Walls Vegan Cornetto

Have I been waiting my entire life for this? A vegan Cornetto from the ice cream giant that is Wall's. Many a sunny afternoon as a child I spent munching this ice cream, so, you can imagine my delight over ten years later to discover that my childhood favourite had just become vegan. 

But, and here is the question on everyone's mind, does it taste as good?

The box and packaging are pretty standard, staying within the Wall's Cornetto branding, with nothing feeling too unfamiliar or strange. I like when brands do this, making something vegan look like it belongs in the range rather than some peculiar novelty item. 

But, I'm near certain that this looks very small in my hand? Does anyone else think that these are ridiculously small in size? I could be going mad, or perhaps I just haven't had one in such a long time that I am not longer a valid judge of size, but this definitely does not feel as big as it used to...

Anyway, I can cope with a smaller size providing it is of a good taste and quality, like the cliche goes, quality over quantity! But, I am sorry to say, the flavour didn't quite live up to my expectations. 

Maybe I was expecting too much for it to be like a flavourful trip down memory road, I enjoyed that they kept the main components of the Cornetto, simply veganising it. But I think that the flavour really was lacking overall.

The ice cream was a little mild in taste, it was nice enough, but not overly vanilla. I am curious as to what ice cream they actually used. Because this didn't taste like Swedish Glace (now owned by Unilever the parent brand to Wall's), it was sweet but there was something just a little bit off. I had my mum try, just to compare notes kind of thing and she agreed that the ice cream flavour was really weak, and didn't really taste like the original.

This being said it wasn't unpleasant, it just wasn't great.

The cone was good, it seemed to do what other vegan ice cream ones fail to do, and retain its crunch. I enjoyed this quite a bit and it created a good contrast between that and the soft almost foamy ice cream. 

There definitely could have been a bit more chocolate in the base, but that is my personal preference as a chocolate lover. The chocolate itself was rather lovely, not too sweet, with a slight bitterness to work against the sweet ice cream and the sweet cone!

So, what are my thoughts overall? Honestly, I'm not that impressed by these, and think that Tesco's own versions are all superior! I wouldn't go out of my way to try this again, but they are a nice enough treat.

Rating - 6/10

 

Calories - 179

 

Buy again - Doubt it.

Booja Booja Caramel Pecan Praline Ice Cream

As a vegan, I have been desperately trying to find a dairy free ice cream, which has a truly indulgent flavour. An ice cream which is comparable to the creamiest of creams, with the most incredible melt, no iciness and packed full of flavour.
And friends, I have found the ice cream.

Booja Booja. This is the name you should have etched within your brain. I feel as though all other ice creams shall now pale in comparison to this, and believe me, as much as I love hyperbole, this is not one of them. I think that I need to provide a bit of background on the brand, a brief summary if you will to let you know what kind of company we are dealing with.

This truly is a company with a conscience, so you know that when you are buying their products, you are making a difference to somebodies life. They nominate two charities a year which they donate 5% of their profits to. In addition to this, they also support employees who seek sponsorship for charities. Click the link here to find out more information!

Now, I shall stop prattling and get onto the review! Can we all just take a minute to appreciate this packaging here guys? Honestly, this has to be some of the most stunning packaging I have seen in a while. The jazzy swirls are simply stunning, creating a unique and quite luxurious feel to it without feeling pretentious or off putting. It is just beautiful. I think that the colours work really well for this flavour, and immediately conjure up the idea of caramel within the mind of the consumer.
With such snazzy packaging, I was very excited to whip the lid off and dive right in!

