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Monday, October 8, 2007

Gimbal’s Lavaballs

LavaBallsGimbal’s LavaBalls aren’t a new product, I even saw them at the 2006 All Candy Expo. But I never saw them in stores (except online in 5 lb boxes), so I was hesitant to write about something that you couldn’t get.

Well, I found them, at Walgreen’s (and they’re probably in other places) ... so here’s a review!

Gimbal’s is an old San Francisco panned confectioner, run by the same family for four generations. They make a line of gourmet jelly beans, some fun licorice product and pectin/jelly items. The bonus with Gimbal’s (besides the high quality) is that their facility is practically allergen free ... their candies are free of gluten, peanuts, tree nuts, gelatin, gluten, eggs and dairy. They’re also Kosher. (They do use Soy.)

LavaBalls are chewy hot cinnamon candies. Like their name implies, they’re a spicy cinnamon.

image

They’re like a giant jelly bean. The gumdrop center is lightly spiced, kind of like a Spearmint Leaf, mild but still making a generous contribution to the overall flavor. On top of that is a little layer or super-spice that’s covered by the rest of the nicely warm candy shell.

They’re about the size of a marble, which is a satisfying size for a sizzling chew. They’re not too hot for me, but there’s a pleasant burn and sometimes they’ll catch me a little bit with a tickle in my throat.

The balls are about the size of a marble, so they’re bigger than their newest competitor, the Chewy Atomic Fireballs (which are not allergen free) and marginally spicier and just deeper in flavor.

I enjoy these a lot and would definitely find them good traveling candies, a movie watching snack and good for swift novel-writing. Each LavaBall has about 13 calories each.

They do contain beeswax (and artificial colors/flavors) so may not be suitable for vegans.

Related Candies

  1. Chewy Lemonheads & Atomic Fireballs
  2. Atomic Fireballs
  3. Hot Tamales and Hotter Tamales
  4. Jelly Belly - Full Line
  5. Chimes Ginger Chews
Name: LavaBalls
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Gimbal's Fine Candies
Place Purchased: samples from All Candy Expo
Price: unknown
Size: 7 ounces
Calories per ounce: 99
Categories: Cinnamon, Jelly, United States, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:20 am    

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Mary Jane’s Bread Pudding

Mary Jane's Bread PuddingThis is the bread pudding I’ve been pondering for the past month and I mentioned in this review. It’s based on the flavors of a Molasses Peanut Butter Kiss (also Mary Janes, as the name implies): sticky peanut butter, sticky molasses and creamy custard.

I made this recipe based on the bread pudding recipe I’ve been using for years in The New York Times Cookbook (I have a first edition, I don’t know if this is in subsequent editions): New England Bread Pudding. I’ve never actually followed the recipe as written, I’ve always mucked around with it.

This bread pudding has a base, mild flavor of peanut butter with a little woodsy hit of molasses that’s mixed into the milk & egg custard base. There’s actually no refined sugar in here (except for whatever was used in the bread). Bread pudding is pretty hard to mess up, so feel free to alter proportions, just be sure to cook it completely.

  • 2 1/2 cups of dried bread (approximately 8 slices)
  • 3 cups of milk (whole milk provides a creamier texture, I used 1% for this recipe)
  • 1/4 cup of butter
  • 1/3 cup of peanut butter
  • 1/2 cup of dark molasses (unsulfured)
  • 1/3 cup of whiskey or rum (optional - if omitting substitute a tablespoon of vanilla extract)
  • 4 large eggs

  • image

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

    Cube or pull apart the bread. Bread can be stale or fresh, but let it dry out a bit if possible. Set aside.

    In a large pot that will hold all of the above ingredients (approximately 2 quarts) put in the milk and butter. Heat over medium until milk starts to scald. Turn down to low and add peanut butter and molasses, whisk to combine (or if you like things rather freeform, just stir). Add whiskey. Scramble the eggs in a separate bowl, then add about a half a cup of the hot milk mixture slowly, combine then add to milk mixture in pot.

    Combine and allow contents to warm up to just under a boil. It will thicken slightly with the addition of the eggs.

    Turn off burner. Add bread, stir gently then allow to sit for five minutes.

