Mars M&M's Toffee Apple

Mars are continuing their fruit theme of late (M&M's Pineapple and Pods Raspberries and Cream) with another totally unexpected combination: M&M's Toffee Apple. Have they hit it out of the park?

Read on below!

Mars Pods Raspberries and Cream

I love Pods. I want to hug whatever genius came up with these crunchy little nuggets of delight. They're unique to anything else on the market, with that crunchy biscuit cup filled with deliciousness. And yet they don't seem to get a lot of love, or a huge advertising budget. But Mars continue to roll out new flavours for our crunchy bitesize biscuits, for which I am grateful! Raspberries and Cream is our next new seasonal flavour, following the crumb trail left by its cousin Cookies and Cream.

Snickers Limited Edition Xtreme Caramel

The 2014 limited edition version of the Snickers bar from Mars is a play on a Mars bar LE we saw recently; caramel, caramel and more caramel. Xtreme Caramel does away with the nougat layer and replaces it with more caramel.

Gossip: new M&M's, new Pods and new Mentos!

Another month and the new releases just keep on rolling! There are some really exciting ones this time around, so read on and keep an eye on those shelves!

Snickers Limited Edition Almond

Here I am, running behind again! I originally announced the 2014 Snickers limited edition back in June last year (has it really been that long?). Contrary to my note in the Gossip post, Australia has actually seen Snickers Almond on its shelves before - it was released back in 2011. Mars and other confectionery companies do like to repeat their most popular limited editions, often as a part of market research that could see the flavour introduced to the regular line-up.

Mars Milky Way Banana Choc

A favourite of kids everywhere, Milky Way bars (not to be confused with Milky Ways from the US) are still as popular now as they were when I was at school (oh no that makes me sound old!). The newest seasonal release flavour is Banana Choc.

Gossip: New Mars seasonal release, new Sour Patch gummis, and more!

I have new releases coming out of my ears! Let's jump right in.

Mars M&M's Pineapple

This time last year, Mars released M&M's Raspberry. Although there's been another seasonal release between now and then (Vanilla Shake), it seems Mars has returned to fruit for flavour inspiration with its new release, M&M's Pineapple.

Follow the link to read on!

Gossip: New M&M's, new Marvellous Creations, new Wonka - oh my!

Hey! - followers of my Twitter account and/or Facebook page get new release gossip as I find it on the shelves, but it can take me a little while to compile it all here for blog readers, so make sure you follow me on Twitter, or like the Facebook page to get up-to-date info!

Where oh where do I begin? It's been a little while since I've pulled everything together for a gossip column, but I think we should go straight to the most exciting one:

Mars M&M's in pineapple!

Gossip: Cadbury Dairy Milk Crackle and Mars Snickers Almond land on shelves, and Mentos Tutti Fruitti launched

First up: while travelling in rural WA a couple of weekends ago, I stumbled across one of Cadbury's five new Dairy Milk blocks: Crackle. (I laugh because it still hasn't arrived in my metro supermarkets yet!)

The block didn't survive the journey home so all I have is this wrapper, but I promise a review as soon as I can find another block!

While out on the same trip, I spotted a new Mentos flavour: Tutti Fruitti. Like many Mentos flavours, this one has been available internationally for some time, but seems to have only just made the jump here. I didn't have the chance to take a picture, so thanks to the internet for supplying.

Finally, Snickers Almond from Mars has begun to arrive on shelves. Again, this release isn't a world-exclusive; the US has been sitting on this flavour for years. Review coming soon!

Mars M&M's Vanilla Shake

Back in September last year, we saw Mars put out their last seasonal release of M&M's with the Raspberry flavour. It's about time for a new one, so here we are with Vanilla Shake. Read on for the review!

Mars Pods Cookies and Cream

It feels like ages since we've had a new Pods flavour from Mars, and that's true - the last flavour, Honeycomb Bites, came out in early 2012. It's good to see a new flavour hitting the market, ven if it is the current 'flavour of the moment', cookies and cream.

