Marcel's Fancy Blinis product reviews

My family likes to enjoy pancakes for breakfast in the weekends sometimes as a special treat, however my pancakes always look anything but spectacular they always such odd shapes and sizes, and quite often are half burnt, I just can never seem to get them right! When I saw that these Fancy Blinis were up for review I was quite excited to try them out, I loved the generous amount of Blinis that you get in a box (24) and the small size of them, as these seemed perfect for young children to hold and eat without to much issue or mess!

My partner, Miss 4 and myself sat down on a saturday morning and enjoyed these for breakfast, I must say we had started off by heating up half of the box, but before we knew it we had cleaned up the whole box as they were so delicious! The table was set up with a variety of yummy toppings both sweet and savoury, whipped cream, strawberry mousse, jam, lemon, sugar, maple syrup, bacon, banana, avocado and cheese and it seemed that no matter what combination we used they were all incredibly good. Miss 4 loved hers simply with a spread of jam which was then topped off with a squirt of strawberry mousse, my partner loved his usual favourite of bacon, banana, maple syrup and whipped cream where as I quite enjoyed mine with avocado, bacon and a squeeze of lemon juice, something a bit more savoury.

These were such a hit in our house that I have since bought more, after happily discovering them now available at my local New World just up the road. We had a few groups of friends coming around for our monthly 'dinner club' one evening and I decided these would be perfect to serve up for dessert to the children, they loved the idea of creating their own little pikelets and I loved seeing their creations as they made smiley faces, animals etc using things such as Nutella, sprinkles, mini marshmallows and chocolate chips. The adults (those who were quick enough to get one before the children gobbled them up) loved them to and have put them on their to buy list at their next grocery shop as a quick and easy snack for their children.

These really are delicious and well worth the price, so easy to prepare in the microwave for 30 seconds and they come out good as fresh. A super yummy treat that certainly will be filling my freezer again shortly.

My gosh this morning was a nightmare with the clocks going back for daylight savings 5.30am my 5 year old decided to get up ready for breakfast so a very tired mum made him toast. By 10am he was ready for lunch so I had to convince him that lunch was a long time off although to him it felt like an eternity!! I had the bright idea of getting these blinis out of the freezer for a quick easy morning tea to get us through to lunch time. Mister Sweet Tooth was very excited and wanted sweet toppings!!

I put out a selection of sweet toppings for him with toffee sauce, maple syrup, feijoa slices, lemon juice and white sugar. I couldn't believe it when he had twelve blinis in quick time I had to hide some so I could try for myself before they all disappeared. Getting up before the sun is obviously very good at building appetite or more likely the blinis were just to good to resist having another!! He has asked me if we can get more as they are just the best size not like those fat pikelets you make mum!!

I had to laugh as I don't often make pikelets but I will admit I am not very good at it!! I had a couple although I generally don't have gluten I found them very easy to eat. I had some avocado and bacon pieces on mine as felt like something more savoury and they definitely work both ways as a sweet and savoury dish. I had only ever thought as pancake type dishes in a savoury way with bacon and maple syrup but after trying this can see you do not need anything sweet.

I found them a lifesaver to have in the freezer and would be perfect for unexpected visitors to just whip out and get a few toppings out so I will definitely buy them again in the future a great price too so very easy to add into the supermarket shopping.

Since I live in New Plymouth I am actually blown away that I have not heard of Marcel's before now. I had no idea that about fifteen minutes away in Bell Block these little beauties were being created - I feel like I must be living under a rock! When I told my husband he looked at me like I was silly and said 'didn't you know' like I was thick or something. Well the secret is now out and I will be telling everyone!

These have been fantastic this past week. I have been popping one in the girls lunch box as a treat with jam and cream on it, completely frozen and by lunch time its been thawed and ready to eat. Both have said how great they are and said all of their friends have been asking for a bite. They are so fresh and do not taste like they have been frozen. They just keep so well! The first time my husband tried one he could not believe it had only been out of the freezer for only fifteen minutes and how light and tasty it was. He was in complete awe and just repeated the same five words 'but they taste so fresh'.

Besides using for school lunches - my five year old created an entree for us tonight with cream cheese and salmon and then for dessert her favourite jam and cream which were devoured within seconds as they are the perfect bite size. They have been an absolute hit with everyone and are so simple to use. With 24 in a pack they can last a while and as they only take about fifteen minutes to thaw they are perfect for when the unexpected guest pops around.

Just like the way you use Pikelets these are basically versions of those and can put any topping you see fit on them. I love how every one seems to be the same size so no fighting over the biggest one and they are basically the same thickness as well. Everyone I have tried as been perfectly cooked right the way thru and they are great even on there own but honestly taste better with strawberry jam and whipped cream.

