Cream in a can (Nestle Tip Top Squirty Cream)

Member Name: GentleGenius

Product:	Nestle Tip Top Squirty Cream
Date:	13/01/09 (335 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, looks pretty for a short while

Disadvantages: Too sweet, goes runny too quick, very messy, doesn't taste like cream

COST (250g): @ Tesco = £1.08, @ Asda = £1.07, @ Sainsbury's = £1.14

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (per 20g serving):

Calories: 55
Kj: 228
Carbohydrate: 1.6g
- of which sugars: 1.4g
Fat: 5.2g
- of which saturates: 3.2g
Fibre: Trace
Sodium: Trace
Salt equivalent: Trace

INGREDIENTS:

Cream (85%), invert sugar syrup, glucose, flavourings, thickener (carrageenan), propellant gas (nitrous oxide)

DIETARY INFORMATION:

No preservatives
Suitable for vegetarians
May contain traces of soya

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On round two of the jelly craze (see my Chivers article), I fancied making some with fruit inside (pineapple this time) in glass dishes, and decorating it with little florets of cream. I've always been hopeless (part of it's laziness too!) doing it the traditional way....whipping up double cream until very stiff, then bunging in a piping bag and making these very artistic little rosebud shaped squirts around the side of a jelly. The only way around avoiding that I could think of, was to buy a can of squirty cream....something I'd not eaten for many years and couldn't remember whether I liked it or not.

I managed to buy an aerosol can of Nestle Tip Top Squirty Cream for £1.14 in Sainsbury's, and went home a little happier that it could take me at least some way towards my dream of decorative fruity jelly.

Nestle Tip Top Squirty Cream comes in an aerosol can, which is a metallic blue colour at the top, paling as it goes down the can, then gradually turning into a rosy pink colour at the bottom. There is a white ridged plastic cap on the top which pulls off the same as any other type of aerosol can, and on removing this cap, there is a white plastic pump action and a nozzle with ridges.

At the top of the front of the can is the standard Nestle logo on a blue banner, and the words "tip top" are underneath in blue lettering, outlined with white and red. In the middle of the letter "O" of the word "top" is a child's head and shoulders image. He has his thumb placed in the "thumbs up" position and a smile on his face, licking his lips contentedly. The word "squirty" appears in the middle of the can in white with a red outline, and the word "cream" in just white, with no outline. Under that is an image of a glass dish containing a few raspberries and a couple of banana slices, a huge squirt of cream in the middle, and two of what look like brandy snaps sticking up out of the cream. To the right of that image is a small table giving very basic nutritional information, and at the bottom in white lettering are the words "scrummy creamy fun!".

The back of the can shows how to use and clean the nozzle, gives the nutritional information, an ingredients list, dietary information and a few rather vague food facts. There is also a telephone number and a website address for contacting Nestle if wished. The bottom of the rear of the can also gives refrigeration and storage instructions, together with details on how to dispose of the empty can carefully. It is stated that the can contains approximately 12 servings.

I took one of the glass dishes of jelly out of the fridge, and decided to create a hopeful work of art with the cream. As instructed, I shook the can, and held it upside down, pressing the pump gently. The cream squirted out very fast, but made a nice little rosette-shape on my jelly - so I repeated the process until the perimeter of the jelly in the dish was a complete ring of artistic cream splodges.

I then had to reach for a damp cloth, as I noticed that little bits of the cream had flown away from the nozzle, not reaching the jelly....but splattering the working surface and the kitchen cupboard doors. I estimate that what I mopped up was almost one whole serving, and that little distraction from getting the finished food article inside of me was the last thing I wanted to have to deal with. Job done, I settled on the sofa to sample the hopeful delights of jelly with Nestle Tip Top Squirty Cream.

As soon as I touched one of the little rosettes with my spoon, it immediately lost its shape - but no matter I thought - the shape of something has no bearing on the flavour. I scooped a little of the cream up on its own, for a taster. The cream felt somewhat unpleasant in my mouth....slimy rather than creamy, and it was far too sweet. The consistency was all wrong. Although the initial appearance was of stiff peaks of cream, already (after just a couple of minutes) it began to collapse, leaving just little pools of white goo around the edge of the jelly. Instead of it being firm and creamy, it was runny, milky and tasted very synthetic.

Despite the overly sweet taste and the disappointing consistency, I continued to eat and discovered the cream tasted better if taken with a mouthful of jelly - but still not a patch on the real thing.

I wouldn't say that the whole experience was a complete disaster, but it's one that I won't hurry to repeat.

I then had a memory of a friend who makes delicious pavlova, once using squirty cream....the whole thing fell apart in minutes after being placed on the table for serving.

My verdict is that it's ultimately better to do it for real....whip up real double cream, and use a piping bag. Providing it's whipped properly to full stiffness, real cream won't collapse like Nestle Tip Top Squirty Cream does - it'll keep its shape for hours, and is well worth the little extra effort required. Real cream also tastes like cream - this doesn't particularly!

So...in summary it's my thumbs in a downward direction for Nestle and this product, contrary to their advertising image of the child on the can with his thumb up!

Thanks for reading!

Summary: Not the cream of the crop!