Head after the jump for the rest of the review!

Gossip: Mars Pods Cookies and Cream

As spotted in the current Coles catalogue, Mars Pods have put out a new flavour - Cookies and Cream.

Anyone else seeing a bit of a trend in these flavours lately? It's been a while since we've had a new flavour from Pods - the last was back in early 2012, with Honeycomb Pods - so it's good to see something new!

Let me know if you see it in the wild! lollyaddictaust@gmail.com

Mars Limited Edition Choc Loaded

Does this look familiar to anyone else? That would be because back in 2006 and 2011, Mars released a triple-choc version of their classic Mars Bar. Although I couldn't find even a picture of the release, a forum post from 2006 indicates that Mars Bar XXX (Triple Choc) contained chocolate nougat and chocolate caramel - which, if you take a look at the product description on the Choc Loaded bar that reads: "chocolate nougat and chocolate caramel covered in thick milk chocolate", is awfully similar!

Head after the jump to read more!

Gossip: New M&M's, New Skittles Tropical and new Starburst!

It's all happening at the moment!

Reader Chris has already spotted the brand new M&M's seasonal release in the wild, and the flavour is 'Vanilla Shake'.

Interesting! I love vanilla so I'm looking forward to reviewing it! Thanks for sharing, Chris!

In addition, Starburst (distributed by Wrigley's) also have not one, not two but three new releases out on the shelves already! Photographed below is 'Very Berry Chews', 'Snakes and Ladders' and 'Noughts and Crosses'. The latter two are an interesting play on the classic games.

I didn't even know Skittles were releasing a new seasonal release, but I suppose it is that time of year! New 'Tropical' flavour mix is in a bright blue package. Have you tried it yet?

Lastly, I have new releases from Lindt and The Natural Confectionery Company that will be reviewed very shortly - stay tuned!

Gossip: New Milky Way

Since I tend to frequent supermarkets now, rather than corner stores, my first encounter with the new Mars Milky Way Choc Top was in the large 'funsize' share packs. It has eventually turned up in single bar size, but it took its sweet time!

The 25g bar combines chocolate and vanilla flavours of whipped nougat, layered neatly, and then enrobed in smooth milk chocolate.

Have you tried it yet?

Mars M&M's Raspberry

Following on from their last seasonal release, M&M's Crispy Mint, Mars have just released their 2013 flavour: Raspberry.US confectionery lovers may be thinking that this is just an import of the US flavour dark chocolate raspberry, but you're mistaken. Although it doesn't explicitly say 'milk chocolate' on the packaging, the ingredients list reveals that the chocolate contains 28% cocoa solids, a number which is still squarely in the range of milk chocolate. That also means that Raspberry M&M's are a completely and utterly new product to Australia. Cool, huh?

The pack is a beautiful dark pink colour, a great representation of the raspberry flavour (also a great pedicure colour). It's a colour family Mars hasn't really used before for the M&M's range, possibly to avoid clashing with Maltesers. The pack features characters Red and Yellow. Poor Red has been turned into a bright red raspberry, complete with little hairs and green leaf and stem, while Yellow looks on appreciatively. It's a really cute image and one that has been used for a lot of the advertising.

The M&M's themselves are in three shades of colour: white, warm pink and dark red. The famous 'm' stamp is blueish-white on the two darker colours, and a weird browny colour on the white.The description on the pack reveals that the raspberry flavour will be found in the chocolate rather than the shell, and the bite-size pieces of chocolate are the same size as original M&M's.

Unlike the Crispy Mint variety, there's no scent beyond chocolate to these. The taste, however, is quite strong and distinct. Just one single button has a lot of flavour - it's most definitely raspberry. The flavour is delicious, with warm raspberry notes, a touch of tanginess and lots of milky chocolate, complemented by the crunchy candy shell. For an artificial flavour, Mars has done a very good job of working some magic here. While the flavour works with the milk chocolate, I bet it would also be delicious with dark chocolate, albeit in a block or bar. The warmth of the raspberry notes is rather feminine, so I'm not sure if it will be appreciated much by the menfolk. These are great - the sweetness is not cloying or in your face, and lets the real flavour shine through.

