Hostess Strawberry Cupcakes

These new Hostess Strawberry Cupcakes represent the first new full-sized cupcake option Hostess has offered in several years. And I actually have to compliment them for not jumping on the red velvet train. Don't get me wrong -- I happen to really like red velvet cake (if it's well made), but it seems as if every new snack cake type product in the last five years has done red velvet. Usually badly, I might add.

Hostess has been doing a strawberry cupcake in their 100 Calorie Pack line for a couple of years now. (In fact, I reviewed them in a short and boring review you can read for yourself here.) That was the first, last, and only time I bought the cupcakes. And I honestly am working completely off of that review for memory of them.



This box is the first 8-pack of Hostess Cupcakes that I've bought in a long time. (I love the orange ones to an insane degree, and I never see large packs in my area.) Incidentally, is it just me, or has the serving size shrunk?...

Anyway, moving on... The pastel pink is a shade that I am sure little girls who love all things Princess and Barbie would be thrilled to have in their lunch boxes/snack boxes etc. I am not a fan of pink, but even I have to admit it was kind of a fun color for a snack. Like if Mattel made Hannibal Lecter dolls, his anatomically correct polystyrene snacks (fava beans and Chianti sold separately) would probably be this color. And that's pretty darned cool, doncha think?



The smell is all fake strawberry. And, to be lazy and steal from my own review, it does indeed still remind me of children's vitamins. The cake is moist, and while again it has that fake strawberry flavor going on, the taste is better than I remember the 100 calorie version to be.

The filling, not surprisingly, is the standard Hostess filling -- and as such it barely merits a mention. The fondant top was my favorite part. It's just so bad that it's...well, I dunno about good, but it's...well, maybe "interesting" is the right word.



I will admit that much like the first box of the 100 Calorie version, I can't say I will probably ever get another box. But there is something about them that is just so horrible that it's almost good.

Almost.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$2.50

CALORIES:
190 calories per cupcake

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains eggs, milk, and soy

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
hostess.com

McVitie's Snickers Flapjacks

It's funny how even when it's still in English, some food names can be completely different in different places. Here in the U.S. when we hear "flapjacks," most of us immediately think about pancakes. Apparently in the U.K., Flapjacks can actually refer to a popular type of snack item.

My thanks once again to Cinabar of Foodstuff Finds for sending me this pack of McVitie's Snickers Flapjacks. I have been dying to try them since I read Jim's review back in October of last year (see it here).



Jim, to be fair, didn't like the Snicker's Flapjack all that much -- but he did say that it had a really good nutty smell. He also said they had an almost too moist, crumbly texture. But I happen to have a soft spot for that particular kind of texture (I am weird, I know).

Anyway, the package contains five individually wrapped bars.

Each bar is slightly longer and just a touch thinner than one of our "Fun Size" Snickers bars. The chocolate topping is much lighter in color than you'd guess from the packaging illustration -- in fact, it's almost a butterscotch color. And as Jim said it would, the bar does indeed have a very strong nutty smell. Looking at the bar I couldn't help but think that it looks like a hunk of chocolate (or butterscotch?) covered particle board. It's a taupe-colored mishmash of grainy looking bits, studded with peanuts. It is far from what one would call a pretty bar.



Looks aside, how did it taste?

Fortunately, it did not taste like something cheap furniture is built of. It is super moist -- moist to the point that it falls apart the moment you bite into it. The main flavors seem to be peanuts and oats. The chocolate, incidentally, may look like butterscotch, but it doesn't taste like it. It actually tastes just like any other commercial, mass market milk chocolate. It melts very easily, and while I have a feeling that on its own I would say it's too sweet, here it added a much needed kick. Without the sweetness of the chocolate, the oats would be too bland and the nuts would have nothing to jazz them up.



Also oddly missing from the Flapjack was any trace of caramel. Why is that? Caramel is such an important part of a classic Snickers bar that I don't get how they could possibly skip it here.

