Between snowball fights and frosty walks, I’ve a few finds to share this week:

Mariella’s Skinny Bakery Frosting Spreads:

I know why I shouldn’t overdo the sugar, but confess to the occasional (er, regular) dip of a dessert spoon into my jars of spreads.

Whether peanut butter (not so bad for me) or chocolate hazelnut (shameful), a spoonful (or two) is an instant sweet craving fix.

For those like me with low will-power, the lovely people at the Skinny Bakery have created two frosting spreads that contain less sugar than regular spreads plus no palm oil and zero artificial sweeteners. At only 10 calories a teaspoon for the chocolate orange version and 13 calories for the white chocolate and raspberry one, they seem a great alternative to more sugary spreads. It's almost health food!

They do taste different to trad treats, but I’d happily have them on my pancakes, in a bowl of yoghurt or straight from the jar. They may even work to fill a doughnut...

The litmus test was on my teen and tween children. Both are huge fans of any sugary spread and harsh critics. They were quick to dig in. My son grunted in approval and immediately slathered the white choc version on his toast. My daughter also gave both flavours a thumbs up.

They’re on offer over at the Skinny Bakery so worth getting some in ahead of Chanukah’s sugar fest.

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Photo: Victoria Prever

Freedom Mallows:

The lower sugar frosting might be balanced out by another find.

The freezing conditions demand mugs of steaming hot chocolate, and what is a hot choc without a marshmallow melting into it? Regular marshmallows too often contain gelatine, so it was a delight to discover these vegan versions, which are kosher-friendly treat.

They also work well in Rocky Road recipes and would great for S’mores — although camping treats are probably not currently top of your list.

They are in several stores – including Holland and Barratt and Ocado or from the website.

freedom mallows

Freedom mallows

This week’s podcast pointer:

Heads turned as I guffawed on my local shopping street whilst listening to a recent episode of Jessie and Lennie Ware’s Table Manners podcast.

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Photo: Twitter

The pair interviewed star baker, Paul Hollywood, during which Lennie bravely (or foolishly) presented him with her home baked Tarte Normande for judging. No holds were barred. Nerves may have got to her as her salt beef had also suffered.

I won’t be baking for Hollywood any time soon. (Hardly a massive life change.)

I’m late to the party, but another podcast I’ll be catching up on is the Jewish Food Society’s Shmaltzy, as The Challah Prince, Idan Chabasov shares his story and culinary historian Michael W Twitty previews his (now published) book, The Faith and Food Journey of an African American Jew.

Find them by clicking above, or where you download your podcasts.

If you need me, I’ll be grating potatoes and ordering my favourite doughnuts … #Chanukahiscoming