Upon taking the lid off I was greeted with a creamy ice cream, with a small streak of caramel poking through the top. It looked smooth and rather inviting, so I whipped my spoon out and dug right in! The base flavour of the ice cream itself is simply mouth watering. The vanilla is beautiful, perfectly balanced with sweetness, creaminess, and texture, to create what can only be described as heaven in a tub. This is made perfect with the salt from the caramel and the earthy flavour of the pecan nuts. All of these helping to make this feel like a true luxury, with the thought of vegan or dairy free even crossing your mind.
The caramel tastes very rich, and is swirled throughout the ice cream. It was particularly delightful when you would hit a pocket of caramel. The only thing I can compare it to is when you find a £20 note in your pocket when you thought you were skint.

This is my absolute favourite treat at the moment. I love knowing that what I'm eating has meaning and purpose behind it, along with the fact that it is vegan, organic, gluten free and even soya free too! It is simply magical that Booja Booja have managed to craft such a blooming brilliant product, which can be enjoyed by almost everyone!

I have a feeling that the rating for this will be pretty darn obvious, but for the sake of conventions, I should probably go through with it!

Rating - 9.75/10

Calories - 189 per 100ml

Buy Again? - The Ocado order is already on its way!

Ben and Jerry's VEGAN Ice Cream

First Impressions

It has arrived, and to say I was ridiculously excited by this prospect, is a massive understatement guys. I feel like I have been waiting for this my entire vegan life (about four years now) for this to happen. Vegan Ben & Jerry's. I know guys, this is life changing. 
This has been long anticipated in the UK, but I'm going to be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. Was the packaging going to be any different to distinguish it? Where they going to release exclusive flavours for vegans? And how much are they going to push the marketing and advertising of this? 
So far there seems to have been minimal marketing, no real adverts on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and certainly no television or print ads. Personally I find this a bit disappointing, but perhaps they are waiting to establish the initial feedback and response before they fully try to push the product? Hopefully this will be the case! 
As for the packaging, it is pretty standard of Ben & Jerry's which I really love, there is nothing to make it seem strange or obviously different. I think this is a really clever idea from the brand, because it won't alienate dairy eaters or put anyone off with the sometimes dreaded 'V Word'. And as for the flavours, they have been pretty darn clever. They have done the classic chocolate brownie, brought back an old favourite in the form of Chunky Monkey, and they have created a brand new peanut butter cookie flavour! 
Okay, I think that I've prattled on long enough about this, so I shall move on to the part which we have all been waiting for; the review.

On to the Review!

Chunky Monkey
This is a banana base ice cream with chocolate fudge chunks and walnut pieces mixed throughout. The banana ice cream itself is absolutely delightful. The banana flavour is undeniable, and pretty natural in overall taste. I often find anything banana to have a painfully artificial taste to it, but this seems to avoid that pitfall (thank heavens!). This is probably because of them actually having used real banana in the ingredients. 
The main problem that I had with this flavour was how blooming sweet this was! Which although a nuisance on those days when you feel like gorging your feelings on ice cream, it does stop you from eating a whole tub in one go... 
This sweetness is somewhat combatted by the bitterness of the dark chocolate fudge pieces, and the crunchy nutty flavour of the walnuts. I also really enjoyed how these added elements created a whole new depth of textures, further enriching the whole experience. 
I'm really glad that they chose to bring this flavour back, it really is a fan favourite and tastes unique and blooming delicious!

Peanut Butter and Cookies
I'm going to be honest, this was the flavour I was really excited about. Peanut butter and cookie ice cream? Three of my favourite things all combined together in one tub AND vegan? Heck yes! 
I'm not even going to try and pretend that I didn't crack this bad boy open as soon as I got home to try this sugary enigma. Upon opening the tub, I was greeted by this delectable looking swirl which was all but calling my name. The ice cream again, was incredibly sweet. Now, this isn't a bad thing because it was somewhat balanced by the saltiness of the peanut butter. 
The swirl was well distributed and had a good amount of flavour to it. But the real star of the show here, was the cookie pieces! They were chocolatey and yummy, and simply heavenly! You honestly could not tell they were vegan. 
The main problem I had with this one is the texture. It was strangely gritty. I think this must have been from the peanut butter or the cookie swirl, not a deal breaker or particularly bad thing, but possibly a point of improvement.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I'm pretty darn impressed. They did not taste like healthy ice creams, or low fat, low sugar, or even remotely boring, mainly because, it was none of those things! They were cleverly created, and well devised ice cream flavours, and they did vegan food proud! Other than the intense sweetness, these were really delicious tubs of ice cream that I look forward to having once again! But probably when they are on offer, because £5.50 is a bit steep for ice cream.

