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CandyWednesday, September 3, 2008
Sconza Jordanettes
There are literally hundreds of makers of candied almonds, also known as confetti or dragees, around the world. But the candy is pretty much the same everywhere, a single almond coated with a hard sugar shell. Some are colored and tumbled to a bright sheen, still others have a soft and smooth matte surface. The process is rather simple though time consuming. Nuts are tumbled in a large rotating drum as sugar syrup is slowly added and allowed to dry, then added again until a thick shell is built up. Sconza started in 1939 in the Bay Area and has been making distinctive panned candies since 1948. The company is expanding rapidly now, poised to take over the former Hershey’s Chocolate facility in Oakdale California later this year.
The colors and matte shell was just so festive - it says harvest but it wasn’t all dark colors. Instead they’re pretty muted pastels in peach, yellow, green and terra cotta. They looked pretty big too, but as is often the case with candy coated almonds, I didn’t know if it was that the almonds were big or that the candy shell was thick. As is often the case with Jordan Almonds, I never know how thick the shell will be and sometimes I secretly suspect that there won’t even be a nut at the center - that it might be a rock. Happily every single one I’ve eaten so far has had a fresh almond in the middle. The bag smelled like vanilla pudding. Soft and sweet with just a hint of vanilla (fake vanilla actually). The dragees are soft and smooth and after in the mouth for a moment they’re pleasantly slippery and fun to chase around with my tongue. There’s not much flavor, just sugar-sweetness. After a while I usually crunch. I find the best way to crush the shell is to put the candy between my rear molars and gently bite down on one of flatter sides. If it doesn’t yield, I try do dissolve a bit more and try again. Jordan Almonds aren’t like M&Ms, unless you have some sort of super-strong teeth and fearless disposition, there’s no popping them in your mouth and chewing. Of course I never see them served that way and I honestly never see people simply eating them. (I know they’re a popular wedding favor, but I never recall getting any at a wedding either.) The almond on the inside is soft and not as sweet as the sugar-shell, but still pretty sweet (not a crisp toasted almond either, they appear to be raw or merely blanched). These had only a hint of almond flavor. Mostly the whole thing was fresh-tasting. I can’t say that I’d just buy Jordanettes again for munching, but I do foresee finishing the bag ... and when I say finishing, I mean I’ve already eaten a half a pound. These are certainly a good deal, high quality and beautiful to look at. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:26 pm Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Revisit: Take 5, Sunkist Fruit Gems & Snickers AlmondI realized when I started Candy Blog that there was no way I’d ever sample every single candy out there, let alone review them. What’s making it even harder now is that candies that I’ve already reviewed have changed and it hardly seems fair that the reviews here still stand against the present day products. So, every once in a while I’ll revisit major products that have changed since my original review at least enough to warrant a new taste.
Sometime when I wasn’t looking (I photographed it last summer again) the Hershey’s Take 5 left the list of chocolate candy bars and joined the growing list of Hershey’s Real Mockolate. The package now says: made with chocolate & pretzels & caramel & peanuts & peanut butter. That “made with chocolate” part means that the coating may contain chocolate, but it has other additives such as vegetable oils that mean that it’s not pure chocolate. The actual chocolate as an ingredient comes far down on the list as the number 6 item, after vegetable oils and high fructose corn sweetener and before nonfat milk (you can imagine there’s not that much milk in there). The bars actually still look quite fetching. Little rather rectangular lumps with a pleasant sweet & peanutty scent. Mine were exceptionally fresh, the pretzel was good and crunchy, a nice salty complement to the sweet coating. The coating didn’t have much flavor but did add a creamy texture. This one was passably good, but I’ve had others in the past few months (I picked them out of a mix of snack size in a bowl at the office a couple of times) and I didn’t realize why they were kind of empty tasting for what I remembered. I just thought they were stale ... turns out that they’re just not designed to be good any longer. Hershey’s still has an opportunity to reverse this and make it real chocolate again.
Worst part of this news? The grapefruit one was missing. (What is it about grapefruit disappearing lately? Is it because of the news that grapefruit juice interacts with some prescription drugs?) This is not to say that the Sunkist Fruit Gems don’t come in grapefruit any longer, just not in this particular package.