    Prepare your baking dish. For mine I used four ramekins that hold 12 ounces each. You can make it all in one dish (one that holds 48 ounces - pick something that won’t be more than 3” deep or else it won’t cook completely in the center). Whatever you choose, you’ll need a pan a bit larger to use as a water bath. Place the smaller pan into the large pan. You can grease it if you want, I don’t and it doesn’t seem to make a bit of difference.

    Optional: drizzle some molasses in the bottom of the baking dish. This gives it a bit of a sauce on the bottom, but if you’re not fond of molasses (why are you making this?) then you can omit this step.

    Scoop the pudding mixture with a measuring cup or ladle into the ramekins or baking dish. Make sure it’s spread evenly. I crumbled a little brown sugar on top to make a crust, but feel free to omit.

    Put the pan into the preheated oven. Add water to the larger pan, about an inch or two. (Make sure this doesn’t dry out.) Yes, you can add the water before you put it in, but this makes it very heavy and more likely to spill.

    Bake for 40-60 minutes. In order to check for done-ness, listen to hear if the butter is sizzling around the edges. Also, the pudding will pull away from the sides a bit. Insert a knife into the pudding about one inch from the side. If it comes out clean and hot, it’s probably done. Shake the pan gently and see if the center has a more liquid “jiggle” than the rest. If so, leave in another five minutes. Repeat the above. If you bake it a little longer, that’s okay too, just make sure that the water bath doesn’t evaporate.

    Allow to cool and set up before serving. Can be refrigerated and served cold or warmed up in a microwave or oven.

    Serving suggestion: A la mode or with some whipped cream. Drizzle a little extra molasses and or peanut butter on if desired.

    Makes 8-12 servings

    The bread pudding is rather hearty and filling, so I’d suggest it as a winter dessert. I also think it’s a mighty fine breakfast. (I know, some people think that’s crazy, but really, how different is bread pudding from French toast when you think about it?) I’m planning on making this again with an egg bread and possibly more peanut butter. I’ll report back with any findings.

    Related Candies

    1. Elvis Reese’s Peanut Butter and Banana Cup
    2. Chocolate Hellfire Chip Cookies
    3. Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews
    4. Panda Bars

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:35 pm     CandyRecipesReviewPeanuts7-Worth It

    Saturday, October 6, 2007

    This Week in Candy - I’m Going to Meet All the Candy Bloggers

    Littlejohn's Caramel KissesTechnically this happened last week, not this week, but bear with me. Last Friday I got to meet another one of my fellow candy bloggers (I have a set of three in-person meets so far!). Joanna from SugarSavvy.net was in town and we went out to lunch at the Farmers Market (because it was the densest candy location I could think of near my office). We had a little lunch with the incredible view of Littlejohn’s Toffee & Fudge. They were wrapping their slick and gorgeous caramel kisses (caramel covered marshmallows). Joanna bought some penuche, a pecan praline for a friend and I also got a praline and a piece of honeycomb (because it looked so good on Rosa’s post over at SugarSavvy ... but I ate it and can’t review it now). I probably jabbered on a lot about candy, but it’s pretty rare that I get to talk to anyone about candy except through the blog.

    She also gave me a wonderful selection of four chocolates by Xocolatl de David. I’ve gobbled them up without taking their picture or reviewing them. (I’m sure I’ll have them again and do some coverage.) Mmmm ... dark and scorched fleur de sel caramels coated in rich chocolate. I definitely have to visit Portland one of these days.

    As another update, the winner for the Ultimate Candy Expo Box was Kimberly. It was a little warm in both our locations last week, so I’m boxing up a list of her top requests and a bunch of other stuff to send off on Monday. There were 537 valid entries (a few doubles on the comment thread and a few that came in via email). I’m kind of 21st century in my drawing method. I export the entire list to an spreadsheet. Sort it (in this case by email address) and then have a random number generator tell me which entry won.

    I’m thinking about running another giveaway, this time filled with Limited Edition items (some you may have loved, many you may have hated!). Any thoughts?

