Candy Blog

Sterling Confections truly thinks outside the chocolate box with their Truffle Bars.

They’re a long bar of ganache encased in a hand painted chocolate shell that’s meant to be sliced instead of popped in the mouth whole.

The bars come in two sizes, a four inch long/six ounce bar and an eight inch long/twelve ounce bar. Though $14 for the small one sounded like a lot at first, when I thought about it, that’s a little over $37 per pound, which is pretty good for a box of fine chocolates. The small version makes 10 servings.

I got a hold of two bars from a media event called Food Fete (great writeup here): Double Hazelnut Caramel Truffle and Cappuccino with a Twist.

The Double Hazelnut Caramel Bar is A striking, hand-painted truffle with contrasting tiers of milk chocolate flavored with rich hazelnut puree, white chocolate infused with caramel, dark chocolate and a hint of ground hazelnut.

The bar has a simple construction. It’s a rounded prism shape, as described on the package, it’s about four inches long and 2 inches wide/high.

The shell is banded with colored white chocolate and milk chocolate. Inside are three layers of ganache.

First, I have to say, it’s an amazing construction and it looks just like it’s supposed to. I liked the banded coloring, it was appetizing and made an excellent presentation. Slicing the product was pretty easy, I had no trouble at all with the above knife, which I wiped after each slice (they suggest warming it in hot water and then wiping it dry). The bar was at room temp, which may have been a little colder than normal (about 62 F).

I made my initial slices rather thin, about a quarter of an inch is pictured. After a little math later on I realized they should have been over a third of an inch. You can gauge it yourself for the number of guests & how much they want to eat. thicker provides both a good portion and makes it easier to pick up, even if you cut them in half, especially if it gets a little warmer upon serving.

The ganache center was smooth and soft, a little fudgy. The flavors were light but pleasant. The center layer definitely had the caramel notes and the toasted hazelnut flavors while the top and bottom layers were more of the straight chocolate variety.

Personally I might have preferred more hazelnut to it or at least more of a punch of flavors, but it was definitely a decadent little treat.

The second bar was Cappuccino with a Twist. The little tag described it like this: An artfully hand-painted truffle filled with the mingling flavors of milk chocolate, coffee-infused white chocolate, dark chocolate, coffee liqueur and a subtle finish of lemon.

I didn’t care much for the design on the outside of this one, though once cut up it didn’t matter much. But then again, with less design on the outside I wasn’t eating as much food coloring.

The three layers here worked excellently. The bottom was a dark chocolate that had just a hint of strong coffee. The middle layer was softer, sweeter and less intense. The top was a white chocolate with a strong note of lemon zest. Towards the end of it all there’s a slight alcoholic punch.

I liked the layering on all of them, they were distinct and made eating them a bit of an adventure.

The interesting part of all of this is that the ganache is the star here. Once sliced, there’s very little chocolate shell, far less than most truffles, so it’s all about the cream and chocolate concoction.

They make a really nice presentation piece, the only drawback when serving to a small number of people is the lack of variety. So if you’re serving 20 people, two or three of the small bars would mean only two or three choices instead of the wide variety you could do with regular truffles.

However, the ability to control the portion size and the sheer novelty of seeing a huge log of chocolate that you can have a slice of is pretty spectacular.

I took this to an Oscar viewing party and it was part of a buffet of desserts. In the future though I think it would be an interesting bar of a dessert cheese plate, served along with some cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, honey and crackers.

The drawback is mostly that this is a bar for sharing. I can’t see popping this out of the sleeve and chomping into it, well, maybe in some sort of 30 Rock scene with Liz Lemon on a crazed depression-fueled-chocolate-binge. So it’s a special occasion sort of purchase. I’ve only seen them in specialty stores (it might have been Bloomingdales), so web-ordering is probably a necessity. However, it would make an incredible hostess gift or finish to a meal. With economic pressures, this sort of splurge might actually be good - it feels decadent but isn’t as expensive as some artisan chocolates or even upscale bakery products and brings people together, which is part of the magical quality of food.

