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October 2005

Monday, October 10, 2005

Temporary Outage

Sorry about the temporary outage.

You could see the blog, even make comments but they weren’t showing up. Somehow I’d deleted my blog template, which meant that the blog could not take anything new without disappearing altogether.

So, I fixed that and the malicious pop-up ads that had invaded the site via a hit tracker I inserted. Very sorry about the pop up ads ... should I decide to put ads on this blog they will certainly not be for web scans that will ultimately put spyware on your computer.

I’ll have a fresh candy review in a little while.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:34 pm     ReviewNews

Friday, October 7, 2005

Storck Mamba Chews

Name: Mamba
Brand: Storck
Place Purchased: Long’s Drug
Price: $.69
Size: 2.65 ounces
Calories per ounce: 125
Type: Fruit Chew

First, here’s a great value - 2.65 ounces for the price of a regular candy bar! And individually wrapped, so you can have some now and save the rest for later on. The package says that it has THREE servings.

I’d never tried these before and I’m not sure why. I know Storck best for their ultra-chocolately Riesen caramels. (Not for those without solid teeth or dental work.)

I know, fruit chews ... you’re thinking Starbursts and you’re not far off. What’s different about the Mamba is that there are only three flavors: Orange, Strawberry and Raspberry. Inside the main package there are three smaller packages of each flavor containing 6 chews.

The chews are soft and sweet with a good tart bite to them. Not quite as “juicy” as Starbursts, they have a bit more of an aromatic flavor to them, with a perfumey Strawberry and Raspberry along with a zesty Orange.

The only thing that confuses me is that the package says strawberry, orange, raspberry and lemon. With only three of the small packages within, you’re always gonna get shorted. Sadly, lemon is one of my favorite flavors and I’m sorry I missed out on that.

Rating - 8 out of 10 (great price)

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:58 am     CandyReviewStorckChews8-TastyGermany

Thursday, October 6, 2005

The Rocas

Name: Almond Roca and Cashew Roca
Brand: Brown & Haley
Place Purchased: Cost Plus
Price: $.99 each
Size: 1.26 oz
Calories per ounce: 159 (Cashew) 161 (Almond)
Type: Toffee

Almond Roca is cool. It’s the perfect hostess gift when you only have time to dash into the nearest drug store. Everyone likes it, it isn’t expensive, but feels like it is. It comes in a frighteningly pink tin, which is easy to slap a premade gold bow on. People who bring me Almond Roca don’t come off as cheap at all, I consider it a treat. (For the record, I don’t think anyone has ever given me Almond Roca, though I’ve been offered it at other people’s houses, no doubt someone else brought the host it as a gift.)

Almond Roca is a simple little invention - a small log, like a chubby pinky finger of crispy toffee is covered in chocolate and rolled in crushed almonds. (Sorry, it kinda looks like something you’d find in the cat litter but that’s probably why they wrap it in that sassy gold foil.) Cashew Roca is the same thing, only rolled in crushed cashews and wrapped in an even more luxurious cobalt blue foil.

Honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference between the two, the nuts are crushed into such small bits and their proportion to the overall mass of the toffee and chocolate is minute. The almond one has more calories, but besides the swap of nuts on the ingredients, they’re the same but maybe the cashew one is a bit creamier.

The coating is a bit disappointing though, it’s always a bit greasy, sometimes comes off in clumps. It’s not real chocolate, but a pretty good grade mockolate.

Still, it’s dang tasty.

Ratings - 7 out of 10

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:45 am     CandyReviewBrown & HaleyMockolateNutsToffee8-TastyUnited States

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Annabelle’s U-No

Name: U-No
Brand: Annabelle’s
Place Purchased: Savon
Price: $.79
Size: 1.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 167
Type: Chocolate

U-NO

Like many of the other West Coast candy bars (Rocky Road), I think I ignored this one because I didn’t know what it was. After all, if it was good, I would have tried it by now. I’d never seen anyone eating one and certainly never heard it in conversation. Now I’ve heard two different pronunciations of it. One is: You-Know and the other us Ooh! No! I have no idea which is right.

Their website describes the bar like this, “Smooth, Rich Milk Chocolate truffle-like center, covered with Milk Chocolate and ground almonds.  Guaranteed to melt in your mouth!”

The bar is huge but very light for its size. It looks pretty and smells chocolatey and less sugary than many other bars. Honestly, I’m not sure if I’d like to invoke that guarantee or not, but it definitely doesn’t melt in my mouth. I bit into it, and found it soft and yielding, but not mushy. It did melt, in the sense that it spread out on my tongue, but it didn’t give itself up, but kind of rolled around in a strange oiliness. The chocolate on the outside is a different matter, just nice and chocolatey.

