Zingerman’s makes a line of artisan candy bars called Zzang! Candy Bars. I’ve reviewed the Cashew Cow and What the Fudge? bars before. (I’ve also tried the original but never reviewed it) and found them pretty good but not earth shatteringly superior enough to warrant the high price.

I saw the newest addition to the line, the Zzang! Wowza Candy Bar. The description is Creamy raspberry-chocolate ganache, raspberry preserves and fresh raspberry nougat in a crisp dark chocolate shell. Well, that sounds completely original. It’s not an upscale Snickers, it’s something completely different, something fruity, which is sorely lacking in candy bars.

The box is small but protects the bar pretty well. Inside the box the long bar is tucked inside a silvery mylar wrapper. My bar had a little crack all along one side (the side I didn’t photograph) near the top that let the raspberry preserves leak out a little bit. I was worried that this would affect the texture or flavors.

I really went into this with an open mind, because I couldn’t even figure out what the bar was supposed to be like. It blew me away.

The shell is pretty thick on the top and bottom, but thin on the sides, so it cracks a lot. The bar had a strong woody raspberry scent, a little hint of chocolate but mostly that seedy smell of raspberry jam. I had trouble biting the bar, because the nougat center was very soft, so I ended up eating it sideways.

I’ll take this in layers. The bottom layer doesn’t look that big and it really isn’t. It’s a silky smooth and rich raspberry ganache. The chocolate is decadent and fatty with good roasted coffee and toasted sugar flavors. The raspberry notes are purely floral. The next layer is the unique part here. It’s more like a flowing raspberry marshmallow. There is not hint of sugary grain and it’s quite fluffy, but also incredibly sticky. It’s not quite chewy or tacky either. The raspberry flavor is subtle, it’s just a hint of the raspberry essence. Then the top is a little bit of raspberry jam. This part wasn’t so great for me texture wise - it was a tangy raspberry jam (seedless) but had a strong sugary grain to it.

Eaten together, as a single bite, the creamy ganache gives a lot of deep flavors to offset the mostly sweet nougat. The tangy and grainy preserves give a sour pop to it all and the dark chocolate shell keeps it all together, bringing the cocoa flavors back again. But I also tried eating the layers separately. The ganache is on par with truffles I’ve had from some of the best chocolatiers. The nougat was just fascinating because it was so smooth and fluffy and like marshmallow but with flavor. It was a very sticky affair though. The only real issue with it as a whole was the graininess of the preserves and I really think that was because of the little crack in the bar that allowed it to do that. Even with that, the texture difference wasn’t distracting.

The ratios were pretty perfect. I might want more preserves, if they’re not grainy.

The bar has some drawbacks. One of the issues that I had with the previous bars that I tried was the inaccurate labeling. This bar is more of the same. The front of the box says that it’s 3 ounces. The nutrition label says that it’s 82 grams, which is 2.89 ounces. I know that’s less than a 4% difference, but if they know it’s only 2.89, then why does it say it’s bigger on the front. Why not round down to 2.75? Because 3 sounds better.

The second labeling problem is, in my opinion, more substantial. Here’s what the package says:

Ingredients: sugar, chocolate, raspberry preserves, corn syrup, egg whites, cream, pectin, lemon juice, sea salt, granulated salt

Nutrition Facts: Serving size: 1 bar 82g
Calories: 300
Total Fat: 9g
Sat. Fat: 6g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 50mg
Total Carb: 55g
Fiber: 2g
Sugars: 44g
Protein: 2g
Calcium: 0mg
Iron: 0mg

There is simply no way this bar has only 100 calories per ounce (300 for the whole bar). I wrote to Zingerman’s and corresponded with Charlie Frank, the candy maker. He agreed that something may be off with their calculations (because that’s really how big the bars are - between 2.89 and 3 ounces) and they’re going to re-check them. So I’m going to guess that this comes in at about 130 calories per ounce (there’s not a lot of ganache there and nougat is not very caloricly dense, but there’s also a chocolate coating). So that’d make the bar about 375 calories ... at least.

The labeling aside, I liked the bar and I would definitely buy it again, even at $5 each. I want to see more of these bars using this style of nougat too, something like a Malted Truffle S’More would be nice. How about this: Malted Milk Ganache on a thin Graham Cracker with Toasted Sugar Nougat covered in Milk Chocolate.

Related Candies

1. Madelaine Duets
2. Eat with your Eyes: Orange Nougat BonBonBars
3. Zingerman’s Zzang! Candy Bars
4. BonBonBars: Malt Ganache & Scotch
5. 3 Musketeers Cherry & Raspberry
6. Mountain - Regular & Raspberry

Necco has been doing a lot in the past three years. One of the more exciting ventures have been re-inventing the classic brands and recipes with all natural, high quality ingredients. It started with the All Natural Necco Wafers and then the Clark Bar in Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate.

Now Necco has reinvigorated the Haviland Brand. The chocolate company has a long history but for most of my childhood and early adulthood the company was owned by Borden (more history here) and most of the candy I saw from them was a kind of off-brand of chocolate comfort candies like Thin Mints, Bridge Mix, Non Nonpareils and fruit creams. Necco purchased the company in 1994 and aside from moving the factory, things pretty much stayed the same. But even with its sort of mousy look and mediocre positioning on store shelves, the price couldn’t be beat. The boxes of Haviland Thin Mints are often on sale for only $1.00. Yet I never bought them.

