Jam doughnuts

There was a doughnut here for a few minutes

Price: 19p

Score (out of five): 5

Review: as I've blogged about before, the bakery section in Lidl is generally ok, but not necessarily brilliant. Their croissants have improved a lot lately. I'll review their mini pizzas soon. 

But, I have a problem reviewing their jam doughnuts. Getting a photo is a bit tricky as they don't seem to last long enough - as you'll see.

Now, Scotland has a bit of a reputation when it comes to doughnuts. And it's not an enviable one. But I think people should be queuing up outside Lidl to buy these doughnuts. Imagine biting into a light fluffy pillow, covered with sugar with a jam that actually tastes of fruit. That's basically a Lidl doughnut. 

Eat them. Eat all of them. Apart from the ones I eat before you get there. 

Sourdough white bloomer

Price: 99p

Score (out of five): 3

Review: like most middle class people I whooped with joy when my local Lidl installed an in-store bakery. In fact it was when I started shopping there regularly.

The baked products however have been a bit hit-and-miss. This bread is definitely this. Positive points are: really nice crusty crust and it has a really nice nutty flavour coming through from the sourdough mix. However, like a lot of the baked products from my local Lidl it's a bit doughy and undercooked. Our only local supermarket used to be a big Coop (Scotmid) and it was really bad for undercooked bread. This isn't literally dough in the middle, but it does look like it could do with a bit longer in the oven.

If you toast it, and put butter and jam on it, then it is very nice indeed. I'd be disappointed if I took it on a middle class picnic though.

Silver Crest Hand Blender Set

Price: £14.99

Score (out of five): 4 now 5

Review: we had a very good quality Moulinex version of this. We used the small food processor bit quite a lot as it was easier to clean than the large food processor we have. But alas the plastic clip at the top of the blades that plugs into the lid to make it spin broke, so that had to be disposed of.

And then one Thursday our Lidl Random Crap Aisle™ was stocked with these. Alas, I didn't have enough arms/bags to buy one so I sent my partner off to get one, which is a whole other story to be published soon. 

So, it works. Not much more to add really. Slightly disappointing the whisk attachment only has one whisk, and the plastic feels a bit brittle and plasticy. But, it blends. It dealt find with some quite tough lamb. When I blitzed a very nice beetroot and dill soup with it you could really feel the power of the motor pulling it down to the bottom of the pan. It's dishwasher safe with the wonderful W5 Dishwasher Tablets. The key thing, I suppose, will be how long it lasts and whether it can do things like mince cooked meat. I shall let you know. 

Update a month later: I've not used this a bit more and it's actually brilliant. The brittle plasticky feel is because it's actually really strong plastic and also it locks together really securely and satisfyingly. It has absolutely no problems cutting really tough cooked beef and actually found it easier than our large Kenwood mixer. Another win from Lidl.