***Thorntons Original Special Toffee.***


***Tempting toffee lovers since1925.***


Thorntons was established in 1911. From humble beginnings it now has an £180m turnover with almost 400 outlets Nationwide. Thorntons has become the UK's largest chocolate manufacturer.


***Thorntons Special Toffee*** comes in two sizes.

The 250g bag which costs £1.99 and 125g bag which is priced at .99p. The bag is made of plastic, of Buttermilk colour. It has basic no fuss packaging and is vacuum sealed at the top and bottom. To the front you have the words 'Original Special Toffee', beneath this it states 'Tempting Toffee lovers since 1925'. To the top of the packet you have a picture of some small uneven slabs of succulent toffee. The appeal lying in the natural state of the un-sized Toffee.

And I must say the Toffee does looks very appealing in the picture. The bag has a run of arrows to the top showing where you tear to open. To complete the front of the packet you have 'Thorntons' and their tag 'The Art of the Choclatier'. All in all it does give forth the impression of a company that is expert at their art.

The Thornton's shop itself was laid out beautifully with a wide selection of Chocolates, Toffees, and cakes. It was decorated in neutral beige and had a calming quality about it. It gave forth the impression and feel of an old fashioned chocolate shop, with individual Chocolates which you can purchase to try, in any quantity, large or small surrounding the glass fronted counter. I actually bought two Champagne Truffles and two Summer fruit chocolates for £1.25. And my meagre purchase was handed back to me beautifully packaged. I do like their packaging and boxing on their products. It is made with care and well designed.

I also like the personal touch of the free cake decoration service you are offered, on cakes and Easter Eggs. It is a lovely idea and makes the product more personal when the gift comes with your name written on it in fondant, or 'I love you' for Valentines gifts.



***Thorntons Original Special Toffee***

I found the bags of Special Toffee, I felt the bags and the toffee felt as if in big solid lumps, all stuck together, not in separate pieces.
I selected one of the packets and took it to the counter and handed it to the assistant for payment.

The shop assistant then proceeded to slap the bag of Toffee on the back counter really hard. I was quite bemused by this, not sure if I actually 'wanted' that bag any more. I wanted to go and change it for a bag that hadn't been slapped on the counter. She then did it again even harder! I was actually finding it hard not to say anything at this point, and I was beginning to feel really uneasy at what I was witnessing. She only went and did it again! :O I was now getting just a little bit angry, and couldn't wait to get out of the shop. It was not a pleasant experience!

As I was leaving, the 'reviewer' in me asked the question " Why did you do that with the Toffee?" Knowing I would want to share with you, her answer. "To break the Toffee up she said" Now surely that would be up to the individual whether they wanted their Toffee smashed up or left in great big lumps. I asked her if she had been told to do that. She informed me she had. So Management had been informed to tell their staff to do this, presumably from higher up. I was beginning to think there must be some fault with this Toffee already. And I was soon to discover what this was...

***On opening the packet your nostrils are assaulted by an overpowering aroma of sweetness, a sugary fudge smell. To be honest it smells quite sickly. Now I love Toffee, but I was not liking the very sweet smell of this product. I put my hand in the packet to choose a piece to taste, and my hand met a Massive lump of sticky toffee. The Toffee was all stuck together in a clump of pieces. Now the Toffee itself is not actually that hard, and I could easily tear a piece away from the huge pile I had found.***

Already I am not liking the softness of the product. I prefer Toffee to be hard, but Thorntons Special Toffee is actually quite soft. In comparison; much softer say, than a Toffo. It's more like a mixture of Fudge and Toffee I would say. And it felt quite rubbery when tearing away the piece I chose.


***On tasting the Toffee, I take a small chunk to taste, and it is indeed very soft as soon as it is in the mouth. It is quite chewy, but in a way you would chew Fudge, and it does actually taste like a combination of fudge and Toffee. I wouldn't say this product could remove a filling, it simply isn't hard enough, but it does attach itself to, and in between your teeth. So I would recommend brushing your teeth after eating the Special Toffee. It just might save a visit to the dentist! It is sticking to my palate a little, but not for long.***

And I am now wondering why the shop assistant needed to slap the Toffee on the counter. It isn't brittle, therefore it is not going to break up into pieces. The Toffee is very creamy and too sweet I feel; much too sweet, and it also has a tart tang to it, coming through after the sweetness, and it has left a strong after taste of sugar in my mouth. And now ten minutes later the bitter/sweet taste is still with me.


***The Ingredients listed to the reverse of the packet are:***

Sugar-Glucose syrup-Vegetable oil-Butter-Whole Milk- Partially inverted syrup-Sugar syrup-Salt 0.29g- And Flavouring- Unfortunately It doesn't state which kind of flavouring.

It also contains Humectant Sorbitol.

Sorbitol is used together with sugar to increase shelf-life. The function of Sorbitol is to stop the sugar becoming hard . It also helps to improve softess, taste and texture In butter creams, and the additional benefit is enhanced flavour. Also Sorbitol may be used in diabetic chocolates. Sorbitol IS from the E family: Being E420.

Which is why the Toffees I purchased yesterday have an eat by date of Feb 2008.

Thorntons do not use Emulsifiers or Stabilisers in their Special Toffee, and this is why It clumps together, I have just read this on the back of the packet. So now I know!


***Suitability***

Suitable for vegetarians; Gluten free recipe. Alcohol free recipe.

***WARNING***

May contain Nut trace!!

Thorntons have been making Special Toffee for over 80 years. And the recipe today is the same recipe used in 1925 which was created by Joseph William Thornton. The Toffee was cooked slowly in small pans to develop it's unique flavour, a practice they still adhere to today.


My Summing Up.
**************

Though being a Toffee lover, I do have to say I did not like the flavour, or the texture of the Special Toffee, though I did like the creaminess when broken down in the mouth. The aftertaste really was very lingering also. I didn't find the way the Toffee clumped together very attractive, and having to pull and stretch a piece off the mass, left my fingers very sticky.

And with 128 Calories per 25g portion, it is a bit high on the calorific content. I also need to know what flavourings are included; Most important!! I would feel this needs to be addressed and added to the list.

Although this product is not for me, I am recommending it, as taste does vary from person to person.

Other Special Toffees in the Thorntons range are:
****************************************

Original Toffee
Mint Toffee
Banana Toffee
Orange Toffee
Strawberry and Cream Toffee
Chocolate Toffee
Liquorice Toffee
Brazil Nut Toffee
Fruit and Nut Toffee
And Orange Toffee


Availability.
**********

Thorntons Toffees can be purchased from many Supermarkets, or from one of their many franchises nationwide. They currently hold about 180 in England alone. Also take a look at their Website. They have a wonderful range of products where you can order a product or gift of your choice, which they will then deliver for you at a charge.


I feel the pricing of their Special Toffee is good value at:

250g - £1.99
125g- £0.99p


If you need to contact Thorntons details as below:

Contacting Thorntons

Website - www.thorntons.co.uk

Customer Services - 0800 454 537

Thorntons Direct - 0845 121 1911

Address: Thorntons PLC, Thornton Park
Somercotes. Derbyshire. DE55 4XJ.



Thank you for reading.
PRINCESSPUSSYCAT 2007