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Walgreen'sTuesday, March 24, 2015
Pastel Malted Milk Eggs ComparedOne of my favorite candies is malted milk balls. Easter brings the pastel version, which is egg shaped and has a candy coating. I rounded up four of the most popular versions in stores today for a little comparison. I have various sized bags from Jelly Belly, Necco, Brach’s (Ferrara Candy) and Whoppers (Hershey’s). Though there are some size differences in the eggs, and some other sizes available from these brands, pastel malted eggs are usually larger than malted milk balls and less focused on the milk chocolate coating. They’re generally an attractive candy, but with a large variation on the look and texture of the shell and color palettes. From left to right: Necco Mighty Malts, Jelly Belly, Whoppers and then Brach’s. Name: Mighty Malts Speckled Malted Milk Eggs Verdict: It’s too messy to eat around the awful coating, so I can’t recommend these at all for eating, only decoration. Name: Speckled Chocolate Malted Eggs Verdict: The shells are very thick, probably too much shell for me and the flavor was not a good mix for the other flavors. I still loved the colors and have eaten two full bags so far this season. However, they’re also very expensive ... about 5 times more expensive than the Necco Mighty Malts, though imminently more edible. Name: Whoppers Robin Eggs Verdict: The unappealing pink shells and less appealing mockolate layer just make these unbearable. I actually find myself doing the extra work on the Necco Mighty Malts instead of eating these, even though they have an excellent malt center. Name: Malted Milk Pastel Fiesta Eggs Verdict: Of the four, I prefer these, though they still don’t quite shine on their own merits, only in comparison. I’ve eaten two bags so far this season and do find them comforting, but I only keep eating them on the naive hope that I’ll find “a good one” as if that’s ever happened or will happen. The result of this tour only confirms that I love the idea of a great Malted Milk Pastel Egg, but I haven’t found it yet. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:54 pm Candy • Review • Easter • Brach's • Ferrara Pan • Hershey's • Jelly Belly • Necco • Chocolate • Malt • Mockolate • 4-Benign • United States • Dollar Tree • Target • Walgreen's • Monday, March 16, 2015
Russell Stover Lemon Cake EggRussell Stover Lemon Cake Egg is a new egg for Easter. Though Russell Stover has some other new eggs, most of those are just reshapes of novelties from other seasons. Like the other Russell Stover eggs, this one is one ounce. I found mine on sale for 39 cents, though they’re usually two for a dollar and sometimes as much as 59 or 69 cents each. The Lemon Cake Egg wrapper is just a touch confusing. The picture on the front shows a nice yellow cake with white frosting. But this egg is lemon cake filling with a dark chocolate coating. Not a big deal, but it seems like it would be easy to make it a lemon cake with chocolate frosting in the picture ... or perhaps a white chocolate coating on this egg. It’s very lemony. Even just opening the package, the zesty lemon scent is strong. Biting into the egg, the yellow center is quite bright, like a cream made from highlighters. The chocolate shell is bittersweet, which is a nice complement to the lemon cake. Like the other dessert-themed eggs, this is a paste type filling made from actual cake mix. The consistency is thicker than batter and thinner than cookie dough. Though there’s wheat flour in there, it doesn’t taste raw like some cookie dough items do. The lemon flavor is very well balanced, there are a lot of citrus peel notes, so much that there’s a light bitterness to it, which might also come from the chocolate. The whole thing is far less sweet than some of the other cake-themed eggs, like the Birthday Cake and Red Velvet. It’s rather refreshing, less cloying. I wish there was just a little more of a vanilla note, like a rich pound cake. But I do give them credit for trying something a bit out of the ordinary. The eggs contain wheat (gluten), milk, soy and actual eggs as well. They may also contain traces of tree nuts and peanuts. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:40 pm Candy • Review • Easter • Russell Stover • Chocolate • Cookie • 7-Worth It • United States • Walgreen's • Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Russell Stover Peanut Butter EggRussell Stover is best known at Easter for their little one ounce eggs that come in over a dozen varieties from the classic strawberry creme to the trendy wedding cake and cookie dough. One of the other items that’s a little harder to find are Russell Stover’s version of Cadbury Creme Eggs that come in chocolate creme and caramel (review). One of the newer varieties, or at least to me, is the Russell Stover Peanut Butter Egg. Russell Stover first introduced their little foil wrapped eggs in 2008, they came in some interesting varieties like Marshmallow & Caramel and Dark Chocolate with Chocolate Creme. I picked mine up on sale at 2 for 99 cents. The plain blue foil wrapping doesn’t say much other than the fact that it’s peanut butter in milk chocolate. The center is a combination of peanut butter, sugar