to buy online, check out their website: https://www.karmabites.co.uk/

Marks & Spencer Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter & Caramel Chunkies

You can't beat M&S for peanutty treats. Yes they do get some of their confectionery range wrong but when they get it right, they get it oh so right...the Nutty Surprise Easter Egg was glorious, for example. Now they've only gone and created some delicious peanutty caramel chocolate treats in their bagged range, which judging by the amount of times are out of stock must be selling like hot cakes! I had put off trying these for ages, firstly due to my low sugar diet over Summer and secondly as I prefer to avoid dairy. But recently I thought what the heck, why not try them!

Described as "milk and dark chocolate bars with a layer of soft caramel (19%) and a peanut butter (11%) and roasted peanut pieces (9%) centre", these are certainly not for anyone with nut allergies! They cost £2 for a 130g bag and are suitable for vegetarians.

I ate these whilst on the go, as I often do. The bars are quite chunky, which certainly makes for a more satisfying eat.

Biting into one, they're very substantial indeed. First you get the creamy milk chocolate followed by a layer of dark chocolate, which gives the shell a cracking texture. Then there's the caramel, it's sweet and buttery and very lovely, although the flavour does get a bit lost combined with the peanut centre. The peanut centre is where all the action is - it's creamy, savoury, sweet and nutty all at once, and feels rather indulgent indeed. The flavour isn't quite on par with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup but it's pretty close! I think if they'd added even more roasted peanut pieces they'd be onto a winner with these...and why not throw some chopped peanuts into the coating while they're at it?! (like a Peanut Ferrero Rocher - yum!)

Overall, these are some seriously tasty treats from M&S, far surpassing anything else in their bagged range. If you buy only one thing from there (and aren't allergic to nuts, of course) it should be these!

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, chopped roasted peanuts, dried whole milk, roasted peanuts, glucose syrup, sweetened condensed milk (whole milk, sugar), palm oil, ground roasted peanuts, golden syrup (invert sugar syrup), salt, shea oil, coconut oil, sunflower oil, emulsifier soya lecithin, E471, caramelised sugar syrup, flavourings (milk).

Nutrition (per 100g): 562 Calories, 36.3g Fat, 48g Carbohydrates, 44.8g Sugars, 9.9g Protein. 

9 out of 10.

Nestle Delicious Caramel Whips

Recently, Nestle launched a new range of Walnut-Free Whips, in Vanilla, Mint and Delicious Caramel varieties. The reasoning for this is that some people don't like the walnuts in the original Walnut Whips, and also to save on costs. I don't have strong feelings on this personally, since I never liked the walnuts on Walnut Whips anyway. I used to pick them off whenever I ate one and give it to my Grandad! So it's good news to me that Nestle have added some variety to the gooey mallows. I chose Delicious Caramel to review because who doesn't love caramel?! I found this three pack in Poundland with the other varieties, and they're available from other stores too.

The Whips are individually wrapped and weigh 27.8g. They're described as "soft caramel flavour mallow in a milk chocolate shell".

Cutting one open, the mallow had a slight yellowish caramel colour. Biting into it, I  could first taste the chocolate; it's super sweet and milky, standard Nestle stuff but it works really well. The caramel mallow is lovely, very sweet and sticky and with a decent caramel flavour. These are very tasty indeed and felt like a real indulgent treat. For the price I think they're a good bargain, and they're definitely something I'd buy again.

Overall, I would highly recommend giving these a try if you like caramel flavoured things! I'd love to try the minty ones next as I imagine those will be very nice too. These will certainly make for good festive nibbles or stocking fillers over the Christmas season.

8.5 out of 10. 

Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, dried whole milk, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, lactose and proteins from whey, whey powder, vegetable fat, sunflower lecithin), sugar, glucose syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, dried egg white, colour plain caramel, humectant glycerol, flavouring, tartartic acid. 

Nutrition Information (per whip): 136 Calories, 6.6g Fat, 17.5g Carbohydrates, 16.4g Sugars, 1.5g Protein.