Seeing how Sunkist is known as a citrus company, the fact that they made an assortment the neglects one of the citrus fruits and includes a berry is beyond me. The package is also similar to the old one and actually includes images of grapefruit (though the text clearly says which flavors are in the package). The change in manufacturing location and ownership, as far as I’ve been able to tell, has made no difference at all for the actual candy. It’s still a nice, soft and flavorful fruit jelly without too much of a granulated sugar coating. The only real difference here is that you get only 2/3 as much as you used to. I was hoping when Jelly Belly took over that they’d sell the jellies in individual flavors like they do with their famous jelly beans. No such luck yet. (For now whenever I see the Jelly Belly booth at a trade show I pick a half a dozen grapefruit jellies out of their sample bin and move along.)
Mars used to make a bar that was called, appropriately enough, the Mars Bar. That bar was discontinued and reintroduced under the much more famous Snickers umbrella of products as the Snickers Almond. Then something happened, Mars mucked around with it and created the “More Satisfying Snickers Almond” which was really just the Snickers Almond with peanuts thrown in to make up for a lack of, well, almonds. It wasn’t a bad bar, but it wasn’t really distinctive. Well, the old new Snickers Almond is back. It’s a white lightly sweet & salty nougat with a caramel stripe and whole almonds covered in milk chocolate. I like the bar (though I prefer the dark chocolate version) and I’m glad they brought it back.
Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:09 am Candy • Review • Snickers • Hershey's • Jelly Belly • Mars • Caramel • Chocolate • Cookie • Kosher • Mockolate • Nougat • Nuts • Peanuts • 4-Benign • 5-Pleasant • 6-Tempting • United States • Rite Aid • Monday, September 1, 2008
Big Bite Gummy Bear
While I’m a big fan of excess in the right circumstances, I was puzzled about what could be so great about a giant gummi other than the fact that it weighed over 12 ounces and was four inches tall. One of the great things about gummi bears is the variety and the fact that you can put a whole one in your mouth, or several at a time for flavor combos. But this had a lot going for it, first, the price wasn’t bad. At $3.99 for 12.3 ounces (350 grams) it was at least what I considered a fair deal. Yeah, it’s made in China (not one of my favorite gummi-producing countries) but the ingredients looked decent enough to get this just for the sheer joy of photographing it. They come in five flavors: Cherry, Blue Raspberry, Grape, Green Apple and Orange. Obviously I chose orange, mostly because I thought it would photograph best but also because I think orange is a good flavor. The packaging is spare and still great. It’s basically the mold for the bear, a hard clear plastic shell, sealed with cellophane tape all around. When done with the bear, the little plastic box can be re-filled and closed up and even has a little loop hole at the top for hanging. The nutrition facts are a little odd. They think this package holds only one serving, which is 1120 calories. He’s a little shiny and filmy on the outside, as many gummis are. (This one has carnauba wax.) The gummi itself is very soft and pliable, quite bouncy and stretchy. The big question after opening it was serving suggestions. I trotted out the giant gummi yesterday when we had friends over for the block party on our street. Ernessa is a huge gummi fan, so she was quite smitten with the idea of a large gummi. Her husband, Christian, is one of my few licorice buddies (though he’s a fan of the salted stuff) ... it’s good to have candy friends. So I served it up on a paper plate and we debated whether to cut him down the middle (there’s a seam) or across. I decapitated him. (There was talk of just picking him up and taking a bite but that’s the candy-equivalent of double dipping.) A few slices of the head and we were all enjoying a piece of the gummy. It’s very soft, more like a piece of firm Jell-O than a gummi bear. It smelled great, like fresh orange juice. The texture as very smooth and melted in the mouth better and didn’t require a lot of chewing, it was almost like a piece of intensely flavored Turkish Delight. It had a lot of zesty notes to it, a good tingly tartness and of course a sweet and mellow background flavor. I was pretty impressed with this bear. I was expecting nothing more than flash and style and no substance. I can say that at least in the orange flavor they delivered a really good gummi bear experience. The ingredients list both pectin and gelatin, which is what I owe the even texture to. I’m not sure how well this would do sitting out of its little clear plastic housing. It sat up well for the photos, but I don’t know how it’d do in humid or really hot conditions. They’d be a fun hostess gift, a great addition to a gift basket or Christmas stocking or if you could find a good deal in bulk, a party favor (and maybe place card holder). As something for one person to eat, it seems a little silly, but it’s definitely a fun thing to share with others. On the whole I prefer the variety and look of the regular-sized ones. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:26 am Friday, August 29, 2008
Darrell Lea Licorice & Ginger
And then ate it all. And promptly forgot what it was like so I couldn’t review it. So today I went out and bought a new bag, just so I could finish up this review. (My office is dangerously close to a Cost Plus World Market now.) When I opened it up I remember why I didn’t review it.