    KeyCardAs a little follow up to another post earlier this week, Hershey’s has named Richard Lenny’s replacement. They’re promoting from within and have tapped David J. West (43) as the new President, CEO and Director. West’s current position is Chief Operating Officer, Exec. VP, Sr. VP and Pres of the North American Commercial Group (see, he’ll have a much shorter title!). Don’t worry about Lenny (55),  he’s leaving with plenty of compensation for his hard work this year: a $1.1 million base salary and $10.25 million in long-term compensations ... that’s just this year. (He has some other yet unexercised options worth $23.5 million.) More about Lenny’s history with the company here. Of the 20 top executives in Hershey, West was the youngest in senior management.

    Chew on That has their monthly roundup of answers from bloggers. October’s topic is “What is the one thing in your refrigerator or pantry that you cannot live without?” As I’m not the cook in my household, my answer isn’t an ingredient, just something I eat.

    Monday: Reese’s Whipps (4 out of 10)

    Tuesday: Java Twix (8 out of 10)

    Wednesday: Limited Edition Hot Cocoa Kisses (5 out of 10)

    Thursday: GudFud Stuffed Marshmallows (6 out of 10)

    Friday: Chocolate Poppers (6 out of 10)

    Healthy Friday Bonus: Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Snacks (6 out of 10)

    Weekly average was 5.833 with 50% chocolate content.

    Related Candies

    1. This Week in Candy - Chicago Bound
    2. This Week in Candy - Naturally!
    3. This Week in Candy - Too Hot
    4. This Week in Candy - A Giant Craving
    5. Confetti & Agrumetti

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 1:26 pm     CandyFeatured NewsNews

    Friday, October 5, 2007

    Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Snacks

    Welch's Fruit 'n Yogurt SnacksAfter reading the publicity materials and nutrition label on these, I don’t think they can be called candy. But I have them and some folks expressed interest in the new Welch’s Fruit ‘n Yogurt Snacks, I thought I’d do a review.

    The snacks come in five flavors: Blueberry, Strawberry, Cherry, Raspberry and Peach. They are little, firm jelly pieces made with real fruit puree covered in a yogurt confection coating.

    The first ingredient on the label is Fruit Puree (depends on the flavor, which always includes real fruit of that kind), followed by Fruit Juice Concentrates ... then Sugar. Of course the next item is Partially Hydrogenated Palm Kernel Oil, but I’m guessing that’s so low on the proportions it explains why the fat content is only 3 grams per serving (approximately 1 ounce or half the bag) and it says 0 grams of trans fat.

    Welch's Raspberry Fruit 'n Yogurt SnacksNot all the flavors interest me much, so I’m not even going to open the Peach ones. Some lucky Trick-or-Treater will get that later this month. While getting my samples on the last day of All Candy Expo the guy at the Promotion in Motion booth (they folks who make these for Welch’s) apologized for not having any Cherry. I told him that was no big loss either for me.

    Generally, the little bits are kind of crumbly. The yogurt confectionery coating isn’t like a white chocolate, it’s not buttery smooth. It’s kind of like a flaky frosting. It’s not bad, it’s not too sweet and adds a bit of a milky flavor to the whole thing, but also a little chalky texture ... I’m guessing this because so many of the ingredients are dairy powders (whey powder, yogurt powder). But the coating has something to offer - both calcium (10%) and vitamin D (25%) as well as active cultures of Lactobacillus acidophillus and Lactobacillus caseii. Oh, yeah, and 100% of the RDA of vitamin C and 25% of your RDA of vitamin A.

    Welch's Raspberry Fruit 'n Yogurt Snacks - close upRaspberry: lovely light scent, sweet and tangy. The jelly center is firm, with a nice crumbly chew. It’s not sticky, it’s not at all like a gummi or a standard jelly candy like Dots or tough like a fruit leather. It doesn’t have that fine smoothness that jellies of all kinds have, but the texture is pretty nice. The yogurt coating is only okay, as mentioned above.

    Strawberry: smells like light spring flowers and cotton candy (pretty much how fresh strawberries smell to me). There’s a slight tangy ice cream scent as well.

    Blueberry: this really tastes like blueberries, though it doesn’t have the deep flavor profile that the two other berry flavors sport.

    The yogurt coating fell off of the centers when I jostled the bags around a lot. I would have recommended throwing these into a snack mix of some sort - nuts, maybe some chocolate panned nuts, dried fruits and pretzels. But I don’t know if the could stand up to it.

