I always think of Thorntons as a chocolate store, so when they sent us through a selection of their toffees to try out, I was intrigued. Would they be as lovely as the chocolates I associate them with?
We started off with those fabulously chunky Special Toffee Slabs which look really old-fashioned (in a good way !). The packaging says "whack - eat - enjoy!".
Sophie needed no further encouragement and set about smashing them to bits with a rolling pin. It's a great stress reliever for a stroppy teen so I'll have to buy an emergency slab to keep in the cupboard at all times for whenever any of the Madhouse residents needs to let off some steam !
The first bar that we tried was Apple Crumble Slab, with a generous scattering of dried apple pieces over the top. This has the perfect chewy toffee texture and really gives your jaw a workout ! It tastes creamy, buttery and sweet - imagine the taste of Quality Street Toffee Pennies but in a much more indulgent form, with an undercurrent of apple thrown into the mix. Utterly delicious.
Next was the Chocolate Brownie Slab which is equally indulgent but with a lovely chocolatey flavour added. This one seemed slighter harder and not quite as chewy as the other two bars but is still very nice.
The suprise unanimous favourite though was the Tutti Frutti Slab which has the perfect balance of creamy toffiness and an unidentifiable but delicious fruity flavour that perfectly complements it.
After breaking all three slabs up, I put them all into a biscuit tin and nobody is capable of walking past it without helping themselves to a piece ! It's totally moreish but the fact that you get jaw ache when you eat too much works as a gentle reminder that you should probably stop eating it at some point !
The Fabulous Fudge is also very nice. It comes as loose unwrapped cubes in the bag which surprised me and again gave it a slightly olde-worlde feel, reminding me of the loose sweets that I used to buy in the sweetshop on the way home from school (when they were still weighed in quarters and cost pennies !). The vanilla flavour is perfectly dosed, it has a lovely buttery flavour and the ideal slightly crumbly, slightly chewy texture. It almost melts in your mouth and is once again far too moreish !
We still have a box of Chocolate Smothered Special Toffee to discover but we haven't decided yet if we'll keep it for our next Sunday afternoon family film session or add it to someone's Christmas box.
If, like me, you only knew Thornton's for their chocolates, you should certainly check out what else they have on offer. It's definitely opened my eyes - and reminded me just how much fun it is to spend an afternoon chomping on toffee until it sticks your jaws together !
star rating : 5/5
RRP : Chocolate Smothered Special Toffee Box (485g)£4.99, Apple Crumble/Chocolate Brownie/ Tutti Frutti Slab (250g) £5.99, Vanilla Fudge Bag (285g)£2.99
for more information : http://www.thorntons.co.uk
Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.
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Love love love this kind of toffee. It reminds me of visiting a particular person's house when I was a kid.
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