The Future of Confectionery

When you think about the future of sweets do you conjure up images of  everlasting gobstoppers, toot sweets or exploding candy?  Apparently, according to food futurologist Lyndon Gee, this is exactly where the future of confectionery is heading.  Interactive and morphing sweets are not as far away as we might  think.

Children today want more from their sweets.  As taste buds change, children will enjoy a more interactive eating experience where they can dip, mix and shake their confectionery to customize the flavours, consistency and strength.  This confectionery mixology will see kids inventing their own sweets within the next decade.

An exciting new sweet has just been launched, the Wham Rocket.  It takes the elements of a Wham Bar, mixes them up and creates a totally new, futuristic way to enjoy them.

Interaction and mixology are at the heart of Wham Rocket. Eaten with an edible foam dipping stick, the new sweet allows sweet lovers to take as much (or as little) of the extreme sour sherbet as they can handle. Add in some tongue-tingling sugar crystals and Wham Rocket will blast your taste buds into outer space.  The iconic 80's sweet has been reworked for a whole new generation.

So the future of sweets is full of exciting possibilities with taste buds being pushed further than ever before.  Broccoli flavoured sweeties anyone??  It is all very Heston Blumenthal!

Kizzy liked the Wham Rocket!  Replacing the old fashioned sherbert fountain licquorice stick with a candy foam stick was met with approval.  The sour sherbert was a hit and she loved the sugar crystals.  The plastic packaging will go in our recycling for disposal which is also a plus.

Wham Rocket, the tongue tingling addition to the Wham family is available to buy now (RRP 45p). For more information, visit www.facebook.com/WhamOfficial.

Woo Woos, Martinis and Other Cocktails!!

I don't often go out with my husband on our own.  Even though I have my older children who are willing and able to look after Freddy, I don't like seeing them as built-in babysitters.  I put their social lives above my own and anyway, we tend to do things together as a family more often than not, which I'm more than happy with. However, occasionally they insist that I take advantage of their kindness and so when I received the chance to go to Frankie and Benny's for dinner and cocktails, it was an opportunity they wanted us to take together.  So last night Ian and I headed off to our local F & B's without the kids in tow!

Frankie and Benny's have a new cocktail menu and although I am usually tee-total, I thought it was a chance to jump off the wagon for a couple of hours in order to sample their own brand of mixology!

Which One To Choose?

We started off with a WooWoo and an Espresso Martini which looked fabulous and were served with a smile by our waiter.

WooWoo

Archers Peach Schnapps, Eristoff Vodka and Cranberry Juice shaken with fresh lemon juice and sugar.

Espresso Martini

Fresh espresso, Eristoff Vodka and Kahlua Liquer.

My Woo Woo was very refreshing and very easy to drink!  It looked so very pretty in pink.  The Espresso Martini had a far more grown-up taste of strong coffee and alcohol.  It looked amazing with coffee beans floating on top.

Our main courses arrived very promptly and we had the Mediterranean Vegetable Burger and House Fries.  The veggie options are a bit limited, consisting of two pizza dishes, a pasta dish, a wrap, a calzone and a burger.  I'd love to see something a bit more fancy for vegetarians that would compete with the premium meat based dishes on the Specials menu.  However, the burger is really good especially with a side of onion rings!

We followed our dinner with a couple more cocktails.  I went for Strawberries and Cream and Ian had a non alcoholic smoothie.

Strawberries and Cream

Disarrano Amaretto and Strawberry Liquer blended with strawberries and cream.

My strawberry cocktail tasted like a cross between a strawberry milkshake and a bakewell tart with its hint of almond.  It was very creamy and fruity and presented beautifully.  The non-alcoholic version was just as good with a real authentically fruity flavour.  They were lovely.

We finished off our meal with dome delicious desserts; a Caramel and Pecan Cheesecake for me and an Apple Crumble and Custard for Ian.  The atmosphere in the restaurant was very relaxed, the staff were attentive and friendly and we loved the diner style decor.  It was nice to get away and spend a couple of hours together as grown-ups (even though we spent most of the night discussing the kids!)  We had a good experience 

The Aftermath

For more information and to view the menus, including the cocktail menu online, go to www.frankieandbennys.com

We received our meals and cocktails free of charge for the purpose of this review.