This year they really caught my eye though (I had the heads up from Necco folks a few months ago to look for them). Not only are the new Haviland Dark Chocolate Covered Thin Mints all natural, they’re also using 63% cacao. (And they’re Kosher but no statement on gluten on the package.) Sorry, they contain both milk and egg whites so they’re not vegan.

The narrow little box holds a brown plastic tray with the patties stored on their sides like vinyl albums. The tray is a bit flimsy and filmy but I admit that it does the job. It’s not really nice enough to serve from, like say an After Eight Mint Box, but they’re easy enough to take out and place on a plate. All 21 of my little chocolate disks were intact. The box has a little tab on the end that helps to close it up after serving.

The patties are 1.33 to 1.5 inches around and very thin. The minty center is somewhere between the crumbly York Peppermint Pattie and the gooey Junior Mint. The center has a little stringy pull when broken in half, but will stay put and not ooze like a Junior Mint.

The dark chocolate is creamy and sweet but still has a good bitter and roasted note to it. The mint center is strong and pleasant, not too much but enough to linger long after the candy is gone.

The regular price for the 5 ounce box seems to be about a dollar fifty but they’ve been on sale a lot with the Christmas merchandise. They’re a really good deal for a quality product. If you love York Peppermint Patties but have been avoiding them because they’re made in Mexico now, this might be the American company to support.

They also come in Raspberry and Orange which I’ve purchased but haven’t photographed yet.

Related Candies

1. Q.Bel Mint Wafer Bars
2. King Leo Dark Chocolate Crunchy Patties
3. Sunspire Peppermint Pattie
4. Ritter Sport Peppermint
5. Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch
6. York Pinkermint Patties

I reviewed Candy Blox a few years ago (here).

I did a candy buffet for the Night of Writing Dangerously write-a-thon/fundraiser for National Novel Writing Month back in November. I thought that the Candy Blox would be a perfect little treat for folks looking for something to play with and eat.

What surprised me was that they’ve changed a little since the last time I tried them. They’re much brighter and quite a bit more dense. There are fewer colors (yellow, blue, green & red) but that makes them look much more like Legos. They’re still stackable and realistic.

I’m a big believer in gifts of insanely large quantities of mundane products. So if there’s a Lego fan in your life, why not 11 pounds (that’s the box it came in, I ordered it from Jack’s Wholesale Candy & Toy in downtown Los Angeles)?

Oh, the other thing I found out? When researching the vegan status of all the candies I offered at the buffet, I had to write to Tootsie, who makes these, and they said that the Calcium Stearate comes from an all vegetable source. So these are actually vegan!

Trader Joe’s always has wonderful seasonal sweets, some return year after year; but a sharp eye yields new finds. This year’s newest addition is Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Minty Mallows.

The box says they’re Light and Fluffy Peppermint Marshmallows Drenched in Smooth, Dark Chocolate. They’re made in France and the box holds about 9 marshmallows (though the nutrition label says there are 10 in the package).

Last week I reviewed the new Peeps Chocolate Covered Peppermint Marshmallows and several people mentioned that I should try the new Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Minty Mallows. Believe me, I was right there with them. The first set of Peeps I bought, which was before Thanksgiving, were $1 each (1 ounce), so when I saw the price for the Trader Joe’s version was $2.99 (for 7 ounces), it made these a great value in comparison. I’ve since purchased additional Peeps at only 50 cents each, that’s still more expensive per ounce than Trader Joe’s.

Inside the trapezoidal box is a silver mylar pouch. The dark chocolate covered marshmallows are just tossed in there. So you can imagine that on their voyage from France they’ve gotten quite scuffed and tumbled. Some were cracked but all were intact and there was surprisingly little chocolate dust at the bottom of the bag.

Each piece is about 1.5 inches square (they’re really more rectangular, so maybe a smidge more than 1.5 on one side than the other) and about an inch high. They feel a bit heavier than I would have expected for a chocolate covered marshmallow.

It’s not that the photo above is lacking detail for the marshmallow. They’re not light and foamy like Peeps. They’re dense and quite moist, more like a cross between aerated gelatin and a gummi bear.

The texture, though not as meringue-like as I’d expected is still quite smooth. It’s like memory foam latex, chewy and lightly minty.

The chocolate outside is smooth and maybe little chalky but has enough dark chocolate punch to stand up to the strong mint. At 55% cocoa solids (and no milkfat) its strongest flavor component is woodsy and though not as creamy as I would have hoped, it still has a very smooth melt that complements the marshmallow. The chocolate also adheres nicely to the marshmallow, so even though it cracks a bit when biting, it sticks to the marshmallow to prevent messes and deliver every possible morsel of chocolate with the marshmallow.

