Our friend Y always sends us the most delicious snacks. Last Christmas, she outdid herself with sweets in our favorite flavor: matcha! When the duck and I lived in Japan, we took note of Bitte biscuits (as in cookies, not bitty buttermilk bread). But, somehow, I don’t think we ever bought a box. Probably because there were so many snacks waiting to be tasted by us and so little time. So, we were thrilled to see that Y had given us a chance to amend our neglect by presenting us with a box of beautiful matcha-flavored Bitte biscuits. During our Japan adventure, the duck and I were excited each time we spotted a new matcha-flavored snack on the konbini–and grocery store shelves after Christmas. That was when we learned that, in terms of seasonal snacks, matcha is considered a spring flavor in Japan. So, Y has also gifted us the opportunity to once again write about a spring-themed snack in (late) spring! Let’s get to this year’s super subjective spring snack sampling:
Last winter, the duck and I reviewed Milka‘s limited-edition coffee and cookie-flavored chocolate. When we spotted another novel coffee-flavored chocolate bar one year later, the duck and I took it as a sign. Our discovery is part of this year’s Ritter Sport winter range. The other flavors are “Gebrannte Mandel,” roasted almond, which we tried two years ago. And there’s “Weiße Zimt Crisp,” white cinnamon crisp, a flavor also featured in the Schogetten winter lineup we wrote about earlier this year. Clearly, “Kaffee Knusper,” coffee crunch, was the most enticing of the three. And it was a sign. So, we procured a bar before it would be too late and got ready to turn it into our newest super subjective chocolate review (each time I think it’s time to go back to also considering non-chocolate snacks, the duck and I discover another intriguing chocolate flavor to try):
As promised, the duck and I proudly share a photo celebrating a snack we ate outside our home:
Our friend T had wanted to visit Plants and Cakes, a cafe in Frankfurt that offers plant-based, gluten- and (refined) sugar-free treats, for a while. Almost two years later, we finally had our cake and ate it too. After a quick examination of the display case, the duck and I predictably ordered the one matcha treat we could find: A raw Mango Matcha Brownie. Its flavor was a bit too mild for our tastes – the hint of matcha, mixed with the fruitiness of the mango, couldn’t satisfy our matcha cravings. We also got a Peanut Choc Raw Cake Pod with oats to share with T and her travel friend, which was divine! Our considerate cake companions kindly let us try their raw mini cakes too. So we also got to taste passionfruit with berries, I think, and something with white chocolate and peanut, maybe? All told, we had a lovely, flavorful afternoon. 4/5 tea leaves for our culinary satisfaction (as matcha snobs), 5/5 plants and cakes for the convivial company, and an appealing ambiance. ・🪴♡🍰・
This was also the perfect opportunity to test the photographic abilities of our compact new camera friend before we went on a cinematographic adventure the next day. More on that some other time.
The duck and I have a history of trying to buy seasonal chocolate too late (which, in Germany, equals about a month into the respective season). So, when we discovered an image of limited edition pumpkin spice Schogetten online in early autumn, the duck spent every grocery shop scanning the chocolate aisle. To no avail. Instead, we found Christmas-themed Veganz chocolate. Upon further inspection of the bookmarked image, we realized that, though we consider pumpkin spice an autumn flavor, these Schogetten were part of a limited winter edition trio – together with a white cinnamon- and a dark mint candy cane variety. We love cinnamon. And after last summer’s lemon cupcake debacle, we decided to also give the dark variety a chance to help us trust Schogetten again (you never know). The more chocolate we try, the better the chances of finding one we love, right? We still had to find these limited-edition chocolates. And it took us months to locate a store that carried all three. At least we got to buy them on sale. After searching for so long, the duck and I were thrilled to finally hold these chocolate cubes in pretty boxes in our wings and hands. Now we only had to try them – for this year’s first super-specific taste test:
Our friend Y moved to Wales some time ago. The duck and I haven’t managed to visit her yet. But, after she sent us a postcard with a recipe for Pice ar y maen, an enticing Welsh treat, the duck and I knew we had to try it. It only took us well over a year and the passing of the best-before date of the dried currants we had imported for this sole purpose. Despite our unreliable baking skills, the result was worth it. When we devoured our first portion of Welsh cakes, the duck and I almost felt as if we were in Wales for a moment. Five smug powdered sugar flakes for a successful imaginary jaunt to Wales ✧✦✧✦✧
Now we only have to get our physical bodies onto the sofa/spare bed in our friend’s Welsh house. I’m sure that after we eat real Welsh cakes, the duck and I will revoke the favorable rating of my baking attempt. Until then, I will be the one who made the best Pice ar y maen the duck has ever eaten. Ha!
P.S.: I promise the next post of this sort will celebrate a snack we ate outside our home!