Rating - 8/10

Calories Chunky Monkey - 262 calories per 100g
Calories Peanut Butter Cookies - 280 calories per 100g

Buy Again? - YES (When on offer)

Tesco Vegan Mini Milks

Was there anything better, than coming home from a long and tiring day of school, to look in the freezer and see a fresh box of Mini Milks in there ready to be devoured. But as I grew older, and my diet changed, Mini Milks sadly left my life, and in their place was a void. I tried various hings, convincing myself that this would be the same, or that drinking chocolate soya milk would be just as good. Alas, this wasn't quite the case. So instead i went without for many years, that was, until last week!

The incredible people of Tesco, have really stepped up their game, making vegan and free from food less of an anomaly, and a lot more exciting and fun! Finally, I no longer have to scour the Internet, searching for crazy recipes claiming to recreate childhood favourites (with the results often being less than great...) Now, on to the review!

The box is pretty simple, but still pleasant, Tesco seem to have gone with a no messing about kind of thing. I do like this, because it doesn't alienate any audience, it isn't too manly, feminine, or childish. Clear and too the point, that is the best way to describe it, and in this case, I really do thing that it works.
Unlike actual Mini Milks, these only come in two flavours: strawberry and chocolate. This is a bit of a shame, but in all fairness, the vanilla flavour was always a bit boring-delicious, but boring. I decided to go with the strawberry flavour first because, well, I like strawberries!
The faux Mini Milks looks identical to the ones from my childhood, the smell was subtle and sweet, again just as I remembered. This whole thing was like a nostalgic blast from the past, which I couldn't help but smile at. So I began my munching without any further delay.

It is actually unnerving how much these tasted exactly like I remembered. There was a natural strawberry taste that really cannot be beaten when paired with the creamy milk flavour. A bit like eating a frozen strawberry and cream kind of thing. I really loved this one and found it to be delightfully refreshing, especially during these random and unexpected heat waves that we keep getting in good old Blighty...

I have slightly less excited views on the chocolate one, mainly because I always find chocolate flavoured ice cream to be quite disappointing, with it tasting cheap or just plain rubbish. This however did exceed my low hopes, and had quite a lovely flavour to it overall. The chocolate was more cocoa, with it not being overly sweet, and the creamy milk flavour was what shone through. In this case I think that this was for the best, as it prevented the chocolate/cocoa from tasting cheap and uneventful. So good job Tesco!

Basically, I really blooming loved these, and think that they are absolutely brilliant! They don't taste like 'diet' food, or strange, as some people (wrongly) expect from free from food. Instead they are packed full of flavour, and an absolute delight to enjoy!


Rating - 8.75/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 30 for chocolate, 31 for strawberry

Buy Again? - DEFINITELY!

Alpro Hazelnut Chocolate Ice Cream

I feel as though I have been waiting my whole life for this product. My poor Mother has had to listen to my whine and complain about Alpro not branching out into the ice cream market for many moons, but alas, after several years of wishful thinking, Alpro have finally come through. But the big question here is, did they come through with the goods?

Well, I am going to keep you in suspense just a little bit longer (unless you choose to scroll to the bottom on the page, which is fine I suppose). I actually stuggled to locate this ice cream for quite a while, after doing a bit of research I found out that it is currently only available in the larger Tesco stores, so I made it my mission to locate it, and obviously, from the mere fact that you are reading this review, I did indeed manage to locate this ice cream. The tub is the usual size, and the packaging looks nice, it is minimalistic and in keeping with Alpro's usual style. 

