Marks and Spencer Spiced Carrot Muffins

I've been interested in these since I saw them reviewed at Amy Seeks New Treats and as it's a bank holiday weekend I thought I deserved a treat. I'm also looking to do a half marathon in 2 weeks time so if there's any time I can justify treats it's when I'm running a lot!

Promising all the taste of carrot cake in muffin format, they are beautifully attractive little muffins with a rustic topping of granola and pumpkin seeds. I must admit I don't normally like muffins and find them overly sweet, dry and a bit sickly but M&S tend to be good with flavours and if they could get that lovely spicing of carrot cake right they would be on to a winner.

It started off well as I spelt the cinnamon and nutmeg as I opened the pack and the muffins didn't feel overly aerated, puffy or dry but were rather smaller without the big puffy tops you get in those monstrosities in coffee shops. Look how tasty it looks with all those oats and seeds all over the top and remarkably they don't fall off too much.

Cutting it in half there's also a pleasing cream cheese filling to really replicate the carrot cake experience. And it really does taste quite like carrot cake in flavour, if not texture. The texture is a good muffin, through and through, surprisingly moist but very airy and light and not too heavy and there's lots of juicy currants throughout for bursts of sweetness and texture. Combined with a slightly crunchy topping it's a good balance of textures. I must admit the pumpkin seeds were unnecessary in my opinion - a bit too dry and plain tasting and they jar with the soft, sweet taste of the sponge a bit.

The sponge is where it's at. It's got an authentic carrot taste with a decent hint of spiciness and the cream cheese filling adds an extra spot of sweet, creamy indulgence that complements rather than makes it sickly.

Very yummy muffins indeed and just right with a cup of tea.

Price: £1.50
Bought at: Marks and Spencer

Score: 8/10

New treats at Marks and Spencer - Spirit of Summer Cakes and Biscuits

Sadly Easter and all its chocolatiness goodness is over but the good news is that Marks and Spencer is now making way for lots of summery filled delights. I only popped into it today to get some nice dips and hummus but ended up salivating at all these new treats. I'm sure there will be lots of new Spirit of Summer products coming out over the coming months but there's already lots of new M&S biscuits and cakes to tantalise you.

New Marks and Spencer dark chocolate lemon and lime jaffa cakes. Lemon and lime jaffa cakes by McVities are pretty nice but dark chocolate is even better and I love the less dry sponge and more dainty feel of M&S jaffa cakes,

 New Marks and Spencer Spirit of Summer All Butter Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers - M&S tends to use all butter in their biscuits which always makes them extra crumbly and delicious and cinnamon is underused in biscuits,

 Also available as plain Marks and Spencer All Butter Palmiers

 I'm not normally a shortbread fan but I do love coconut so these Marks and Spencer coconut and raspberry homebake style shortbread fingers sound delicious.

 Everyone knows M&S do the best cookies so these M&S white chocolate and sicilian lemon cookies sound nice for the summer. I'm not a white chocolate fan but the lemon might help offset its sweetness.

 There are some delicious new cakes in too - this Marks and Spencer Spirit of Summer Apricot, honey and pine kernel cake sounds really nice,

 And the Marks and Spencer black cherry and almond cake sounds even nicer! I love cherries and almonds and the fact you can try this hot too makes this sound like a delicious pudding,

 This is M&S banana and blueberry loaf cake with spelt and quinoa flour is definitely something I want to try as I love healthier flours.

 And there's Marks and Spencer Chocolate and Date Brownie made with chesnut flour - again this can be served warm as a pudding.

 There's also a vanilla and blackcurrant cake which sounds nice as I love blackcurrant,

 And if you want normal naughty cake instead of these alternative flour ones, there's the new Marks and Spencer Spirit of summer passion fruit cake. Passion fruit might offer a lighter sweetness perfect for summer.

 I love tiramisu but for some reason I think I'd be disappointed by the Marks and Spencer Spirit of summer tiramisu cake - anything tiramisu flavoured always tends to let me down.,

There's also new Marks and Spencer Spirit of Summer tiramisu cupcakes and some M&S valencia orange and almond cupcakes for those who like their cakes under a heavy pile of icing!