So here I am with a second bag and I’m gonna have to say, “hey folks, this stuff really smells like and Indian spice shop!” It makes my mouth water, it’s a mix of curry, coriander, anise and black tea. The pieces are kind of awkward - they’re long fingers. Thick and soft, they’re about three inches long and a matte black. The flavor is dark and smoky. The molasses is pronounced but has a great mellow licorice mixed with a little hint of those spices I mentioned earlier. The chew is soft without being too sticky like Dots can be. Not too sweet and really munchable but satisfying. Pretty good overall and certainly distinctive enough that I think I could tell this apart from most of the other Aussie style licorices I’ve had over the years. And I plan on finishing this package pretty soon as well. Rating: 8 out of 10
Like the rest of their line, it comes in a kraft paper looking package, mellow and muted and boldly stating that it’s flavored naturally. The ingredients bear that out: Raw sugar, wheat glucose syrup, wheat flour, cane sugar, ginger puree (4%), water, modified food starch, palm oil, natural flavor, mono & di-glycerides, salt, citric acid, malic acid, spinach extract (color), liquorice extract, sodium bicarbonate, beta carotene (color) and sulphur dioxide (preservative).
But I got over it. The little fingers in this version are a little shorter at about 2 1/2 inches each but a little bigger around. The texture is different as well, though still soft they’re not as pliable and just a bit drier on the outside. But singly they smell less like wood glue and more like ginger tea. The bite is a smidge less smooth, but boy howdy is it spicy. Right away there’s the woodsy peppery taste of ginger and then a throat warming burn. It’s not very sweet at all, much less than the other ginger chews that I like so much from Chimes and the Ginger People. The wheat base of the chew makes it a little starchy in a way, but it also makes them rather filling and I think cuts through what might be a very spicy affair. It would be cool if they actually used molasses in these, they’d be like gingerbread (without the extra spices). But for ginger fans, this is a great new way to enjoy it. It’s a good munching food for movies, especially mixed with something salty like popcorn (I tried it with pretzels and it went well). Rating: 7 out of 10 Darrell Lea has a pretty big range, I saw the Green Apple and Strawberry versions at Cost Plus as well. There is another version that are chocolate covered smaller nibs but their Australian website shows a much larger range of products (most of which sound fabulous). They’re Kosher and have no artificial colors or flavors. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 11:29 am Thursday, August 28, 2008
AmadeiEven though I adore high end chocolate, I have a hard time plunking down $5 to $12 without knowing what I’m going to get. So I’m often quite happy to fork over for tasting square versions even though they’re even more expensive when you figure out the cost per ounce. (And hey, it helps with portion control, too.) I was happy to find some tasting squares from Amadei, one of the most highly reviewed chocolate makers in the world at Mel & Roses. Even though they were 85 cents each for the 4.5 gram squares, I at least got to sample a broad spectrum of their product line which will help to guide me when I decide to finally buy one of their bars. I Cru Greneda 70% - (the unwrapped one came in an olive colored wrapper) mellow brown has a nice comforting scent of tobacco and woodsy smoke. The vanilla flavors are at the forefront with a creamy melt. Light and bright caramel and only the slightest bit of bitterness peaking through. Cashews. It’s not very deep, it feels rather high pitched but at least harmonic. I Cru Madagascar 70% - a good snap and dark glossy finish, this melts nicely on the tongue with an exceptionally buttery gloss on the tongue. I’m usually fond of Madagascar origin chocolate, and this is no different. Strong on the vanilla and some mellow fruity notes like pear in the middle and a closing finish of roasted almonds. I Cru Trinidad 70% - black pepper and raisin scent, a little chalkier. Pecans, lime and hot cocoa notes sound a little odd but work well as a whole, but the profile has a bitter and dry finish that doesn’t quite please me. Porcelana 70% - glossy look and much more pronounced snap led me to believe this wouldn’t be as buttery as the Madagascar. It’s very smooth, dark and rich with notes of macadamia and coconut along with dark woodsy tones like cedar and coffee. A little tangy note of dark berries but for the most part I get a strong true chocolate vibe here. As a little bonus I decided to try Amadei’s milk chocolate offering as well: Toscano Brown - it’s a pretty dark looking bar with a very strong milky scent of condensed milk. The flavor is distinct and tangy and a bit like mozzarella or ricotta (a mellow cheesy flavor - like cheesecake). It’s buttery though, with a creamy texture more like a glossy sauce than a bar. The dark notes include toffee and black tea, but I was kind of missing the real chocolate flavors. Overall, I was most pleased with the Madagascar and Porcelana but all were exceptional. I’m still not quite convinced enough to spend $11 for one of their bars, but I’m leaning in that direction. But for now the little selections in this format are enough for me and well worth the pocket change. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:51 am Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Rising Cost of Candy - A Brief Study of Hershey Prices
Most of this is due to increased cost across the board. Rising fuel prices in all sectors means that it costs more to buy energy to operate their factory candy kitchens, air condition their warehouses and drive trucks around. Add to that the biggest change, the raw materials cost more because of their vast distances from the Pennsylvania confectioner on top of their actual costs which have risen 20% - 45% this year alone.
