I was having a little browse in T.K.Maxx the other day when I found two boxes (well actually there were about 20 of them) of Hope And Greenwood fudges. They’re supposed to be £5 each (really that’s ridiculous!) but were reduced to £1. I know Christmas is long gone but it’d be rude not to at that price!
Chocolate and caramel flavor fudge
This one isn’t particularly Christmassy at all so I’m not sure why it was reduced. It’s supposed to only have 4% chocolate but you can see for yourself I had quite a bit more than that!
The ingredients are fairly mixed, on the one hand it contains proper cocoa mass (55% cocoa solids min), full fat condensed milk, clotted cream and salted butter – all ingredients you’d associate with a higher end, not mass produced product. On the other hand the fourth ingredient after sugar, glucose syrup and milk is palm oil which is disappointing. I’m not an activist by any stretch of the imagination, but palm oil is not only bad for the environment but makes everything taste waxy and cheap in my opinion. I didn’t notice this until after though so I was unbiased at the time.
It makes sense now, but the feel of the fudge reminded me a lot of Lonka. Smooth, soft and a bit plastic feeling if I’m honest.
It didn’t smell too chocolatey and largely didn’t taste it either. It wasn’t quite as sickly sweet as vanilla fudge but had quite a rich caramel flavor. Seeing as there was so much chocolate flavor fudge it was easy to break the two halves apart and eaten solo the chocolate flavor is delicious. It’s strong and delicious, not quite a dark chocolate but with a much deeper and richer flavor than standard milk. It’s a shame it was so overwhelmed by the caramel half.
It could have been a lot better, truthfully I’ve had stronger chocolate tasting fudge from Wilko Pick’n’Mix and I can get ten times the amount for the same R.R.P
Rating: 6/10
Mince Pie
It’s obvious why Mince Pie flavor was reduced, the fudge is still best before the middle of June though and in my opinion Mince Pies should be eaten all year round anyway.. Although I wonder if we’d enjoy them less then?
Anyway!
The fudge smelt very festive, and so it should considering the added ingredients of dried vine fruits, mixed peel and mixed spice are the foundations for many Christmas themed treats.
The fudge still had the same factory finish, it just feels too smooth if that makes sense. It’s such a shame as the ingredients are of a higher quality but the waxiness just makes them feel a bit cheap.
That said, I noticed it a lot less this time round as the flavor was so much better. The dried fruits were good, included in just the right amounts and there was a perfect balance between firm fudge and chewy fruit.
The flavor was spot on and tasted just like a mince pie, even the sugary flavor from the actual fudge reminded me of some of the sweeter (read not so great) mince pies from Christmas just gone. I could still just taste the fudge, it was a little less sweet than the Chocolate & Caramel flavor but very similar, and usually I’d be moaning but the mince pie is the better of the two anyway and so I really enjoyed it.
Rating: 7/10
I don’t think either are worth the R.R.P but if I spy them again in T.K.Maxx, Mince Pie will be a re-buy!
