Candy Blog

I’ll start with a little photo of some bonbons I photographed from Eclat Chocolates in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I bought them specifically for eating, not reviewing, but they were so pretty I had to snap a few photos.

This week in Candy Blog History, I delve into the archives from late June. In Los Angeles we have a weather pattern called June Gloom, which keeps the humidity up but the morning cloud cover keeps the temperatures down, so it’s my last opportunity to photograph and eat chocolate before the long hot summer (that ends in October).

2011
It’s not hard to find new items at Trader Joe’s, and this bar is still on shelves and still worthy of trying if you haven’t picked one up already.

Name: 70% Dark Chocolate Bar - Caramel with Black Sea Salt
Brand: Trader Joe’s
Place Purchased: Trader Joe’s (Silver Lake)
Price: $1.99
Size: 3 ounces
Calories per ounce: 140
Type: Chocolate/Caramel
Rating: 8 out of 10

Read the original review of Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar with Caramel and Black Sea Salt.

2010
Even five years into Candy Blog, and I was still finding classic items that I hadn’t reviewed yet. My current list of candies that I haven’t reviewed yet (and have probably been around for 50 years or more) still has over a dozen items on it. Part of me thinks that if I’ve reviewed everything, there won’t be any reason to have a candy blog any longer.

Name: Peter Paul Mounds Bar
Brand: Hershey’s
Place Purchased: CVS (Silver Lake)
Price: $.89
Size: 1.75 ounces
Calories per ounce: 141
Type: Chocolate/Coconut
Rating: 9 out of 10

Read the original review of Peter Paul Mounds Bar.

2009
As we go further back in history, I found a lot of candies that didn’t make it. The Topps Wazoo bars were buoyed by a lot of advertising and curiosity from kids. My reviews were quite popular, mostly because there was no other information about them on the internet for quite a while (there were commercials, but no website). Then came the difficulty in finding them. Though they were advertised and stores wanted to carry them, I heard that there were problems manufacturing them, so they weren’t actually available during that crucial time when people were interested in trying them. Oh, and they looked and tasted weird.

Name: Wild Berriez Wazoo Bar
Brand: Topps
Place Purchased: IT’SUGAR (Universal CityWalk - Hollywood)
Price: $1.25
Size: 1.6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 106
Type: Chew
Rating: 5 out of 10

Read the original review of the Topps Wild Berriez Wazoo Bar.

2008
Mars has had its share of abandoned candy products, things that people still talk about to this day like the Twix Cookies and Cream, the Marathon Bar and PB Max. I don’t hear too many people lamenting the slow disappearance of M&Ms Premiums. They were un-shelled M&Ms with more novel layers and flavors.

Name: M&Ms Premiums
Brand: Mars
Place Purchased: Target (Hollywood)
Price: $3.99
Size: 6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 162
Type: Chocolate/Nuts/White Chocolate/Mint/Coffee
Rating: 7 out of 10

Read the original review of the launch of M&Ms Premiums.

2007
For a short time Hershey’s had a program where you could order candy to be delivered fresh from the factory. It was a strange schedule, they only did it a few times a year so if their schedule didn’t match up with the time you wanted to give it as a gift, it was awkward. And Hershey’s may be a good candy maker, but they’re not really into the whole shipping and fulfillment thing. They leave that to candy brokers and wholesalers for a reason. Part of it also implies that candy that’s fresher than the candy that you get at the store is better. And of course there was also a huge premium applied to purchasing this way, it was far more expensive than just picking it up at the grocery store.

Name: Good & Plenty
Brand: Hershey’s
Place Purchased: samples from Hershey’s
Price: $25 plus shipping
Size: 4 pounds
Calories per ounce: 94
Type: Licorice
Rating: 9 out of 10

Read the original review of Good & Plenty Fresh from the Factory.

2006
One of the earliest candies I was introduced to because of Candy Blog, and then became obsessed with, were the elusive Pink Grapefruit Mentos. Even my personal consumption levels and consistent endorsements couldn’t save them from being discontinued. (They are available in Japan though, I’m told, though I haven’t sourced any myself.)

Name: Pink Grapefruit (Pamplemousse) Mentos
Brand: Perfetti Van Melle
Place Purchased: samples from Perfetti Van Melle
Price: $17.00/box of 20 online
Size: 1.32 ounces per roll
Calories per ounce: unknown
Type: Chew
Rating: 10 out of 10

Read the original review of Pink Grapefruit Mentos.