Watch them being made on this segment from Unwrapped (the company is under new ownership since that was shot). Here’s another review too, before you take the plunge with your bucks from Food Gal.

Related Candies

1. Bouquet of Fruits Vinyeard - Wine Filled Chocolates
2. Mitchell’s Candies
3. Lillie Belle Farms Assortment
4. BonBonBars: Malt Ganache & Scotch
5. The Alien Forehead Chocolate Collection
6. CocoaBella “World’s Best Box”
7. MarieBelle Chocolates

Years ago I toured the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA. At the end I was given a taste of their not-yet-introduced Pomegranate Jelly Belly, which boasts an infusion of antioxidants in addition to pomegranate flavor.

At the time I told them that I was hoping that someday they’d introduce a tangy citrus mix of Jelly Bellys with vitamins. (And then when I was done with the tour, I went and made my own custom mix in their store that consisted of all the citrus flavors.)

Three and a half years later, it’s here! I have no idea if they took my suggestion or realized it was simply something that had to be done.

At the Fancy Food Show Jelly Belly displayed this package (shown here in a rather dim photo taken by Emanuel Treeson). Over the weekend I got my first taste via a sample from Jelly Belly.

Though I like Jelly Belly, I rarely buy the pre-made mixes because there are just too many flavors that I don’t like and at the price of the product, it’s far too expensive to toss a third of them.

Jelly Belly’s Sunkist Citrus Mix is a blend of five jelly bean flavors all fortified with Vitamin C. Each 40 gram portion (1.41 ounces) provides 25% of the daily US RDA of Vitamin C. (Sorry, no other antioxidants - it would have been nice to sneak some beta carotene in there.)

The flavors are Sunkist Lime, Sunkist Pink Grapefruit, Sunkist Orange, Sunkist Lemon and Sunkist Tangerine.

The assortment of colors is fresh and inviting. (Though I had so much trouble telling orange and tangerine apart, I only stuck one in this photo.)

I have no idea if these are actually the same flavor as the non-Sunkist varieties. I tried a one-for-one taste test with the pink grapefruit and found that the Sunkist one was definitely zestier, maybe a little tangier. But that could have been a freshness issue.

Of the five flavors, I preferred the ones that had a tangy bite: lemon, tangerine and pink grapefruit. All had a lot more zesty notes than most jelly beans but the orange was just too plain old sweet. The great thing is that I loved the combination of flavors, I liked picking through them but none of them was a “shunned” flavor that was left over.

Since I’ve been battling a cold, this was one candy that I’ve been indulging in. Even without a decent sense of smell on Saturday, the tangy notes were still welcome. While I don’t necessarily think that they’re the reason that I’ve gotten over the cold, they really brightened my day.

Jelly Belly are now listing their products as gluten free, dairy free and this one in particular is gelatin free. They would be vegan except for the beeswax used in the glaze.

They should be in store by Easter, they haven’t appeared on the Jelly Belly website yet.

Related Candies

1. Dr. Doolittle’s Pastilles (Lemon, Grapefruit & Wild Berry)
2. Mentos Plus Citrus Mix
3. Jelly Belly Deluxe Easter Mix
4. Jelly Belly: Lollibeans
5. Big Candy Buyouts - Hershey & Jelly Belly
6. Pink Grapefruit Mentos
7. Jelly Belly - Full Line

I have a bit of a cold and don’t think it’d be fair to review anything else this week. So here’s your candy tease of new products, some just arriving on shelves.

Name: Reese’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups in a dark chocolate shell. 
Notes: Available starting June 2009 along with a “Reese’s Loves You Back” prize promotion. This isn’t the first time Hershey’s has released a dark chocolate RPBC, most recently it was a limited edition version of mini bat coins for The Dark Knight and before that back in 2003 (with some other appearances in between).

Name: Gemstones
Brand: Atkinson Candy Company
Description: Hard candy in pretty gem-like packaging.
Notes: For those who miss the Peerless line of hard candy, you’ll be happy to hear that Atkinson Candy Company of Texas bought much of their line (recipes) and have restarted production on many of the classic candies including their premium sugar free line. (All made in the USA, as well.) My favorites have always been the Honeycomb Peanuts and Anise Squares. (Available online now.)