It's sort of hard to rate these. As a chocolate/peanut/oat flavored snack cake, they really aren't bad. I did like the texture, and I liked the fact that the cakes are just sweet enough without going overboard. On the other hand, as a Snickers flavored item, they are an epic fail. There's no caramel, and it just doesn't much seem like a Snickers bar at all.

In the end, I think I am going to just split the difference and go with:



PURCHASED FROM:
Gift from Cinabar of Foodstuff Finds

CALORIES:
167 Calories per Flapjack.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains peanuts, milk, soy, gluten, and is processed on equipment that also handles eggs and nuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
unitedbiscuits.com

Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Decadent Cake Mix

Confession time: as much as I love cake (and I looooooovvvve cake!), I can't say that I have much -- make that NO -- desire to actually bake one from scratch. Oh, I am perfectly happy to make boxed cake mixes, but the moment sifting gets thrown in, I am pretty much over it. I realize it's not that much extra work. I just don't want to do it.

That said, even baking from the box...well, it happens maybe once every couple of months. I have to admit it was the rather tasty-looking cake porn on the box that got me to buy this mix in the first place.



This is a chocolate cake mix that has not only chunks of chocolate, but also hidden fudgy patches. The cake pictured on the box also features a lush-looking chocolate glaze (not included). And while the store did in fact have pretty much any type of frosting or glaze I could ever hope for...well, here is Confession #2: I do not like frosting. I know, I know. I don't completely understand it either. If given my way, I would never eat frosted cake again. Don't get me wrong; I don't hate it, I don't go as far as not having cake if it's frosted, nor do I scrape the frosting off. It's just that given my choice, I'll skip it.



You basically make this mix as you would any other boxed mix -- except that there is an extra step of mixing the fudgy stuff in a second bowl, and holding that off to the side until you have the cake mix in the pan. Then you add little dollops of the fudge here and there.

So, after all of that, how did it taste?

Sort of like the love child of chocolate cake mix and brownie mix. The cake bakes like any other cake, but the little fudge dollops you have added stay moist. If you have had "lava cake" in a restaurant, the effect is much the same.



I can see where a lot of people will end up loving this cake. For me, though, I found myself wanting one extreme or the other. By that I mean that it didn't exactly satisfy the cake fix I was looking for, and yet the little fudge patches made me want brownies!

It's as moist and chocolatey as you could ever hope for a boxed mix to be. But I think I just prefer my cakes a little more old school.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE: $3.49

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
duncanhines.com

Trader Joe's Chocolate Lava Cake

Chocolate lava cake -- or molten chocolate cake, as it is also known -- actually has something of an interesting background. I think most of us think of it as something that, somewhere back in the mid-nineties, chain restaurants decided that they really liked, and pushed it upon us en masse. However, long before TGIMcFunster's started giving it dumb names and forcing overworked and underpaid servers to up-sell it to us, both Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Jacques Torres were already fighting over who had invented it. And for all I know, they are still going at it like chocolate saber wielding Jedi.

Regardless of who started it, I have the Trader Joe's version in front of me. According to the wordsmiths who write TJ's copy, the dessert is "a delicate chocolate cake with a creamy chocolate center." Thanks, guys, I couldn't have guessed that...

There are two small (a little under four ounces each) cakes in the package. You can microwave them, but -- as things like these are always better when baked -- I chose not to. As per the instructions, I baked them in the oven for roughly 17 minutes, and by then my house smelled as if I'd been toiling away at the stove for hours making a chocolate cake from scratch. I love getting that smell and not dealing with the mountain of dishes that otherwise result.



The cake itself is sort of no frills. In fact, it looks pretty much like a chocolate hockey puck. The outer surface looks remarkably like that of an ordinary brownie.



The outer cake also tastes pretty much like a standard brownie. The strongest flavor is the semi-liquid center. It's sort of pudding textured, and tastes like dark chocolate and strong coffee.



Overall, this is very rich and and intensely chocolaty. If you were going to serve it to guests, you might want to pretty it up with some whipped cream or sauce. But for a frozen, fast baked dessert it was really good. As stated though, it is extremely rich. You could easily share a single cake, as small as it is, and be completely satisfied.

