A few years ago my friend Bek made a visit from her home in Melbourne.
Amongst the gifts she had brought from home for her U.S. friends were a stash of Arnott's Tim Tams. It was then that I realized that Hugh Jackman may in fact be the second best gift Australia has given to the world.
Arnott's Tim Tam's (which can often be found at World Market- and easily, but not cheaply on-line) are a cookie comprised of two chocolate biscuits, a chocolate creme filling and then the whole thing is enrobed in a milk chocolate covering. There are some variations available and I am partial to the double coated ones myself. How would the Pepperidge Farm version stand up to the memory of the Arnott's?
Let's start with the outer layer of chocolate.
First, the layer is so thin that it immediately starts melting in your hand. The chocolate is real chocolate but it is on the low end side. It's smooth, but very sweet. If Pepperidge Farm had used the chocolate they use on the Milano's that would have been outstanding.
The biscuit layers are crunchy and have a satisfying flake to them. While they are chocolate colored, flavor wise they remind me of an old school Nabisco Cameo cookie. Which is to say that it is mostly vanilla flavor, but it is bland even by vanilla standards.
The creme.
Again, it's chocolate colored, but flavor wise about all I could come up with- and people I actually went through the trouble of scraping filling out and eating it on it's own (my inner Alton Brown again)- was that it tastes kind of, like oily butter.
All things considered it is not a bad cookie. It is a lame attempt at matching the greatness that is a proper Tim Tam, but again an OK cookie. If you have never had a real Tim Tam before get a hold of the Arnott's- you will thank me.
And just because it amuses me have a little Aussie eye candy as a parting gift:
PURCHASED FROM:
Target
You do realize that the Pepperidge Farms version is the REAL THING. I should know, I'm Aussie. Check out the packet, they are a Product of Australia, which means that they were manufacturered in Australia.
ReplyDeleteREALLLLLLLY? I honestly had not seen that (to be fair I didn't really look for it either) in any case I may have to amend some of my statements to mean that while they are "real" Tim Tams I prefer the Arnotts version.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in knowing which of the two you prefer.
I am also an Aussie and they taste the same to me. Yummy, I hope that Pepperidge Farm continues to make them so that everyone can get a taste of Australia right here in the good old USA.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is they are now available in the US every year between October and March.
ReplyDeleteQuoted from wikipedia,
ReplyDeleteIn the fall of 2009, Pepperidge Farm announced that Tim Tam cookies will be made available in the United States each year between October and March.
Apparently the Pepperidge Farm version of the Tim Tam is manufactured at the exact same plant as the Arnott's Tim Tam, so yes, it IS the real thing, and made by the same company, just under a different packaging. The only limitations are the flavors, kinda a shame, but ah well.
ReplyDeleteThere is no if's, and's or but's about it. Tim Tams kick ass, especially when you do a Tim Tam slam with a glass of cold milk, ho ho, now THAT hits the spot after a rough day.