The change in the wholesale price for Hershey Co. is different than their tactics in the past when dealing with this sort of volatility. It seems kind of quaint now how Milton S. Hershey tried to lock down his costs by entering into long term buying deals for cocoa beans and even building his own sugar plantations in Cuba (and a community named Hershey there too, complete with schools, libraries and a railroad system). Back then attempts were made to keep the price of the candy the same, so they would change its size as needed. The green line at the top represents the size of the chocolate bars (shown in grams). It’s easy to see that through the early years the price of the bar increased steadily (though slowly) but the size of the bar sold was volatile, even when taking the price per ounce into consideration. Oddly enough, the bar did become a better value quite often, both growing in size and dropping in price, though that trend ended after WWII and shortages and price swings in raw materials normalized. Often though when the price went up, so did the size of the bar as a way to offset the perception of poor value. The trend more recently, in the past 20 years though, has been to keep the bar the same size but simply raise the prices as needed. This means that things like slots in store shelves, wrappers, nutrition panels and manufacturing equipment stays the same.
To demonstrate how else Hershey’s has begun to cut corners, I only needed to look at Hershey’s classic Hershey’s Miniatures to discover that two of their iconic and early chocolate brands, Mr. Goodbar and Krackel, are no longer chocolate bars at all. Hershey’s was a strong and vocal supporter of The Grocery Manufacturers Association’s attempt to change the definition of chocolate from its present and not terribly stringent one (chocolate must contain cocoa solids and cocoa butter and no additional vegetable oils). In order to get chocolate products from Hershey’s now, consumers have to opt for their premium lines like Bliss and Cacao Reserve or pay true premium prices for their Dagoba or Scharffen Berger product lines. Other changes to Hershey’s products over the past three years include: 5th Avenue Bar - no longer has a milk chocolate coating Take 5 - no longer has a milk chocolate coating Hershey’s Kissables - is now called chocolate candy as it is has additional vegetable oils Whatchamacallit - no longer has a milk chocolate coating Milk Duds - no longer has a milk chocolate coating Mr. Goodbar - no longer made of milk chocolate Reese’s Sticks - no longer has a milk chocolate coating Reese’s White Peanut Butter Cups - the white coating used to be white chocolate (with cocoa butter) now just a white confectionery coating Reese’s FastBreak - no longer has a milk chocolate coating Read packages of Limited Edition and Seasonal Hershey’s Kisses carefully - as an example, the Candy Cane Kisses introduced in 2006 were made from cocoa butter for the white chocolate but when re-introduced for 2007 they were no longer a pure product. Other products which have never been real chocolate (so you’re not confused): Reese’s Whipps Whoppers Reese’s Crispy Crunchy Bar
While Hershey’s seems to be concentrating a great deal of effort on honing their efficiency, based on the fact that they’re subcontracting, eliminating factories and a percentage of their workforce while manufacturing more in Mexico, they seem to have neglected their primary mission: making good chocolate. Milton Hershey was often derided for not embracing advertising for his products. He said, “Give them quality, that’s the best kind of advertising in the world.” But presently they’re advertising quality with their new Pure Chocolate campaign but neglecting to actually deliver it. Sources: Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:38 pm Candy • Hershey's • Featured News • Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Mint Cremes from the Makers of Jelly Belly
One lesser-known version of those buttercreams were little treats like these Mint Cremes (there is no butter in there). Last year while in Pennsylvania Looking at the through the cellophane wrapper they were exceptionally regular. About the size of a quarter they came in four colors: yellow, pink, white and green. They’re smooth and firm to the touch (the hand crafted variety break easily).
