Cadbury Marvellous Creations Toffee Apple Chew

Intent on making a splash, and capitalising on the loyalty gained last year with the initial launch of the Marvellous Creations range from Joyville, Cadbury have released three new flavours into the carnival-inspired range, plus additional products. The large blocks see the three new flavours: Toffee Apple Crunch, Orange Lolly Chew and Cola Popping Candy, with two of those also introduced into the 45g medium bars (cola and orange), and all three in the ice creams range. In addition, a bagged 'bitesize' range has debuted, with another three new flavours. All will be reviewed in time!

Let's dive in with the most interesting block - Toffee Apple Crunch. Head after the jump to read more!

Unlike the other two flavours, the description of Toffee Apple makes me a little wary. 'Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate, packed full of toffee apple chew pieces, toffee apple chips and Crunchie bits.' Crunchie I'm cool with - but toffee apple chew pieces and chips? I suppose the chew pieces may be a fruit chew similar to the old Allen's Toffee Apple chews, that are no longer available (Wonka make a similar one), and perhaps the chips are pieces of toffee that are apple flavoured. And of course classic Dairy Milk chocolate - no problem there.

Opening the block reveals a strange chocolate-and-toffee aroma. It's sweet, as one would expect, but there's also the rich, caramelly notes of toffee and then an artificial smell I can't quite identify. The block mould itself is no different to the initial Marvellous Creations range; a haphazard cobble-stone appearance alternately textured and smooth. Through the chocolate one can catch glimpses of dark (the chips) and light (either the chew or the Crunchie bits).

Like with many of the other MC varieties, there's a variety of textures at play in the mouth. The most obvious is the sharpness and crunch of toffee and Crunchie pieces, and then there's the toffee chews. As I suspected, they are pieces of a fruit-chew type of lolly (the pink pieces you can see in the cross-section photo). They have a firm texture that means they stand out quite prominently against the soft chocolate and the sharp toffee chips. They have quite a strong flavour too, aided by the large quantity of pieces. I found they stuck to my teeth a bit too.

The flavour combination is bizarre - there's no other way to describe it. It's as if someone took a toffee apple chew, rolled it in toffee chips for texture and then drenched it in chocolate. Like the scent suggested, it's strong and in your face, dominating over the chocolate. I can't imagine what Cadbury was thinking when they created this combination. I like toffee apple so went into this with an open mind, but ended up disappointed.

Sorry, Cadbury - let's hope the next flavours make a swan dive rather than a cannon ball in my mouth!

Score: 2 out of 5 jelly beans.

Cadbury Marvellous Creations Toffee Apple Chew is made in Australia. It contains milk, wheat and soy, and may contain traces of egg, peanuts and tree nuts.