I'll definitely buy these again.



PURCHASED FROM:
Trader Joe's

PRICE:
$3.49

CALORIES:
360 per cake.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Made on shared equipment with tree nuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
traderjoes.com

Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie Ice Cream

We are taking a brief break in my coverage of my Ben & Jerry's trip to review one of this year's new flavors: Boston Cream Pie!

It's Patriots' Day in my home town of Boston. It's also the day of the Boston Marathon. One of the new flavors for 2010 is Boston Cream Pie -- and should you happen to be near the Ben & Jerry's stores at 174 Newbury Street, 800 Boylston Street (Prudential Center), or 20 Park Plaza, between 10:00 am and 12:00 noon, you might even be lucky enough to score a free scoop for yourself (limited to while supplies last).

My own pint has actually been in my freezer since it first hit my local store. If you have never had, or some how never heard of Boston Cream Pie, then let me enlighten you...



Boston Cream Pie is yellow cake (yeah, I have no idea how it got called "pie" instead of cake, either) that is filled with custard (almost always vanilla flavored), and then topped with chocolate ganache. If you ever get the chance to have a piece off of a well made Boston Cream Pie, I promise that you will not make that slice your last. And I feel the need to mention that my mother makes a pretty good version herself. (I have a feeling if I don't mention that, I will be getting nasty comments from her.)

Ben & Jerry's version is a cake batter flavored base, with yellow cake pieces, pastry cream swirl, and fudge flakes.

I like the base a lot. It manages to capture that sweet, almost raw cake batter flavor that I love. It does have an artificial quality to it -- but that seems to go hand-in-hand with the cake batter flavors. It's not true to real Boston Cream Pie in that sense, but if I think of it as a Boston Cream Pie flavored item, I can deal with it. The plentiful chunks of yellow cake are soft and taste freshly baked. These were my favorite part.

The swirls of pastry cream, though you can see them, I can't say I was able to isolate the flavor directly. But again, I liked the base enough that I didn't care.



The flavor's biggest downfall is the fudge flakes...or, more to the point, the lack of fudge flakes. While I am not the biggest fan of the use of fudge over chocolate, it's part of what makes Boston Cream Pie so great. It's the combination of the tastes of a normally generous layer of chocolate and the custard filling. Here the custard/cake portion more then shines through, but the fudge flakes are so sparse they may as well not be there. It's a shame, because the few flakes there were are strong enough in taste that they pair really well with the rest of the flavors.

I'm torn on this one because I liked the base, I loved the cake chunks, but I just wish there was more of the fudge flakes.

On Second Scoop reviewed this flavor recently. Read his review here.




PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$2.99

CALORIES:
250 calories per 1/2 cup serving.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Kosher.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Burton's Jaffa Cakes

Jaffa cakes are actually fairly easy to get on this side of the pond. In fact, LU's version (called Pims) are carried in pretty much every supermarket I have ever been to, plus WalMart, Target, etc. And I have been known to eat a box or two appallingly quickly. (If you should see the pear flavor -- which seems to be the hardest to find -- just get them and thank me later.)



A Jaffa cake, should you not know, is a sponge cake base (sort of like a "black & white" cookie) topped with a jam-type fruit filling, and then the jam is covered with a layer of chocolate. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia entry, they were invented by the Scottish company McVitie's. They were called Jaffa cakes because the first batch was made with orange filling, and they were named after a type of sweet orange that grows in Jaffa, Israel.

My Jaffa cakes were made by Burton's, which has been making biscuits and sweets in the U.K. for so long that Queen Elizabeth (the second, not the first!) could have eaten them as after-school snacks. My cakes were the traditional orange-filled, and topped with what the box describes as "plain chocolate" -- which, from the looks and the ingredients, I am taking to be milk chocolate.



What I like about Jaffa cakes as rule is the springy softness of the sponge cake. My version was a bit on harder side. It was well within code, so am not sure if I simply got an "off" box, or whether this is the normal texture for this brand. Texture aside, the cake is pretty bland. It's not bad -- there's just not much flavor at all.