So lots of interesting new cakes and biscuits for the summer in M&S - so much for healthier summer eating!

Marks and Spencer Easter Chocolate Muffin

Happy Easter eve! I have to admit I've really not embraced it that much year, I haven't bought or eaten a single egg (though expect a couple tomorrow), haven't had a creme egg or even mini eggs. I didn't have my first hot cross bun until last week even though I love them and it's all kind of passed me by a bit this year.

In an attempt to get a bit of seasonal treatiness into my life, I found these Easter chocolate muffins at the in store bakery in Marks and Spencer for the pretty reasonable price of £1. They really do look something special and I love mini eggs so anything adorned with a colourful candy shell always looks pretty appealing to me.

I don't think I've ever had anything bad from an instore bakery in M&S and the muffins looked plump and perfect with a generous splodge of chocolate ganache on top and crowned with an egg. Muffins can be disappointing sometimes but M&S have nailed this. It's so moist, ridiculously so with a gorgeous dense, rich cocoa flavour and infused with more chocolate filling so you get a delicious rich, creamy burst of extra chocolatiness in every bite.

It's everything a good muffin should be, utterly delectable, not crumbly or overly airy bur rather gooey and creamy with a deep cocoa flavour rather than just being overly sweet. The chocolate egg on the top is a nice touch. These were reviewed on Kev's Snack Reviews and although I only got to try the one on top of my muffin, I completely agree they are nicer than Cadbury mini eggs and I will try and get a whole bag of these if there are any left after Easter!

Price: £1.00
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutriton per serving: 572 calories

Score: 9.5/10

Marks and Spencer Mini Stollen Bites

It's that weird period between Christmas and New Year where we all lose track of time, what day it is and start to get cabin fever. Desperate to get out the house, I've been to the gym today and been on two seperate walks as well despite how cold it is where I am. Braving the bitter cold and bracing winds is all worth it though when you get back into the warm with a nice cup of Aldi Mulled Wine teabags and one of these little beauties from M&S.

Now I used to love stollen probably about 7 or 8 years ago back when it was new to the UK and found in Aldi or Lidl. However, since then I decided actually it's really rather bland - or at least the Aldi/ Lidl ones I used to get - just dry, flaovurless bread with the only good bit that smidge of marzipan in the middle. However I was buying some party food from M&S in their 4 for 3 deal for some picky bits between Christmas New Year and got these for something sweet.

Although pricey at £4 for 9 mini bites, this is very much quality over quantity when you compare it against the big breeze blocks of dry stollen. These are amazing. So soft, so moist - all squidgey with not a hint of dryness. They're bursting with currants and sultanas and there's a huge chunk of marzipan in each one - beautifully soft and moist with a rich and creamy almond flavour.

The sultanas are also rum soaked and this is what maybe makes these so delicious. It's not overwhelming but you can taste a rich, booziness and with the soft, melt in the mouth texture and sweet juiciness, the flavours and textures all marry together for the perfect bitesize treat.

They never get overly sweet - I find two is just enough to satisfy a sweet craving and they taste festive but light too. An absolute winner here and my love of Stollen has been rekindled.

Price: £4.00
Bought at: M&S

Score: 10/10

Marks and Spencer Red Velvet Cake

I must admit I still don't really fully understand red velvet cake's appeal or even what it is - am I wrong in just thinking it's basically a chocolate cake with some red dye and a cream cheese topping? Someone please enlighten me. But there were cakes in the office today and seeing as I got there too late for any carrot cake, which would have been my preferred option, I tried the new M&S red velvet cake.

It looks attractive and I guess what you would want from a red velvet cake and came out of the box undamaged easily and without all the frosting coming away. It cuts nicely into slices and feels very moist with a good wodge of cream cheese icing filling and on the top.

It's sweet, really quite sweet but not overly so. Maybe a little too sweet for my cake preferences as someone who would rather have something like banana bread or carrot cake but I think for most people it would be nicely sweet. The cake is really moist and not in the least dry and the generous sticky creamy icing helps this even further. I find it hard to describe the flavour of this as it's not overly chocolatey in the same way a good chocolate cake but I did enjoy the cream cheese frosting, which although sweet has a nice tangy, yogurty flavour to it.

