Christmas may have ended already and now January has, but the festive food in this house is long lingering on! Last year Christmas came earlier than ever with so much coming out earlier than usual. I was getting festive food in early September. Not unlike other years i always have an abundance of foods to try. I still even at January’s end have Puddings and Mince pies to try.

This will be a round up of all i have currently tried from Crisps, Confectionery, Drinks, Puddings and Mince Pies. My honest opinion and review. Returning favourites i have not included as i talked about these before. I have also left out my annual Panettone search as i have 8 at least still to eat!!

You can also follow my individual reviews of these festive products over on my instagram @adampastryguy Well let`s get started!

Nothing signals the start of Christmas than a Mince Pie siting! and the start of the Mince Pie wars. I as usual searched for new flavours out and got to try several more. Some escaped my grasp and couldn’t get hold of like Aldi`s Choc hazelnut ones. Tesco had 2 new ones Speculoos and the Festive spice salted caramel crumble one. I have not tried the latter yet, the Speculoos had my imagining Biscoff meets Mince Pie but no was mainly hard Buttercream and a little bit of spiced Mincemeat. Sainsburys had Clementine Gin winter Berry ones. They had a mainly Orangey taste but nice. Aldi had mini ones very posh Kirsch Amaretto Pecan and Maple and Walnut Buttercream topped. all nice a full size version would have been great! Asda had one entry Irish Cream Buttercream topped, such promise but was just a very faint tasting topping on top a normal Mince Pie.

We then have the Mince Pie alternative category

Picked up these actually after Xmas in the Co-cop wish i had got more. Warming Gingerbread sponge and a Toffee layer at the bottom in a pastry case yumm. Chocolate & Clementine Tarts from Tesco were ok. Also not tried yet are the Sticky Toffee Pudding Pies from M&S

After Mince Pies it`s Cheese signalling Christmas is here. Some still not tried and will add to my reviews as i do. From Morrisons to Waitrose. I have literally just notice they are all but 2 Wensleydale!

Definite favorites were the Festive fruits with Orange Liqueur Tesco, Espresso Martini from Aldi so smooth like a pate and also the Chocca Mocha from Waitrose.

Bring on the Desserts and Cakes!

Their are more than this but they reside in the freezer and the Panettone mountain of 8? still to consume plus 2 more Xmas puds.

I have never had a Tunis cake, and after my Dad saying about them when he was younger, i found one on sale in Morrisons after xmas for £2. Simply a Chocolate topped Maderia Cake, the Cake was a bit dry and the Chocolate was quite solid to cut and eat. Festive desserts i usually get after Xmas in the Sales, and we have for dessert after Sunday Dinner.

Gingerbread & Butterscotch Bombe from Lidl – Warming Ginger Sponge with a Butterscotch filling this was nice on sale for £1.13 each. 1 serves 2 but i got 3. Gingerbread salted Caramel Roulade from Sainsburys yet to try was £1.75. Vientetta brought out a festive Chocolate yule log flavour, very Chocolatey. And although Passion fruit is not overly festive Cheesecake bites, these mainly i feel were for festive parties and new years.

Mention of also the Soreen seasonal bars Gingerbread and White chocolate berry. Though not cake still a sweet treat for lunch. Gingerbread one was nice prob my fave one.

Is it Christmas without any Chocolate?

  • Heston Bucks Fizz candles from Waitrose- these are expensive for just 4 or 5 but they were very nice, White chocolate goes well with the Orange choc filling.
  • Dairymilk winter Orange – yet to try
  • Waitrose Dark choc coated Turkish delight – came in a wooden box again expensive but this was very nice
  • Waitrose Butterscotch Mallows – bit meh
  • Irish creme Liqueur popcorn Tesco okay
  • Mince Pie popcorn Morrisons was okay not pictured
  • Flipz Gingerbread Pretzels – loved these
  • Sainsburys Blond chocolate covered Honeycomb pieces- these stuck to my teeth when eating not a fan.
  • Colin the Caterpillar White choc mint faces- remind me of the After eight white years ago, loved them.
  • Milkybar festive friends- various small shapes with a crisp cereal filling
  • Munchies Gingerbread- these were good
  • Gingerbread fudge bites M&S – nice and spicy Ginger and dark chocolate very nice and Moorish
  • Galaxy Gingerbread Crumble vegan- could not taste the Ginger bits main flavour was Hazelnut from the Choc bar base.
  • Mint snowballs from m&s not pictured untested
  • Crispy Oranges Terrys not pictured untested

Is it Christmas without Crisp-mas ( sorry lol)

  • Coronation Turkey Lattice from Tesco these were good
  • Chilli & Maple Parsnip- not see just Parsnip crisps before on their own, these were nice
  • Dark choc chilli tortilla crisps from m&s – got these quite late, after taste of chilli
  • Bratwurst Sausage flavour Tesco – not a fan of these
  • Walkers Mince Pies – novelty flavour slightly sweet and spiced i liked these.
  • Walkers Roast potato – novelty flavour were also nice
  • Golden wonder Turkey & stuffing- classic combo
  • Gravy Puffs – from the co-op these are basically better Beef Watsits, wish i had got a few more.
  • Mackies Boxing day Curry – very strong on the Curry flavour.
  • M&S although more sweet still technically a tortilla snack. The chocolate cinnamon Tortilla rolls. Need to stock up next year as they vanished from stores quickly and never came back.

When you see the Biscuit tins and selection boxes you know it`s also Christmas. Their are far more than these out there. This is just some i have tried.

  • Tesco brought out all these decorative tins with Biscuits inside, 5 different flavours the labels peeled off and perfect for storage. Fave was Apple crumble could eat the whole tube. Black forest was my 2nd fave though not as nice looking. Mince pie was my least fave £3 each
  • Gingerbread Latte Cookies Morrisons- Strong Ginger taste with choc chunks. names misleads coffee maybe involved but is not.
  • Christmas Pudding Digestives- Chocolate digestive gets a festive spice addition
  • Mince pie digestives – not pictured untested
  • M&S Chocolate &Orange Biscuits – basically a Choc orange Oreo much smaller.
  • Morrisons Xmas pudding soft filled biscuits – not pictured untried.

Jams, Chutney, Sauces, Spreads

  • Mimosa Marmalade from Sainsburys – Prosecco and Mandarin
  • Mulled wine Cranberry Sauce
  • Christmas Chutney from Sainsburys loved this with cold cuts of Gammon
  • Clementine Curd – this was lovely baked into a tart.
  • Bucks fizz Marmalade was from 2020
  • Christmas conserve also from 2020
  • festive tomato ketchup sainsburys – not pictured
  • M&S Trifle spread basically a fruity curd, not sure i would have curd on toast but in a cake yes.

Without a doubt Sainsburys lead the way with festive chutneys, Jams and spreads. Tesco with Crisps and snacks. Other categories are shared amongst the Supermarkets. Looking back at this it is a lot of food , no wonder i still haven’t got through it all. I will come back to this blog and update with untested products later. Their was also party foods festive meals and ciders!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my festive foods of 2021 and hopefully some of my favourites and new ones appear this year. Check out my Instagram for more food reviews and festive finds @adampastryguy thanks for reading

New blog post coming soon Veganuary – the bakes and eats

Adam x