Milka Oreo

It's not my fault this time!

The Attraction

My friend Grace was kind enough to share with me a snack we've both been talking about recently, Milka Oreo!

The Review:
I know I've been on an Oreo trip lately and as much as I love the original and all the subsequent varieties that have followed, this was purely coincidental. I must say that I've had my eye on this little beauty for awhile, but I didn't have the nerve to say "hi". Leave it to my wing-woman to help me close the deal.

As you unwrap the chocolate from its packaging, this chocolate doesn't look much different from most other chocolates, although I think Milka does have a reputation for producing some of the smoother varieties. I break off a piece or bend off a piece, rather as the chocolate seems a bit softer than most.

When I take a bite, it's apparent why; under that initial coating of milk chocolate, the majority of the center of the bar consists of a creamy filling with bits of Oreos in there...and in case you are wondering, it's every bit as amazing as it sounds...in the right amounts.

Not to be confused with Minka

One of the drawbacks of the creamy core is that it lacks the typically rigidity you find in a conventional chocolate bar at a relatively cool temperature. In addition, as delicious as it is, the combination of the chocolate over the cream will easily send your blood sugar level to the moon. The mystery to me is what exactly is that cream core? Theoretically, it's supposed to be the equivalent to the cream filling an Oreo, but it's not quite that. I thought maybe it was white chocolate, but it's not that either. It's most likely a special blend Milka threw together just for this product. I'm not sure what it is, but I do know it's bad for your diabetes.

..although equally exciting in a different way

The Sweet:
Everything good you would imagine a chocolate Oreo mix would taste like.

The Bitter:
It's sweet, a little over the top sweet.

Conclusion:
If I worked at Milka, I would consider adding some more Oreo cookie bits in there to help arrest the sweetness of it (yes, it's so sweet that the cookie wafer seems to actually help mellow it out) and dial back the sweetness of that cream filling in the middle. I think they were trying to use the Oreo wafers like rice krispy bits to add some textural contrast, which was a good idea, but I think adding more might have been a better way to go as with anyone that has ever had an ice cream cake with Oreo crunchies can attest to.

Milka Oreo is good, but it could have been even more so if they were packaged in Hershey Kisses-like sizes because a full bar may prove to be too much of a good thing.

Video of the Week 

If you look carefully, you can see me grab a
shrimp off a person's plate with my teeth

As promised, this video shows how far we have come from those days when were we were living in a cave and fighting other people for food. Now we don't live in caves anymore.

I've never been prouder to be Chinese than after seeing this video. I mean come on, they're shrimp. How rare is it to see shrimp? They are like the unicorns of the ocean, right?

Ferrero Tronky Latte e Cereali

 

Ferrero? Let me guess...hazelnut again?

The Attraction:

As I begin to polish off the remaining snacks on my recent trip to Italy, I pulled out this box that I've been waiting to review. What caught my eye about this snack is this description of milk and cereal flavor. I had no idea what that means exactly or what flavor that would taste like. Let's find out, shall we?

The Review:
I've been staring at this box for awhile. I've been wanting to try this, but I purposely have been holding this out to the end to so I had a snack to really look forward to. I must say though that my previous reviews of some of the other snacks I got from Italy like Loacker's Tortini Mini and another Ferrero product called Nutella B-Ready had gotten me used to a certain formula that these Italian snacks seem to follow; crunchy shell, hazelnut cream, perhaps some chocolate thrown in there somewhere. This product should be different, I hoped, as the flavor I choose seemed to not indicate any sign of hazelnut anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I got nothing against hazelnut, but even man cannot live on hazelnut alone.

The box houses five individually wrapped Tronky "sticks". I unwrap one and quickly see the familiar shell similar to the one on the outside of a Nutella B-Ready stick, albeit a lighter shade. "Please! Have mercy....no hazelnuts, sir!" I beg to the Tronky Gods.

I take a dive in fully expecting a hint of hazelnut to greet me at some point, but there was none to be found or was there? What I did get was a smooth sweet cream, with the texture reminiscent of the cream in the middle of an Oreo, except in this case, sandwiched between two light crispy wafers. The filling, isn't as sweet as the cream in an Oreo, but it does have a slight taste of hazelnut (curses!), but not overwhelmingly so. It's more of a passing flavor versus a full on assault.

It actually reminded me of this Choco Roll, I had way back when. Is that a good or bad thing?

This shell looks familiar

The Sweet:

Nice familiar crunchy wafer wrapped around a sweet cream core.

The Bitter:
Maybe not the ideal start to the morning, if you take the flavor suggestion literally.

Is that what semi-solid milk and cereal taste like? 