Name: Toxic Waste(r) Shockingly Sour Hi-Voltage(tm) Bubble Gum
Brand: Candy Dynamics
Description: In a hollowed out rope gum fashion filled with ultra sour powder offering more than two combined feet of delicious bubble gum in each individual package and presented in three different yummy sour flavors: Amp’d Aple, Surgin’ Strawberry and Blackout Blue Razz.
Notes: I don’t think anything can every top the classic Quencher gum when it comes to mouth tingling & salivation, but I suppose I could give this a try.

Name: Gimme Calcium
Brand: Brightspot Brands
Description: We start with a crispy crunchy ball of rice and drench it with the best milk chocolate that’s been infused with TruCal(r) calcium. Then we seal in all this goodness with a thin candy shell with no artificial colors.
Notes: I’m always dubious of fortified candy, but this sounds pretty good. Each serving has 500 mg of calcium and sounds like a malted milk ball.

Name: Breath Savers(r) Strong Mint Menthol and Energy Mint Caffeine
Brand: Hershey’s
Description:  Breath Savers Strong Energy Mint Caffeine offers a “boast of energy” with a touch of caffeine. Available December 2008. Also available in Breath Savers Strong Mint Menthol.
Notes: I’m curious how much caffeine is in those Strong Energy, but I suspect it’s either very little or so much it leaves a horrible bitter aftertaste.

Name: Chocolate Flavored Mega Smarties
Brand: CeDe
Description: 2.25 oz. rolls of the super-big Smarties disks. Available now.
Notes: A couple of issues here. First, I’ve had the chocolate flavored Pez and thought they were dreadful, and I can’t imagine these would be any better. Second, Smarties in every other part of the world are made by Nestle and are actual chocolate lentils, so a powdery chocolate disk is only going to create more international confusion.

Related Candies

1. Candy Tease: Autumn 2008
2. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #5
3. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #4
4. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #3
5. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #2
6. Candy Tease: All Candy Expo 2008 #1

One of the new items that’s getting a bit of buzz this year is the Cholive which is called the chic drink accessory.

It’s simply an olive shaped chocolate truffle, packaged with a cocktail pick so that it can be served in a drink.

I think I’d probably be floored if I ordered a cocktail and ended up with a fancy 55% dark chocolate truffle with a real Vermont cream ganache. (Of course there are some restaurants where I order coffee just because it comes with a little dish of chocolate chips, so I’m easily enchanted.)

I acquired my sample packages (that contain two Cholives with picks - the regular package is a little tin or jar) at Food Fete, which is a media event for food, beverage and lifestyle writers. It was held on one evening during the Fancy Food Show, and provided an opportunity to really connect with the food makers (and they weren’t concerned with missing a sale because they were talking to a reporter or blogger).

They olive styling is so complete, there’s even a little dimple where a pitted olive would have a hole. This is the recommended spot for inserting the cocktail skewer (and don’t go all the way through to the other side, a half an inch will do).

The truffle has a pleasant fruity & woodsy chocolate aroma. The bite of shell is crisp (I didn’t dip mine in alcohol). The ganache center is light and buttery, like a supercream frosting - a little bit sweeter than the shell, but still quite rich.

As a decadent little accompaniment for a drink, they’re nice. A great size and a fun method for serving. I appreciate that they’re good quality as well. Their info says that each one is about 35 calories (which I didn’t think was bad for a real chocolate treat).

At first I thought these were just skinny Lindt Lindor truffles, but they were much better than that. Though it made me wonder if folks skewer those & serve them with drinks, too. (The Lindt Lindor Truffle Eggs would probably be perfect for that! So consider squirreling some of those away after Easter this year for that purpose.)

