Biscuit Review: Jam’n Custard – Jammie Dodgers

Rash buys are the best buys –  usually.

On yet another fabled trip through the harrowing aisles of the local Tesco, childish greed got the best of me. Upon seeing a seemingly endless pit of discounted Burtons Food‘s Jammie Dodgers, before I knew it I was shovelling four packs into my basket. It wasn’t until later, when unpacking my swag, I realised that they were not just any jammie dodgers but a new jam and custard hybrid.

Jam + Custard: Jamard Dodger

New and improved

I think it is important to note that having not grown up eating jammie dodgers I have no real emotional attachment to them. In fact, truth be told, I often get them confused with the similar (and some say superior) Fox’s Jam rings.

The idea of a stretchy dehydrated jam filling is not the most appetising, but strangely enough the allure of the friendly raspberry-coloured filling poking out of a heart-shaped hole in the ‘shortcake’ fills you with child-like nostalgia of times when snack food was an indulgence and, therefore, was allowed to be as dehydrated and artificial as possible… in fact, the more so the better.

The decision however to add a custard element to the scene is a strange one. Sure, it is a new product and therefore simply by it being released it (in theory) will add new impetus to the product’s selling power, but the question I ask is it any good.

This is not the first time that the Jammie Dodger product has offered alternatives to the original product. Remember the Berrilicious? or the Outrageous Orange? No? Me neither. Honestly, I think that Burtons Foods have missed the mark with the inclusion of the custard jammie. By halving the amount of raspberry flavoured plum-jam and adding the custard they have removed half of what made the original so appealing – the jam.

Even the appearance of it is affected. We no longer that cute little red heart that we automatically associate with Jammie Dodgers. Instead we see half a heart, showing the poetic justice of the half-hearted attempt to reinvent this British childhood icon.

Price

Reduced to 0.43p per packet.

Breakfast review: Jordan’s Country Crisp

Recent studies (my compiling of the shopping list) have shown that most consumed items in our house are the breakfast items. Fed up of having nothing in the fridge for the past week, my housemate and I set out on a quest to spend ALL the money in order to replenish our bare cabinets… Onwards, to Tesco!

The Choice

This shopping trip was unlike previous ones. Instead of picking up the normal thousand-strong multipack of Weetabix, and own-brand Fruit and Fibre (to keep us ticking), we started talking about the delights of eating breakfast at our parents houses.

Parents always seem to have the expensive delicious cereals. You know the ones: filled with 5-essential grains and packed full of dehydrated fruit. All that talk of puffy wheat and grain eventually took its toll as I dived into the unknown (milky) waters of Jordan’s cereals.

Jordan’s Country Crisp Flame Raisins

The purple'un: Country Crisp raisins

Presentation

In today’s supermarkets it is essential to have a product that stands out. There is something wonderfully wholesome about Jordan’s presentation. Its rage of products are kissed with warm colours, that don’t offend but rather entice you to pick up the product.

There is also something that makes you feel as though you are going a little bit more up-market, beyond the kellogs, but not loitering in the upper classes of the ‘dorset cereal’ collection.

My one gripe with the packaging is the concerted effort to inform you of their use of natural ingredients on the back of the box. Important, sure, but it comes across a bit ‘holier than thou’. If you were going to buy cereal on the extensive use of adjectives alone, then there would be empty shelves where the Jordans should be.

Taste

As you grow up you begin to lose the need to eat cereals that corrode your teeth. Slowly but surely the coco pops and sugar puffs disappear from your cupboards as you realise that you need more than a sugar rush to get you through the day.

Despite all their self-praise, what is inside the box is everything you want it to be. Its crispy and it doesn’t go instantly soggy the minute it is shown to milk. There is a good amount of raisins and hazelnuts mixed in to keep things interesting too.

Price

£3.49   –   for a 750g box

The Verdict

Country Crisp is a brilliant treat, but that is exactly what it is, a treat. Despite how much I enjoy eating it, it still feels like an indulgence rather than a daily cereal.  Maybe I will be a convert when I have children and they come round to mine for a breakfast treat.

out.