Having never really eaten much red velvet I'm reluctant to say it's a great one in case there are bette qualified experts who would shout me down but overall it's a very nice cake. Light and fluffy with a rich tang that works well with the sugary hit.

From: Marks and Spencer
Score: 8/10

New Marks and Spencers Goodies

Oh M&S, how you always throw me off balance every time I go in there. With all the best will in the world I'll pop in just for some veg or one specific item and everywhere you turn there are tempting and naughty goodies trying to attack my waistline and my wallet. It looks like Spirit of Summer is being phased out and instead we're getting lots of naughty new sweet treats.

M&S instor bakery is definitely yhe most tempting in my opinion and as always they don't fail with new products such as this chocolate chip brioche - it looks buttery, soft, bursting with chocolate chips and probably lots of fats but you know it would be worth every bite.

And if that wasn't enough there were pastries that looked equally naughty. The cappuccino twist takes the classic flaky, buttery chocolate twist you see everywhere and adds one of my favorite things - coffee. Considering how well pastries and coffee go to together this looks like a match made in heaven.

As does the cinnamon danish.... this on a wet autumn afternoon with a coffee.. you know it makes sense. Just look at the three swirls joined together with a load of cinnamon filling and the crunchy sugary top

There were just as many goodies in the ambient bakery section as well. Gingerbread teacakes sound interesting although considering traditional teacakes are fruity I'm not sure how well this would pair with gingerbread. But I love gingerbread and I love teacakes so who knows. Gingerbread is pretty Christmassy for me so I might have to hang back on this.

Whereas as passion fruit is summery so now might be the time to give the new passion fruit yum yums ago. M&S yum yums are sugary, sticky masterpieces so this might be pretty good. They also had a new raspberry one

And biscuits are an M&S staple - they're actually one of the reasons I will specifically go to an M&S as I think they make better biscuits than anyone else - even branded biscuits. Their extremely chocolatey range are probably my favourite ever biscuits and when they say more chocolate than biscuits they mean it. They've added a new mocha version and again considering how much I love coffee, my favourite dark chocolate and ginger extremely chocolate biscuits might have a new contender

Someyimes you want a lighter, more sophisticated biscuit and that's where Viennese come in - buttery and melt in the mouth, an orange chocolate dipped version certainly sounds appealing

As do these double chocolate sandwich creams Viennese

Whilst I am sad to see Spirit of Summer go if this is the type of new product M&S have for us over the colder months, then we're in for a treat. It's a good job we need more calories in colder months because there's a lot of very naughty stuff here! But if you need something healthy, at least there's a new egg and avocado protein pot - how very on trend.

Graze Lemon Drizzle Flapjack Review

Although I think these Graze punnets are ridiculously expensive when you think about (£1.29 for a single snack when you can buy a multipack of crisps or cereal bars on offer for £1) I can’t help but be drawn back to them. They look really cool and modern, they’re easy to carry out and they are generally pretty healthy. Well generally. Whereas previous reviews of the veggie protein power or punchy protein nuts have snacks with protein benefits and are low in sugar or the herby bread basket is a snack low in calories, it’s hard to justify a flapjack.

Graze seem to be going for being a source of fibre as it’s health selling point although there are much better sources of fibre out there and with considerably less calories, fat and sugar to boot. But then flapjacks are never a diet food and you could argue it’s a good source of energy. It is also slightly less sugary than most other flapjacks at 28% sugars and also less fat than those made with real butter.

Opening it up you get 3 nice little individually cut pieces, which is quite nice as it means you can spread them out should you so wish. They smelt fairly lemony and zesty upon opening and they certainly deliver on the lemon drizzle promise with a nice drizzle of lemon icing on the top.

The lemon drizzle really comes through here and actually pretty similar to the icing on a lemon drizzle cake. It’s sweet and creamy and really tangy and lemony and just generally delicious. Lemon actually works really well with oats and it makes for a fairly indulgent taste with a delicious buttery lemon curd flavour. The flapjack consistency is slightly firm so it does’t crumble or fall apart but definitely on the softer side with a chewy, melt in the mouth texture.

