Candy Blog

These curious little nougats studded with jelly have a selling point: they’re made with seaweed. According to the woman I met up with in the aisle of the Little Tokyo Market, if it’s from the sea, it’s good for you.

Since starting Candy Blog my consumption of ice cream has decreased to nearly nothing. Two reasons: I simply can’t afford the calories given my candy habits and as I get older I’m less and less lactose tolerant (which really takes the enjoyment out of it). That doesn’t mean that I don’t miss it. One of the things I miss is the texture; the other is the flavor combinations. Mint chocolate chip just doesn’t work in the same way in any other format than ice cream.

Baskin-Robbins has a line of ice cream themed candies. I tried the chewy candies a few years ago and decided that they were not for me. But I did see these hard candies at the 99 Cent Only Store. Baskin-Robbins Smooth & Creamy Hard Candy. I decided to try the Pralines ‘n Cream because it sounded like a flavor that could be made into a hard candy well. The ingredients looked pretty good too: sugar, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk, salt, natural & artificial flavors, soy lecithin, honey and soybean oil.

The candies are individually wrapped and well marked (in case you buy several varieties and want to mix them in a bowl). Each piece was a combination of two colors, a light milky caramel color and a darker toffee color. They smell sweet, toasty and rather like walking into an actual Baskin-Robbins.

The texture isn’t quite silky smooth, but they’re still quite slick. I prefer to crunch mine and these have a nice cleave to them (though some could also be tough and chewy - that could be that I left them in my car and it got a little hot). The flavor has a good blend of caramelized sugar notes, butterscotch pudding and a liberal dose of salt. They’re quite sweet, but so is Pralines ‘n Cream Ice Cream. I ate most of the bag in one sitting, so after three or four it got a bit throat searing - that’s a lot of sugar.

I was pretty pleased with these. They’re a little different from something like a Werther’s, more milky. The price was pretty good, too. I know the bag only had 3.5 ounces for a dollar, but that’s a decent deal for a very dairy laden candy. I don’t know why the package says “Value Size”, as I don’t know what other package sizes and price points are available. Usually value sizes are large ... I considered this two servings. (Though the package seems to think three is a serving.)

Each piece has 20 calories. They’re not really low calorie candies, just small. At 121 calories per ounce, there’s a fair amount of fat in there for a sugar candy, about 2 grams per ounce.

The hard candies also come in Very Berry Strawberry and Mint Chocolate Chip. I have my doubts about the success of those flavors in this format, so I’ll probably just quite while I’m ahead.

Related Candies

1. Cookies ‘n’ Creme Showdown
2. Choco-Fudge Mallow Sundae
3. Jelly Belly Ice Cream Parlor Mix
4. Baskin-Robbins Soft Candy
5. Whoppers Milkshake Strawberry
6. Skittles Ice Cream

As if Ritter Sport doesn’t have a large enough repertoire of bars, they have been introducing seasonally-themed limited editions. I tried the Fruhlingsspezialitaten 2010 that I found at a local import shop earlier this year. They included Haselnuss Krokant, Cashew in Alpenmilch and Bourbon Vanille. The summer versions were not so easy to find in the States but some Ritter Sport folks were happy to help me out with some samples. The summer flavors were: Stracciatella, Pfirsich-Maracuja Joghurt and Waldbeer Joghurt.

The Stracciatella features 37% cacao milk chocolate and a bourbon vanilla cream filling with chocolate bits.

It’s been many years since I’ve had real Stracciatella, which is a gelato (Italian ice cream) with stripes of chocolate that form little crunchy flakes or chips. In my experience it was usually dark chocolate.

I recall being excited by the spring version of Bourbon Vanille, but then disappointed by the lack of rum-laden vanilla notes. Here too I thought that the kind of fudgy vanilla cream center was a little bland. It’s not fatty and doesn’t quite melt in my mouth. It also isn’t very flavorful ... but also not very sweet or sticky. The little chips in it are small and don’t really add much flavor to it. I think I would have been really happy if this was a dark chocolate bar, I think that’s the kick it needs - some really rich dark chocolate. However, plain vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips has never been a favorite flavor of mine, so this might be the perfect bar for folks who do like that.

This was the only white chocolate bar in the mix. Ritter Sport does do great things with white chocolate, the key being that they use real cocoa butter to begin with.

