Polish Watermelon cake (Ciasto Arbuzowe Pub)

Finally I forked out on my first piece of Polish Cake!

Everytime I visit Polish shops they always have these captvating cakes in the cabinet and it seems they sell fast because I see different cakes on every visit.

There are some cakes you see once and never again but there are some regular flavours like poppyseed cake.

There isn't any English labels so you have to ask or learn Polish.

What held me back was the price, they are sold by weight.

The problem is that each piece is such a huge slab (aprox 10cm x 12cm and 9cm tall) which means I have to finish it off over three times when there are so much other things I want to try.

Anyway, on this visit, I spotted this pretty red jelly cake which I assumed was strawberry but after asking them they said it was watermelon which is one that you don't often see.

Since it was someone's birthday I decided to get a slab which meant I could try it as well.

The slab of cake cost me around £3.94 (£7.94/kg).

I'm not a watermelon fan but I got it to see how it compares to the famous Auz Black Star Pastry Watermelon cake which costs around £7 for a quarter of my slab!

The Black Star Pastry version is layered with almond dacquoise, rose-scented cream and watermelon, and topped with strawberries, pistachios and dried rose petals.

The Polish version is not as swanky but it was nice without rose-scented cream because I hate rose-scented anything.

To be honest, the Polish version actually tasted better with a nice sponge base but it was a bit dry, then there was a layer of strawberry jelly with watermelon chunks, topped with a thin layer of synthetic cream and aromatic coconut and almonds on top.

The cake, jelly and coconut tasted really good together.

Unfortunately, I was a bit ambitious and sliced myself half the slab while my guest who is not a sweet person took half the size of mine.

It started off so good but halfway through it got too heavy but no doubt it was a delicious cake but it was just too much in one go.

To summarize, I have more confidence in Polish cakes than Chinese cakes pretending to Western as they look the part laced with waxy synthethic cream and overly sweet weird sponge that has a weird texture.

Rating: 4/5

Other cakes spotted:

Mcvities VIB indulgent chocolate cherry digestives

Since the last year, the talk of town has been the McVities popular British flavours like marmalade on toast,  cherry bakewell and strawberries and cream.
McVities launched some premium VERY IMPORTANT BISCUITS last summer.

The Very Important Biscuit range are digestives topped with a layer of chewy caramel which comes in three flavours.

This year they have expanded the range with indulgent chocolate cherry digestives to join
Classic Caramel Bliss
Heavenly Chocolate Hazelnut
Luscious Blood Orange

Since the new chocolate cherry was exclusive to Tesco, I bought them for 1.75.

I bet they will be cheaper later with a Tesco clubcard or sold at Morrisons.
I didn't have any expectations but it shouldn't fail as a caramel chocolate biscuit!!!!
The smell of cherry was non existent despite deep inhalations but there was a faint artificial cherry taste.
Basically they tasted the same as the McVities cherry bakewell digestives minus the caramel.
If you're in no rush in trying, probably better to wait until the price goes down.

It would have been nice if there were some dried cherry pieces but I would imagine increasing the price to make them just like having some raisins or currants in the new Christmas pudding digestives.

New mature vegan cheddar cheese and vegan blue cheese by Ilchester

Next week, Ilchester are rolling out two new vegan cheeses at Tescos, the mature vegan cheddar and vegan blue cheese which joins Norseland's Mexicana Vegan.

Having tried the Mexicana Vegan cheese, which basically tastes and melts like a spicy version of cheddar, I expect the mature vegan cheddar be good without the spiciness.

Although it is a bit pricey at £3, I think I am going to try the Vegan blue cheese to compare it to vegan blue cashew cheese made by Chef Tina Baratt.

M&S Mini White Pitta Breads

Spotted these cute little mini white pittas at Marks and Spencers which I had to get.
They were simply great for dips and trying different sauces etc and they have pockets as well so you can make cute pittas stuffed with filling!!

Rating: 5/5

M&S Mini meal Cottage pie

I love M&S mini meals because the portion is just right for lunch.

The mini cottage pie is just comforting but reheating it in an oven would get you better results for the mash!

Since I was having it for lunch, I microwaved it for speed and adding some marmite houmous to mash made it tastier.

Rating: 4/5

 

Lidl McEnnedy Squeezy Cheese (VEGAN)

It's been ages since I had squeezy cheese.
The brands sold now are different to the ones a few years ago.
Lidl are now doing a squeezy cheese sauce for American Week and what makes it unique is that it is vegan!!!!!
However it is on the pricey side compared to Hellmans and Asda so definitely not getting a bargain from Lidl!!
I was gobsmacked how good it was, there was a cheesy wotsits aroma, as for the taste it was like a savory mayo without the twang and mildly cheesy like wotsits.
The texture was creme like as stated on the bottle so it was really light like mayonnaise therefore I think people are going to like it without that heaviness.
Again, it was really really good but because it is lidl I feel that it should be cheaper than other brands.
As @belcherlinks_stardawg correctly mentioned it is value more money but as a foodie less is more as there are so many things I want to try.
If it doesn't taste good you're screwed with a big quantity with someting that is not palatable.

Rating: 4/5

Noodles tossed in Lidl McEnnedy squeezy cheese

Caramel flavour marshmallow fluff

In the old days only asda stocked fluff but now you can get them at aldi and lidl.
I went to aldi because they had the caramel fluff which was stocked for Taste of America.
As expected, it was gooey and delicious with a hint if caramel in taste and a lovely aroma.
Other flavours you can get are the original, strawberry and raspberry.
It says online that you can't get chocolate because cocoa butters stop it from whipping so I wonder if cocoa powder can solve the problem.
Imagine if they came out with cherry fluff, that could be nice too!

Rating: 4/5

Taste of America finds at Aldi:

Cream cheese brioche, Cinnamon brioche, Kelloggs cookies & Cream / pretzel squares, pancakes, peanut butters with strawberry / raspberry / banana / chocolate.