Here’s a little fun for the Summer. Some white and some dark.

Ferrero makes quite few different little two bite confections besides their Rocher and Mon Cheri. The one that I’ve kind of avoided all these years is the Ferrero Raffaello. Why? It looks kind of like a snowball, and I was afraid there’d be some marshmallow in there. But a kind reader set me straight.

Each package contains three little coconut covered spheres. Unlike everything else in the Ferrero line, these are not individually wrapped ... unless coconut flakes count as wrapping.

I rather admire Ferrero. They really seem to understand their marketing segment. An upscale chocolate in sophisticated wrappings that you can buy at the drug store or grocer. Not terribly expensive, decent quality and in flavor/texture combinations you just don’t get in other American chocolates.

I bought a single serving package, which is a small tray with three little candies in it, each in a little white fluted cup. They’re a little messy, with a lot of dislodged coconut coming out of the package along with them.

They smell like summer: like coconut and a sweet hit of sugar.

They’re not terribly big, at about a third of an ounce each they don’t feel very dense. I guessed at what they’d be like inside from the ingredients, that there would be a wafer sphere with a cream filling.

Sure enough, I got it right. The coconut gave way to a crisp but bland wheat wafer shell and a milky flavored cream inside (think buttercream frosting). That must be a lot of dairy in there, it contains 6% of your RDA of Calcium!

The cream had some strong dairy flavors and a pretty smooth texture. It wasn’t as sweet as I’d expected. In the very center was a little nut that at first I thought was a hazelnut but then found out was an almond when I read the description on the back of the package that called these: Almond Coconut Treat. 

It was a nice little refreshing treat, but I didn’t find them very satisfying on their own. As part of a mix, they’d be nice as a little change of pace, but I don’t see myself sitting down with a package.

Made in Belgium. Rating: 6 out of 10

The item I was really interested in was something that I saw announced on the All Candy Expo website several weeks ago. Ferrero Rondnoir which sounded like a it would be a dark chocolate Ferrero Rocher. Well, they’re not quite that, but still quite a nice extension of the Rocher line.

I didn’t expect to see these until the ACE next month, so imagine my surprise at finding them at the RiteAid (the same RiteAid that seemed to have the Elvis Cups out three weeks early).

The trio of candies are wrapped in an elegant bronze/brown foil with a little sticker on top that confirms that they are the Rondnoir (in case you get them in a mixed box). They’re further packaged in little brown fluted cups ... perhaps packaging overkill, but they’re a little wafer sphere in a skimpy little paperboard tray ... they probably need the protection.

Again, I’m bad at reading directions or press releases, so all I knew was that these were dark chocolate. I fully expected them to be just like the Rocher.

They’re not at all like Rochers. First, the outer coating is a chocolate crumble - think really rich Oreo cookie bits. Inside that is the wafer shell. Inside that is the dark chocolate cream. It’s light and buttery with some nice but not overwhelming chocolate flavors. Think hot chocolate, not quite rich ganache.

Then at the center is not a nut but a little sphere of super buttery dark chocolate. In fact, it tastes very little like chocolate, but it is like a little ball of cocoa butter (or perhaps something worse that I prefer not to think about). Eaten alone, it’s a little too slippery. Eaten with the whole sphere at once, it’s the perfect little creamy burst.

I’m rather fond of this new Ferrero product and I plan to stuff my sample bag with them at All Candy Expo next month and even consider buying them in the future. The small package makes portion control pretty easy and it’s hard to just rush right through them, considering all the packaging (hey, my city takes aluminum foil in the recycling bin!). At 1 ounce it’s 160 calories, so yes, it’s calorie rich for its size, but then again, if you only bought one package you’re safe.

They remind me of the Lindt Lindor Truffles ... which is a good thing.

This variety is made in Germany. Rating: 8 out of 10

Related Candies

1. Ferrero Rocher
2. Ferrero Mon Cheri
3. Tronky
4. Nestle Crunch Dark Stixx

Santos returned to LA with some wonderful new Mentos for me to try! (See more of her lovely gifts to Los Angeles bloggers at Franklin Avenue.)

Today I’m sampling the fantabulous and refreshing Mentos Fuji Apple.