As for the orange jelly: this was some seriously good filling! The texture was moist but not gooey. And at the same time, it was not as firm as, let's say, a jelly roll candy. It has a bittersweet quality, like a smooth marmalade rather than a sweeter orange. And that is a beautiful thing. If I could get this stuff in vats, I would smear it on everything.

The chocolate: nothing special, it's just sort of a generic semi-sweet. It's not outstanding in any way, but it's not bad either. The melt is a little waxy, but it covers the cake nicely. Think of store brand chocolate chips and you've got it.

This is hard to rate because I am not sure if the texture issues that I experienced were the results of a stale box, or if that is the "normal" texture for the Burton's version. Based on some random things I read online, I am apt to think that what I had was the "normal" version. But without another box, I don't know for sure.

At least the jam was great. And the chocolate was serviceable. Giving the cake the benefit of the doubt, I am going to rate these at...


PURCHASED FROM:

Gift from my mom

Cadbury Mini Yule Logs

We are going to make another trip across the pond for this review. Inspired by Jim, I tracked down one of the many cake offerings that Cadbury makes in the U.K.



The Mini Yule Logs cakes feature a very thin layer of chocolate coating over a roll of chocolate sponge cake, with a chocolate butter-cream frosting swirled in the center. Even though the box photo doesn't show it, each log is also dusted in powdered sugar.



I was hoping that these rolls would be like an edible, imported version of David Tennant:



(Hey David! I got something I'd like to show you over in the TARDIS... ) But I must admit, I was also slightly worried I would be disappointed and get something more like Mr. Bean than Dr. Who-let-you-out-of-my-room.



What a careless worry!

The thing that first caught my taste buds is that the cakes seem to have a nice cocoa powder taste to them. This is good, as it cuts any excess sweetness that might overpower the other flavors. And the chocolate has a good milky quality.

The outer chocolate melts in your mouth. It's just sweet enough that it takes the bitter edge of the cocoa flavor off. The cake roll inside is moist. The butter-cream keeps the crumbs in check and reminded me of fudge. Slightly grainy and a little more deeply flavored then the other layers.

Everything about this roll is good! Now how do I get David to wrap himself in one and show up at my door...




PURCHASED FROM:
The British Emporium (Upland, CA)

Starbucks Chocolate Madeleines

Madeleine's are one of those classic treats that I love to eat but have no desire what so-ever to learn how to make myself.
I group French Macarons in with that as well. Madeleine's may look kind of like a cookie but for those who don't know, they are actually small, spongy cakes. They are always shaped in that elongated shell-type shape (via a special pan of course) and the taste of a traditional Madeleine's is sort of like pound cake with a bit more butter and a little lemon.


I have never actually seen chocolate Madeleine's before, which either means I am not quite the bakery slut I had fancied myself- or that Starbucks is just being cutting edge. A quick Googling taught me that chocolate Madeleine's are more common then I realized, so I am not as well versed in fancydancy cake as I thought and Starbucks is just playing into Soccer Mom chic. Yeah well...


Anyway, let's talk about Starbucks version. The first thing I noticed is that while the ingredients list does not give any evidence that it's there, the Madeleine's smell very strongly of coconut.
The cake is moist but at the same time the mouth feel is lumpy. As if the dry ingredients weren't shifted. Rather then being light and spongy the texture is dense and a little greasy.

The flavor is pretty much like a really bad bakery cupcake. It has that overly processed taste that cheap cake products get. It does have a deep cocoa flavor to it, and while the ingredients does list cocoa powder and chocolate drops, it is more like a chemical version of what cocoa should taste like then real cocoa.

About the only redeeming thing I can say about these Madeleine's is that they are now gone and I don't have to eat another bite.

Rating:


PURCHASED FROM:
Starbucks

Cold Stone Creamery- Cake Batter Ice Cream

Didn't it seem like there used to be a Cold Stone Creamery every five feet?
There is still one in my relative local area but I don't get to go into one with the ease I could a few years ago. Since the first time I have had it is the Cake Batter flavor. I have tried every cake batter ice cream I have come across since and while many are good Cold Stones is still the best.

