almost as good as home made. (GU Chocolate Brownie)

Member Name: mjc121

Product:	GU Chocolate Brownie
Date:	11/05/09 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lovely and squidgy - a true brownie

Disadvantages: not very healthy

OK as I used to work as a pastry chef all be it part time and only for two years to pay my way through uni but I have made more trays of Brownies than I can remember. One thing that annoys me it some cafes and restaurants try to sell a cheap chocolate cake as a brownie so they can justify charging more. Still never mind I'm not reviewing the bad habits of some restaurants etc.

I have occasionally bought these GU brownies as a bit of a treat as for the box of 8 they can be rather expensive. For mine I paid £4.15 but the price will vary depending on where you bought them from. They are boxed and inside you get 8 reasonably sized brownies which are all individually wrapped to keep them fresh. Unlike most cakes they are kept in the fridge section of the shop. In my local tesco they are found with the other desserts.

Firstly I should warn you that they do contain pecan nuts and so should be avoided by those who suffer from nut allergies. They are, however, suitable for vegetarians but not vegans

On opening the cellophane wrapped brownie there is the smell of chocolate and quite rich chocolate at that. Even looking at them you can tell they are the real thing they look slightly 'crisp' on the top and soft and a bit gooey in the middle - which is just what these should be like. The pecans are there and they are good sized chunks and not so powdered that they would make little difference to them.

On biting into them the texture is (hold on whilst I eat another, just to make sure) soft with a slight sort of 'squidgyness' to it. The cake part simply melts in the mouth. It is quite a closed texture but it isn't heavy. There is a generous amount of pecan chunks in them giving a good contrast of textures. Towards the end there is perhaps a slight grittiness probably from the sugar but I can forgive them that.

The taste at first is that of chocolate which is rich but not overly sweet. There is no greasiness and then the pecans can be tasted. This comes through in an aftertaste and again they give the pleasant nuttiness which is so essential in these little cakes. They are very moreish and I have to be careful not to eat too many of them. This is usually done by offering them round to other people, although this is done rather grudgingly.

If you think they are nice now wait till you try them warmed up. By just 10 sec in the microwave the become even better.

Now they literally melt in the mouth and the chocolate taste intensifies and the slight grittiness I mentioned earlier just disappears. Now the contrast between the cake and the nuts is even better. The nutty taste does not get any stronger but now you have a long lingering chocolate after taste. It may be better to allow them to stand for a while after they come out of the microwave but I can never wait to eat them.

For me they are probably the best brownies available which are not home made. They are even better than some which are home made. For me a major plus they have is that there are no artificial nasties in them. After all when baking at home who adds things like sodium benzoate to their cakes? It just shows that these chemicals just are not needed (or wanted) in food. Although this does give them a shorter shelf life (mine had 2 weeks on them) they will get eaten long before they are 'out of date' they should be kept in the fridge but are not suitable for freezing.

They are not the healthiest things to eat but once in a while as a treat or with that pot of coffee on a Sunday morning go on you know you want to...

Nutritional information (per serving aprox 45g which is 1 brownie):

Energy 178 kcal
Protein 2.5g
Carbs 20g (sugars 10g)
Fat 10.7 (saturated 5.7g)
Fibre 2.0
Salt 0.05g

Summary: I always want just one more