The Green Apple Mentos that are pretty easy to find domestically (sometimes they’re labeled for Canadian sale and say Pomme Vert), but they’re definitely not the same thing. The Green Apple Mentos taste like that wonderful artificial green apple. Kind of plastic but puckeringly pleasant.

The Fuji Apple Mentos are a lovely off white color, like the inside of a freshly sliced apple.

Fuji Apple, well, is awesome. It replicates that crisp apple flavor so well. A little bit of the apple skin and a lot of the tart tingly flavor of real apples. They say they have “nature identical flavors” in there on the ingredients, for whatever that’s worth. If you’re a candy swapper or planning a visit to Asia and looking for something inexpensive to bring home for your pet-sitter, this might be the thing.

This candy was made in China and labeled for the Philippine market.

The Mentos USA website says they have a “Flavors of the World” store, but they are sadly lacking in the really great flavors they do offer overseas. Oh, how I wish that they did carry the true global varieties. Japan, Philippines and China all carry this flavor and it’s possible you can pick them up in Australia easily.  I haven’t seen them in the Asian markets in Los Angeles (but I haven’t looked very hard since Santos always hooks me up).

Note: these Mentos have no gelatin in them as the American and European ones do but contain something called Gellan Gum instead as a thickening agent. They are not certified Halal or Kosher though (I have some others that I’ll post about that are Halal). Maybe some vegans can weigh in on whether Gellan Gum (derived from bacterial cultures) is on the approved list.

Another curiosity ... in the US Mentos are usually called Chewy Mint on the package. Just about everywhere else they’re called Chewy Dragees.

Related Candies

1. HiCHEW Yuzu & Valencia
2. Dalandan & Juicy Ponkan Mentos
3. Pink Grapefruit Mentos
4. The Lemonhead & Fruit Heads

I pretty much love PayDay bars. They’re the original energy bar as far as I’m concerned. Long before I knew about glycemic indexes it was obvious that PayDay contained a lot of calories, but they’re slow and sustained. A nice hit of sugar and quick glucose and then along protein boost that keeps the tummy from growling and prevents that “I need a nap” feeling.

A PayDay bar, as the advertising tagline used to say, is mostly nuts. At its center is a log of inert and dense nougat. Covering that is a layer of usually firm caramel and then the whole thing is rolled in lightly salted peanuts.

The PayDay is one of the older candy bar brands in the country, first produced by Hollywood Brands, Inc. in 1932. During the depression bars like PayDay, that had both a hopeful name and high calorie count (mostly from fat and protein) were actually eaten as meal replacements. The brand has switched hands a few times (as shown in the Hershey’s timeline) but still remains unchanged, now made by Hershey’s.

The bars contain about 3.8 grams of protein per ounce, which is pretty high for a non-protein fortified bar. You can credit the high proportion of peanuts for that.

In the case of the Fresh from the Factory PayDay bars, they were in the fun-zie of .7 ounces (regular bars are 1.8 ounces). I like fun size bars, so this was a nice way to get the bars. (Kind of like the FFTF Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.) I’ve never had such a soft bar before, which is indeed a treat. I don’t mind the firmness of the usual bars, but the caramel is really much more present here than in any other bar I’ve had before. The nougat is soft and has a pleasant sweet fudgy texture. The peanuts taste like fresh roasted nuts and were all good quality (though not huge or anything).

PayDay bars currently come in a few different versions, including the Chocolatey Avalanche which replaced the limited edition real chocolate covered bar. I’ve tried the Honey Roasted PayDay and found it distractingly flavorful ... less about the nuts and more about the honey flavor. The original has survived for a reason, it’s good. It’s really one of the best Summer Bars there is. No chocolate so no worries about melting, long lasting energy to keep you going between meals.

The important thing is that the regular PayDay bar is just fine when it’s not factory fresh (a little time in a pocket or in a hot car to warm up and you can pretend).

You can order now for shipment the week of August 13, 2007.  It’s $20 for a tub holding 2 lbs and 14.4 ounces. Not a bad price for nearly three pounds of fresh candy (however, the shipping, I believe is an extra $10 depending on where you live).

PayDay bars contain both milk and egg products, so are not suitable for vegans. Kosher.