But after biting into the first one it was clear, these are a very stiff fondant, flavored strongly with peppermint. They’re all the same flavor. The outer shell is glossy and seals in the flavor and scent and keeps them a bit softer than I think they’d be otherwise. It’s a combination of carnauba wax, beeswax and confectioners glaze. Inside the center is dense, like a mello creme or candy corn but with a strong and heavy mint. Not as strong as an Altoid, but a bit more than a peppermint starlight. It’s pretty much the inside of a York Peppermint Pattie. I was hoping they’d have a more “melt in my mouth” quality than I got. They’re a bit stiff and lacking some personality. But they’re very pretty and would make a different offering in a wedding favor mix or at the end of a meal at a restaurant with the check. I was hoping for a bit more creamy consistency, especially since they’re called cremes like the Romanego Fondants I had last year as well, but considering the price of these, I really shouldn’t have been expecting something that delicate. But it’s not as though these were cheap either. At $12 a pound I’m entitled to expect something. In the end, I think I prefer good old fashioned pillow mints (after dinner style). These have a confectioners glaze so may not be appropriate for vegetarians who don’t wish to consume shellac. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:28 am Monday, August 25, 2008
Hershey’s Special Dark Miniatures
The bag was a bit larger than the other Hershey’s Miniatures that I bought at the same time and has only three varieties instead of four. But the most notable part is the appearance of the little seal that Hershey’s puts on some of their dark chocolate confections, it says that this is a “natural source of flavinol antioxidants.” At only about 45% cacao content, yes, I guess it qualifies as a source, though not a terribly dense one. Hershey’s has some wonderfully convincing documentation about this on their website, though they’re probably purposefully vague about how much of these beneficial compounds are in any given serving. The assortment here is rather balanced between the three varieties: 13 Special Dark, 11 Special Dark with Crisp Rice and 12 Special Dark with Peanuts.
It smells sweet, a little woodsy. The texture is rather chalky and doesn’t melt into a creamy puddle in my mouth. Instead it just tastes sweet and more like hot cocoa made with water than real rich chocolate ... there’s a thin-ness to it all, probably because Hershey’s now uses milk fat. There’s a dry finish with a slight metallic bite to it. Rating: 4 out of 10
Though the ingredients on the wrapper are not broken out for each of the individually wrapped varieties, the list is clear, these are all real chocolate. There are no additional oils present except for those native to the chocolate or dairy ones (permissable in present definitions). The little bars are cute and look really just like you’d expect a dark Mr. Goodbar - dark sheen and little nuts poking through. It smells like dark roasted peanuts and cocoa. The bite has a good snap and an immediate mix of bitter notes from both the peanuts (which look like they’re roasted very dark) and the chocolate. The texture isn’t super creamy, but is consistent with an okay melt. Rating: 5 out of 10.
It looks much like the Peanut version, but smells much sweeter with only the lightest whiff of malt. The crunch isn’t as pronounced as the old Milk Chocolate or present Mockolate version, but has a nice texture. The malty flavor of the rice is completely lost in the thin cocoa flavor and sweetness. The texture doesn’t seem as creamy or melt as easily for some reason, but I can’t call it waxy. It’s less bitter than the others though, so provides a nice counterpoint. Is the Krackel and Hershey’s redeemed? No. But it’s a passable effort. Rating: 5 out of 10. I didn’t even try asking Hershey’s what the ingredients for the individual pieces are, because I’m not entitled to know should I decide to pick only one of the variety to eat. If I needed to buy a chocolate miniature assortment from Hershey’s again, I’d have to pick this one up instead of the old favorites. But even with the higher ratings than that one, I don’t see myself picking this up again. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:36 am Page 200 of 337 pages ‹ First < 198 199 200 201 202 > Last ›
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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