HOMEMADE: Orange, Vanilla and Cinnamon Rock Cakes

Quick, economical and addictively tasty, the humble Rock Cake is a kitchen treasure that'll delight both young and old alike. All that said, with an abundance of recipes now available both online and in books, such simple creations can easily be overlooked. In my case, it was only the other day when someone happened to mention their love of Rock Cakes that I was reminded of how long it had been since I last made them.

Presentation-wise, I'll keep this brief. Their golden exterior and visibly irregular studding of dried fruit make for a suitably rugged-looking bake. Indeed, their uneven form goes some way at least in capturing the idea of a rock - or mound of rocks. Admittedly, not at all sophisticated but charming nonetheless. 

As for taste, the notes of vanilla and orange are immediately apparent and certainly more than welcoming. Taking a bite, these flavours translate to the palate with the vanilla's flavour deliciously distinct, the cinnamon's sweetness chiming in and the orange's zestiness cutting through the whole ensemble. Thankfully, texture-wise, Rock Cakes don't live up to the solidity of their name. The basic dough crumbles beautifully to the bite with the exposed surface offering a slight crispness; whilst, the generous helping of dried fruit punctuates proceedings beautifully as it interjects with soft, juicy bursts of flavour. 

All in all, this offering boasts the usual charm of a Rock Cake whilst offering a twist that balances notes of vanilla, orange and cinnamon well. On reflection, I might include a teaspoon of orange juice next time to just bump up the citrus tang slightly but, still, these were an absolute delight to eat. Recommended.

RECIPE

See here.

NOSTALGIA HIT: 1980's Bisto Kids

Created by illustrator Will Owen, the 'Bisto Kids' first appeared alongside the brand in 1919. Using the line 'Aah! Bisto', these boy and girl mascots - named Bill and Maree - eventually made their way on to television. The following 80's adverts showing their use as both primary and secondary characters. Enjoy.

RECENT ADDITION: Magnum Black

Magnum is an old ice cream favourite of mine and, in general, their various offerings never fail to impress me. To that end, I was delighted earlier today when I was going through the large chest freezer and found a pack of espresso-flavoured Magnum Black's buried away between some leftover tagine and chicken live pate - on reflection, a frozen three course meal albeit an odd one:)

Given the espresso twist, the packaging was suitably sophisticated in its overall look with a black background and white highlights - almost mimicking stirred milk or cream.  Moreover, the type was kept simple and refined with serifs employed across the main Magnum logo. Finally, to break with the predictable contours of the design, the top left of the design was cracked as per the picture of the product. 

Tucking in, I was delighted to find a prominent wave of espresso. Indeed, the coffee wasn't toned down to the point I thought it would be and, consequently, all those deep, dark notes were evident. Of course, the slight sweetness of the base Magnum ice cream together with the chocolate shell offset the espresso, but not overly meaning the taste profile remained pretty mature. 

In summary,  the design felt consistent with the coffee theme and its extensive use of black differentiated the product nicely from other colour schemes commonly used in this category. Whilst, taste-wise, Magnum Black proved an impressively mature taste experience with the character of the espresso coming through well. I'll definitely be going back for more of these and, hopefully, this time they won't go amiss:)

BRAND LINKS

Unilever Website - Magnum Page

Wall's Website - Magnum Page

Magnum Website

Magnum Facebook

NEW PRODUCT: Cranstons Dalemain Marmalade Sausage

For those that don't know, every year in the historic Lake District house of Dalemain, the world's original and most renowned marmalade festival takes place. The marmalade-munching bear, Paddington, always shows up, lots of fun activities are put on for families to enjoy and, crucially, marmalade makers compete in the prestigious awards. Notably, the winner of the awards' 'homemade' category gets their marmalade sold in Fortnum & Mason for a year.  Fortunately though, this year the fun didn't end there because our local butchers, Cranstons, teamed up with with the festival to produce a special marmalade sausage. Having tasted this citrussy pork delight in store there was no way I was passing up the opportunity to do a very quick review.

Whilst the above picture doesn't do it justice, cutting in to the sausage, the marmalade made its presence known with a light studding of orange to the pork interior. Tucking in, the promise of marmalade was immediately realised with a wonderful wave of zesty orange cutting through the meaty offering. Moreover, with the base sausage being a peppery Cumberland, the slight sweetness of the preserve provided a welcome counterbalance to all that spice. Indeed, it was a delicious sausage that made for a great change in pace and I can certainly see myself stocking up.

BRAND LINKS
Cranstons Website
Dalemain Marmalade Festival Website

PACKAGING UPDATE: Pieminister Moo Pie

For those unaware, Pieminister, founded in 2003, is a British company that runs a number of pie shops in the UK and retails its range via select supermarkets and stores. I haven't seen their products for a while now because my local supermarket has seemingly stopped stocking them. However, out and about the other week, I managed to get a hold of their Moo pie and noticed some distinct changes. 

On the packaging front, it still has a fun, informal edge but the mature overtones are more pronounced. As for the ingredients, whilst I still thoroughly enjoyed the pie, there are plenty of little changes, including: a one percent drop in both the steak and ale components - not so good but the difference certainly wasn't noticeable; the ditching of vegetable suet - semi-good as they haven't replaced it with proper suet; and the inclusion of leeks and mushrooms - something I must admit I didn't detect at all when eating. Anyway, here's all the pictures and, if you wish, the old packaging is viewable here.

BRAND LINKS

Pieminister Website - Moo Page