Related Candies

1. Honey Roasted Peanut Roca
2. Pearson’s Nut Roll
3. Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews
4. Nutrageous

One of my favorite chocolate treats since I was a teen are Koppers’ Cordials. They’re little dark chocolate spheres, about the size of a hazelnut that hold a crystal sugar shell inside filled with a “cordial” of some sort. They’re just flavored, not real alcohol. The easiest flavor to find is Rum, but I’ve picked up Cognac, Mandarin Orange, Mint and Sambucca (Anise). In fact, Koppers has at least 40 different varieties.

Most of the time I find them at the chain bulk candy stores like Candy Station or Sweets Factory. They’re usually rather expensive (being a chocolate item and also rather difficult to make), most of the time approaching $20 a pound. But I was happy to see them at the Jelly Bean Factory over the weekend. They’re a great movie candy because they’re easy to eat and easy to savor, so that’s what I did with them.

The bonus to buying them in a pre-packaged bag is that you’re pretty sure you’re getting the flavor your want. The problem I have getting them in bulk sometimes if they have a large assortment is that they all look the same and can get jumbled up by a careless employee or a devilish customer. There are a few flavors that I find really unpleasant (Amaretto), so it’s no fun to get one of those by accident.

I’m positively spellbound by everything Koppers makes. They’re all so beautiful to behold. They’re always so shiny and perfect. It’s one of the things I’m looking forward to about the All Candy Expo ... that huge wall they do of all of their products with little spoons so that you can taste each and every morsel.

The dark chocolate is sweet and mellow. Not too bitter or complex. It’s really just there to hold the cordial. The sugar shell is crunchy if you like to bite yours in half or just chew the whole thing. The cordial filling is like a hit of rum extract. I felt very sophisticated as a kid when I’d go to the candy counter at the department store and get a quarter pound of these (and a half a pound of gummi bears).

It’s also kind of fun to dissolve the chocolate slowly to get to the sugar sphere. It’s pretty durable, until of course enough of that to dissolve and out comes the little trickle of the cordial center.

Rum Cordials are the easiest to find, but I have to say that I prefer the darker flavors of Cognac and Whiskey or the real flavor zaps of Mandarin Orange or Sambucca.

If you want to feel really sophisticated, you can try real cordials from K Chocolatier in Bevery Hills (I know I was kind of harsh about the price, but they were $40!) for a real vodka martini inside of a chocolate sphere. Now that’s a sophisticated indulgence.

Related Candies

1. Candy Source: Jelly Bean Factory
2. Trader Joe’s Espresso Chocolate
3. Anthon Berg Filled Chocolates
4. Fairway NYC
5. Pocket Coffee

There comes a time in every candy blogger’s career where she has to admit something tough, something that perhaps she never wanted to say out loud to anyone before. But you, dear readers, deserve to know.

I’m a nougat freak.

I love turrons, torrones, French nougat, Italian, Spanish, South African, Australian ... it doesn’t matter. I just love the stuff. I’m a nut for it. And while my sense of adventure is sometimes muted by my pocketbook, it seems that never matters when I’m presented with nougat ... especially when I see the word HONEY on the ingredients.

At Bristol Farms over the weekend I spent a good ten minutes staring at everything in the candy aisle. The place has a very nicely provisioned candy aisle ... a full selection of Green & Black bars, Cafe Tasse, Jo’s comfort confections, Jelly Belly by the pound, Scharffen Berger and of course a healthy assortment of imported consumer goodies like Aero and Violet Crumble. There tucked between some pastilles and Panda licorice bars was this solitary representative in the nougat family: Flamigni Torrone Morbido con Mandorle e Pistacchi.

The green paper wrapper has an inner foil wrapper and it felt nice and soft ... just the way I like it. (Okay, I like it hard and crisp, too.)

That’s the good stuff, all the way from Italy. The ingredients? Almonds (30%), Pistachios (13%), honey, glucose syrup, sugar, candied orange and citron peels, egg yolks, flavors and wafers.

Sounds good, and the egg yolks instead of egg whites colored me intrigued as did the citrus peels.

The bar was attractive unwrapped with the high percentage of nuts readily apparent.