Ritter Sport is also big on yogurt. I’ve tried their Yogurt, Strawberry Yogurt and Olympia bars before. The only other country that I’ve noticed with such a fanaticism for yogurt flavored candy is Japan.

The Pfirsich-Maracuja Joghurt is a white chocolate shell with a peach and passion fruit yogurt cream center. There are also little rice flakes thrown in there for texture and crunch.

The bar is simple and plain, a soft and creamy yellow/white chocolate bar.

When I saw the reviews of this bar, I really wasn’t interested. I like real peaches and I find passion fruit okay but not my favorite. So a white chocolate bar flavored with these ... along with yogurt (which is good stuff but not exactly a candy flavoring), well, I just didn’t think they could pull it off.

But they did! It’s utterly surprising. It smells like passion fruit - a tangy and sharp floral and tropical scent that goes well with the dairy yogurt note. The peach is a faint pine and pear whiff in the background. The white chocolate is sweet but rather smooth. The rice flakes give it a little crunch, like there are freeze dried fruit bits in there. It’s milky but mostly fruity.

I wouldn’t buy this often, but I do see its appeal and I’m glad that Ritter Sport is taking a few risks with outside the box flavors in their limited editions.

The Ritter Sport Waldbeer Joghurt seemed positively the tamest and safest flavor of the bunch. Waldbeer is forest fruits, or basically mixed berries. The package shows blackberries, blueberries and strawberries.

The format is similar to the Pfirsich-Maracuja Jogurt in that it’s a yogurt cream center flavored with fruit and studded with little crisped rice flakes. The chocolate on this bar is milk. At first glance it didn’t seem that different from the classic Strawberry Yogurt bar that Ritter Sport is already known for.

It smells nice, exactly like berry yogurt - there’s the floral notes of the berries and the dairy twang of the yogurt.

The flavors are pleasant and the yogurt takes a back seat as the berry flavors come forward. The milk chocolate is smooth and give a slight dairy contribution, but also keeps the whole thing from getting too sweet. The rice flakes have a little crunch, but there are also little bits of freeze dried berry in here too, so sometimes they’re tangy and sometimes they’re more of a light malty cereal flavor.

Overall it’s decent. Munchable and satisfying, but not quite what I’d find myself craving. These may be available online at shops like GermanDeli.com and eBay.com.

Don’t take my opinion as gospel, see: Gigi Reviews Waldbeer Yogurt, Cinabar reviews Waldbeer Yogurt, Candyholic (German) reviews Waldbeer Yogurt  and Stracciatella, ZOMGCandy reviews Stracciatella, It’s All About Limited Edition reviews Stracciatella and Jim’s Chocolate Mission reviews Stracciatella and Summer Limited Editions in Mini form.

Related Candies

1. Ritter Sport Olympia
2. Ritter Sport Fruhlingsspezialitaten 2010
3. Yogen Fruz Smoothies
4. Topps Wild Berriez Wazoo
5. Strawberry Yoghurt Mentos
6. Ritter Sport White Chocolate with Hazelnuts
7. Katjes Tropical Gummis & Yogurt Gums

Name: Organic Licorice Twists
Brand: Newman’s Own Organics
Description: The first licorice twist made with organic ingredients comes from Newman’s Own Organics. It’s available in today’s favorite flavors, black and strawberry, as well as two new fruit flavors, pomegranate and tangerine. The candy is low in fat and sodium, and is free from trans fat and cholesterol. $2.99 per 5-oz. package
Introduction Date: 6/1/2010
Notes: I’ve had organic licorice before ... never in a twist form, but I have my doubts that it’s that different. It sounds good but very pricey.

Name: Bubble Paste
Brand: Ludo LLC
Description: Unlike regular bubblegum, the Bubble Paste user gets to squeeze it out! So if you want a lot squeeze, squeeze, squeeze! The gum will retail between $0.59 to $.79/unit Comes in Strawberry and soon Sour Apple and Grape.
Introduction Date: 9/2010
Notes: You may want to read the entire press release here. There are too many inaccuracies (and insulting things) in there for me to cover comprehensively. The short: Dylan Lauren deserves to just be referred to as her own entity, not as the daughter of Ralph Lauren at this point. Two: bubble gum in a tube has been done before, several times. I remember Bazooka back in the 80s. The gum is for kids but contains artificial sweeteners. Finally, the press release closes with this I would have loved being an automobile manufacturer. However, I knew that was so unrealistic due to the capital requirements. Seriously, I’m supposed to want to buy from a guy who doesn’t really want to be doing this for a living? It’s a press release!