I can’t see using these for ordinary drinks. They’re suited for more cream-based cocktails or at least sweet ones. At 50 cents to a dollar per Cholive, they sound a bit steep. But if you’ve got a mind to economize but still want to indulge, perhaps inviting a few friends over for some upscale cocktails instead of dinner & dessert, you can splurge on a tin of these. (The really clever thing is that they sell in bulk, so you can buy a tin or jar, and if you love them you can buy a bulk bag &  keep refilling it so it looks nice on your bar - and of course feel free to pop one every once in a while.) Their website also features some tantalizing drink recipes to get you started.

Don’t be surprised either if these start turning up at bars and events like weddings.

Here are some other reviews: Denise from On Motivation & Chocolate, Drinkhacker and Rachel of Chocolate Snob.

Note that they do not hold up in hot drinks ... not that they’re bad that way, but it’s just a different experience to fish a melted truffle out of the bottom of cup of hot coffee.

Related Candies

1. Trader Joe’s French Truffles
2. Starbucks Truffles
3. Soubeyran Array
4. Lindt: 60% Extra Dark Truffles
5. MarieBelle Chocolates
6. Choxie Champagne Truffles
7. Candy Cocktails for a Sweet New Year

One of my favorite booths to visit at any food show is Melville Candy Company. Not only is their candy pretty, the guys that run the company are always really enthusiastic and seem to really love the products they make. (Which is what we all expect from folks who work in candy, but you’d be surprised at some attitudes I’ve run across.)

There’s always someone at the aisle handing out Honey Spoons (so I always have a stash at home). The spoon line at Melville’s is expanding. They have their honey varieties, and the flavored spoons and now they’re making actual tea spoons.

This spoon is a mix of tea and sugar and, I think, honey.

It can be eaten as is or mulled in some hot water to create a beverage! Instead of being an “instant tea” though, there are actual tea leaves in there.

Even though it looks a little weird, I found this to be a really tasty combination. Like a cup of sweet tea. The dark brewed flavors & tannins were there along with the light malty taste of honey.

The second variety I picked up was the Jasmine Green Tea Spoon. This opaque spoon is dark green with a strong freshly mowed lawn scent.

Though I prefer eating my candy, I decided to see what it would be like to make this into a beverage, as it’s actually designed to do. So I made up a cup of hot water and popped in the Jasmine Green Tea Spoon.

(Well, actually, I tasted the spoon first. It was sweet, terribly bitter and very grassy tasting, just like matcha powder.)

I let it melt for a while and then pulled out the spoon. It’d gotten stuck to the bottom of the cup and made a long, soft string of hard candy. It was fun to bend around and then stir into the hot water. It turned the water green pretty quickly, too.

I left it alone for five minutes and then stirred well again to get the pictured version here.

It smells quite grassy, a lot like henna or wet hay.

I found the beverage was far too sweet for me, but I’m also not a fan of sweetening my tea or chai lattes.

As a lollipop though it was a quite a refreshing change from the normal lemon & cherry variety.

They’re not featured on the Melville website just yet. But there are some other fun items that I saw at the show but haven’t tried yet that I thought I’d mention:

Melville’s has really been thinking outside the box lately. Though their honey spoons collections are expensive, they are unique and come in a huge variety of honey types & with added flavorings.

Their other new products include tea spoons made with real cinnamon sticks, for extra flavor.

The most innovative (and perhaps silliest) is their line of Cereal Flavoring Spoons. They come in Apple Cinnamon and Cinnamon & Sugar. I’m guessing if you’re not eating already-sweetened cereal, this is no worse than spoonfuls of sugar or honey. (I do like a heaping pile of lumps of brown sugar in my hot cereal.) Eating from a spoon made of sugar would mean sweetness & flavor in every bite, especially with a real cinnamon stick for a handle.

They’re still a bit expensive, but small batch candy often is. They’re not the kind of treat I’d buy often, but definitely a fun thing for guests or when you travel.

Related Candies

1. Bit-O-Honey
2. Jelly Belly: Lollibeans
3. Charleston Pralines
4. Hanahiyori - Green Tea White Chocolates
5. Hard Candy: Juntsuyu
6. Artisan Marshmallows: Plush Puffs