I’m not sure what’s taken Reese’s so long to come out with a Butterfinger-like candy bar. Maybe when Hershey’s bought 5th Avenue they made some sort of a deal. But here it is, 2006, some 88 years after the introduction of the Reese’s Peanut Butter cup and they’ve done it.

Instead of being a clone of the 5th Avenue, Butterfinger or Clark Bar, this one has both that layered crispy peanut butter crunch in the center, a supposed stripe of peanut butter as well as a liberal sprinkling of crushed peanuts and then milk chocolate.

The effect is a rather creamy and very crunchy bar. The textured center provides that high-frequency crisp and the nuts provide the low frequency crunch. The center has a salty hit to it that also gives it a little zing along with a good dose of molasses, which always pleases me. It also has 5 grams of protein, which is a pretty good density for a bar that’s more candy than nuts.

The crispy center was also lighter than the dense and sometimes inconsistent Butterfinger bar. The biggest drawback here is that Hershey’s has again skimped on the chocolate on the outside and gone for the marginal stuff that has PGPR in it.

If there’s one thing that really turns me off for this bar it’s the promo they’re running with its introduction. You can vote on their website for Crunchy or Creamy? and win a car based on your vote. Crunchy people win a Hummer H3 (blech) and Creamy people are entered to win a Corvette Coupe (meh).

My preference for this type of bar is the 5th Avenue, but those are extremely hard to find. If Hershey’s is planning on making these as widely available as other Reese’s products, this might be a new bar added to my repertoire.

Here are some great candy and sweets-themed raffle prizes for this year’s Menu for Hope (raising funds for the UN World Food Programme):

David Lebovitz is offering up one of his Paris chocolate tours. Must get yourself to Paris in order to claim it.

EU08

A Japanese Wagashi Making Kit from Obachan’s Kitchen & Balcony Garden. If you’ve never had wagashi, keep an eye out for it during the New Year, it’s both beautiful and tasty - it’s like the mochi ice cream you get at the sushi restaurants but 100 times better.

AP16

She Who Eats is offering up an assortment of European and American chocolates. All dark chocolate. All right already! I’m entering!

AP31

A mess o’ Swedish sweets (candy and chocolate) from Clivia’s Cuisine. I have no idea what’s in there, but I hope it’s licorice!

EU20

Fair Trade hamper of coffee from Republica, Cocolo chocolate, Hope honey,fairtrade rice, handcream and a handbag as well! All donated by Mocktale!

AP40

Ala Cuisine has donated the “Ultimate Chocolate Tasting Kit” ... I have no idea what’s in there, but it looks like some Michel Cluizel at the very least.

CA13

Two dozen hand made chocolates from Linda at Kayak Soup ... not only do they come in a hand painted box, but once you win you can even do a bit of personalization to it!

CA11

There are oodles of other fine prizes and you can choose to throw all of your donation tickets ($10 each) towards one item, or break it up.

Here’s what you have to do to donate:

(They’re still in the process of adding prizes so check ChezPim for the latest!)

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope.

2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhopeIII and make a donation.

3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code?for example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 for EU02. (Please use the double-digits, not EU1, but EU01.)

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win.  Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Entry deadline is December 20th at 6PM Pacific time.

Check back on Chez Pim on January 15 for the results of the raffle.

Here’s the last of the Gift Guides for 2006! Have a look at last years, this is just a supplement to that ... there are lots of great ideas out there in addition to giving folks actual candy, so keep an eye out for these candy-themed gifts.

Candy Desk

Chocolate Post-It Notes ($12.43) or Tower Note Pads - Wine Chocolate Friendship ($15.95)

Fred Flare is always guaranteed to have something cute. This year they’re featuring an innovating little desktop item called the Chocolate Bar Pen Holder ($14) ? it looks like a real chocolate bar!

After the holidays you might want to do more than send your notes, you might want to scent them too. Try these Scratch & Sniff cards for $8 a pair.

Candy Games and Amusements

Candy Dominoes and Candy Matching (Memory) Game ($16)

Bring the arcade experience into your home and burn some calories by frustrating yourself with the Candy Grabber for $35 (not including candy).

Holiday Candy Kaleidescope ($13) and the Regular Version ($11.95)

Jelly Belly 24 piece jigsaw puzzle ($4.95) a great stocking stuffer that will be around long after the candy is gone.

Chocolate-Opoly - $24.95

For some more interactive game fun, try the Candy Volcano for $21.99

Stocking Stuffers & Entertaining

Candy Shot Glasses ($4.95 for 6) - I have no idea if they make a sticky mess or if it’d be totally cool to smash them when you’re done.

M&Ms solo teapot in three different colors. Good for tea, or maybe even hot chocolate! ($23) For some bizarre reason you cannot have this shipped to California, so if you live there, try the M&Ms calculators for $10

Themed Candies - Gummi Tools ($6.95), Gummi Motivational Bracelets - I really want to order those ($2.95 a dozen), Snowman Bubble Gum Coins ($2.99)

Tootsie Roll Scarf ($24) - nothing says appreciation for retro candies like a scarf in the Tootsie Roll colors.

If that’s too casual for you, demonstrate your professionalism with a Sugar Daddy Business Card Holder for $29.00.

If you make the $40 minimum purchase, they’ll throw in a Tootsie Roll Car Air Freshener. There are loads of stocking stuffer ideas there at Tootsie.

