Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Brach’s Chocolate Candy Corn & Halloween Mix

Brach's Milk Maid Chocolate Caramel Candy CornFirst thing I have to say about Brach’s Milk Maid Chocolate Caramel Candy Corn is that the name is too long. If the name takes up three lines, it’s too long. These are tiny little pieces of candy ... the name should not weigh more than the candy itself.

I knew this candy existed, but I was having trouble finding it. I was delighted not only to find it at Walgreen’s, but also in this 7 ounce bag (instead of the 9.5 ounce Caramel Apple Candy Corn a few weeks ago and the mondo 22 ounce bag I got of the the Caramel Candy Corn last year).

The package says that it’s made with real cocoa and real milk. I’d never really thought about candy corn being a dairy product. (Makes me think about creamed corn.)

Brach's Milk Maid Chocolate Caramel Candy CornThe pieces are attractive. A medium brown bottom, a darker brown middle and a white tip.

My bag was exceptionally sloppy. There weren’t many well-formed pieces, some were missing a color but mostly they were just irregular. Part of the fun is the attractiveness of candy corn. This didn’t quite measure up.

The base flavor is the caramel. It’s a bit salty and has that fake butter flavor to it that I can handle in tiny doses. The middle section has a light cocoa flavor and the white top is, of course, unadulterated sweetness. They taste a bit richer than the typical orange & yellow candy corn, but I found the fake butter a little too artificial to keep me eating these.

It makes me wish they sold these in 1 ounce bags. That would have been enough to satisfy my curiosity.

The ingredients list salt above the actual milk in here. There’s also gelatin, so no good for vegetarians and it’s not Kosher.

This was the first Brach’s package I’ve seen so far that makes note of the new Farley’s & Sathers ownership.

Brach's Assorted Halloween MellowcremesI was rather excited to see the Brach’s Assorted Halloween Mellowcremes on the same shelf. I thought they discontinued or perhaps only available in bulk.

The package joyfully tells me it’s America’s #1! (It’s also made in Mexico.)

Honestly it’s been so long since I had the Brach’s Mellowcremes, I didn’t remember whether they were flavored or not. (The Autumn Mix is not distinctly flavored.)

These little fondant nuggets come in four colors and eight shapes: crescent moon, black cat, pumpkin, jug, jack o’lantern, bat, corn cob and sheaf of wheat.

Brach's Assorted Halloween Mellowcremes

The flavors are determined by the color of the Mellowcreme.

  • Yellow = Banana - either you love fake banana or you don’t. As strong as my aversion is to fake butter flavor, my affection for artificial banana matches it. The flavor is mellow, with a touch of honey and salt. It’s soft and slightly grainy but melts easily.
  •  

  • Tan = Maple - this was the surprise of the package. I fully expected these to be the caramel flavor. Instead they have a nice woodsy/toasted taste to them, like a hunk of brown sugar.
  •  

  • Dark Brown = Cocoa - far more cocoa flavored than any Indian Corn I’ve ever had. But not really that good either, terribly empty and cardboard tasting, like a Tootsie Roll that’s been freeze dried, pulverized and smashed into a bat shape.
  •  

  • Orange = Candy Corn - the pumpkins are faithful to the Brach’s Candy Corn flavor. Sweet, bland and with a slight touch of honey. (Though there’s no honey in here.)
  • The package I picked has more yellow and tan ones, so I think I did well here as those are the ones I’m picking out to eat anyway.

    The salt really helps these out. There’s 110 mg of Sodium in every serving, which is quite a lot for a candy (but an excellent stat if this was a canned soup). Consider it a boost to your electrolytes, maybe athletes will start carrying Mellowcremes as a recovery supplement.

    I think the bragging rights are earned here. I now think that Mellowcremes are worth the search. (These also contain gelatin.) 7 out of 10

    Related Candies

    1. Hershey’s Pumpkin Spice Kisses
    2. Zachary Candy Corn & Jelly Pumpkins
    3. Candy Corn Kisses
    4. Jelly Belly Deluxe Easter Mix
    5. Gourmet Goodies Candy Corn
    6. The Great Pumpkin Roundup
    Name: Milk Maid Chocolate Caramel Candy Corn & Assorted Halloween Mellowcremes
      RATING:
    • 10 SUPERB
    • 9 YUMMY
    • 8 TASTY
    • 7 WORTH IT
    • 6 TEMPTING
    • 5 PLEASANT
    • 4 BENIGN
    • 3 UNAPPEALING
    • 2 APPALLING
    • 1 INEDIBLE
    Brand: Brach's
    Place Purchased: Walgreen's (Echo Park)
    Price: $1.39
    Size: 9.5 ounces
    Calories per ounce: 99
    Categories: Caramel, Fondant, United States, Mexico, Brach's, Halloween

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:09 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

    Comments
    1. bettyfelon's avatar

      hah this is the one I tried and I didn’t like it at all

      I ended up eating three or four pieces and then throwing the rest of the bag away

      I’ve never tried the assorted mellowcremes but the maple flavor would be enough to make me buy a bag

      Comment by bettyfelon on 9/30/08 at 11:37 am #
    2. I’m not personally a fan of any of the “non-traditional” candy corns.  I LOVE Brachs plain old candy corns and cant get enough of them, especially when their only about $1.00 this time of the year.  I dont know what it is about them but they are truly addicting.

