Cadbury Marvellous Creations Caramel Shake

Cadbury exploded into September with not only three new flavours in the Marvellous Creations blocks, but a new sub-range of bite-size lollies that follow the Marvellous Creations idea, but are perhaps a little simpler than their bigger siblings. First up is Caramel Shakes.

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Remember Mini Drops from around the time of the initial MC range launch? While those particular lollies have fallen by the wayside (they're still available, although not getting a whole lot of love), these new bite-size pieces are similar in terms of packaging and size. The gusseted bag is made from a glossy, thick plastic, and features the new 'Dairy Milk' logo as well as the MC logo. It only holds 150g, but it feels like a decent amount of stock inside.

The tagline describes the pieces as 'Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate and crunchy caramel pieces in a caramel-flavoured crispy candy shell'. So, similar but different. On opening the bag, there's a strong, artificial caramel scent, a bit like that from caramel-filled Easter eggs. It's rich and very sweet, and not in a very pleasant way. The pieces are the same shape and size as those used for Mini Drops, a neat little egg-shape, although some were slightly misshapen. They are either a dark brown or light tan colour, and have been panned well for a smooth and glossy finish.

Although the tagline mentions a caramel-flavoured shell, I wasn't able to get a good flavour profile off it. The shell is less sweet than a standard sugar shell, but there was no caramel flavour there for me. The chocolate centre is smooth and creamy in typical Dairy Milk fashion, with a strong milky influence. Buried within the chocolate are small, crunchy pieces of caramel. There's not many per piece but they add a strong caramel flavour, rich in toffee notes, to the chocolate. Caramel and chocolate always goes well together and this is no exception.

I found that letting the pieces dissolve in the mouth achieved the best flavour experience. Chewing them disintegrates the caramel pieces before the flavour can truly be enjoyed. Unfortunately, about ten minutes after I stopped eating them, I had a bit of an unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth. It didn't last too long, but it did diminish the experience a little.

As a point of interest, the nutritional panel states that there is approximately six serves per bag, at a serve of 25g, which it suggests is 28 pieces. That sounded like a lot, so I got out my scale and measured it out. 28 pieces weighed 29g for me, and is about a handful's worth.

Score: 3.5 out of 5 jelly beans.

Marvellous Creations Caramel Shakes are made in New Zealand, and contain milk, wheat glucose syrup and soy. They may contain traces of peanuts and tree nuts.