The range comes in three varieties; vanilla, coconut, and the subject of todays review, chocolate hazelnut. This is probably the flavour that I was most excited about trying because it is such a classic flavour combination. This is a bit of information about the product.

 

Alpro® Hazelnut Chocolate is made from carefully selected hazelnuts, giving our ice cream its delicious rich taste & creaminess, which are then perfectly blended with real chocolate. With less sugars & saturated fats than the market reference in ice cream, Alpro® Ice cream is a delicious treat to indulge in!

• Ice cream made from hazelnut
• 100% Plant-based
• 30% Less sugars & saturated fats
• Made from nature's tastiest ingredients
• Free from dairy and gluten
• Free from colours and preservatives
• Suitable for vegans

Now, onto the review! The ice cream is pretty difficult to distinguish from that of the more traditional dairy version in both taste and texture. It is creamy with a lovely smooth consistency which  would give brands like Haagan Dazs a run for their money! The flavour certainly didn't disapoint either, it was rich but not sickly with enough sweetness to work well against the nutty hazelnut. I found myself thoroughly enjoying this tub of ice cream and was actually quite sad when I finished, albeit extremely satisfied. 

Rating - 9.5/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 177 per 100g

Buy Again? - YES!!!

Swedish Glacé Dairy Free Strawberry Ice Cream Sticks

The variety of vegan products out there are the moment is pretty decent at the moment, and finally the ice cream market has followed suit! These little ice cream bars from Swedish Glacé are simply incredible and you really can't tell that they are free from dairy and vegan. 

They are quite small but I think that this size is perfect because they are rather sweet and rich. They are strawberry ice creams coated in a lovely layer of chocolate, the thickness of the chocolate was adequate and was perfectly proportioned with the ice cream. Obviously I followed the unspoken rules and nibbled the chocolate off first and then enjoyed the deliciously creamy and sweet strawberry ice cream that lay underneath. Honestly these were pretty magical and I'm now craving one as a result of writing this so I think that is a testament to how delicious these are!

My mum tried one and agreed that they were incredible and didn't actually realise they were vegan until I told her afterwards! So I really believe that this is a treat for the whole family, especially if you do have a child with an allergy to milk and don't want them to feel left out or different to everyone else!

Rating - 9.5/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 117

Buy Again - Definitely!

Smooze Coconut & Mango

For obvious reasons there is very little frozen delights on offer in the freezer sections during the winter months, but I find this to be a bit of a nuisance because I love to have a lolly ice of an evening! Unfortunately the vegan options become nearly non existent, so when my mum came home with a box of these I couldn't help but smile.

I had heard many good things about these lolly ices but I was a tad nervous about trying something new (I know it's odd but that is just who I am).

The flavour is incredible, it is very creamy with a lovely strong coconut flavour coming through, it combines well with the mango to create a perfectly refreshing combination. I was concerned that it would be really icy and a bit rubbish but I was so very wrong! I loved this and I can't wait to try the other flavours in the range, especially the pineapple!

Benefits

Smooze is a low calorie, freeze-at-home, tropical treat that is perfect for the whole family. Made simply from freshly-pressed coconut milk and pure fruit juices and purees, with one taste, you'll know you're eating something good.

Free from dairy, gluten, soy, nuts, artificial sweeteners, colourings and flavourings, Smooze is a portion-controlled, guilt-free indulgence guaranteed to delight; you'll fall in love with Smooze.

Rating - 9/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 66

Buy Again? - Already have!

Almond Dream Salted Caramel Vegan Ice Cream

My reviews seem to be very ice cream based at the moment so I do apologise, but that won't stop me from writing another one! So here it is, another delicious offering from Almond Dream. This flavour was salted caramel, I was a little sceptical at first of this flavour, because how can they create caramel without milk, let alone a delicious version? Well they manage to do it very well indeed!

