Food Connections cherry bakewell muffin

I love anything cherry bakewell so when I saw this cherry bakewell muffin at the corner shop I just had to give it a go.

It is labelled as an almond flavour cherry muffin with white chocolate flavour topping and a milk chocolate flavour drizzle.

The muffin part was really good loaded with cherries and it had a subtle almond flavour.

However the only thing I did not like was the waxy white chocolate topping.

I am gutted I missed their booth at IFE because they were there according to their instagram.

BANG BANG Popcorn and SOMER's Gourmet Popcorn

The Kohlico brand which are famous for KO LEE noodles have popcorn as well!!

They were at IFE2022 so I got to discover their popcorn range and the staff were really nice and gave me some noodles and popcorn samples to try.

I must admit, I like their sweet BANG BANG popcorn range which is colourful and matches the noodles.

The Gourmet popcorn range is savoury with flavours like tomato ketchup, BBQ and sour cream.

Their popcorn is air popped which gives it an overall nice rounded shaped and great texture.

As a savoury snacker, I really enjoyed their savoury gourmet popcorn range
The BANG BANG popcorn range was bang on for me as it was not overall sweet with a light coating.

BANG BANG Popcorn review:

Butter & coconut: I felt that the butter coconut was the sweetest of the four but the coconut flavour was really fragrant.

Salted caramel: The salted caramel is a clearly our favourite.

The sweetness was just right with an indulgent caramel flavour.

White chocolate: The white chocolate was impressive as it tasted creamy with a lovely vanilla flavour.

Chocolate: This was another favourite of mine, it was like eating cocopops in popcorn form.

SOMER's gourmet popcorn review:

Smokey barbecue, Tomato ketchup and Sour Cream & Chive.

Tomato ketchup: 

I love ketchup so this had to be my favourite one and it was so moreish

Smokey barbecue:

I loved the barbecue flavours which was savoury as well as sweet.

Sour Cream & Chive:

The sour cream flavour was interesting and it actually worked well on popcorn.

Overall, I definitely recommend them because there is a flavour for everyone!

Ko Lee noodles by Kohlico

As an instant noodle lover I am constantly trying different noodle brands.

At the supermarkets, you will notice that KO LEE is a really popular and their noodles are bright and colourful especially the taste sensations series and the BANG BANG cup noodles.

Kohlico brands were at IFE2022 so I got to know more about KO LEE noodles and found out about their popcorn brand.

The staff at Kohlico were so nice and gave me some noodles and popcorn samples to try.

I was definitely keen to try more as I have actually tried some of their noodles before so I know how good they are.

It was my first time trying the Taste Sensation range and I was bowled over by how tasty it was and the fun style of the noodle packets.

The King prawn tom yum was even better.

These were seriously good but a bit too spicy.

If you like mama noodles, they are the same but you get a bigger portion here.

I like the way you can have it soupless or with soup.

Although the chicken cup noodle was simplistic, it is now my favourite because the chicken broth is very comforting.

I left the Xtreme Hot & Spicy last because I was preparing myself for how hot it was.

In a way, these noodles were unique because you can eat them straight out the packet how they are as crunchy noodles similar to the ones in Asia or just cook them in the usual way.

Before I put the flavouring in the noodles, I tried some to see how hot it was and it turned out super spicy so I only used half.

Overall, it had an agreeable spiciness and all rounded flavour so I was really impressed and would definitely eat these again.

The Sawadee instant noodles comes in six flavours.

I am not sure if I got a bad one but the noodles were a bit rancid.

To summarize, the KO-LEE noodles are winners.

New flavours spotted at Asda:

onion chicken, king prawn tom yum, chicken green curry and magic masala.

CheeseO's from Dairy Concepts in Ireland

Lots of snacks are popped or freeze dried these days from nuts to popcorn and now CHEESE so I had to get my hands on some popped cheese.

There are a few brands of popped cheese at the moment.

Dairy Concepts in Ireland offers two different lines.

The Moorepark range is a more premium offering made using speciality cheeses such as chilli cheddar, black pepper cheddar, etc.

CHEESEO's are for any time snacking.

I liked the cheeseo line because of the colourful look and wide array of flavours.

The flavours are: Cheese & Pickled Onion, Sour Cream & Onion, Cheddar, Salt &Vinegar, Cheese & Onion and Sweet Chilli.

For those who have not tried popped cheese, I would recommend Cheddar to begin so you can get a feel what popped cheese tastes like.

You can think of popped cheese tasting like the burnt cheese you find after baking it in the oven or on top of cheese rolls that have been baked.

I would say they are moreish and crispy without that heavy feeling and somehow they are a bit like freeze dried meringue pieces with a hard crunch.

The best thing is that your fingers don't get greasy.

To summarize, Cheese & Pickled onion was my favourite as it tasted like Monster munch.

Salt and Vinegar is another one I really liked but strangely worked with cheese!!

Overall, I liked all the flavours but it just depends on the mood I 'm in!

CheeseO's can obviously be found in Ireland but you can also get them online at Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheese-Os-Crunchy-Multipack-Pickled/dp/B09KGT9YZL/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2NMKRV3GJSUN8&keywords=cheeseos&qid=1648044211&sprefix=cheeseo%2Caps%2C529&sr=8-5

https://www.cheeseos.ie/

Moorepark Mature cheddar:

M&S Chocolate omball yumnut

The bakery at M&S is always captivating with something for everyone especially the pastries, doughnut to yumnuts.

The yumnuts are so decadent and definitely a success.
This time I got the omballs yumnut which was another winner!

It is topped with chocolate shavings yet overall not too sweet.

Albanian Insifa Cherry Pie

Insifa is a well established Albanian brand of cakes and biscuits snacks.

I came accross their products at IFC2022 where I was captivated by the cherry pie.

Basically it is similar to the English fig roll filled with cherry.

As well as cherry, there is also fig and apple.

Overall, the pie was quite nice and the texture of the pie was really similar to the English fig roll but it was very buttery in taste.

It would have been interesting if I had tried their Fig pie version to see if it is similar to our UK one.

Playful dairy free vegan chocolates with surprises

Discovered PLAYinCHOC which is a brand of dairy free chocolate at IFC2022 where they are organic and only contain coconut, vanilla and cocoa.
Their concept is natrual ingredients while protecting the environment hence the use of bio-degradable, recycled and recyclable packaging to educate children about the harmful effects of plastic waste on the natural world.

PLAYinCHOC offer ToyChoc Boxes that contain a surprise animal which you assemble and JUSTCHOC boxes.

These surprises are great for children to learn fun facts about animals.

I tried the chocolates which are smooth and creamy with a soft bite so I would definitely recommend these chocolates.

The milk chocolate has a hint of chocolate while the dark is more decadent.