The scent was only slightly of citrus and mostly of sugar with slight caramel notes and a little pistachio and vanilla thrown in. On the tongue though the honey flavor come out (not like the Nutpatch Nougat of course).  Then come the zesty lemon peels and soft crunchy pistachios. It’s a riot of soft and mellow flavors and satisfying textures.

As long as you go into the bar realizing that it’s all about the subtle flavors and not about heavy honey or citrus, I think you’ll be pleased.

It’s definitely a bar I could indulge in every time I go to Bristol Farms (which is about five times a year, so certainly within the range of my pocketbook). I didn’t find much in the way of sources online, but Daprano has some other Flamigni nougats on their site.

Related Candies

1. Nutpatch Nougats
2. Valerie Toffees & Nougats
3. Nougat de Montelimar
4. Trader Joe’s Torrones

I’ve been holding onto the news since January and the Fancy Food Show that Jelly Belly is coming out with a line of all natural jelly beans. This means no artificial colors, preservatives or flavors (the colors I know are a big concern with some parents and hyperactivity in their children). Jelly Belly is currently test-marketing the new beans on the west coast at Whole Foods. The new line includes ten flavors at the moment. I picked up a package of Tropical Fruit Blend Jelly Belly.

This blend has six flavors: banana, coconut, lemon, orange, pineapple and strawberry. The flavors are actually from real fruits (the ingredients list things like coconut flakes, banana puree, pineapple concentrate, etc.). The colors are created using natural colorings like annatto extract, cabbage juice and curcumin.

The beans are pretty, though a little muted in color (but they’re still plenty shiny).

The standout flavors for me were banana, which tastes like a really ripe banana and pineapple, which has a nice tangy bite to it and then a smooth sweetness.

If I have a complaint it’s that the color combination made it nearly impossible for me to tell the beans apart. The pineapple was kind of a colorless bean as was the coconut and the lemon on the yellow side and then the orange was more of a light peach but I still got them confused in dim lighting situations. The unmistakable beans were strawberry (though I didn’t care much for the flavor on this one, it tasted a little canned and metallic) and banana (the mottled one).

If I were looking for this blend of flavors and I had a choice between the all natural and the regular ones, I’d absolutely go for the all natural. They taste great and I already get confused about the color keys for Jelly Belly anyway.

The package also says that Jelly Belly - All Natural are gluten free and Kosher. They do contain beeswax so may not be suitable for vegans.

For those of you who don’t get the JellyBelly.com newsletter, they’re running some pretty awesome sales in their outlet. For some bizarre reason they’re clearing out their Christopher’s Fruit Gems at insanely low prices ($2.99 for a box of 2 lbs unwrapped or $14.99 for 9 lbs in a basket of the individually wrapped ones). They also have something for licoricians (licorice-lovers) with their 15 ounce licorice assortment at only $9.99. And finally, for fans of games of chance, from now until Monday, July 23, 2007 or while supplies last, if you order 2-4 bags of Belly Flops you pay only 6.00 each. But if you order five or more bags, the price is slashed to only 5.00 per bag! (That’s $2.50 a pound for Jelly Belly, not gonna do better anywhere else.)

About six months ago I got to preview the new Chocolate Covered Altoids. They were tasty, but I never found myself gobbling them up.

At the RiteAid the other night I finally found the missing piece to the trio of flavors: Ginger. I don’t know why they were so hard to find, believe me, I looked just about everywhere locally. Now, I’ve heard that the ginger ones are bad. But I like Ginger ... I love Ginger ... do you think I will love Chocolate Dipped Ginger Altoids?

They’re woodsy, spicy and strong. The chocolate flavor only stands up to the ginger for a moment, then backs away and gives the normally chalky candy some texture.

I’ve had them on my desk for about 24 hours and they’re pretty much gone. I’ve gobbled them up. Sure they’re burning me up, but sometimes I just like that in a candy. They’re a little expensive, too expensive for me to have them more than sometimes.

I think I’d like them in Liquorice as well ... but I doubt that’s gonna happen any time soon.

As with other Altoids, these contain gelatin and are not suitable for vegetarians. The are also manufactured on equipment that processes milk, wheat & nuts (tree & pea).