I will definitely be buying these again in the future and will be having a box or two sitting in the freezer. They are hidden little gems and I am glad I have been let in on the secret. Still can not believe they were made right here in the Naki.

Pancakes are my kids favourite breakfast treat. We don't have it anywhere near as much as they would like but we try to have it at least once every couple of months. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the Blinis but they look just like mini piklets and taste exactly the same. My kids were so excited when they saw that I had bought a box home. I'm not sure they really knew what they were but they certainly liked the look of them.

We decided to pull these out of the freezer and have them for breakfast on Sunday. They only took around 5 minutes to fully defrost which is very handy when deciding last minute what to eat. I spread them out on a plate and added some whipped cream and drizzled some strawberry sauce over the top - please note this is not a usual breakfast for us!

My 3 year old son was pretty excited when he saw them and after a tiny bite to taste it, he quickly devoured all 6 until there were non left on his plate. My husband scoffed his entire plate also and I delicately ate away at mine... who am I kidding, I ate the whole lot and left no prisoners! They were definitely a hit with everyone at the table.

There are so many different options that you can have with these bite sized morsels. The packet even gives you a couple of ideas that are shown on the front and then described on the side, which I thought was a nice touch.

The best thing about these Blinis are that you can choose to either have these as a savoury snack or as a sweet treat just by changing what you place on top. I used the whole packet at breakfast for my family of 4 (there are 24 in a pack so that was 6 each) but I did go out and buy another pack which I tried with some savoury toppings, my favourite was some chutney and ham but next time I really want to try some mayo, avocado and a prawn on top, mmmmmm...

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this product as well as the others in the Marcel brand. The only downside I could find with it was that I struggled to actually locate a packet to begin with. It would be awesome if all the other supermarkets started stocking it but it's through no fault of Marcel's that they aren't.

Until very recently, I had no idea what "blinis" actually were. Had someone told me "like pikelets, but a bit smaller" I would have instantly known what I was in for. Still, the surprise was pleasant, their versatility was amazing, and the taste was to die for.

I tried these as both 'sweet' and 'savoury' options. For the sweet options, I tested them as "ice cream sandwiches" (a hit with my youngest!) and also stacked with chocolate chips melted between them drizzled with maple syrup on top a la pancake-stack. For savoury, I had sliced tomato, cucumber and fresh basil on top of some, and also peanut butter and bacon on some others. All options proved to be tasty and so easy to make!

My only gripe with them was that all this experimenting left me feeling really full - uncomfortably so. They are just so easy to make, and eat, that before your stomach has time to catch up, you've gobbled the lot! While a glowing recommendation for their tastiness, it's something you may want to watch out for. If they got any more'ish, they could be declared addictive. (OK, who am I kidding, they already ARE addictive!)

Yes, I have bought more, no I don't plan on sharing any of this lot, and yes, it's very likely I will have these on my shopping list regularly.

These little blinis are very much like the pikelets I make, but lighter and they hold together better. A selling point for me is that they come frozen but once defrosted stay fresh for several days. The packet says three days, but I found them still perfectly fresh five days after they had been thawed. This means you can take them on a picnic or an afternoon tea while they are still frozen - they take only minutes to thaw once they are in a warm place - and then know that any leftovers are not going to go stale all of a sudden.

I tried them with both sweet and savoury toppings. Because the blinis have a very subtle taste they are suited to almost any topping. However we did detect a slight baking soda aftertaste so on balance they are probably better served as a savoury. I had the same couple join me as testers each time so was able to get their thoughts on the comparative success rating. Hard to do however as they liked everything!

Our first topping was with chocolate mousse topped with banana. We had three each - one of the advantages of the pack size is that there are LOTS of blinis inside. There were 24 in all, and three was just right for a snack or a dessert item. The chocolate mousse went well with the texture of the blinis as it was very light, and the bananas complemented the chocolate nicely. We noted that the product contains no preservatives of any kind, and that the colour is completely natural, so this made up for the slightly unhealthy nature of the mousse!

The second time we tried them we had them with smoked salmon and cream cheese. This was seriously delicious and I was tempted to use up the rest of the packet, but I was cautious as I wanted to try them with one more topping variation. We had now used up 18 and there were just six left - two each. One friend commented that they would be perfect items for an afternoon tea as they look good and take no time at all to prepare. She has a busy lifestyle and has already decided to add a couple of packs to her freezer.

The last serving, which was just two each, was with sliced tomato and avocado. I think this was my favourite of the three toppings. The avocado was perfectly ripe and added a creamy topping which would be hard to beat. I decorated them with shredded basil and a couple of drops of hot sauce. Heavenly! The next time I buy a packet I am going to try them out with blue cheese and walnut.

Yes - I am sold on this product and so are my friends! I hope the supermarkets all start stocking it as currently it is available in only a few, but hopefully that will happen soon.