Co-op Spiced Salted Caramel and Chocolate Shortbread

Roses in December; Christmas biscuits in June. 

 

It is important to consider that there are many significant events taking place in the world at the moment, but none more so than the fact that the pubs are still closed. 

 

So say fat, yellow-and-frizzy haired men on Twitter who have union flags plastered all over photos of themselves looking plastered and like to refer to “Britain” as often as possible. Although their argument is undoubtedly a highly intellectual one, it is a shame that they have overlooked a critical alternative to their addictions: chocolate.

An especially popular chocolate treat is biscuits that were bought cheap after Christmas and sat dusting in a box for months before being reviewed in June – all with the word “Christmas” in full blazing view of anyone with better eyesight than Captain Smith.

 

But, at least incompetence is one step better than ignorance, I desperately tell myself.

 

There were chewy things in these cookies, which were presumably the caramel. It was nice to have proper caramel for a change, rather than a synthetic alternative probably only one chemical symbol away from being cyanide. The milk chocolate layer was thin, which was almost a fitting tribute to biscuits that were unusually small (the flip side being, however, that there were eight in a box – generous, considering the plight of capitalism).

 

The biscuit provided a good quality crunch that was neither tooth shattering nor limp and there was a cinnamon or ginger aftertaste to each bite, which I took as being the spicy element of the product (not exactly a raging inferno – something I’m pleased about, considering my terror of all things even mildly adventurous). Each cookie provided an immediate impact of smooth milk chocolate and buttery shortbread – exactly as it should be. The only thing missing from that aspect was three kilograms of sugar, but I totally understand the need to always eat healthily.

 

If I wanted a decent biscuit I’d have chosen Co-op’s Irish Cream and White Chocolate cookies; if I wanted a quick almost-spicy hit I’d have punted for some cheap Matchsticks. There was some quality that definitely made the shortbread more interesting, but I think that to reach its true spicy objective it needed to light some bigger fires.

 

Final review rating: never play with lighters either – 3* out of 5.

Review by JAMES LEWIS

Wanderer, wonderer and writer of the Chocolate Dissection blog (which will ideally melt hearts rather than brains). Reliable with sarcasm, less so with a scalpel. Twitter: @IdeasJimbound

Return to homepage and read more reviews.