Although it uses margarine rather than butter it tastes rich and is very satisfying although I could quite easily continue eating after it’s finished. I was ravenous when I ate this and  it did plug the gap nicely. Probably one of the tastiest Graze punnets I’ve tried if not the healthiest!

Price: £1.29

Bought at: Boots

Nutrition per punnet: 239 calories, 13g fat, 4.3g sat fat, 15g sugars, 2g fibre, 2.5g protein, 0.32g salt

Score: 8/10

Marks and Spencer Spirit of Summer Passion Fruit Roulade

I've had my eye on this summery roulade from M&S for a while now but I don't usually buy desserts unless there's an occasion for it. Luckily with the summer weather, a barbecue and inviting people over I finally had an excuse to buy one.

It looked colourful and importantly for a summer dessert, quite light and fresh. For a dessert it's actually relatively guilty free. You get six servings per roll and each serving is very generous and yet they're only 120 calories each. Mostly because this is mostly a very light sponge with a good bit of whipping cream and some passion fruit sauce.

For once this was a delicate dessert that had been well packaged and was protected and intact and it cut very easily with each piece coming out clean and perfectly presentable. The swirl is aesthetically very nice and it's a nice colourful end to a barbecue.

The sponge is exceedingly good, not overly sweet in any way with a very light and fluffy texture that makes a nice soft pillow to the billowy dense cream and the little bursts of tropical fruitiness from the passion fruit. It all made for a very fresh end to the meal that felt not at all dense or sickly. I would prefer a little less cream and maybe a bit more passion fruit as I find cream quite dull and it can blanket over other tastes but all in all it's a deliciously summery pud and one I would buy again if we're lucky enough to have some more nice weather this summer

Price: £2.49
Bought at: Marks and Spencer
Nutrition per sixth of a roll: 120 calories, 5g fat, 3.2g sat fat, 10.7g sugars, 0.17g salt

Marks and Spencer Cafe Bakewell Tart Review

Whilst I'm a big fan of the M+S foodhall, I rarely venture in the cafe. With Pret, Starbucks and all the artisan coffee shops about, it just seems a bit old fashioned and not as exciting so never lures me into it. Somehow I ended up in one over the weekend and I decided to go for a slice of the bakewell tart. It looked extremely attractive, beautifully cut, nice big pieces with a visible splodge of raspberry jam, a good golden colour and lovely looking icing.

I'd like but to say more in a nutshell this was utterly immense. I couldn't fault it all. I often think I'm not really than keen on cake because generally all packaged cake is rubbish (and don't even get me started on that Mr Kipling rubbish!) but this reminded me of just how good it can be.

This was a proper bakewell tart and all elements were spot on. There was a nice firm base and crust that held everything together with a good bake and golden crumb. The frangipane was sweet, extremely flavoursome with a good hit of almond paste taste and was super moist and held together well. Not dry, not crumbly , just sheer almondy bliss. The raspberry jam actually tasted of raspberry and was fruity and sticky with a good amount in rather than a thin trickle. The icing on top actually seemed to have flavour beyond just sugar and wasn't too sweet and complemented the rest of the cake perfectly.

Every texture was spot and all the elements work together perfectly. No one bit overdominated and all the components just worked in harmony. It wasn't overly sweet or sickly, the slice was the perfect size and fairly generous and it reminded me just how good a proper bakewell tart is. None of this bakewell flavoured yogurts or cereal bars, this is the real deal. Utterly delicious and worth every calorie.

I have to say the coffee in the cafe was pretty good too and the little oat biscuit that came with it is a nice touch (and actually pretty tasty too). I can't say I'm mad about the decor or the ambiance of the M+S cafe but they do a pretty good bakewell tart.

Price: £2.50 a slice
Bought: M+S Cafe

Score: 9/10

Graze Mince Pie Flapjack

I think everyone must be familiar with the Graze concept by now - 4 tasty and unusual snacks delivered to your door, which can be as healthy or as naughty as you like. Fitting into the latter category, is this limited edition Garze punnet - a Christmas take on a flapjack.