      Comment by Michael Perlman on 9/30/08 at 3:30 pm #
    3. I’m with Michael, I’m kind of a purist when it comes to this stuff - at best I’ll pick through a “Harvest Mix” but sometimes a product is just good the way it is and candy corn is classic that doesn’t need to get all fancylike.

      Comment by snackgirl on 9/30/08 at 3:46 pm #
    4. Oooh, I’m glad you found these! I’ll have to look for the regular Mellocremes in Walgreens…I haven’t seen them in such a long time!

      Comment by Sera on 9/30/08 at 4:52 pm #
    5. Yummy!

      Except I’m not a fan of banana flavored things. Its that fake banana smell. Can’t stand it.

      However candy corn is a favorite!

      Comment by Emmy on 9/30/08 at 5:56 pm #
    6. Ha, my boyfriend just came home tonight w/ Brach’s “Autumn Mix” from Walgreen’s—he had a craving for the pumpkins.  We were surprised that the bag touted that it’s “made with real honey.”  Though, of course, the ingredients list honey as being less than 2% of the product…

      Comment by Nina on 9/30/08 at 8:14 pm #
    7. I think it’s great that you refer to the flavors by relating them to important agricultural products - bananas, cocoa, maple and candy corn. If candy corn really were an agricultural product, it would be growing in my garden.

      If only they could make these things without gelatin.

      Comment by CarlWeaver on 10/01/08 at 3:31 am #
    8. Tricia's avatar

      Man, I wish I could find that in my area - I ADORE the maple flavored bits!

      Comment by Tricia on 10/05/08 at 4:42 pm #
    9. I wish I could purchase the Assorted Halloween Mellowcremes in or around Elkton, Maryland.  Haven’t seen them on the shelves in 2 years.  I really miss them.

      Comment by Mary Bedwell on 10/13/08 at 8:17 am #
    10. I just found the Halloween assorted mellowcremes at Walgreens thanks to the blog here.  $1.39/bag or 3/$4.  needless to say I am a happy camper here in Iowa this Halloween…...

      Comment by Debbie on 10/30/08 at 7:51 am #
    11. I woke up from a dream this morning in which I was desperately trying to find some of the assorted mellocreme mix (didn’t that usta be called “autumn mix”?) with the help of the Mexican Werewolf family…our efforts were flummoxed, sadly. I now have an intense craving for the moons. I loved them as a child…and didn’t there usta be a witch mellocreme in there someplace? I think she was chocolate…or orange?

      As for the other mix, feh. I adore candy corn (I even used to let my older sister think she was sticking me with the glorious grain in our halloween candy trades, which guaranteed I got a buttload), but Indian corn….like most plants with the term “indian” in them, this too just announces that it’s fake candy corn, not quite the real deal (which, as a Native American, kinda honks me off- I mean really, I’ve already had to deal with “pocahontas” costumes…). I’ve tried to like it, tried all brands and incarnations, but no. Just no.

      Comment by Goji on 11/09/08 at 5:37 am #
    12. I love the Mellowcremes but have a hard time finding them.  I have always been crazy for holiday candies. 

      At Easter my favorite is Chicks and Rabbits.

      Comment by Mary on 9/06/09 at 8:52 am #
    13. I adore your blog! I am a closet candy freak, and I picked up a bag of these mellowcremes at Wal-greens last week. I couldn’t figure out the banana flavor so I google’d for “mellowcreme flavors” and up came your website. Beautiful! You are lucky, as my bag only had 3 of the yellow ones and that’s what I bought it for. I should have looked more closely. But the maple is wonderful. And like you, I think the cocoa is gross. Thanks for posting this.

      BTW your blog design is gorgeous too!

      Comment by Susan on 9/28/09 at 7:16 am #
    14. I really want to taste the pumpkins so Im going for the autumn mix,I have a cavity waiting to be filled but I don’t freaking care!

      Comment by QWERT on 10/04/09 at 12:54 pm #
    15. Do they still make the assorted mellowcremes, they are getting harder and herder to find.  They have always been my favorite and some years if I can’t find them, I just don’t get any Halloween candy.  Can I order them online, are there any stores that have them?  Our Walgreens and Kroger used to have them but this year they don’t.