Other

Hershey Baseballs - they’re real baseballs, not chocolate. At least they won’t melt on the field.

For the gift that keeps on growing, how about a symbolic piece of the candy world. Try OneShare.com for single shares of stock for Wrigley, Tootsie, Hershey’s and more. You can order just the share or get it frame with a special engraving to personalize it. I’m not sure if it means that you get the annual report for the company or not.

Hershey: Milton S. Hershey’s Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams by Michael D’Antonio.

Jewelry & Adornment

If you like the idea of a candy charm bracelet, there’s a whole series of items in the Pugster Fun Jewelry line that are pretty inexpensive.

Lip Candy lip palette from Sephora Girls $14

Tootsie Candy up your iPod for $5.95.

Drinkable

Lemonhead or Atomic Fireball mugs for only $6.95. There are plenty of other fun Lemonhead items there too (tees, shirts, and caps).

Candy University Mugs ($18.00)

Max Brenner’s Hug Mug made just for hot chocolate with a special shape to cup between your hands.

Apparel

Reese’s ball cap - orange with brown trim. $15

Baby Chuck Taylor hi tops in peppermint stripes. $24.99

The strangest entry in the brand tie in merchandise has to be these cute Cow boots from Goetze’s Caramel Creams (makers of Bull’s Eyes and Cow Tales). At only $19.95 I’m kind of wishing it rained more where I live.

They also have hats and an umbrella ... and if you live in an area where it’s hard to find Goetze’s, you can order right there for more than enough to stuff your stocking.

Jelly Belly Embroidered Tee $22.99 is one of the more inventive garments on their site. They also have some luscious looking hoodies, ringer tees and caps. But the thing you really need to click through and see are the pro-styled bib bicycle shorts.

Inventive Individuals on Caf? Press & Zazzle:

Gummi Bear Mob - yes, this gummi bear has a posse.
Got Candy ? jewels of candy ? you got ‘em?
Candy Elements - Carbon + Nitrogen + Dysprosium (who knew?)
Birth of the Candy Bar a meme long before the word meme was coined

I guess the newest thing in candy canes in the past 50 years was the introduction on different flavors. Yeah, there are also different shapes and sizes as well, but the candy cane is pretty much a hard candy.

The Chocolate Filled Handmade Candy Cane seeks to be beyond the plain hard candy stick. This seven inch cane in peppermint has stunning red and opaque white strips and of course the advertised chocolatey filling.

The hard candy shell has a chocolatey filling twisted through it. It’s not a lot of chocolate, I had three of these canes and the one pictured above is the most chocolatey of the three. The mint candy is nice with a strong peppermint flavor. The inside features a pink and slightly foamy center which gives the whole thing a good crunch.

The chocolatelyness is not that intense, it certainly mellows out the intensity of the peppermint and gives a little fudgy burst every once in a while. As a chocolate person, I was a bit disappointed. As a hard candy fan, it was far superior to those “chocolate” starlight mints (I usually spit those out). The chocolate here is made from cocoa and coconut & palm kernel oils ... so not really chocolate at all, just a chocolate syrup.

They’re a bit on the expensive side but they are drop-dead gorgeous and a great upscale stocking item. I’ve seen the Elegant Sweets line around a bit more lately. I saw some of their Christmas tree shaped lollies (in cherry & green apple) at a store called Cuvee on Robertson in Los Angeles yesterday and ran across these canes at Harry and David while I was in San Francisco the weekend before.

Besides their holiday line, they have some freakishly stunning candies all year round. You can expect them to turn up here again in the future.

Sometimes just giving someone a box of candy doesn’t feel special enough. You know, when you give someone a sweater, they wear it over and over again. The cool solution for the consumable nature of this type of gift is to spread it out over a long period of time. Lots of candy companies now offer Candy of the Month clubs, so that loved one gets reminded once a month that you know their passion.

Here’s a roundup of a few options:

Ethel M - Chocolate Club ($99-$299) - 3, 6 & 12 month subscriptions for regular deliveries of chocolates.

Jelly Belly - Bean of the Month Club ($68.99-$249) - Choose 3, 6 or 12 months of Jelly Belly candies delivered 2.2 lbs at a time. Includes dispenser and shipping charges.

Licorice International - Candy of the Month Club ($178) - three different packages for candy lovers, black and red licorice lovers and black licorice purists.

Lake Champlain - ($115-$395) Chocolate of the Month - choose 3, 6 or 9 months of fine, all natural, Kosher chocolate selections.

Dale and Thomas - ($86-$455) Popcorn of the Month - choose from a large variety of clubs that range from 3 months to 12, could be a variety of savory and sweet popcorns as well as other sweet treats.

SeventyPercent - Chocolate Connoisseur’s Club (varies) - based in the UK but ships worldwide. Focuses on high end chocolate bars from all over the world, plus discussions in their forums about the monthly selections.

Recchiuti - Club Recchiuti ($125-$425) - 3, 6, 9 & 12 month memberships with a wide range of products delivered throughout the year.

Flippin’ Fudge - Fudge of the Month Club ($348) - a different flavor of premium fudge every month. 

Candy Warehouse - Candy of the Month Club ($99-$139) - various versions, one featuring nostalgic favorites, one for gummi fans and another for chocoholics.

Have you ever been gifted a candy of the month club? Any tips or recommendations?