Graze flapjacks in my opinion are one of the tastiest offerings they do (although I have to say pretty much the entire range is delicious and the variety is fab). Their flapjacks have a lovely texture, soft and squidgy and almost like fudge like but with an oaty texture you can really feel and taste. They're sweet but not overly so and are a nice sensible portion.

Like all other flapjacks in their range, these are beautifully coloured and look very appetising. I like the fact they are cut into three slim rectangles to make the snack last a bit longer (and I have on very self conrolled ocassions been known to use this to eat the pieces in seperate snack occasions!).

The flapjack has a nice festive smell, not overly so but you do get hints of cinnamon, ginger and cloves and all those lovely Christmas cake spices. Biting in, the texture was perfect as always. Dense, chewy and satisfying and with a lovely buttery, rich taste. It's slightly gooey and feels like a real treat.

Now, I didn't think the flapjack tasted particularly like mince pie, I guess it's missing the pastry flavour because the base is oats and as it only contains dates (and at just 12%), it's missing that mix of currants and raisins you get in a typical mince pie. But it's not bad at all, in fact it's really rather delicious. It might not taste like mince pie but it is unmistakenly Christmassy.

All the spices blend and complement each other and the sweet, syrupy oats make a great carrier for their sweet, festive flavours. They're not overpowering but you do taste them and it does give a Christmas cake like flavour.

A real winner from Graze for me and worth trying to get hold of one before they disappear

8/10

Available from www.graze.com

Per portion: 234 calories, 11g fat, 3.6g saturated fat and 17g sugars.

A moment of pure indulgence: Marks and Spencer's Spiced Toffee Apple, Pear and Almond Cake

I try to eat healthily and most of the time I succeed. Sometimes, however, you just have to not care, give in and wallow in a little bit of gluttony.

At over 500 calories a slice, this seasonal cake in the M&S cafe should definitely be filed as an occasional treat. But frankly, it was so delicious, I didn't regret one bite of this sticky, fruity treat.

The texture was sublime. It was a dense cake, more akin to a bread pudding than an airy Victoria sponge but it wasn't heavy at all. It was sticky, sweet and felt deliciously substantial. In a world of low cal snacks that leave you ultimately unsatisfied, I felt I had had a treat here.

It's got a lovely complex flavour. It's fruity with little plump raisins throughout and has a heady mix of sweet autumnal spices, perfect for this time of year.

I had it with a flat white and I can honestly say this was a moment of pure bliss. Every crumb of this was worth every calorie.

Waitrose Lemon and Sultana Danish

During my last trip to Waitrose, I was so impressed by the beautiful sweet treats at the patisserie counter. So many plump, juicy buns studded with fruit and elegant and sophisticated pastries. It was a tough choice but I eventually went for a lemon and sultana Danish. They looked so inviting with a generous serving size, an attractive swirly appearance and lots of visible lemon icing and juicy fruit.

Sorry, I even took a picture of the box from the Patisserie counter as I thought it was so beautiful. It makes just a simple cake feel like a premium gift from a boutique!

I took this back home and had it as an utterly indulgent treat with a cup of tea. And utterly indulgent is the only way to describe this. At over 500 calories, with 34g of sugar, this really is something that should be definitely filed under 'occasional treat'. But at the same time, it was so delicious I didn't feel remotely guilty. If you're going to splurge, make it on something worthwhile like this.

With real butter and high quality ingredients, this sublimely melts in the mouth, coating your tongue in a sweet, rich flavour with the fresh zest of lemons. It's sweet and naughty but not sickly and the bountiful inclusion of sweet, sticky, swollen sultanas add further bursts of sweet juiciness.

The pastry had the most beautiful texture. Fluffy, soft and unbelievably buttery. It was again rich and decadent. Sometimes Chelsea buns and this kind of pastry can be a bit bread and cake like but that certainly wasn't the case here. This was as good as anything from a real baker or patisserie and probably better than most too.

As I said, it is 500+ calories but you could easily split it across the two swirls and each would still be a good portion size. This easy so delicious though that I just ate the whole thing and just went to the gym a bit more instead!

Price: £1.35
Available: Waitrose

Pros: Generous portion size, great quality ingredients, rich, sweet and indulgent
Cons: Definitely not kind to your waistline

Score: 9/10