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October 18, 2014

Review & giveaway #28 – Clarks syrups

Giveaways 163 Replies

I’ve recently lost over 4 stone (What? you mean you haven’t heard me banging on about it? Oh, you’re being sarcastic.) so anything remotely carby has been off the menu. Now I am back onto a sensible diet of mostly plants, some meat and the odd treat I am slowly reintroducing sugars, in all their forms, to my diet. Here steps in our friend Clarks maple syrup.

When it comes to baking the darker the syrup the more suitable it is for baking. Dark syrup has a stronger flavour and is extracted later in the harvesting season – the darkest of all is grade B. Grade A is lighter and the kind of stuff you might like to liberally throw over your pancakes in the morning.

The good news for baking fans though is that whilst maple syrup is clearly still a sugar it is lower GI than the regular white stuff, meaning it raises your blood sugar slower – a very good thing. I tried using maple syrup in a few cakes of mine recently to put it through my regime of Tough Tests. The first one was the chocolate cake recipe from my book that uses golden syrup (alongside white castor sugar) to add the all important squidge to a big slice of sticky chocolate cake. Now maple is a lot thinner than golden syrup – so I was a little worried it might cause some issues with the texture. I was wrong. In fact I am now using maple syrup as a substitute in this cake all the time. (I do make this cake rather a lot…) I tried it again in the apple cake recipe up on this here blog. I subbed half the sugar with Clarks maple syrup. It was much much harder to pour into the cases, but all in all the flavour and texture was fantastic once baked. Another triumph.

The second way I put the sweet stuff through it’s paces was in the icing from the aforementioned cake recipe. I usually use Monin syrup but decided to try maple flavoured buttercream. Just 3 tbsp lent a sweet, Autumnal and altogether earthy flavour that worked a treat with the spiced apple cake. I thoroughly recommend.

I have a £60 (RRP) Clarks hamper  containing to giveaway to one person. There are lots of ways to enter – see the Rafflecopter form below. The first way is just to leave a comment on this post. Easy peasy. Closing date 12th December 2014. How to enter:

  • Complete the Rafflecopter form below to confirm your entries made via blog comments, Twitter, Facebook etc.
  • This giveaway will close on 12th December 2014.
  • Please read the rules below.
  • Winners are announced on the Rafflecopter form after the prize has been claimed by the winner.
  • First timers: Please watch how Rafflecopter works (video)! It is 46 seconds long. It explains everything.
  • If no form is showing, hit refresh and it should appear.
  • Complete the form – or your beloved entries will not go into the draw. And that would be such a waste of time.
  • Mandatory entries need to be completed first – so leave a blog comment before you try and complete any of the other methods of entry.
  • Want more chances to win? Come back daily after tweeting about the giveaway and fill the form in again.
  • If you are viewing this by email you will need to click through to enter.

Rules and things:

  • Open to anyone over the age of 18, UK only. Sorry to anyone younger or further afield.
  • There is 1 x Clarks hamper RRP £60 to giveaway to one person.  There’s no cash alternative to the prize and the prize is not transferable. No part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
  • Instructions form part of the terms and conditions. Entries using any software or automated process to make bulk entries will obviously be disqualified. The winner will be picked at random using software and then contacted by email. If you win and then don’t respond to this email within 7 days then another winner will be picked so check your emails and your spam! The goodies will be delivered to the winner as soon as possible after you have sent me your delivery address.
  • I am running this giveaway on behalf of Clarks who will be responsible for sending the prize to you by post should you win. Their decision is final and binding and no correspondence will be entered into.
  • This is where I get all stern – please don’t say you have liked the post and followed me on Twitter and Tweeted away like a Tweety thing if you haven’t as guess what? If you win I will check you did do the things you said you did. It’s only fair after all. And I do like fairness.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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163 comments

  24. well done on the weight loss! I love Clarks maple syrup and have it on just about everything!

  25. Full of goodness and health benefits .. Surprisingly. But, they are an all natural product.

  44. Just looking at this range is making my mouth water! Absolutely love Clarks syrup, have been using their maple syrup so much more recently as it’s a fantastic sugar replacement for me. Fantastic prize! :)

  52. I love Clarks syrups and have recently lost nearly 2 stone having maple syrup on my Slimming World pancakes!

  103. Well done! Wish I had the willpower to even consider losing weight. I love my cakes too much!

  125. Never tried Clark syrup, but I bet they can be used to a wide range of sweet desserts. Yummy!

  128. I have tried the maple syrup and it’s delicious with pancakes but I would love to try the rest of the range.

  149. I’ve run out of Clark’s syrups and use them for lots of things – roast parsnips, in porridge… Great prize!

  150. Wow, this really does sound amazing. I’ve not had an opportunity to try Clark’s syrups before but their whole range sounds really wonderful.. thank you for reviewing and sharing your finds Holly xx

  160. i don’t think I have ever tried any of these, so would love to win some to give them a try

Comments are closed.

Holly Bell
I’m a mum of 3 boys, a cookbook writer and also a finalist on the 2011 Great British Bake Off. I’ve decided to record the recipes I use, partly to save them somewhere and partly in case someone else might like to use them... [Read more]

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