When I saw that Marks and Spencer was selling a giant wreath made out of bread, with a huge Camembert in the centre for dunking, I knew I had to try it.
The Christmas showstopper caught my eye when scrolling through social media and as a lover of bread, cheese and anything festive, I made a mental note to get my hands on one. I obviously hadn’t looked closely enough to realise it was £14, so when I spotted it in store I have to admit the price almost made me think twice.
But not being the sort of thing I’m going to splurge on every month, I decided it was worth the treat and stuck it in my basket before I could change my mind. But was it worth every penny? Here’s my verdict:
READ MORE: We compared biscuits from M&S and Aldi and it was a close call
What you get
The brioche comes in a pretty swirl design, with the bread folded over in places, creating lots of nice puffy bits. The swirls are slathered in garlic and parsley butter and decorated with semi-dried tomatoes. In the middle of it all sits a chunky camembert, so you can tear off bits of the bread and dunk away.
How you prepare it
The preparation is really easy for this one - you simply unwrap it and take the packaging off the cheese, before placing it back in the centre. You then put it in the oven on the cardboard tray provided and cook for around 10-12 minutes.
What it tastes like
Mine needed a little longer than the recommended cooking time for the cheese to fully melt, and I was worried the bread would then be overdone, but thankfully that wasn’t the case. I initially tucked in using fingers, but it got quite messy so I ended up getting a knife and fork to cut off and dunk the bread, which saved my fingers from getting too sticky and stinking of garlic and cheese.
The flavours all really came through - the garlic butter was nice and strong, the semi-dried tomatoes added a sharp tartness and the camembert was gooey and delicious, yet not too overpowering if you don’t like a strong cheese. The bread had a crispness to the outside, but was beautifully soft in the centre and I loved the delicious herby flavour to it.
The only negative in terms of taste is that it became noticeably quite salty the more I ate. I like my food well seasoned, so this wasn’t too much of an issue for me, but could put some people off (and it also meant I drank my glass of wine quite quickly!)
My verdict
I was really impressed by the look of this edible festive wreath - it will certainly be a glamorous centrepiece if you’re hosting a Boxing Day buffet. Equally it makes for a really indulgent cheese and wine night if there’s two of you sharing.
It lived up to my expectations in terms of taste as well, though I'm never really in doubt when it comes to M&S, especially with their Christmas food selection. That said, I still think £14 is pretty steep and you could probably save money and have a similar taste experience by buying a garlic brioche bread and Camembert separately.
But if you fancy a showstopper treat this Christmas and don’t mind forking out £14 for it, I don’t think you’ll regret it. You can buy it in M&S stores.
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