Easter special: CHOK A BLOK American Dreamcake Egg

The annual chocfest that is Easter has this year brought with it something rather special. It's a rather chunky-looking white chocolate egg from CHOK A BLOK. It's not a one-choc egg though - it's got a front of dark chocolate encasing various sweet treats, and goodies hidden away throughout the white chocolate shell.   

This egg definitely can't be broken by hand. Don't go thinking that a gentle tap from a spoon will coax it into releasing its treasures either. This beast needs a whack from a hefty spoon to crack it open. After that exertion of course, you deserve to gorge on chocolate. You've earned it.

I'm sure this shell could double up as a helmet of some kind.

The white chocolate is smooth and creamy without being sickly. It's when the chocolates collide though that this egg really comes into its own. I'm not usually a fan of combined chocolates as found in various gift box-type selections. I find that usually everything just blends into a generic sense of sweetness. This is different: the dark chocolate is a delicious bitter punctuation against the sweetness of the white. Then you start to discover pieces of biscuit, brownie and fudge. The crunch of the chocolate reveals a wealth of textures within and scoffing an Easter egg becomes a sensory delight.

The whole thing is a decadent symphony of gluttony. I laugh in the face of the packaging that tells me that 1 egg provides 6 portions. If Tesco are still flogging them today I suggest you grab one.

It's as if pieces of Humpty Dumpty were glued back together again using chocolate.

Office Porridges of London #1

Now that I'm commuting in to London, time is at a premium in the mornings. I like to have a good breakfast, but sometimes there just isn't time. Yet not for me the sinful cereal bar or pathetic breakfast pastry! The Fervent Foodie is only soothed by things delicious and nutritious too.

I like my morning porridge. It's not exactly a gourmet feast but it's homely and wholesome. Therefore, it is my duty towards the office-bound throughout this great city to find the best cubicle cuisine in London. There are a couple of rules for this:

1. It has to be take-away porridge. If there's no cardboard pot to take to your desk, it's not eligible!

2. It has to be from a chain. It's gotta be available to everyone, not some amazing independent place that only few will be able to appreciate. (Woe is me.)

So, that brings me to our first entry, from the imperiously-named EAT.

Now I've got to say, EAT has an image as being a bit pretentious so I was interested to see what they'd do to push the boat out on something as simple as porridge. The toppings they offer are honey and banana, fruit compote, and chia seeds (the fancy pants discerning gentleman's topping). Unfortunately, social mobility was at an all-time low today and they were out of chia seeds, so I had to settle for the reliable banana and honey.

First of all, look at this:

No Instagram filter would save this

 Does this look appetising to you? Granted, porridge is not exactly the Miranda Kerr of the food world but seriously, this? Is this place called EAT or DRINK?

OK, it's definitely EAT. I'm getting confused with all the monosyllabic instructional food joints around these days.

The oats were actually nice and chunky, but the water just made it into a depressing gloop. At £2.24 with a topping it's one of the more expensive pot porridges out there. Maybe it was a one-off but I'm loath to go back again to try. Quite disappointing indeed. On the plus side, the bar has not been set very high for the next challenger. Onward! (Lunch had better be good now...)