Latest news with #dessertsandwich
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I tried the new M&S strawberry sandwich – it's delicious & different but you'll only buy it once
M&S has unveiled its first-ever dessert sandwich, the Red Diamond Strawberries & Creme Sandwich, and it's already causing a stir among food lovers. Priced at £2.80, this limited-edition sweet treat combines British summer nostalgia with a touch of Japanese culinary influence, but does it live up to expectations? 3 3 The sandwich is made using M&S's exclusive Collection British Red Diamond Strawberries, which are known for their sweetness and juiciness, paired with whipped cream cheese and crème fraîche. Inspired by Japan's viral cream-filled sandwiches, often spotted in trendy patisseries, M&S has reimagined the concept with a British twist, reminiscent of the iconic strawberries and cream served at Wimbledon. M&S has a long history of sandwich innovation, having introduced freshly made sandwiches in the 1920s and revolutionising the UK high street with pre-packed sandwiches in the 1980s. Since then, the retailer has sold over four billion sandwiches, making this latest launch a bold new addition to its portfolio. But is the dessert sandwich a summer sensation or simply a novelty? Fabulous reporter Leanne Hall decided to put the new creation to the test. 'This new addition to the M&S summer food collection is one you won't want to miss,' Leanne said. 'It seems the British retailer has taken inspiration from Japan's viral cream-filled sandwiches and Wimbledon's signature dish, strawberries and cream, to create the perfect summer snack. 'The concept may seem strange, but it works.' Leanne was initially sceptical about the cream filling, which combines soft cream cheese and crème fraîche, rather than the whipped cream traditionally used in Japanese fruit sandwiches. I've found the perfect summer top from M&S, and I'm even more excited now I can finally shop there online again 'I was hesitant at first,' she admitted, 'but the two worked well together. It had the luxurious texture of clotted cream, which added a richness to the sandwich.' The strawberries were the standout element. 'They were excellent - they had a great bite, weren't soggy, and were packed with flavour,' Leanne said. However, the bread proved to be divisive. 'While it did have a sweetness to it, the texture was too bready, and the crusts felt too hard for the soft filling,' she noted. Despite these minor drawbacks, Leanne believes the dessert sandwich is worth trying. 'For those who love a limited-edition treat - or even a Müller Corner strawberry yoghurt - this is worth a go, especially when enjoying the hot weather in the park.' M&S's strawberry sandwich is currently trending on TikTok as many foodies rush to the stores to get their hands on one. Some have praised it for being a great "sweet treat" however, others aren't too pleased that you "only receive half of one sandwich." Someone else stated that it was a "crazy thought to know that someone else in the UK currently has the other half to this sandwich." How to save on your supermarket shop THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop. You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they've been reduced. If the food is fresh, you'll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time. Making a list should also save you money, as you'll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket. Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too. This means ditching "finest" or "luxury" products and instead going for "own" or value" type of lines. Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they're misshapen or imperfect. For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50. If you're on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too. Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- General
- Telegraph
Fresh-fruit ‘dessert sandwiches' aren't an abomination – they have a long and delicious history
Will dessert sandwiches be a summer smash or a double fault? M&S clearly thinks the former. Its new strawberry and 'creme' sandwich has just hit the shelves, inspired by the Japanese sweet 'sando', an inch (or more) thick creation that's been around for a century in Japan in both sweet and savoury iterations. Sandos only appeared recently over here, in patisseries such as London's Hachi Bakery in hip-again Notting Hill. Perfectly square edged slabs with thin slices of pure white crustless bread encasing the broad bands of exquisitely arranged fruit – such as photogenic kiwi, orange segments, berries and peach – and cream, those ones are pure patisserie rather than packed lunch. In principle, we should have no problem with the idea of a strawberry sandwich. Sweet things between slices of bread have a long