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November 2007

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Cowgirl Chocolates Buckin’ Hot Habanero Caramels

My neighbors went on vacation a while back and brought me something I can’t readily find around here (which is one of the best things for friends to give you when the return from their travels!). They brought back this half-pound tin of Cowgirl Chocolates’ Buckin’ Hot Habanero Caramels.

Cowgirl Chocolates Caramels

It’s a pretty tin packed with golden caramels wrapped in clear cellophane. They look rather ordinary. Those words of warning “SPICY SPICY” across the front of the tin don’t really look like they apply to these caramels.

There are no little flecks of peppers, just a buttery smelling caramel. They’re very soft and have a good pull to them. Easy to chew they have an immediate low burn of habanero chili. Then a warmer burn. Then a throat blistering sensation that dulls all other flavors. Are they Buckin’ hot? Buck yeah!

They qualify as SPICY SPICY. I took to eating them with other things, like pieces of dark chocolate and pretzels. But I don’t care much for candy that requires assembly, especially when the other products aren’t included.

Too spicy for me.

I’m sure I’d like some of their other more sedate treats like truffles or these Truffle Bars. So I’ll keep that in mind. (As a general rule though, I don’t care for products that have logos with guns aimed at me.)

Related Candies

  1. Das French Salted Caramels
  2. Dolfin: Anise and Red Pepper
  3. Vosges Haut-Chocolate
  4. Hot Tamales and Hotter Tamales
  5. Cha-Cha-Cha Choxie
Name: Buckin' Hot Habanero Caramels
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Cowgirl Chocolates
Place Purchased: gift (thanks Robin & Amy!)
Price: $19.50
Size: 8 ounces
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Caramel, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:39 am    

Monday, November 5, 2007

Boston Baked Beans

Boston Baked BeansI love peanuts, though I rarely eat them plain. Peanuts are one of the most perfect nuts for candy. Moderate fat content, mild flavor that combines well with other flavors (especially chocolate) and spices. They’re also inexpensive, so can be found in a wide variety of candies from cheap to upscale.

Ferrara Pan Boston Baked Beans are one of those classic candies that capitalizes on simplicity. Candy covered peanuts. They’re sold in these little boxes, pretty cheap too, 25 cents for .95 ounces.

They’re named for a dish, a mix of beans in a brown sugar or molasses and spice sauce. These don’t taste anything like that, though they do have legumes at their center!

Boston Baked BeansSugar shells like the panned coating of Boston Baked Beans are great because they seal in freshness (in fact, when first developed as a process, panning was used to preserve herbs and seeds).

The sugar coating isn’t quite crisp, but has a slight grain. There’s really no flavor to it, just sugar. The peanut inside is a little soft, and tastes a little raw. No dark roasted flavors, just the fresh taste of peanuts. A little earthy, not at all salty and even a little on the sweet side. The nuts are well chosen. Even though all of them are not large, I didn’t run across any rancid or bitter ones.

When I was a kid Boston Baked Beans confused me. I don’t think I ate them until I was a teenager. I think I was afraid they actually were candied beans (and that’s not really that outlandish, as there’s an Indian confection which is candy coated garbanzos). The appeal of candied nuts just wasn’t apparent as a kid ... I don’t think I cared much for Jordan Almonds back then either.

But as an adult, I think these are fun and a nice snack. Not that easy to find though. These are suitable for vegetarians and vegans who eat beeswax, however the package states that the product is processed in a facility that also uses milk, egg and soy products (and wheat for those who are gluten-sensitive).

Just for giggles, I decided to list my favorite nuts for eating plain, in descending order of affection (though I have great affection for all):

1. Almonds
2. Cashews
3. Peanuts
4. Pecans
5. Hazelnuts

Here’s what my favorites lists looks like for my favorite nuts that are included in candy:

1. Pecans
2. Cashews
3. Hazelnuts
4. Peanuts
5. Almonds

So, what are you top nuts, and do you have a different preference when they’re included in candy?

Related Candies

  1. Romanego Dragees, Cordials & Fondants
  2. Sno-Caps, Goobers & Raisinets
  3. P-Nuttles
  4. The Lemonhead & Fruit Heads
Name: Boston Baked Beans
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Ferrara Pan
Place Purchased: Ralph's (Glendale)
Price: $.25
Size: .95 ounces
Calories per ounce: 123
Categories: Peanuts, Canada, Ferrera Pan

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:52 am    

Sunday, November 4, 2007

This Week in Candy - Novelties

imageI’m hard at work these days on a novel that you’ll never, ever read. (I do this every year as November is National Novel Writing Month.)

Last year’s novel was about candy, this year’s is about whale watching, or at least so far. So that’s how I’m spending my spare time these days (not that I have a lot of that ... it’s Candy Season!).

I’m also participating in National Blog Posting Month, which is a challenge to post to your blog at least once a day. Most readers know I pretty much post six times a week. So in November you’ll get 7 for the price of 6!

Let’s see what happened this week besides Halloween and the wonderful Post-Halloween Sales!