    The ones shown here are a two portion bag (perhaps for parents to share with their kids or kids to share with each other). They’re also available in “snack packs” which have less than 100 calories (and I’m guessing are a little under an ounce).

    Are they candy? No, they’re too fortified.

    Are they something you might be able to sell your kids on instead of candy? Possibly ... it’s more likely you’ll be able to get your kids to eat these as a healthier snack than just chips or perhaps a finicky kid who won’t eat fruit might sample them. (There’s no significant fiber in there though.) As snacks go, I still think that the Florida’s Naturals Sour Fruit Strings do the best job of feeling like “no compromise” on taste, but if your kids like these and think they’re candy, then by all means, let them indulge in this instead of something worse.

    Related Candies

    1. Shigekix Aha! Brain (Citrus)
    2. Jelly Belly Pomegranate
    3. Organic Surf Sweets
    4. Florida’s Natural Sour Fruit Juice String
    Name: Welch's Fruit 'n Yogurt Snacks
      RATING:
    • 10 SUPERB
    • 9 YUMMY
    • 8 TASTY
    • 7 WORTH IT
    • 6 TEMPTING
    • 5 PLEASANT
    • 4 BENIGN
    • 3 UNAPPEALING
    • 2 APPALLING
    • 1 INEDIBLE
    Brand: Promotion in Motion
    Place Purchased: samples from All Candy Expo
    Price: unknown
    Size: 1.9 ounces
    Calories per ounce: 126
    Categories: Jelly, United States, Promotion in Motion

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:41 am    

    Chocolate Poppers

    Late last year I did a head to head between Shoogy Boom and Pop Rocks, just to see if the original is actually the best. I actually prefer the Shoogy Boom brand, made by Hleks in Turkey.

    While Pop Rocks were displaying their new Pop Rocks Milk Chocolate Bar at the All Candy Expo, Hleks was quietly showing their chocolate popping candies as well. I don’t know how long these have been on the market, the copyright on the back of the package says 2003 ... and also says that these are a product of Impact Confections (known for their Warheads line).

    image

    These little chocolate spheres are smaller than a malted milk ball but larger (or perhaps just more spherical) than a Peanut M&M. They look a little waxy, but smell pleasantly sweet. (I can figure that I beat them up pretty bad on the trip, because they were unmarred and glossy at the All Candy Expo booth.) Each sphere is milk chocolate mixed with unflavored carbonated hard candies.

    With the popping candy mixed with chocolate, I find initially chewing them a bit to expose the carbonated bits helps to activate them. The chocolate isn’t stellar on these, but they’re just the transportation medium for the popping. They flavor is a little malty, with the popping bits adding only texture and sound with a little extra sweetness.

    They can get kind of noisy inside my head and I was surprised at how well I could hear the popping inside other people’s heads when I passed them around last night when the neighbors came over.

    I don’t know if I’d eat them often, but they’re kind of fun. I wish the chocolate as a bit better, but these might be fun to mix with other things in a “movie mix” (but maybe you wouldn’t be able to hear the movie?) like popcorn, SnoCaps and Junior Mints. I like the spherical design of them a bit better than the bar format of the Milk Chocolate Pop Rocks Bar. I shared most of them, which is the way candy should be!

    Brad Kent has this wrapper on his excellent database, so I’m guessing these have been around for a while.

    Related Candies

    1. Soda Can Fizzy Candy
    2. Astra Flying Saucers
    3. Pop Rocks Cherry Cola
    4. Rolly Pop
    Name: Chocolate Poppers
      RATING:
    • 10 SUPERB
    • 9 YUMMY
    • 8 TASTY
    • 7 WORTH IT
    • 6 TEMPTING
    • 5 PLEASANT
    • 4 BENIGN
    • 3 UNAPPEALING
    • 2 APPALLING
    • 1 INEDIBLE
    Brand: Impact Confections (made by Hleks)
    Place Purchased: All Candy Expo sample
    Price: unknown
    Size: 1.17 ounces
    Calories per ounce: 137
    Categories: Chocolate, Carbonated, Turkey, Impact Confections

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:56 am    

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