and corn syrup. So it’s more like a peanut butter frosting than just a plain old peanut butter filling. The egg is 1.2 ounces and is molded to be completely ovoid, not one of those flat-bottomed enrobed eggs. The design on the shell is very simple, with just a few embellishments. Oddly enough, Russell Stover uses this same mold throughout the year. They have some sports themed hollow chocolates they sell, including a football, which makes lots of sense when covered in a brown texture-look foil. The odder part of that set of chocolates though is that the same shape is used for baseballs, soccer balls and basketballs. The filling is not a peanut butter, as I mentioned, instead, it’s more like a peanut butter caramel frosting. The texture is smooth, but not quite chewy like a caramel. If you gave me a cupcake with this as the icing, I’d be pretty happy. The milk chocolate is very sweet, but goes well with the filling. The peanut butter flavor is muted by the sugary sauce its within, but it still works. It’s not quite my thing, but it stands as unique take on this candy genre. I actually might buy these again and would probably include them in an Easter basket for kids if I put something together this year. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:19 pm Candy • Review • Easter • Russell Stover • Chocolate • Peanuts • 7-Worth It • United States • Walgreen's • Tuesday, March 10, 2015
YumEarth Organics Gummy FruitsYumEarth Organics Gummy Fruits were a surprising item to see at the Walgreen’s. It’s an appealing package, but the fact that Walgreen’s has some all natural and organic offerings in the sweets aisle was impressive. The soft and chewy candy comes in four flavors: banana, cherry, peach and strawberry. The package says these organic candies use no artificial colors or flavors, are made with real fruit juice and are fat free, nut free, gluten free and contain 100% of the daily RDA of vitamin C. Here’s the thing about these, they’re not gummis. Though many candy companies use gummi and jelly interchangeably, gummis are very specifically a gelatin-based confection. These are jelly candies and there’s nothing wrong with that, when you’re selling yourself as a vegan candy. They’re not jelly beans, they’re more like gumdrops. It’s a jelly center with a little sugar sanding on the outside, slightly smaller than a gourmet jelly bean. The colors are muted so it’s hard to tell the flavors apart on sight. The easiest one for me to pick out was the Peach. The sugar sanding helped to sell the fuzzy flavor, which has a nice acidic bite and slightly piney/apricot flavor. Cherry looked a lot like the peach, a medium orange color. It’s nice and jammy, though not much else going on with it, it’s not as tangy as the peach. The Strawberry was difficult to discern as was the Banana. There was a definitely a yellow candy but it didn’t taste like banana or strawberry, more like a generic jam that you’d put on your generic toast. Oddly enough, even though I don’t care much for cherry or peach as candy flavors, those two in combination made a really interesting punch flavor when eaten together. The texture is very firm, though not quite gummi, it’s a nice texture that releases a lot of flavor after you get past the sugar crust. I think children may like them, but they’re not as versatile as something like a jelly bean because they’re just a bit messier. The colors are very hard to tell apart, especially in dim light situations. But, the assortment stands well in combination, so just tossing a few without looking into your mouth should work out fine. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:28 pm All Natural • Candy • Review • Jelly Candy • Organic • 6-Tempting • France • Walgreen's • Friday, March 6, 2015
Russell Stover Big Bite Hot CocoaThe new line of Russell Stover Big Bite candies are themed for hot beverages. I already reviewed the two coffee ones I found. Today I have the Russell Stover Big Bite Hot Cocoa. The description on the front of the package says: fluffly marshmallow layered with cocoa-infused marshmallow surrounded by creamy milk chocolate.. I have to say that their picture of what the candy looked like was pretty darn accurate until I noticed that my layers were reversed. The piece seems much bigger than the others, probably because of the airy marshmallow inside. This piece is 2 ounces, like the others, but is 2.25 inches square and .75 inches high. Russell Stover makes a nice marshmallow, and make a lot of different kinds in all shapes and sizes. The interesting twist here is the layering of two different flavors. The layering is lovely too look at, though hard to perceive when eating. The bite was good, the marshmallow is soft, but not dry. The chocolate stuck to it well, so there were not little flaky bits, though after two bites pretty much all of the chocolate coating was cracked. The marshmallow is sweet but has no real flavor profile of its own. It’s not vanilla, it’s not really chocolate ... maybe a touch of cocoa at times. The real flavor here is the milk chocolate coating, which is good. It’s very milky and melts well, combines well with the marshmallow. The marshmallow texture is quite sticky and not as fluffy as some others that I’ve had