For the most part I found these odd. One is rather rib-stickingly satisfying, so a box of 9 or 10 of these goes a long way. I didn’t try melting them for S’mores or in Hot Chocolate. I don’t know if I’ll buy them again, but I found them far superior in ingredients, satisfaction and even presentation from the Just Born Peeps. I can see these being a fun product in the future with alternate versions with different flavored marshmallows (orange, strawberry, cinnamon, licorice). I might like to see them packaged in trays, in little fluted cups or something that keeps them from tumbling around, because I bet they’re stunning right off the confectionery line.

Related Candies

1. Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Mints
2. Russell Stover Giant S’mores Bar & Mint Dream
3. Trader Joe’s Gummy Tummies
4. Trader Joe’s French Truffles
5. Bubu Lubu
6. Upscale Hollow Chocolate: Michel Cluizel & Hotel Chocolat
7. Trader Joe’s Peppermint Marshmallows
8. Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramels

Jelly Belly is always innovating new flavors for their intensely flavored and tiny gourmet jelly beans. Recent introductions have been based on soda pop flavors, Cold Stone Creamery ice cream and cocktails. Other innovations have been in flavors with additional fortifications like the Sport Beans and antioxidant mix.

My favorites have always been pretty simple, the Citrus Mix and root beer.

The new Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Chocolate Dips are something a little different from the usual flavor variations. These are genuine Jelly Belly beans dipped in dark chocolate. They come in five flavors: Very Cherry, Orange, Raspberry, Coconut and Strawberry.

The flavors are either sold separately in bags or in a 4.15 ounce box like this that has a divided tray that labels the flavors.

As you can imagine, once the beans are covered in chocolate, it’s nearly impossible to tell which flavor is which. (I spilled mine after a few days and was then playing bean roulette.)

The first thing I have to say is that I was surprised at how small these were. They looked (and are) the exact same size as the regular Jelly Belly. How is that possible? Covering a regular Jelly Belly in even the thinnest sheath of chocolate would still make it bigger than a regular Jelly Belly. It turns out that the secret here is that the chocolate coating replaces the jelly bean’s shell. A jelly bean is made up of a jelly center and then a smoothly polished but grainy sugar shell. This is usually where most of the flavor is in traditional jelly beans, but Jelly Belly have flavored centers and shells. So how would this affect the Dips?

They smell sweet and a little like cocoa. The beans are tiny and a little slippery. The chocolate coating isn’t very strong or even very thick, but it’s glossy and has a decent cocoa flavor and smooth melt.

Very Cherry is just that. If there was one bean here that I might be able to pick out without a label, it’d be the very cherry. It’s very. The center is fragrant and intense and not too sweet. The texture of the jelly center is smooth and chewy, but with no hint of the grain that a regular jelly bean has.

Coconut is one flavor I’m glad that was included (banana would be another suggestion). It has a clean, tropical flavor and I can almost imagine the chewy coconut. But the fact that it’s only flavored coconut leaves it a bit thin in the end. The coconut bean goes well with most of the other flavors (not really the cherry).

Strawberry is sweet and floral, light and the least intense of the set.

Raspberry has a good, well rounded flavor, no tartness but a lot of jam and boiled berry notes. It’s very realistic but also very sweet.

Orange was oddly disappointing because it was so intense. There was a lot of zest and orange oil in the center, so much that it burned after a while and left a weird film in my mouth. I ended up avoiding them.

At first I didn’t like these much. The lack of the shell meant that they were lacking an essential element that makes them jelly beans. They were soft and jelly like but chewing them was more sticky than a plain jelly bean. Eventually they grew on me though, the texture combinations are unique enough to make these more than a passing fancy. They’re far more successful than Jelly Belly’s previous chocolate attempt with the JBz (think flavored M&Ms).

I can think of a lot of other flavors that would go well, such as banana, toasted marshmallow, licorice, cinnamon and peppermint. This particular box is expensive, at $6 for 4.15 ounces, but the single flavor pound packages on the website are only $9.99 a pound (my guess is that even though chocolate is more expensive than sugar, coating the jelly center in plain chocolate is much less labor intensive than making the high quality sugar shells & then printing them with the Jelly Belly logo). 

The beans are not vegan (confectioners glaze plus milk in the chocolate) and there’s no statement on the package about their nut, gluten, egg and peanut status.  (Contains soy, milk.) Though there are some artificial flavors in there, they do not have any artificial colors.

Jelly Belly has gone through a lot of brand extensions over the years beyond the flavor combinations of the actual jelly beans.

Jelly Belly Bubble Gum (not made by Jelly Belly)
Jelly Belly Lollibeans (gourmet lollipops)
Jelly Belly Soda (not made by Jelly Belly)
Jelly Belly Jaw Breakers
Jelly Belly Gummi Pets (rats, tarantulas and crocodiles)
Jelly Belly Sport Beans
Jelly Belly JBz
Jelly Belly Bertie Bott’s Everyflavor Beans & Bean Boozled
Jelly Belly Fruit Snacks

Related Candies

1. Jelly Belly Jelly Bean Chocolate Dips Mint
2. Jelly Belly Fruit Snacks
3. Jelly Belly Dark Chocolate Jelly Beans
4. Jelly Belly - All Natural
5. Jelly Belly: Lollibeans
6. Sport Beans