Monday: Big Mo’ Bars: Peanut Butter & Creamy Caramel (4 out of 10)

Tuesday: Andes Mints & Dessert Indulgence (6 out of 10 & 4 out of 10)

Wednesday: Mentos Xtrm: Mint & Spearmint (6 out of 10)

Thursday: Bratz Candy Cosmetics (5 out of 10, 3 out of 10 & 4 out of 10)

Friday: Kenny’s Licorice Pastels & Root Beer Twists (4 out of 10 & 7 out of 10)

Weekly average: 4.7 with a total chocolate content of 18% ... hmm, the lower the chocolate content, the lower my weekly average. I may be onto something here.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:50 pm     CandyFeatured News

Saturday, November 3, 2007

October 2007 Search Strings

Here we go, the top search strings that brought new readers to Candy Blog in October.

1. candy corn
2. japanese candy
3. carnival skittles
4. wonka nerds halal
5. chico sticks
6. turkish delight
7. candy corn kisses
8. marathon bar
9. choxie
10. bonkers candy

See last years list as a comparison. No one even mentioned Halloween in the top twenty! I wonder if those chico sticks are the same as Chick-o-Sticks?

Related Candies

  1. August 07 Search Strings
  2. July Search Strings
  3. Skittles Carnival Flavors
  4. Wonka Sour Nerds
  5. Chick-o-Stick

POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:09 pm     CandySearch StringsFeatured News

Friday, November 2, 2007

Kenny’s Licorice Pastels & Root Beer Twists

Kenny's Licorice PastelsIn the Autumn a candy lover’s fancy turns to Licorice. (Well, if you like licorice.) The cooler air and shorter days seem to beg for the earthy flavors of a good molasses-based licorice. I get that not everyone likes licorice. It’s like mincemeat and cloves ... not everyone gets it.

There are lots of different versions of licorice, but one of my favorites are pastels, which are little nibbles covered in a candy shell. (Just like candy covered chocolate like M&Ms are a great way to eat chocolate!) I’ve had at least a dozen different varieties, from Good & Plenty to Koppers to Jelly Belly. They’re all good ... but after Good & Plenty, they get kind of expensive. (I’m not sure why.)

I was pretty happy to find Kenny’s Licorice Pastels at the All Candy Expo. They do great things with licorice, including using real licorice extract and making their products affordable (you’ve probably seen them repackage and sold under house brands or in bulk bins before).

Kenny's Licorice PastelsThese are not the licorice pastels you’re looking for. Move along.

They’re made from a very thin piece of licorice, think laces chopped into little segments. Nothing wrong with that. But the coatings are irregular. Some are chipped, which may have been me treating the package like a bean bag in my travels. Still, the coating wasn’t complete on some, with little bits of licorice sticking out or appearing just below the thin veneer of sugar shell.

The color choice is interesting. White, Green, Mustard Yellow, Black, Purple and Hot Pink.

They were soft and fresh. The sugar shell didn’t have a sharp and crisp crunch like the ones I get in the little bulk tubs at Cost Plus World Market. I like that kind of shell, but this was okay ... more like the Good & Plenty side of things. The licorice inside is nice and chewy and has a good note of roasted molasses and real licorice and anise extracts. (The anise is detectable in the shell.)

The thing that spoiled it for me (and this is just me) was that there was Red #40 in them. It was absolutely detectable in the pink and purple candies. (I even did several blind tests to see if I was just being dramatic.) It made them bitter. I had to separate them out from the rest of the bag ... and not eating a third of them doesn’t really make them cheaper. (4 out of 10)

Kenny's Root Beer TwistsRoot Beer is another one of those niche flavors. It’s earthy and a little like wintergreen. I find it refreshing, and yes, a smidge medicinal.

I love root beer barrel hard candies and the root beer Bottle Caps, which are pretty much the only candies that incorporate root beer well into their pantheon of flavors.

Kenny’s also makes a huge line of flavored Juicy Twists (I’m loathe to use the term “red licorice” which is like saying “unsweetened sugar”.) They come in watermelon, green apple, chocolate and of course, Root Beer.

The twists aren’t really that twisted (only a half twist per length), but have pleasant ridges. They’re shiny and rather firm (but not stale). They don’t have the firmly pinched ends that other brands like Red Vines have. But they are hollow (if you’re a straw person).

The root beer flavor is sweet and has a nice balsam quality, not as intense as some other more spicy candies, but still a good match for the flour-based twist. I’d love it if they were more intense, but this is often my problem with root beer in general. I want lots of flavor. But, as I mentioned before, I take my root beer enjoyment where I can. These are a fun change from hard candies. (7 out of 10)

Related Candies

  1. Good & Plenty (Fresh from the Factory)
  2. Twizzlers Rainbow Twists
  3. Pure Fun Candy Floss
  4. Haribo Licorice Wheels
  5. Licorice Bridge Mix
Name: Licorice Pastel & Root Beer Juicy Twists
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Kenny's Candy Company
Place Purchased: samples from All Candy Expo
Price: retail ~$1.50 each
Size: 5 ounces & 10 ounces
Calories per ounce: 98 & 82
Categories: Chew, Licorice, United States, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:04 am    

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