from them, more like a marshmallow sauce than a stand alone marshmallow. However, the texture of this marshmallow is much more like it would be if it were sitting on the top of a cup of cocoa, just a little melted, so maybe that’s the goal here. Generally, the plain marshmallow and chocolate isn’t a stellar combination for me, unless there’s a stronger flavor note from the marshmallow itself. (See’s does a good job with their honey touch to their marshmallow.) I liked this, but like the other Big Bite products, I find 2 ounces to be far too much. Russell Stover often has marshmallow items in their holiday offerings for Halloween, Christmas, Valentines and Easter. I don’t really see a need for a year round version in this size. Maybe if it had a little more flavor, or went for something like a Neapolitan (chocolate, vanilla and strawberry marshmallow) instead of just the chocolate & vanilla.However, if you are a fan of Russell Stover’s marshmallows and the little minis they now offer year round don’t do it for you, you’re just the right demographic for this one. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:02 pm Candy • Review • Russell Stover • Chocolate • Marshmallow • 6-Tempting • United States • Walgreen's • Monday, February 23, 2015
Russell Stover Big Bite CoffeeRussell Stover Big Bite House Blend Coffee is a new all-year item from Russell Stover. The 2 ounce pieces are actually big bites, more than a single serving but less than a sharable piece. The package says: smooth dark chocolate enrobes a robust coffee-flavored center. This is the first I’ve seen a coffee flavored item from Russell Stover in their single serve line, though I think they do some coffee items in their boxed chocolates. The dark chocolate coating is pretty thick and sticks to the filling well. The filling is what I’d call a cross between a ganache and a fudge. It’s thick and has a good melt. The base is made from sugar and cream, so it’s like a ganache, but doesn’t have that much chocolate in it. Instead it’s just loaded with coffee. The coffee flavor is woodsy, with a little bitter acidic note to it. It’s definitely strong, and not terribly sweet, considering the amount of sugar in there. It’s nice. However, it’s big. I don’t want this much chocolate and ganache. I want about half as much, and maybe in more of a stick or plank format than a big patty. Or maybe a smaller patty, like a Peppermint Patty format, but with a coffee ganache center. Russell Stover Big Bite Cappuccino is similar to the House Blend Coffee, instead of a dark chocolate shell, it has a white chocolate shell, kind of like a cappuccino has a milk foam topping. The package says: Rich coffee-flavored filling surrounded by creamy white chocolate & dusted with cocoa. My photo didn’t turn out very well, partly because it’s actually a low contrast wrapper. It’s a light gold foil with other darker gold accents and a mix of brown and white text. Not easy to read on the front and even worse on the back. It smells similarly coffee-ish to the House Blend Coffee, only there’s a more sweet note from the white coating. The combination wasn’t appealing to me on paper, as I was expecting it to be cloyingly sweet. However, the bitterness of the center can actually accept quite a bit of sweetness from the white chocolate coating, which is especially thick at the middle. It never quite mixes to create a good approximation of a cappuccino or latte, but does give me more of a coffee ice cream note to the whole thing. On the whole, Russell Stover has done an excellent job with their coffee flavoring for the center. It has a lot of the right flavor elements without tasting too much like instant coffee or including actual coffee grounds in the center. I wouldn’t mind seeing these in the seasonal varieties, mostly because those are a bit smaller than the Big Bite line, but I think this is a good addition to their line. Since there aren’t many coffee flavored chocolates out on the market, it’s a nice option. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:51 pm Candy • Review • Russell Stover • Chocolate • Coffee • White Chocolate • 7-Worth It • United States • Walgreen's • Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Brach’s Gummi Conversation HeartsBrach’s, which has named itself “America’s Candy Maker” has introduced a pretty wide array of candies for Valentine’s Day this year. They include the returning JuJu Hearts in cinnamon and cherry flavors, Peppermint Heart Nougats and at least three different kinds of wafer Conversation Hearts. The new items, which I’ll try to review this year, include today’s item, Brach’s Gummi Conversation Hearts. They come in a 10 ounce stand up, resealable bag and cost $2.79. There’s no description on the package of what the candy actually is, just the name. The hearts come in six colors: pink, orange, green, white, yellow and lavender. Each has lumpy motto molded into them, nearly all are in text-ese. I might have preferred emoticons. The mottoes depicted were short, as I think the limit was 2 characters + 3 characters + 1 character stacked. So they went something like: 2 HOT or XO XO or QT PIE or BFF. Not exactly a conversation. The gummis are opaque and look like latex paint. They smell a little