The first thing I was looking for at the Candy Palace at Disneyland was something unique. Why should I eat something that I can get anywhere? So I scoured the store to find something that was made only for sale at the Disneyland candy stores. Sadly, there really wasn’t anything there like that, so I settled for something that I thought I’d like that had a novel take ... the Dark Chocolate Pretzels in the shape of Mickey Mouse.

They were sold in a couple of different formats, a simple plastic baggie tied with a bow with a stack of four (mostly shopworn though), they had singles in the candy case for $1.25 each and then a nice box with 8 ounces of dark chocolate pretzels for $9.95. The box had all the classic Disney characters on it. Nothing from this century (the most recent characters on there are Beauty & the Beast and The Little Mermaid). The box looked like it protected the contents well (shaking it actually didn’t yield much in the way of sound, which is a good thing).

The pretzels are gorgeous! The dark chocolate is glossy, thick and with cute little scribbles to make it extra dense in spots. They’re in a deep tray, leaning against each other in little slots, eight pretzels total. (So that makes them 1 ounce each.)

Only one was broken.

The pretzels themselves are bigger than I’m used to, at first I thought they were stale but then I realized they were just really crunchy and a bit dense ... which kind of keeps them from being crispy in the way I’m accustomed to. The chocolate is good quality, not too sweet and with a good balance of smoky notes and a dry finish. The pretzel is only lightly salted, so this remains a sweet treat. Unfortunately this “dark” chocolate has milkfat in it, so it’s not for vegans. It is Kosher though (I don’t think anything in the candy case is). 8 out of 10

For the record I also tried a Milk Chocolate Pretzel out of the candy case, which I ate as I left the park. It tasted like, well, candy case. The pretzel was a little stale and the chocolate bland.

The candy case has a huge variety of chocolate treats in it. Nut clusters, caramel patties, peppermint patties, chocolate dipped crisped rice treats, chocolate marshmallow bars on sticks, little cups with white chocolate mixed with cookie bits, milk chocolate with M&Ms, chocolate haystacks, toffee, and of course the chocolate covered pretzels mentioned above.

I was drawn to the Milk Chocolate Caramel Marshmallow Bar. It’s about the size of a Snickers bar, though not quite as dense in hand. I was hoping for something to approach the See’s Scotchmallow.

Inside the bar the caramel and marshmallow are in equal proportions. The caramel is thin, though chewy and smooth (but lacking some deep burnt caramel flavors). The marshmallow is moist and springy and not too sweet. The milk chocolate is okay, sweet and milky and pretty smooth. It’s a sweet bar, but the marshmallow makes it feel both satisfying and light at the same time. $1.95 ... I give it a 7 out of 10.

I had very low expectations for the Small Mickey Turtles. The large ones in the case, though attractive in shape and size were a bit bloomed. The little ones weren’t quite as pretty, but the price was certainly better for someone who was looking for variety.

My expectation for something called a “Turtle” is this: caramel and pecans covered in chocolate. I like my caramel to be soft and chewy, but also flavorful to provide more than a textural counterpoint to the nuts. Pecans are a strongly flavored nut, so a good caramelized caramel is important.

The Mickey Turtle is a huge disappointment. The nuts didn’t taste fresh. The chocolate had more of the flavor of the refrigerator case than of chocolate and the caramel was less like caramel and more like a fudge or pecan praline (a chocolate covered pecan praline would be delightful, too).

Oddly enough the “turtle” pictured here with the white stripes wasn’t a turtle at all. I think it was supposed to be a truffle, but it tasted a bit more like a piece of fudge covered in chocolate. Again, it tasted like refrigerator more than chocolate.

The large (bloomed) Turtles were $3.00 each. The mini versions were 94 cents. Not bad as price goes, but it’s certainly not worth it. I give these (even the accidental “truffle”) a 5 out of 10.

If you’re coming to California and want a special candy treat to take home, go to See’s. The prices are better, the candy fresher and of course it just tastes better. (And I’ll wager you won’t stand in line as long ... most California airports even have a See’s kiosk.)

Next, I’ll try some of the prepackaged candy bars!

Related Candies

1. Universal CityWalk for Candy Lovers
2. M&Ms Memorable Moments (Disney)
3. Disney Branded Chocolate Candies
4. Disneyland Candy Novelties
5. Disneyland for Candy Bloggers