In case you were wondering, this isn’t a typo. Neither is it a sad attempt at finally being considered hip kids (I can’t speak for any of the other titles the duck and I have come up with, though). Veganz is a German food brand that focuses on plant-based products and strives toward increased sustainability. Usually, Veganz is too pricey for our stingy little hearts. When we found that they had added two Christmas-themed chocolate bars to their range, however, the duck and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to expand our non-dark vegan chocolate experiences. At first, we wanted to go with “Organic White Baked Apple” because we had never tried vegan white chocolate and had some leftover regret about dropping last year’s plan to do a completely apple-themed Christmas treat taste test. When we saw that “Organic Gingerbread Magic” sports a gianduja base, another version of vegan chocolate we’d never tried before, the duck and I agreed to splurge. Paying a combined non-discounted 5+ Euros for two Christmas-themed 80-90g chocolate bars to celebrate our favorite season for German snacks was totally fine… we had to repeat to ourselves over and over. Veganz might be too cool for discounts, but the duck and I aren’t too cool for new taste experiences. So, here are our subjective thoughts on two of the fanciest chocolate bars we’ve invested in:
It’s no secret that duck and I love pretzels. Just thinking about them is relaxing for us. That’s why they made it into our story about Cat, our hat-selling dog, that our friend A. helped us come up with in our early days in Tokyo. So, when we learned about Bäckerei Kaffee Linde in Kichijoji, we were super excited to try their German pretzels. They even had a designated pretzel day with an attractive discount on our baked bringers of happiness. Naturally, this became one of the duck and my favorite shops in Tokyo. One pretzel day, we decided to get an extra pretzel for our lovely housemate Mm. She wasn’t there when we got home, so we left it on the dining table together with a short note in our best Japanese (concerning the Japanese language, our “best” is the average person’s “terrible”). We knew that, when it comes to pretzels, there’s no need for many words or small talk – Cat conversed with the pretzel shop owner using nothing but images! As expected, Mm understood the note. And the duck and I like to think that that day, the universal pretzel fan club gained a new member. 5/5 pretzels for a baked love most pure! ♥🥨🧡🥨♥
Strictly speaking, the picture doesn’t even show a snack the duck and I enjoyed at home (though there was a pretzel in our bedroom when I snapped this quick shot of Mm’s pretzel-to-be). This might be a new low in our series about foods we’ve eaten outside our home. Well, that’s nothing a delicious pretzel won’t fix! 😀
It’s time for another subjective snack chocolate review! After our personal (not officially a) summer variety disappointment, the duck and I decided to go with a safer bet this time: Milka‘s “Weiße Luflée” variety. When we saw the design on the wrapper, we knew this chocolate was destined to become our end-of-summer snack review. Even though only one of us enjoys swimming, we both like the idea of little sailboats swaying in a rose-colored ocean toward a golden sunset (we hardly witness a sunrise, so this color scheme signifies dusk in our books). Not to mention the cool breeze that inadvertently comes with being near the ocean (and our evening at the beach memories). Add a flock of seagulls, and the duck and I are off into another imaginary adventure! Personally, I’m wary of holey chocolate, but that didn’t prevent the duck from energetically throwing a bar of “Weiße Luflée” into our shopping basket. We had a general idea of what we would be getting into, anyway:
This summer is hot. Whenever the duck and I think about chocolate in summer, we usually imagine it chilled and devoid of cocoa solids (like the mango and passion fruit-flavored white chocolate Ritter Sport variety we reviewed two summers ago). So, when we saw the new line of limited edition Schogetten, called Caketime, it was easy to choose which one to review. Strawberry Cheesecake sounded delicious, but milk chocolate with a strawberry and cream cheese filling was too similar to the Konnichiwa chocolate we reviewed recently. The duck and I liked the idea of Mocha Tart until we realized that the mocha and cocoa cookie filling was enveloped by (not) dark (enough) chocolate, which would likely disappoint our subjective taste buds. Lemon Cupcake, the variety we chose to go with, sports a lemon-flavored skimmed milk yogurt filling with shortbread chunks covered in white chocolate with a thin milk chocolate bottom (like the pistachio Schogetten we tried last year). In hopes that we had found our new favorite snack, the duck and I paid full price for our chosen chocolaty confection and prepared for another successful subjective summer sweet survey: Continue reading →
The duck and I love the saying that “good things come in threes.” We also love chocolate. So, as soon as we espied a new Ritter Sportchocolate variety called Konnichiwa at the grocery store, we knew this meant the third chocolate-based subjective snack review of the year. The pink wrapper features images of a maneki-neko (a beckoning cat figurine said to bring good luck to its owner, often found placed at the entrance of Japanese businesses) and cherry blossoms, together with cherries and almonds, the primary flavors of this chocolate bar. The duck and I felt like Ritter Sport knew how much we miss Japan‘s seasonal snacks, especially the spring-themed ones (even those that advertise sakura but are basically cherry-flavored), and created this variety exclusively for us. After some research, we learned that Konnichiwa is part of a trio of new location-based chocolate bars. Buenos días seems to be the white mango passion fruit chocolate we reviewed in our vacation Ritter Sport review two years ago (we should get a full-size bar sometime if only to find out whether the new name will make it even tastier). Hey there features salted caramel crisps, something the duck and I have slowlylearned to look out for before buying any new chocolate. The blurb on the Ritter Sport product site for Konnichiwa confirmed what we had expected going by the design of the packaging: This chocolate bar is based on the beauty and transience of the Japanese cherry blossom, probably the most prominent symbol (and our favorite photography subject) of Japanese spring! Even though we were a bit skeptical about the fruitiness of it all, we couldn’t wait to subjectively review this chocolaty German Japanese spring-themed snack:
Probably because there were so many snacks waiting to be tasted by us and so little time. So, we were thrilled to see that Y had given us a chance to amend our neglect by presenting us with a box of beautiful matcha-flavored Bitte biscuits. During our Japan adventure, the duck and I were excited each time we spotted a new matcha-flavored snack on the konbini–and grocery store shelves after Christmas. That was when we learned that, in terms of seasonal snacks, matcha is considered a spring flavor in Japan. So, Y has also gifted us the opportunity to once again write about a spring-themed snack in (late) spring! Let’s get to this year’s super subjective spring snack sampling:
The other flavors are “Gebrannte Mandel,” roasted almond, which we tried two years ago. And there’s “Weiße Zimt Crisp,” white cinnamon crisp, a flavor also featured in the Schogetten winter lineup we wrote about earlier this year. Clearly, “Kaffee Knusper,” coffee crunch, was the most enticing of the three. And it was a sign. So, we procured a bar before it would be too late and got ready to turn it into our newest super subjective chocolate review (each time I think it’s time to go back to also considering non-chocolate snacks, the duck and I discover another intriguing chocolate flavor to try):
were part of a limited winter edition trio – together with a white cinnamon- and a dark mint candy cane variety. We love cinnamon. And after last summer’s lemon cupcake debacle, we decided to also give the dark variety a chance to help us trust Schogetten again (you never know). The more chocolate we try, the better the chances of finding one we love, right? We still had to find these limited-edition chocolates. And it took us months to locate a store that carried all three. At least we got to buy them on sale. After searching for so long, the duck and I were thrilled to finally hold these chocolate cubes in pretty boxes in our wings and hands. Now we only had to try them – for this year’s first super-specific taste test:
At first, we wanted to go with “Organic White Baked Apple” because we had never tried vegan white chocolate and had some leftover regret about dropping last year’s plan to do a completely apple-themed Christmas treat taste test. When we saw that “Organic Gingerbread Magic” sports a gianduja base, another version of vegan chocolate we’d never tried before, the duck and I agreed to splurge. Paying a combined non-discounted 5+ Euros for two Christmas-themed 80-90g chocolate bars to celebrate our favorite season for German snacks was totally fine… we had to repeat to ourselves over and over. Veganz might be too cool for discounts, but the duck and I aren’t too cool for new taste experiences. So, here are our subjective thoughts on two of the fanciest chocolate bars we’ve invested in:
Even though only one of us enjoys swimming, we both like the idea of little sailboats swaying in a rose-colored ocean toward a golden sunset (we hardly witness a sunrise, so this color scheme signifies dusk in our books). Not to mention the cool breeze that inadvertently comes with being near the ocean (and our evening at the beach memories). Add a flock of seagulls, and the duck and I are off into another imaginary adventure! Personally, I’m wary of holey chocolate, but that didn’t prevent the duck from energetically throwing a bar of “Weiße Luflée” into our shopping basket. We had a general idea of what we would be getting into, anyway:
So, when we saw the new line of limited edition Schogetten, called Caketime, it was easy to choose which one to review. Strawberry Cheesecake sounded delicious, but milk chocolate with a strawberry and cream cheese filling was too similar to the Konnichiwa chocolate we reviewed recently. The duck and I liked the idea of Mocha Tart until we realized that the mocha and cocoa cookie filling was enveloped by (not) dark (enough) chocolate, which would likely disappoint our subjective taste buds. Lemon Cupcake, the variety we chose to go with, sports a lemon-flavored skimmed milk yogurt filling with shortbread chunks covered in white chocolate with a thin milk chocolate bottom (like the pistachio Schogetten we tried last year). In hopes that we had found our new favorite snack, the duck and I paid full price for our chosen chocolaty confection and prepared for another successful subjective summer sweet survey: Continue reading 
The duck and I felt like Ritter Sport knew how much we miss Japan‘s seasonal snacks, especially the spring-themed ones (even those that advertise sakura but are basically cherry-flavored), and created this variety exclusively for us. After some research, we learned that Konnichiwa is part of a trio of new location-based chocolate bars. Buenos días seems to be the white mango passion fruit chocolate we reviewed in our vacation Ritter Sport review two years ago (we should get a full-size bar sometime if only to find out whether the new name will make it even tastier). Hey there features salted caramel crisps, something the duck and I have slowly learned to look out for before buying any new chocolate. The blurb on the Ritter Sport product site for Konnichiwa confirmed what we had expected going by the design of the packaging: This chocolate bar is based on the beauty and transience of the Japanese cherry blossom, probably the most prominent symbol (and our favorite photography subject) of Japanese spring! Even though we were a bit skeptical about the fruitiness of it all, we couldn’t wait to subjectively review this chocolaty German Japanese spring-themed snack:
The Duck in... side 