I absolutely love jelly beans. In fact, for pretty much every birthday and Christmas present, I get jelly beans in some shape or form from my mum and dad. This year I got a funky jelly bean dispenser under the Christmas tree which will certainly be getting a lot of use !
I was therefore over the moon when Jelly Belly, who I consider as the ultimate jelly bean brand, gave me the chance to sample some of their goodies. I'm not the only one to think that they are in a league of their own - they are actually dubbed The Original Gourmet Jelly Bean. They do cost more than most other brands but it's like comparing Haagen Dazs with supermarker own brand ice cream. Jelly Belly are far to good to be wasted on the kids, these are to be brought out and savoured individually once they're in bed, not eaten by the handful without thinking about the flavours ! Well, they are here at The Madhouse anyway !
Jelly Belly generously sent me some packs of three mixes - Sours, in the green pack, Fruit Bowl, in the purple pack, and 20 Flavours in the red pack. Each pack contains a transparent plastic jelly bean shaped box that holds 40g of jelly beans, which is perfect if you want to stop yourself from eating too many in one sitting.
The 20 Flavours selection contains many of the most popular flavours (well, mine anyway - except for liquorice, ewww, who put that in there ?!) and is a great place to start if you're a Jelly Belly virgin ! The mix contains Island Punch, Green Apple, Liquorice, Watermelon, Bubble Gum, Orange Sherbet, Lemon, Lemon lime, Coconut, Blueberry, Tangerine, Chocolate Pudding, Peach, Buttered Popcorn, Tutti Fruitti, Toasted Marshmallow, Very Cherry, Strawberry Daiquiri, Cotton Candy (Candy Floss) and Pina Colada. The Sour Mix, which is guaranteed to wake up your taste buds (and is great for cleansing your palate if you've accidentally bitten into a liquorice or coffee- flavoured one by mistake !), comprises Sour Cherry, Sour Strawberry, Sour Blueberry, Sour Lemon, Sour Raspberry, Sour Grape, Sour Apple, Sour Orange, Sour Peach and Sour Watermelon. If you give a few to your kids, get the camera ready for some funny face-pulling ! And the lovely Fruit Bowl mix (my favourite) offers Tangerine, Green Apple, Blueberry, Coconut, Very Cherry, Lemon, Red Apple, Watermelon, Plum, Raspberry, Peach, Juicy Pear, Pink Grapefruit, Grape, Top Banana and Lemon lime.
The big thing that makes Jelly Belly stand out from the rest is the taste. They pack in a much more intense, recognisable and authentic, natural-tasting flavour than other brands. When I started reading up more about how they are made, I started to see why. Jelly Belly explain : "Using a time honoured method and the unique Jelly Belly know how, a single jelly bean can take up to 21 days to create. The 90 authentic flavours use natural ingredients wherever possible and can be combined to create an almost infinite number of taste experiences. Traditional flavours like Green Apple and Very Cherry have endured for 35 years – ever since Jelly Belly was first cooked up - but this year the big favourites are as likely to be Green Tea and Chilli Mango as Piňa Colada and Juicy Pear." I love the Rookies page on the website, where you can discover up-and-coming new flavours which may or may not make it into the official 50 line-up. Current Rookies are Chilli Mango, Guava, Honey, Lychee & Passion Fruit.
Just one bean packs in enough flavour to be enjoyed on its own, but what I really love doing is trying out the Jelly Belly recipes (that you can see here or here for example). It's great fun sifting through the pack trying to find the right beans for the ingredients and there's something incredibly juvenile but satisfying in stuffing a whole load of beans in your mouth in one go to try and get a new, authentic flavour ! While many of the recipes only need three or four beans, the ultimate indulgence is the Banana Split recipe which calls for Top Banana, Chocolate Pudding, Crushed Pineapple, Strawberry Jam, Very Cherry and French Vanilla. That may sound like a weird and wacky combination that has nothing to do with a banana split but try it - it really does work ! The recipes are also a great way of using up the flavours you don't like - in my case, the coffee-flavoured and liquorice ones, which can be transformed into a more palatable Tiramisu or Raspberry Mocha, for example.
If you've been following my blog, you'll know that my New Year's resolutions revolve around losing weight with the Thinking Slimmer SlimPod (see here), the MuTu System (see here) and Jenny Craig (see here). I was therefore over the moon to discover that each Jelly Belly jelly bean contains just 4 calories and is free from fat, as well as wheat, nuts, gluten, dairy and gelatine. (They are certified OU Kosher and are suitable for vegetarians too.) As each bean is so full of flavour, I'll be able to have the odd one or two as a special treat and it will contain much fewer calories than sneaking in a chocolate or biscuit.
Jelly Belly jelly beans are available in Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury, Tesco, all major department stores and the best independent sweet shops and delis. Telephone 0800 018 4416 for your nearest stockist. The full range of Jelly Belly product can also be purchased at www.jellybelly-uk.com .
I will also have a lovely Jelly Belly giveaway coming up for you lucky people so watch this space !
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £20.40 for a 1kg bag but various prices/sizes available
for more information : www.jellybelly-uk.com
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OOh I love Jelly Bellys! Didn't realise how low in cals they are though! That's even better! :D
ReplyDeleteMouthwatering ! I just love the look of these , it would be fun experimenting with the mad flavours !
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