Conclusion:
Yes, Ferrero reuses the shell...again, but the differentiator for me this time is the cream filling. Perhaps wisely I stayed clear of the Tronky Original that has hazelnuts in it. I have a feeling this review would have been very different otherwise. Be it as it may, these are fine snacks and aren't overly sweet and deliver a nice sugar pick-me-up when needed. Would I hop on the next plane back to Italy to get another pack? Nah, but if I have a layover there, I might drop a Euro on this little treat while I continue to comb the candy rack for other treasures.

Video of the Week
I don't think I need to say much, if you haven't seen it already.

December can't come soon enough

Loacker Tortina Mini

 I wish I can go into a chocolaty bath one day

The Attraction:

When I was in Italy a few weeks back, I grabbed a bunch of snacks to bring home to review. One being these Tortina Minis. Perhaps it was because they reminded me of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or maybe they looked all chocolaty and sexy. I think now that look at the photo I took of the packaging, it's all of the above.

The Review
Surprise, surprise. Another hazelnut product out of Italy like this one I reviewed. It wasn't until I got back home to the States that I realized what a big deal hazelnuts are in Italy. Another thing I didn't realize was just how "mini" these snacks were. I was expecting these to be about the size of a silver dollar. In actuality, they are closer to the size of a half a dollar.  It's OK, as long as I can eat it one way or another.

I take a Tortina out of it's individually wrapped packaging and indulge. I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but it tastes like, you guessed it, a Ferrero Rocher! The one distinct difference is the missing crunch of the bits of hazelnuts, which make me appreciate Ferrero Rochers even more now. That missing component makes the snacking less pleasurable as the nuts provided a nice contrast to the chocolate layer covering the thin wafer shell and last, but not least, the creamy hazelnut cream inside. I know these are not Ferrero Rochers, but it's tough not to draw a comparison when they taste so similar. I do like the portion size of each mini as it gives you a nice taste, without tiring your taste buds out.

"I look like a chocolate bottle cap!"

The Sweet:

I'm like the perfect sized mini Ferrero Rocher...

The Bitter:
...except neutered! (aka no nuts)

I'm beginning to see a theme here

Conclusion:
If you like Ferrero Rocher, you will enjoy these, although maybe less because it feels like something is "missing". If you are able to give up that expectation, you will be able to enjoy the smooth, rich combination of hazelnut and chocolate that these Tortini minis are able to offer.

Video of the Week
Somehow me the lil lady recently have gotten into old school video games. I've spent many an hour this week reliving my youth playing videos games I haven't seen or played in decades. It got me thinking, "I wonder if could build my own video arcade?" Wonder no more.

What time shall we meet at Home Depot?

Kinder Colazione Piu

Kinder is everywhere in Italy

The Attraction:

Our recent trip to Italy netting a few treats, one of which were these breakfast sticks. I really had no idea what the story was, but there were so many of these types of pre-made pastry things, that we decided to try some. As they say, when in Rome...

The Review
I had no idea what flavor this was. One could guess chocolate based on the color of the pastry or wheat if you look at the illustration, but it was all part of the mystery and fun of it all. I unwrapped a stick and was immediately struck by the coffee scent these snacks were emitting. Coffee? Never would have guessed that. It was only today that I finally translated the words on the packaging so I can determine what Kinder is advertising the flavor as. "Colazione Piu" comes up as "Breakfast more". Umm...ok, that didn't really help. How about "lievitata naturalmente" which it says next to those stalks of wheat on the left...."naturally leavened"...I still don't think that's a flavor. I'll have to let my taste buds tell me what flavor this is.

First bite in; there was a reason there was a coffee scent, but thankfully it wasn't super strong and the lines of frosting across the top also help soften the flavor even more so. As you might have guessed by now, I'm not a fan of coffee, so coffee-flavored anything is a hard sell. The thing is, with the sweetness and spongy consistency of the cake, all parts of the greater whole seem to result in more of a tiramisu flavor than just plain coffee......and that is a good thing.

Boy, this photo is making me hungry

The Sweet:

Coffee-flavor without bonking you over the head with it. The strips of frosting complement the caffeinated taste and helps build a tiramisu-like effect. 

The Bitter:
The pastry is a tad drier than I would have preferred. A bump up of another 10% in moisture would have been about right.

If you look closely, you can see a strip of
coffee syrup in the middle

Conclusion:
Does a product based on coffee-flavor stand a chance with someone that doesn't particularly care for coffee? In this case, unfortunately, it does not. I can see how coffee lovers or someone indifferent to it could like this snack. In fairness, had I known it was this flavor, I would have selected another option that Kinder offers. Although I don't see myself missing Italy because of this snack, I can see myself dutifully polishing off the remaining sticks in the package to make space for other snacks in my pantry. When I say dutifully, I mean gladly.

Video of the Week
Recently, it's been hot here in New York, but if I had to do what this guy does to get an air conditioner at my place, I would have no AC....and one less pair of clean khakis.

"Is it installed yet? I'm dying in here!"