and honourable history, from the jam sandwiches of children's birthday parties, through Nutella-filled lunchbox treats, to the illicit pleasure of a crunchy sugar sandwich – I recommend demerara sugar and a whisper of lemon zest for the best effect. But fresh fruit is another matter, and a fraught one, as M&S knows well. A product developer once told me that they experimented with a banana sandwich some years ago, but it was pulled from the shelves before the stores even opened after turning a grim shade of brown as it oxidised. Not that it was the only episode. Heather Morley, a Telegraph reader who worked for a supplier to M&S in the 1990s, writes in that 'at one point, we launched two sweet sandwiches: carrot-cake bread with cream-cheese filling, and chocolate bread with morello cherries and fresh whipped cream. They were absolutely delicious but technically very hard to make… They were discontinued after just a week or so.' We all know that a sandwich filled with slices of just-about-ripe banana (arranged over a slather of peanut butter, ideally smooth) is best eaten within a minute of being created. But much fresh fruit carries other risks, such as being loaded with water which can quickly turn soggy, as anyone who's tried making tomato sandwiches will attest. The addition of lemon juice to slow that browning would only make matters worse. The exception, and one I recommend, is unsalted butter, fresh raspberries and a dusting of caster sugar between slices of fresh white bloomer: a sort of uncooked raspberry jam. In response to the new supermarket strawberry sandwich, readers have had some great ideas, such as cream cheese, walnuts and dates, which sounds delicious and avoids any soggy sagas. Simple bread with clotted cream and strawberries also gets votes, including mine. Indeed, food writers have had plenty of fun over the years with combinations of sweet and savoury ingredients between bread, in baguettes, piled into wraps and on toast. Clare Thomson even constructed strawberry sandwiches with the thinly sliced berries layered on top of a mixture of lemon curd and mascarpone. As any European knows, cheese works beautifully with fruit – so why shouldn't it do so beyond the cheeseboard? Who could resist a baguette stuffed with Roquefort, slim peach wedges and rocket, say, or one with ripe Brie, halved grapes and basil? Dessert-style sandwiches take especially well to grilling, like the banana-based Elvis (featuring sliced banana, peanut butter and occasionally bacon, allegedly Presley's favourite), or Diana Henry's sumptuous gorgonzola, mozzarella, fig and honey toastie. And, talking of hot sandwiches, even Delia tried to convince us that deep-fried jam sandwiches were a desirable thing when she launched them on the menu at her restaurant Yellows Bar and Grill at Norwich football club. I wonder if they would be improved by a few slices of real strawberries…? Any dessert sandwich created for high-street consumption has to contend with sitting in a chiller cabinet rather than going straight from bread board to plate. To counter this, normal sandwich engineering rules apply – specifically something to protect the bread from the dreaded soggy top-and-bottom. For a sweet filling this generally means a creamy concoction (although the aforementioned peanut butter offers the perfect base for banana). Supermarket creations, should any follow M&S's strawberry number, must also be fresh – and I mean truly fresh. No fruit is going to last long, even bathed in a lusciously rich coating, without going slimy or mealy and depressing. It must be made today, sold today and scoffed today. That said, there's been ingredient tweaking in the Red Diamond strawberry wedge to lengthen its shelf life: emulsifiers, 'natural flavouring' and palm fat all feature in the ingredients list. Not quite the wholesome cream tea I'm looking for. On the upside, the calorie count, at 290, is less than a muffin, and the inclusion of a bit of fresh fruit (even if it might not quite score one of your five a day) has to be a good thing. Some of us will race to buy this new lunch fix, which has taken a middle route between Asian aesthetics and a British butty. After all, it can be eaten at a desk without dropping creme on your credentials. Others may even be inspired to recreate it at home, and I hope that they might be tempted to branch out further into the fruit field, trying tart kiwi, mango or even pineapple (a toastie containing torn slices of ham hock with grated gruyère and pineapple chunks is a Very Good Thing). A summer of sweet sandwiches beckons – and in my book that's an absolute ace.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
M&S rolls out strawberries and cream sandwich