off, a little too much like cherry and plastic. It didn’t matter which color they were, they all smelled like cherry. Yellow is Lemon. The texture is quite bouncy. Each piece is really the right size for a gummi, not more than a bite, and easy enough to conceal if you like to let it dissolve or chew. It’s quite mild, not overly tart or zesty. Not even strong enough to classify as pleasant. Green is Lime. This was floral and only has the smallest tangy bite. It’s so bland, I had a hard time figuring its flavor for a while. Lavender is Grape. Grape is a rare flavor in gummis, so it ought to be savored ... this one has a little grape soda note to it, but not much else going for it. Pink is Cherry. This is probably the best one, not that I like cherry, but it’s definitely cherry and a bit more vibrant than the others. Orange is Orange. There weren’t a lot of these in my mix, which is fine. They had a lot of zest notes, which is good, but not much in the way of juice. White is Pineapple. Probably. I don’t know what this is, there are not colorings (except for the titanium dioxide) so it’s definitely more of a blank slate. It’s a little tangy, kind of bright, but not citrusy, but then again, it kind of tasted like cherry. I think Brach’s does some candies well, such as Candy Corn. Gummis are not something I would select Brach’s as my brand of choice. There are too many other companies making better gummis with better flavors and better shapes. Since they’re not appealing even as a decoration, I’d say these are not worth anyone’s time. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:47 pm Candy • Review • Valentines • Brach's • Ferrara Pan • Gummi Candy • 4-Benign • United States • Walgreen's • Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Hershey’s Symphony with Almonds and Toffee ChipsIt’s odd to think that the 10 most popular chocolate candy bars have been around longer than most of us. Those bars are Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Snickers, M&Ms, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate and KitKat, all of which were introduced before 1950. Plenty of candy bars have come and gone over the past century, but it’s so crowded at the top with those tried and true favorites. I bring this up because it’s rare for me to remember the introduction of a new candy bar that’s actually still on the market 25 years later. Hershey’s launched a new line of chocolate bars in 1989 with a simple idea, that they were a little creamier than their famous Milk Chocolate and Milk Chocolate with Almonds. They came up with the brand called Symphony and introduced them with actual fanfare ... commercials featuring classical music. Their tagline was pretty good: They’ll never be another unfinished Symphony. The packaging design is largely unchanged since their introduction in 1989. There are two different bars in the line, the same as at the launch. There’s a plain milk chocolate bar (with red accents) and the Symphony Creamy Milk Chocolate Almonds & Toffee Chips with blue accents. Though they’re both still on the market, the Almond and Toffee Chips is the easiest to find, since it’s distinctively different from those other top 10 bars. The bars themselves have changed quite a bit, partly because Hershey’s no longer wraps their bars in foil with a paper sleeve. The Symphony bar I picked up bore a striking resemblance in shape to the Hershey’s Almond bar ... once I opened it, it was pretty clear why. It’s now the same mold. The previous versions of the bar had segments with the Symphony logo at the center of each. The current ingredients are not at all premium:
I found a wrapper online from 2001 that tells a simpler story (but the current bar is .1 ounces larger):
When I was photographing the bar, I noticed that it had a lot of voids and bubbles in it, so I weighed it to make sure that it was accounted for in the bar. Sure enough, the bar weighed 43 grams, the wrapper states 42 grams. Though it looks like a Hershey’s chocolate bar, it doesn’t taste like it. That’s not to say that it’s spectacular or that different from many of the other inexpensive chocolate bars, but it definitely doesn’t have the Hershey’s sharpness. Instead of the bar is fudgy sweet, so sweet that there’s very little chocolate flavor. The dairy notes are good, and combine well with the toasty flavors of the toffee chips and almond bits. It’s exceptionally sweet overall, only the inclusions give a little relief. For the most part the bar gave me a sore throat. The combination is refreshing for the price point, but for a little more I could just get a Ritter Sport bar or even a Toblerone (but really the same price per ounce), since their bars are two times or more the size). If Hershey’s wants to step up their game with this bar, I think it needs a brand refresh - I’m not saying they need to go dark chocolate, but actual better chocolate like the Bliss line or going with a certified cacao source would help it stand out. Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 4:57 pm Candy • Review • Hershey's • Chocolate • Kosher • Nuts • Toffee • 6-Tempting • United States • Walgreen's • |
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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