This month me and Jon have been testing out our first Degustabox. I have been fancying trying out Degustabox since they first came out. We are very much foodies in the Two Hearts household and I for one am always willing to try something new. So I have teamed up with Degustabox to try and work some of their surprise items in to recipes for the summer months. I can’t wait to see what I get and what I can come up with, I love a good recipe challenge.
We haven’t had a chance to try it all yet but here is what we got in our first box
- Rekorderlig Strawberry and Lime Cider – I am already a big fan of Rekorderlig cider so know I will like this, but I am thinking of using it to cook a pork joint instead!
- Zeo Soft Drinks – Natural spring water blended with fruit and botanicals, I had only seen these before in the supermarket, but never tried them. We got the Zesty Lime and the Peach & Grapefruit, see our review below
- Coconom Organic Coconut Sugar – Ours was the Tamarind and Tumeric version. This stuff looks so different to anything I have tried before and am currently trying to work out what to use it for, will let you know what I think of it then
- Vybe Coconut Water – Again not something I have tried before but I know lots of people who have and they usually say how refreshing it is. But I will be using this to make frozen yogurt or ice-cream I think (keep an eye out for a review at a later date)
- Kallo Corn and Rice Snacks – We got a pack of Kallo crisps and chocolate covered rice thins. I really like flavoured rice cakes so am looking forward to snacking on the crisps soon, but I wanted to do something different with the chocolate coated rice cakes so see below for what I came up with.
- Multigrain Melba Thins – I have eaten these a few times before but have never done anything interesting with them other than top them with pate, cheese, ham, etc (the usual things) so this time I am trying to think of a recipe where they might work, fingers crossed I come up with something.
- Love Chin Chin – Love Chin Chin is the West African sweet snack sensation that ‘crunches like a biscuit, tastes like a cake!’ I have yet to taste them, but they sound yummy to me!
- Icycl Vodka Ice Lolly – Ok this one is missing from the photos because I popped it in the freezer when I opened the box so it would be ready when I wanted it and forgot to take it out for a photo. I haven’t tried it yet but it is a vodka based lolly pop, which sounds good as I am a vodka drinker
- Pitch Chocolate Brioche – We love brioche in the Two Hearts household and they tend to vanish super fast! We got 2 packs in the box, a traditional hazelnut one and a chocolate chip one. We munched the traditional ones pretty sharpish and they were really yummy, nice and soft and sweet.
We decided to try out the Zeo soft drinks as soon as they were nice and chilled in the fridge. As I said above I had seen them in Tesco recently but hadn’t tried them myself. Jon wasn’t that much of a fan of either (although rathered the lime) as he thought they tasted a little like week fizzy squash, but I quite enjoyed both as I thought they were really refreshing. I started off liking the lime more but the peach and grapefruit grew on me in the end. The have a mild flavour, so aren’t very strong, but that is quite nice in this heat at the moment.
Finally here is what we did with the Kallo chocolate and caramel rice cake thins and the Eboni Ac Eifori Toffee Sauce we were sent from the M&S Tastes of British Isles range (which will be showcased at this year’s Royal Welsh Show)…Toffee Cheesecake!
Kallo Rice Cake Based Toffee Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 2 packs of Kallo Chocolate and Caramel Rice Cake Thins
- 200 g milk chocolate
- 1 Jar Eboni Ac Eifori Toffee Sauce
- 500 g Soft Cheese
- 250 g Double Cream
- 150 g Icing Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Instructions
- Place the rice cakes in a freezer bag and use a rolling pin (or jar) to crush them up into small pieces
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a bowl of boiling water
- In a large bowl mix the rice cake crumbs together with the chocolate until well combined
- Pour the mixture into a spring form cake tin and pat into the base, smoothing into all the edges until evenly covered
- Pop in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set
- Once it has started to cool pour over the entire jar of toffee and spread to form an even layer then replace in the fridge for another 10-15 mins
- In another large bowl mix together the soft cheese, vanilla essence and icing sugar until combined, then add the double cream and mix until smooth
- Pour over the base and smooth until evenly distributed in the tin
- Pop in the fridge and leave overnight until fully set
- Cut and enjoy!
The cheesecake turned out really well, but was a little soft so I have added extra icing sugar to the recipe as that will stiffen it a little more! It was really tasty though and the rice cake base was different but still really good, its a fun idea if you want something other than the traditional biscuit base. The toffee sauce from Eboni ac Eifori is so nice, really rich and smooth, I think it would be great on ice-cream too!
Products provided for review purposes