The flavor of the center is like a fluffy truffle with a bit of grainy salt to it (which is actually a nice way to balance the sweet). As excited as I was to see that it was a fluffy truffle bar when I was photographing it, I was equally disappointed when I read the third ingredient on the label is Hydrogenated Coconut Oil and the bar packs 11 grams of saturated fat (I have no idea how much of that is trans fat). It’s just not a bar I can recommend to those who aren’t already terminally ill. I know, it’s candy and it’s all unhealthy, but let’s face it, there are other candies out there that can be satisfying and not nearly as laden with hydrogenated oils.

I know, you think it’s odd that the candy blogger is talking about health issues, so I should make a few things clear. I’m a fit person for the most part. I keep my weight within norms and I am pretty active. So I can afford some discretionary calories on candy (usually limited to 500 calories per day). But sometimes it’s not just calories that you have to look at. A lot of candies contain trans fats, but usually in smaller amounts. A candy that contains a large percentage of hydrogenated oils just isn’t a good idea for regular indulgence. If it’s just a once or twice a year thing, I’d say you’re in the clear. (Please do not substitute candy blog advice for that of a qualified physician or dietician.)

If they, however, created a new recipe using butterfat, I am so there!

Rating - 4 out of 10.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:19 am     CandyReviewAnnabelle'sChocolate4-BenignUnited States

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

Head-to-Head: Butterfinger vs. 5th Avenue

I know that the 5th Avenue is a lesser known bar, but it’s quite similar to the Butterfinger. Though they’re both a peanutbutter crunch center with a chocolate(y) coating, they do have some differences. I’m doing this head-to-head in part to introduce Butterfinger fans to what I think is an exceptional bar. But in order to do that, I had to see them side by side again:

Both are massive bars. The 5th Avenue rings in at exactly 2 ounces and the Butterfinger at 2.1 ounces. The main difference, as far as I can tell between the two is that the Butterfinger coating is not chocolate but a chocolate-like substance where the 5th Avenue has a creamy milk chocolate enrobement.

 

The 5th Avenue bar of my childhood was not a Hershey product but made by Ludens (yes, the cough drop people). Also made in Pennsylvania, the 5th Avenue bar may not have had the wide distribution of the more well-known Butterfinger. When I first got to college I was forced to eat Butterfingers and developed a taste for them, but now that I’m back in an area that offers both, I’m a 5th Avenue girl. Of course, I seem to have a vague recollection of there being a couple of almonds on top. Does anyone else remember that?

The center is a crispy, crunchy peanutbutter crisp. Kind of like a flaky toffee. It has some peanutbutter between the layers, as far as I can tell. It also has a distinct molasses flavor to it, which brings out the roasted flavors of the nuts.

 

The Butterfinger bar was also not originally made by its current owner, Nestle. It was invented by the Curtiss Candy Company based in Chicago (a great candy town) that also made the Baby Ruth (also made by Nestle now). It predates the 5th Avenue, and frankly, has a much better name. It’s buttery and resembles a big finger and of course the play on words of being a clumsy person is kind of fun. The Butterfinger was always known as a great candy buy when I was a kid. Because the bar was so huge, you were sure to be satisfied. The center has similar crunch peanutbutter toffee-like layers that seem a bit crumblier (in a good way) than the 5th Avenue. The overwhelming taste in this center is buttery. A good hit of peanuts and a smooth, sweet and salty buttery taste. I’ve always loved the inside of Butterfingers ... it’s the fake chocolate coating that’s always bugged me. It’s waxy, overly sweet and just not milk chocolate.

So, if the fake chocolate doesn’t bother you and you’re looking for flaky, crunch buttery experience, pick up a Butterfinger. If you like your crunchy peanut flakes with real chocolate and a good robust hit of molasses, 5th Avenue is for you.

UPDATE 2/21/2007: I just found out via the comments that 5th Avenue no longer uses real chocolate ... such a shame. It was such a good bar, it’s sad that Hershey’s has now taken away the unique position it had in the market as the only chocolate covered peanut crispy bar. They have, however, introduced the Reese’s Crispy Crunchy bar, which has peanut butter and crushed peanuts in it. Not the same, but at least real chocolate.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:37 am     ReviewHershey'sNestleChocolateMockolatePeanutsUnited StatesHead to Head

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