2005
For a long time on Candy Blog I followed Limited Edition offerings from the major candy makers. Blogs like this are one of the few places you can find records of them. As a marketing scheme, the goal was murky. Were they trying them out as a possible addition to the regular line? Were they just trying to get rid of ingredients they got a good deal on? Is there some sort of marketing tie in to an event or movie? Who knows? Mostly they were flings, we’d find something we loved, then it would disappear.

Name: Reese’s Pieces Peanuts and Peanut Butter
Brand: Reese’s (Hershey’s)
Place Purchased: Target
Price: $.89
Size: 3.2 oz
Calories per ounce: 164
Type: Nuts

Read the review of Reese’s Pieces with Peanuts.

While in Pennsylvania at the end of April, I visited family and they, of course, steered me towards some local candy.

After my niece’s lacrosse game but before my nephew’s baseball game we headed over to Bevan’s Own Make Candy in Media, Pennsylvania, not far from Philadelphia. It’s a cute little shop where nearly everything they sell is made right there in the store. The Bevan’s shop has been there for over 50 years, churning out local favorites and holiday treats. I was interested in the items that they were particularly well known for.

The store looks barely touched by the years. The interior is a simple set of shelves, a quaint window display and a large glass candy case. The gal behind the counter was happy to answer questions and even ended up checking in back for a dark chocolate mix for me.

We picked up three boxes of candy, one to eat with the family and two which I shared and then took the rest home with me. We picked out Milk Chocolate Covered Pretzels (which were gone within 24 hours), Peanut Butter Sticks and Molasses Chips. Each box was between $6.00 and $6.50 and I think had about a half a pound in it.

I love the idea of a Butterfinger, but have been disappointed over the years with the quality of the Nestle product. But stores like Bevan’s almost always have a house made version, Peanut Butter Sticks and they’re far superior. This version is a straw-style peanut butter crunch that’s then covered in a large helping of milk chocolate.

The peanut butter crisp is flaky and melts in the mouth quickly. The peanut butter flavors are strong and it’s not too sweet with just the right, light touch of salt. The milk chocolate is smooth, a little too sweet for me, but the right ratio for this version of the candy. It was hard to keep at least half a box for photographing when I got home.

The other item I love getting, especially from Pennsylvania candy makers, is Molasses Chips. Like the Peanut Butter Sticks, it’s a candy that takes a bit of work and skill to make, even though the recipe is quite simple. The center is just a boiled sugar and molasses mixture that’s pulled and folded to create the unique layered texture. Then it’s cut up and covered in dark chocolate. The bitterness of the mild dark chocolate goes well with the dark, toffee sweetness of the molasses. Crispy, melt in your mouth, definitely a keeper.

If you’re in the area and crave a little home-cooked flavor, it’s a good shop to experience. Around the corner on Edgemont Street is the actual candy kitchen, you can look in through the window and see their equipment and candy making tables.

Bevan’s Own Make Candy
143 E. Baltimore Avenue
Media, PA
Phone 610-566-0581
website

Read more about Bevan’s at the local Media, PA website, Fig Media.

I’m a huge fan of Oreos. I love them. For my 16th birthday my little brother gave me a package of Oreos, and though some people would think, “What a cheap gift!” It was in reality just what I wanted. My love of the cookies is all about the cookie part, not the cream filling. It’s salty and barely sweet, slightly sandy in its crunch and has a deep, dark chocolate flavor that borders on charcoal.

Now Kraft has their own Oreo candy bars, of course not in the United States, spawning ground of Oreos. Instead the best Oreo Bars came from Japan. So Americans have to eat Cookies and Cream candy (which is based on the awesome Cookies and Cream Ice Cream). It’s a white chocolate base with crushed chocolate. The thing about Oreos is that there is no substitute. People who like other brands of chocolate cream cookies (such as Hydrox) prefer them. I happen to prefer Oreos and find anything that’s like an Oreo but not an Oreo slightly disappointing. (But still usually delicious.)

While Hershey’s has a 22 year head start in the Cookies and Cream arms race, Dove has an advantage when it comes to ingredients and texture.

The new Dove Silky Smooth Promises Cookies & Creme are the newest in Dove’s recent entry into white chocolate products. For a while everyone was going extra dark and all of sudden white chocolate is legitimate decadence. (Personally, I think we can have it both ways, they’re not mutually exclusive.)