Marks and Spencer has released a strawberries and cream sandwich. The 'dessert sandwich' is made from sweetened bread, red diamond strawberries and whipped cream cheese. The retailer, which was recently hit by a cyber attack, said the product was inspired by Japanese 'sweet sandos'. The east Asian nation's fruit sandwiches originated in luxury fruit shops but are now widely sold across the country. 'Inspired by the Japanese sweet sandos, recently spotted popping up in London's trendiest Japanese patisseries, our product developers have long dreamed of creating a dessert sandwich,' a spokesman for M&S said. 'With our exclusive red diamond strawberries at their juiciest best, the time has finally come to create the ultimate strawberries and creme experience. 'From alfresco lunches, afternoon tea at home, summer picnics, court-side snack breaks or a sweet afternoon pick me up, the Red Diamond Strawberries & Creme Sandwich is your go-to summer indulgence, wherever, whenever.' The pairing of strawberries and cream with a form of baked bread will be familiar to many members of the public. Jam and cream are the usual accompaniment to scones, which are traditionally eaten as part of a cream tea. Historically, British sandwiches are made using savoury fillings, such as ham salad or egg and cress. The lunchtime treats were first invented by the 4th Earl of Sandwich in the 1760s, who wanted to eat beef while playing cards without dirtying his hands. Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said last year that she did not believe that sandwiches were a 'real food'. Sir Keir Starmer later hit back by saying they were a ' lunchtime institution '. Jam or cream first? By combining fruit and cream in a sandwich, M&S will avoid the controversy over the order in which jam and cream should be placed on a halved scone. The Cornish method sees the jam spread before the cream, whereas in Devon the cream is spread first before dolloping on the jam. Last year, a YouGov survey found that the Cornish approach was more popular in Britain, with 62 per cent of Britons favouring it compared to 28 per cent who prefer the Devonian method. But the poll of more than 54,000 Britons found that younger people are less likely than older generations to put jam on their scones before the cream. M&S Food first sold freshly made sandwiches in the 1920s, and expanded sales with pre-packed sandwiches in the 1980s.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
M&S launches dessert sandwich filled with strawberries and cream
Marks & Spencer has launched a dessert sandwich filled with strawberries and cream. The 'game-changing' limited edition Red Diamond Strawberry & Creme Sandwich is filled with the fruit and light whipped cream cheese on fluffy sweetened bread, the retailer said. M&S said its latest creation was inspired by Japanese 'sweet sandos' or fruit sandwiches. M&S said: 'Inspired by the Japanese sweet sandos, recently spotted popping up in London's trendiest Japanese patisseries, our product developers have long dreamed of creating a dessert sandwich. 'With our exclusive Red Diamond Strawberries at their juiciest best, the time has finally come to create the ultimate strawberries and creme experience. 'From alfresco lunches, afternoon tea at home, summer picnics, courtside snack breaks or a sweet afternoon pick me up, the Red Diamond Strawberries & Creme Sandwich is your go-to summer indulgence, wherever, whenever. M&S Food first sold freshly made sandwiches in the 1920s, and expanded sales with pre-packed sandwiches in the 1980s. The retailer's food halls have sold four billion sandwiches to date. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
The Independent
3 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
M&S launches dessert sandwich filled with strawberries and cream
Marks & Spencer has launched a dessert sandwich filled with strawberries and cream. The 'game-changing' limited edition Red Diamond Strawberry & Creme Sandwich is filled with the fruit and light whipped cream cheese on fluffy sweetened bread, the retailer said. M&S said its latest creation was inspired by Japanese 'sweet sandos' or fruit sandwiches. M&S said: 'Inspired by the Japanese sweet sandos, recently spotted popping up in London's trendiest Japanese patisseries, our product developers have long dreamed of creating a dessert sandwich. 'With our exclusive Red Diamond Strawberries at their juiciest best, the time has finally come to create the ultimate strawberries and creme experience. 'From alfresco lunches, afternoon tea at home, summer picnics, courtside snack breaks or a sweet afternoon pick me up, the Red Diamond Strawberries & Creme Sandwich is your go-to summer indulgence, wherever, whenever. M&S Food first sold freshly made sandwiches in the 1920s, and expanded sales with pre-packed sandwiches in the 1980s. The retailer's food halls have sold four billion sandwiches to date.