The ice cream itself is so creamy with lovely caramel and butterscotch flavours that you can't help but love. The ice cream melts very well, this itself is very impressive because vegan ice cream often just doesn't melt. It stays very icy and is just unpleasant to eat, but Almond Dream doesn't have this problem!

The ice cream was swirled with tasty salted caramel which was really nice and added a good depth to the overall flavour. This ice cream is so enjoyable to eat, I really can't convey just how much I love this brand and I can't wait to see what other incredible flavours that they will bring out! I'm hoping for a coffee flavour or maybe cookies and cream or a strawberry cheesecake would be incredible! In all fairness I would be happy with any flavour that they would release!

Rating - 9.5/10

Calories - 119 per 1/4 of a tub

Vegan - Yes

Buy Again -  YES!!!

Almond Dream Vegan Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

As much as I enjoy living a dairy free life, I must admit that I do miss some things. The thing that I probably miss the most is ice cream. I can't begin to express my jealousy when I see everyone tucking into the latest flavour of Ben & Jerry's whilst I am stuck here with sorbet. Don't get me wrong, I love the taste of sorbet and how refreshing it is, and I wouldn't go back to eating dairy but like everyone I do miss things. 

That is enough of my moaning though because now I have discovered something that has changed my life (okay, maybe an exaggeration but stick with me guys because I will get to the point eventually) Almond Dream ice cream. 

The ice cream itself is lovely and minty without tasting like toothpaste, it is so creamy and delicious, you would never realise that it isn't made with dairy! The chocolate chips were evenly mixed throughout the tub, something which can be major problem for some brands who have all of their flavouring clumped together in one bit. It is just such a delicious ice cream. The melt is very good, it doesn't go icy like you normally find with non dairy ice cream. 

We know how much ice cream is loved by the kid in all of us, and as the weather turns there is no better treat than curling up on the sofa to watch a movie and dig into your favourite ice cream.

Now you can get stuck into a rich and creamy tub of Dream ice cream that is Free from Dairy and Gluten. Spoilt for choice from Salted Caramel, Praline Crunch, Velvety Vanilla or intense Mint chocolate chip the range is made from Almonds which makes it so rich and creamy and suitable for vegetarians and vegans too!

Rating - 9.5/10

Vegan - Yes

Calories - 154 per 1/4 of a tub

Buy Again - YAAASSSS!!!

Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns Ice Cream

This review is courtesy of my mum because I don't eat dairy. So thank you darling mother, I appreciate the sacrifice that you had to make! 

Her first reaction was that it was absolutely magical. When I asked her to elaborate she was initially lost for words because she said that it was just so good. The ice cream itself is creamy and caramelly, this worked incredibly well with the deliciously moreish chunks of cinnamon bun. The chunks of cinnamon bun were more like cookie dough which was a bit of a let down because it was expected that it would be more like the brownie batter that you get in the brownie ice cream. 

The cinnamon shone through beautifully, it had enough spice to add intrigue but paired with the perfect amount of sweetness so that it feels indulgent, yet light enough to eat the whole tub in one go, if you were inclined to do so that is!

My brother enjoyed this ice cream paired with a caramel apple cake, he said that the combination was perfect and the ice cream had enough flavour not to be overwhelmed by what you pair it with, whilst being subtle enough not to be the only thing that you can taste. 

Overall this was a win in my household and I am only sad that I couldn't join in myself, but as you will see in my next few reviews, I have found some tasty alternatives!

Rating - 9/10

Vegan - No

Calories - 273 per 100g

Buy Again - Yes

Del Monte Smoothie Lollies

I often find that traditional lolly ices are quite unsatisfying, they leave me feeling just as hungry and they normally have a watery flavour to them that is quite unpleasant and far from refreshing. So I have found this fabulously fruity alternative in the form of Del Monte Smoothie Lolly Ices! They come in two flavours, raspberry and mango-I am not a big fan of the mango one so I shall leave this review to another day when I am feeling a bit more harsh.