I think one of the things that makes the Cold Stone version is so great is the texture. It is super creamy but at the same time it's almost sticky, I know that doesn't sound good but it makes for an interesting mouth feel.

The cake batter flavor is EXACTLY like "raw" yellow cake batter. It's sweet, there's some vanilla, maybe a little eggy. You can also add your choice of a mix-in. I ALWAYS get Oreo's. I just think that the crunch from the cookie and the hit of chocolate add's good contrast to the cake flavor.

Cold Stone may do a lot of great flavors but this is the one I will always love.

PURCHASED FROM:
Cold Stone Creamery

Hostess 100 Calorie Strawberry Cupcakes

It's the new year and maybe we should be looking at some lighter options...
OK, my real motivation for trying these cupcakes is they were on sale for less then $2.00 at Walmart* but in my defense I had been wanting to try them.

The cupcakes come in packs of 3. The cakes are about the size of a half dollar. Each cake is covered in a light pink fondant like frosting. They have a light strawberry smell- sort of like the old school Strawberry Shortcake dolls did. The frosting is OK, it doesn't really have much taste but it does add a slightly gritty texture.

As for the rest of the cake it tastes EXACTLY like a Twinkie and a children's vitamins mated. I think the scary thing about that statement is that while it is completely accurate - it doesn't mean that the cupcakes aren't good. They are oddly addicting in fact. No, the strawberry flavor isn't remotely natural but that's why I liked it. "Real" strawberry probably would have been over kill.

For a 100 calorie snack it's pretty tasty.



PURCHASED FROM:
WalMart*

Betty Crocker Super Moist Cherry Chip Cake Mix

I got the yearning for some cupcakes this weekend...

So I thought I would try something new. The Cherry Chip box mix seemed to fit the bill so I got that.

I gotta admit it did pass the first test- the raw batter test. I think I am one of those weird people who actually prefer cake batter raw rather then baked. The raw batter was rich and strongly vanilla tasting. The cherry flavor in the raw mix tasted more towards the candy side then say fresh cherries- but that's OK. I like that overly sweet candy cherry flavor. So far, so good.

As predicted the mix bakes up perfectly (I think you have to try pretty hard to screw up a box mix) moist, great crumb etc.

The taste... I don't know what happened once the batter was baked but the sweet cherry taste went from candy to cough drops in 25 minutes! The vanilla was still there but it was over powered by the medicinal cherry flavor. It was as if an evil version of the Kebler elves snuck into my kitchen and stole the good cupcakes leaving me with that nasty batch of cough suppresenty blach! Again not bad raw but that doesn't really help over all.

PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

Ben & Jerry's Cake Batter Ice Cream

Happy 30'th Birthday Ben & Jerry!
Every once and a while Ben & Jerry come out with a flavor that is just so good I am prepared to lock myself in the room with a pint and have myself a little threesome (TMI?) I haven't felt that way in years to be honest.

However, for their 30'th Birthday they have a special Cake Batter edition- now, if you have read any of my ice cream reviews you would know that my absolute all-time favorite ice cream is Cold Stone Creameries Cake Batter. I won't lie this ice cream does not top the Cold Stone but it is pretty damn good!

The base flavor is supposed to be yellow cake batter. And I'll be a monkey's uncle if they didn't nail the flavor of yellow cake batter right on the head. If you brought it to room temp I am willing to bet based on flavor alone you would not be able to tell the difference between real cake bater and the ice cream.

Most cake batter ice creams feature a frosting swirl (Like Mayfields). As a rule the frosting is vanilla or a butter cream. Ben and Jerry up the ante here and use a chocolate frosting swirl. The combo of the yellow cake with the chocolate is great!
If I didn't know it was frosting I would have just assumed that it was a standard chocolate swirl. If you are looking for that thicker, slightly grainy, extra sweet edge frosting brings, you may be disapointed. But personally I think it was pretty good as is.

One of Ben & Jerry's best flavors ever!