Thursday, November 02, 2006

Caffé Nero organic 'gluten free' chocolate brownie

Looking at the size of this brownie, having paid £1.40 for it, I'm already a bit pissed off. It doesn't look great. Like the Pret and EAT offerings, it's like a snack-sized brownie, not a real, filling, chocolately treat. It looks old. But I crumbled a corner off it and it surprised me slightly. It doesn't taste how I expected it to - it's quite floury, which is interesting as it proudly displays 'gluten free' no less than twice on the front of the label, and has a texture and flavour as though it is made with ground almonds - although the only reference to nuts on its list of ingredients is the usual disclaimer re. traces of nuts. It's quite dense and not very moist. And you can definitely taste the Madagascan vanilla they mention as the final ingredient on the label. The chocolate chunks (they're bigger than chips) on the top are a bit stale-tasting, as with all these packaged brownies, that's why the Honeyrose brownie does so well - no stale chips. Chocolate chips may look good, but they don't taste great. The problem with this brownie is that it just doesn't appeal - it's just a typical sandwich/coffee chain's boring excuse for a brownie and I think it's outrageous to charge £1.40 for such a dull snack. 1.5/5

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