I wouldn't go so far as to call the flavour scoffable, though; I think the flavour requires a little appreciation and time to enjoy the taste. The raspberry flavour likes to hang around a little afterwards as well. I do find the timing of the release a little odd - it's a flavour that makes me think of hot drinks and winter, not summertime, so I'll be enjoying these as much as I can up until summer hits.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Mars M&M's Raspberry are made in Australia. A serve is 25g. They contain wheat, milk and soy. There may be traces  of peanuts, treenuts and barley present.

Gossip: M&M's Raspberry

Brand new to the Australian market are Raspberry M&M's. According to social media they have been available in Coles for around two weeks, but they have been a bit slow to make it over west. Thanks to reader Chris to alerting me to their existence! And sharing a picture for us.

I am very much looking forward to reviewing these on the weekend, as raspberry is not a flavour Australia has seen in M&M's before.

(I'm sharing this promo image from the Coles catalogue as I think Red makes a great berry!)

Gossip: Mars M&M's Orange

It was only back in December that I reviewed the M&M's Orange release, and now they are back on the shelves! That's quite a short period of time between releases. I don't think that this is the Crispy version (but I could be mistaken) so perhaps they could be the dark chocolate version, or maybe they have been added to the regular lineup (unlikely). Why do you think we are seeing this flavour again?

Mars Bounty Cherry

As with most of their products, Mars likes to cycle through a seasonal variation alongside the regular or original flavours. Both Mars Bar and Snickers are good examples of this. Bounty, on the other hand, tends to be left out of this cycle (or at least doesn't rotate through it as quickly as the other bars). In the past it has been available in dark chocolate, which is no longer available, and cherry first became available in 2009, and disappeared shortly afterwards. Now it's back!

The red and silver packaging is immediately obvious compared to the blue and silver of the standard plain coconut-flavoured Bounty. On the side of the pack, the bar claims to contain 'moist tender coconut and cherries in dark chocolate' and happily the pack contains graphics of both cherries and coconut.

Inside we have the two small bars with rounded ends, and three triangles/flows of chocolate on top. (Wikipedia tells me Mars attempted to trademark the bar shape and the three triangles back in 2003, which ultimately fell through.) The chocolate is nice and rich in colour, a nice dark brown with faint gloss. Even through the chocolate is thick and solid, I can smell the coconut and a faint cherry scent as well. Thankfully, neither are overbearing as some bars tend to be.

The chocolate layer is quite solid and thick (almost 2mm in places), and holds in place the bright red coconut inside. I was surprised to discover that the coconut didn't really resemble the long thin pieces you would find in a bag of dessicated coconut, but instead looks like wet sand that has dried. It has a faint faux-cherry scent to it too, though the chocolate keeps it from becoming too medicinal. There are also no signs of cherry pieces (like one would find in a Cadbury Cherry Ripe), so the bar seems to be just cherry-flavoured coconut. The ingredients list states that the bar contains the equivilant of 4.6% fresh cherries, and 'red cherry puree' is sitting down in sixth position on the list. So that line of 'moist tender cherries and coconut' is bull!

The solid chocolate coating provides a lovely crunch, and the flavour is surprisingly nice. The coconut provides mostly texture rather than flavour, and the cherry and chocolate balance each other out to provide a bit that is mild but presents both flavours equally. If you're looking for a very mild version of a Cadbury Cherry Ripe, then this is your bar, but otherwise it provides no competition. The coconut is pleasingly moist and chewy.

I'm not a fan of coconut and the way it sticks in your teeth so this is not a bar I would personally purchase again, and this may colour my rating somewhat.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

One piece is one serve (22.5g). The chocolate contains a minimum of 38% cocoa solids. It may contain treenuts, egg, barley and peanuts.