I got a handful of these as a sample from Mars last month. I didn’t think it was the final packaging because of the rather generic looking black and white foil. (This wouldn’t be the first time I got samples from Mars in temporary packaging.) Well, when I opened the bag after picking them up at Target last weekend, it was clear that this was what the wrapper was supposed to look like.

I really wanted to love these, but as I mentioned before at the top, I love the cookie part of cream sandwich cookies. So I want a lot of cookie. The white chocolate Dove uses is very creamy, very smooth but also has a bit of a cocoa flavor of its own. It may not be deodorized cocoa (where the cocoa butter is filtered completely to remove any traces of cocoa solids or anything that makes it smell like chocolate). It’s not as sweet as some other white chocolates, especially those at this price point. But it’s still sweet and lacks that moderation that a larger proportion of cookie bits would bring.

The cookie bits themselves are okay, they’re crunchy, but missing a really dark and lightly salty note to them.

They’re okay eaten one at a time and with something else in between. I don’t find myself wanting more after I finish one.

I was on the lookout for the Dove Cookies & Creme but had no idea that Ghirardelli had their own new version. The Ghirardelli Sublime White Cookies Jubilee was far more expensive per ounce, at $2.79 for the 3.17 ounce bar.

The box is nicely made and protects the bar well, at paperboard sleeve over a foil wrapped bar. The price per ounce is 88 cents per ounce while the Dove is half that at 44 cents per ounce. So it should be twice as good. It should be all natural. It should be fair trade. It should complement my skin tone and make my eyes sparkle. (Candy doesn’t work that way, or so I’ve been told.)

What Ghirardelli does with there bar is actually different and sounds really good. They describe it on the front of the box as rich layers of chocolate with crunchy cookie bits..

The ingredients are weird and the photo on the package (and physical examination of the opened bar) looks like there’s a milk chocolate base then a white chocolate layer filled with cookie bits.

But what it smells like is chocolate cupcakes. Not good chocolate cupcakes but those cupcakes that people buy at the grocery store bakery, that smell of automation and mixes. The ingredients list cocoa butter as the second ingredient, so that’s not a problem, the chocolate content seems all good. The cookie though seems to be made from rice flour, tapioca starch and corn starch. There’s no wheat flour in there, not that I need it to be made with wheat flour, but this isn’t a gluten free product. (Or is it?)

The flavor balance is weird, it’s like fake buttered popcorn. The little cookie bits have a nice crunch, but little dark toasted cocoa goodness of their own. The chocolate layers are smooth, far smoother than the Dove. It was weirdly greasy at the end and melted too quickly to become thin and watery. It’s just weird and I found it really unpleasant. (For the record, I have liked a lot of Ghirardelli’s other white chocolate products.)

In order to completely review a Cookie and Creme candy, I had to revisit the one that pretty much dominates the market, the Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme.

I love the idea of the Hershey’s and there’s so many things that are right with this bar, but the primary reason I can’t or don’t eat it is because of the ingredients. Instead of real cocoa butter the Hershey’s version uses, well, it’s hard to tell, because the ingredients list is vague. The second ingredient, after sugar, is vegetable oil. It says then, parenthetically, that it may include cocoa butter, palm, shea, sunflower and/or safflower. So there’s really no telling which or any of those are in there.

It’s extremely sweet and slightly grainy and I think not quite milky enough for a white chocolate style product. But then I get to the cookies. There are so many of them, they’re so consistently crunchy and salty and sandy and really exquisite. They balance out the sickeningly sweet white confection exceptionally well.

This purchase was the King Size bar, which was well priced, but far too much of this for me to eat and really, really smelly. The Drops version introduced more recently is a better portioning, though doesn’t have quite the same cookie density and satisfaction.

I have to say, after all these years, I still haven’t found a Cookies and Cream candy I actually like enough to keep eating. Dove is pretty close, it needs more cookies, it needs better cookies. Or Hershey’s could go back to a real white chocolate with cocoa butter and a little less sugar. Instead I’ll probably just keep eating Oreos.

Related Candies

1. Milka Bars, Milka Drops and some Li’l Milka
2. Cookies ‘n’ Cream Bites
3. KitKat Otonano Amasa (Adult Taste)
4. Oreo Bitter Bar (Japan)
5. Cookies ‘n’ Creme Showdown
6. Trader Joe’s Mint Joe Joe’s versus Mint Oreos
7. Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Mint

There are lots of different kinds of black licorice with different flavor profiles and styles. There’s American twist licorice, Dutch salty licorice and Australian soft chew licorice. New Zealand even has its own brand, RJ’s Licorice.