Name: Cinnamon Bun Bites
Brand: Taste of Nature
Description: Delicious bite size cinnamon bun pieces in a creamy white chocolatey coating. Both egg free and Kosher.
Introduction Date: June 2010
Notes: Made by the same folks that brought you Cookie Dough Bites. They sound absolutely dreadful. They sound so bad I’m really looking forward to them. (But that egg-free thing is probably a big selling point right now.)

Name: Gummi Bear-Rings
Brand: E-Frutti
Description: Gummi Bear Rings made with real fruit juice with great play appeal in an array of fruit flavors that every kid loves. 
Introduction Date: unknown
Notes: Dang these are cute. The pun possibilities abound! You could be traveling with someone and get turned around and then say, “Lost? Can I help you get your Bear-Rings?” Oh, I’m a stitch!

My biggest concern is that they won’t fit on my big fingers. I have no idea where to get them, but I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled.

Name: Starburst GummiBurst Flavor Duos
Brand: Wrigley (Mars)
Description: New Starburst GummiBursts Flavor Duos brings together two juicy fruit flavors in each piece! Flavor Duos delivers a gummy outside with a different fruit-flavored liquid center for a double burst of delicious fruit flavor! Strawberry Watermelon, Cherry Fruit Punch, Green Apple Strawberry & Lemon Cherry.
Introduction Date: 08/30/10
Notes: I’m not big on these new oozy gummis, but I think that Starburst is going in the right direction making them flavor combinations instead of single flavors (like the Skittles Crazy Cores). Now they just need to start making them in citrus flavors.

Name: sweetriot yumBar
Brand: Sweetriot, Inc.
Description: The yumBar is sourced and produced directly in Latin America. The bar is available in two flavors. yumBar 65-65% dark chocolate with crunchy cacao ‘peaces’, and yumBar 70- 70% dark chocolate with crunchy cacao ‘peaces’ and plump golden raisins. This delectable bar is all natural, doesn’t contain gluten or dairy ingredients and is only 45-50 calories per ‘mega peace’. 
Introduction Date: March 10, 2010
Notes: I haven’t tried these. I’ve seen them, but they just don’t speak to me for some reason. It might be the funky capitalization/lower case thing going on, it could be that pieces are always spelled ‘peaces’ or it could be that I’m just too grouchy for something with yum in the name.

All photos/images courtesy of the respective manufacturer

For something that’s described as “Chew Mints”, Mentos fail on diversity of mint flavors. In the United States there is exactly one mint flavor available: Mint. In other countries there are Spearmint, Xtra (double strong Peppermint or Spearmint), Lime Mint, Ice Mint, Cool Chews Orange Mint, Pomelo Mint, Strong Mint, Barley Mint and Lakritz Mint.

The only other flavor in the current American repertoire that I think features Freshmaking abilities is the Cinnamon Mentos. They’re not easy to find, I rarely see them in stores but grabbed this roll when I saw them at Walgreen’s last week. 

The package is hard to spot though, because it’s red and looks a lot like Strawberry at first glance.

The pieces don’t smell cinnamon-like. It’s not like having a package of cinnamon gum and having the scent of it waft through your purse or desk drawer. These are quiet and self-contained.

They’re smooth and have a good crunch to the outside. The inside is like a candy version of Big Red gum. They’re woodsy and a little warm from the cinnamon flavoring, but not overly hot. The flavor last through the whole chew and is in general satisfying. There’s a little hint of mint to it, but that may just be me imagining it.

Some of the fruit flavors of Mentos can have a weird aftertaste, but the Cinnamon ones have a fresh note at the end. They cut mid-morning coffee mouth without making me feel like I’ve eaten a wad of toothpaste.

Related Candies

1. See’s Cinnamon (Hearts & Lollypops)
2. Fresh Cola Mentos
3. Cinnamon Fire Twizzlers
4. Mentos Xtrm: Mint & Spearmint
5. Gimbal’s Lavaballs
6. Licorice Mentos