The raspberry one is packed full of fruit and you can tell from the fresh flavour. There is no hint of anything artificial, which is a lovely change because most things now tend to taste manufactured or have that strange aftertaste that just isn't natural.

I really do love these lolly ices and I have them every night because I am a creature of habit, plus they taste delicious!

Rating – 9/10

Vegan – Yes

Calories – 81

Buy Again – Indeed!

Ben & Jerry's Minter Wonderland

I feel that mint is an often ignored flavour when it comes to sweet things and is often overlooked for the more traditional peanuts, caramel or toffee. Only ever associated with After Eight mints but that is no more, because Ben & Jerry's have released a delicious new flavour called 'Minter Wonderland' (a name that I can't help but smile at!) so obviously it became my top priority to get a tub to try!

I certainly did not regret it because the flavour was lovely, the ice cream is vanilla with a slight hint of mint which worked really well against the massive chunks of mint chocolate and helped keep it refreshing and not too cloying. Basically I loved this flavour and am sad that it will only be a limited edition so I intend upon eating it until I hate it haha!

Rating - 9.5/10

Buy Again - Yes!

Vegan - No

Calories - 

Ben & Jerry's Raspberry and Chocolate Chunk Greek Style Yogurt

So I finally got my hands on the last of the new Ben & Jerry's flavours, Raspberry Chocolate Chunk, which consists of a raspberry base with chocolate chunks. This flavour is only available in the 500ml tubs so you can treat yourself to as much as you want! 

The raspberry base was quite subtle in flavour but rather enjoyable none the less and worked very well with the dark chocolate chunks which were obviously of a good quality. I wouldn't have minded eating a bar of that actually! The flavour reminded me a bit of the Cherry Garcia Frozen Yogurt flavour that they used to do except without the chunks of cherry in it, so it is a winner in my book!

Rating - 7.5/10

Calories - 220 per 100g

Vegan - No

Buy Again - When it is on offer only

Ben & Jerry's All or Nutting Ice Cream

Ben & Jerry's seem to be on a roll at the moment and have released yet another ice cream flavour and quite a unique one at that! The new flavour is called 'All or Nutting', as it is a core flavour it has two ice cream components, they are chocolate ice cream which had the standard chocolate Ben & Jerry's taste to it and the other half was hazelnut ice cream which I thought was rather nice, it was nutty but not overwhelmingly so, and lastly the core. It was simply divine, it was basically Nutella but richer and somehow more indulgent, this had to be my favourite part of the ice cream and I would happily eat a tub of just the core! (I suppose that this would basically be a jar of Nutella)

Overall this is a good ice cream that is unique in comparison to the traditional ice creams and definitely worth a try, particularly if you love Nutella

Rating - 8/10

Calories - 270 per 100g

Buy Again - Yes

Vegan - No

Ben & Jerry's Greek Style Strawberry Ice Cream

It is always a pleasure to see the latest flavours of Ben & Jerry's on offer so you can imagine my delight when I saw that there are actually four out! Three Greek Style and one Core flavour, I shall be reviewing them all over the coming week or two so keep watching!
I decided to try the Strawberry Shortcake Greek style, and I can say that it was absolutely delicious! It was creamy with chunks of strawberry in and massive pieces of shortbread which had the perfect texture, it hadn't gone soft with the ice cream as I initially feared but had retained a satisfying crunch that worked very well with the sweet and soft ice cream
The base flavour was lovely, as a vegetarian I think it is quite hard to find strawberry flavoured products because they often use carmines to colour it, so I am thrilled that I can have this tasty delight!
Also, another little bonus is that it is about 100 fewer calories than the regular Ben & Jerry's ice cream 150ml tubs so I can indulge with none of the guilt!

Rating - 9.5/10
Buy Again - Yes!!!
Calories - 220 Per Mini Tub
Vegan - No