I picked up this sample package at the Fancy Food Show earlier this year. It’s RJ’s Licorice Allsorts and they’re made with all natural ingredients, with no artificial colors. I thought this was a great idea, because I’m often turned off by weird flavors and aftertastes from artificial colors.

The other New Zealand twist on this is the flavor set for these candies, they come in four colors and flavors: Passion Fruit, Black Cherry, Lime and Orange.

They smell really good. They’re soft and have a strong anise and molasses note. The stack for the little sandwiches starts with a white layer or fondant, which seems to be unflavored or at least lightly flavored. Then there’s a thin square of black licorice. On top of that is the special flavored fondant. This fondant is just a soft sugar mixture, there’s no coconut in there like some Allsorts feature.

The orange pieces are Orange flavored. The white fondant is like a frosting, sugary and sweet and with only a light and soft touch of orange essence. There’s no tartness and little balance. The licorice layer is soft and pliable, chewy and has a nice profile. It’s a mix of woodsy molasses, toffee and other burnt flavors. It’s only the faintest bit bitter and quite sweet in that light way that licorice is. The white layer is unflavored, as far as I can tell.

The green looks rather like a highlighter and is Lime. This one was not entirely pleasant. I didn’t care for the lime layer, it was sweet and weirdly artificial even though it does use natural flavorings.

The faint pink is Black Cherry and has a great profile. The flavor is floral and a bit more punchy than the previous citrus ones. It dissipates quickly but still goes well with the licorice layer. It tasted far sweeter though on the whole than the other flavors.

The yellow sandwich was Passion Fruit which was the odd one in the batch. It was musky and had strong honey and floral notes. It goes pretty well with the licorice, which I never would have guessed. But still, it was a lot of different sweet notes, too much for me.

If you’re the type who likes very sweet and sugary candy, the type of person who eats straight sugar cube, this is a good choice. It wasn’t licorice-y enough for me and without enough of a fruity note from the fondant. I’ll stick to plain licorice from RJ’s for now.

Related Candies

1. Trader Joe’s Allsorts -a- Licorice
2. Gatos Licorice
3. Haribo Pearlico Lakritz
4. 12 European Licorices
5. Leaf Schoolchalk, Allsorts & Pipes
6. Lifesaver Musk
7. Bassett’s Licorice Allsorts

Starburst come in a myriad of flavor packs these days. I picked up a few of the less common flavors at some convenience stores recently. The Starburst Sweet Fiesta has been out for a few years. At first I thought it was a limited edition version, but it appears to be a regular item.

The package contains four different flavors, each is a combo flavor all based on a sort of tropical and sub-tropical flavors. It has Cherry mango, peach guava, strawberry pineapple and melon berry, with three of each flavor in the 2.07 ounce pack.

Strawberry Pineapple is pink and delightful. It’s sweet and tangy with floral notes that are close to honey and then something a little deeper and more heady.

Melon Berry is bright green. It’s quite melon, a cross between watermelon and musk melon, but there’s a strong sort of papaya note to it. It’s too musky for me, to tropical.

Peach Guava is peachy. It smells like coconut and has a peachy, apricot note at first. The guava is not terribly strong, which is fine with me because I’m not that keen on guava, it’s almost like passion fruit.

Cherry Mango is red. It smelled like the regular Cherry Starburst at first, but the flavor is quite a bit better. It’s cherry, with all those woodsy flavors, but there’s a pine and peach note to it that’s quite good. I’m not usually a fan of cherry, but I like how Starburst does them for the most part, and this is a good example.

Overall, this flavor set is different enough from the standard Starbust Fruits but I don’t feel like it completely breaks out of the show of the perfection of the original. If you’re the type of candy fan that hates citrus, this is a good mix, as it has none, which is pretty rare. I love the pineapple, but I’m not big on melon, so I’d probably give this a pass in the future as a whole pack, but if I can just pick out the Strawberry Pineapple and share the rest, it’s all systems go.

Related Candies

1. Starburst Flavor Morph
2. Haribo Maoam Fruit Chews
3. HiCHEW World Fruit: Dragonfruit, CamuCamu, Durian & White Peach
4. Starburst Sour & Sweet
5. Starburst Baja California & Tropical
6. Starburst
7. HiCHEW Assortment
8. Storck Mamba Chews