      Comment by Emily Harris on 10/06/09 at 11:18 am #
    16. I like the assorted mellowcreme Halloween candies (Harvest Mix) and the candy pumpkins, the best.  I have been looking for the assorted mellowcreme Halloween candies (Harvest Mix), every Halloween, for years.  And last weekend, they were finally selling them, at Kroger.  So I bought 8 (11 once) bags of them.  I had ment to buy 10 bags of them, if I were to ever see them in the stores again, but there were not very many of them left on the shelf, and I thought that other people might want some, too.  The yellow moons were my favorite, but the chocolate flavored bats are very good, too.  They taste like something in the middle of that sweet, lighter chocolate icing on those German chocolate cakes, and extra soft chocolate fudge brownies.  I might even like them better than real chocolate, which tastes somewhat bitter to me.  The orange and green candy pumpkins are my favorite, too.  They taste somewhat like that orange icing, which is shaped like carrots with green icing leaves, that they decorate carrot cakes with.  Candy corn has been my favorite candy since I was 3 years old.  I also bought some candy corn and candy pumpkins, too.

      Comment by Heidi on 10/09/09 at 2:31 am #
    17. I have to agree that the chocolate flavored cremes are disgusting! I didn’t eat those. The rest were pretty tasty and definitely cured that candy corn craving I’ve been having since all of the Halloween candy came out.

      Comment by Shannon on 10/15/09 at 11:55 am #
    18. Why is America’s #1 candy corn made in Mexico?

      Comment by Dena on 9/23/11 at 11:41 pm #
    19. Cybele's avatar

      Dena - There are plenty of reasons. One is that Americans are price sensitive, so in order to be #1, Brach’s (owned by Farley’s & Sathers) needs to be very efficient.

      Of course we all know that labor is cheaper in Mexico, but so are raw ingredients. Did you know that sugar costs twice as much in the United States as it does in Mexico? It’s because of government subsidies and price controls.

      There is a movement to reform sugar, which would make American-made candy more competitive. Let’s hope it works.

      Comment by Cybele on 9/24/11 at 9:23 am #
    20. Why would you buy candy for yourself or for your children from a country where it’s not even safe to drink the water?
      Government oversight and hygiene and safety standards are completely different from our country.
      I purchased a bag recently and just threw it away when I saw where it was manufactured.

      Comment by Trish on 9/24/11 at 6:23 pm #
    21. Cybele's avatar

      Trish - I will eat candy from Mexico. The issues with the safety standards with Mexican candy have little to do with hygiene, it’s almost always about lead contamination. As far as the United States & Canada - we’ve had our share of bad candy episodes including major manufacturers like Cadbury & Hershey’s.

      Comment by Cybele on 9/24/11 at 7:01 pm #
    22. I bought the Halloween pumpkins and noticed they were not the same color as I remembered, more like red. Just looked sloppy.  Of course - made in MEXICO.  No more Brachs.

      Comment by Mary on 9/26/11 at 8:26 am #
    23. I was really looking forward to having some candy corn, but I refuse to buy candy made in Mexico.

      Comment by Pam on 10/12/11 at 9:45 am #
    24. They used to be called harvest mix my dad and i love them but i would like to find a bag with just maple and cocoa those are my dad’s favorite

      Comment by lynn on 10/18/11 at 9:43 am #
    25. I love Brach’s Assorted Halloween Mellowcremes to much, I called Farley Sathers 888# to find out who sold them in my area, since I go on a hunt every year. Some years successful, some not.

      Walgreen’s was a store that bought them on a national basis. The nice gal, Sarah, was funny and helpful at Sathers/Farley/Brach’s .
      We just got back with our stash and will be limitimg our maple,banana,chocolate, and candy corn orange flavor passions to 4 a day each. I love these sooo much.

      We aren’t schlupers (a conservatory grand player piano sits in our Living Room)so we can buy better brands. I love Brach’s. Great quality and old fashioned goodness.

      I think te Assorted Halloween Mellowcremes are just a great treat.

      Happy Halloween everyone.

      Comment by Laura on 10/21/11 at 6:35 pm #
    26. I used to love Brach’s candies when they were made in the U.S.  I try to only buy U.S. products, and until last year found U.S bags of candy. I saw the Brach’s candy corn earlier this year and was so excited that I didn’t think to check where it was made (as I usually do for all foods I eat).  I bought two bags. When I tasted it, it didn’t taste good.  It tasted like I was eating crayons. After eating two candy corn I thought maybe it was an old bag, or a bad batch! Candy Corn from Brach’s NEVER tasted like that when it was made in the U.S. I thought I had a bad bag, so I opened up the second bag, and it tasted the same!  I was very disappointed when I looked to see where it was made, and saw “Made in Mexico” which completely explained why it didn’t taste right. I threw both bags away and haven’t bought Brach’s candy since. Brach’s may be saving on price, but they’ve lost me as a lifelong customer as the quality and flavor of their candies has definitely been impacted. I regularly pay more money for my food because I feel very strongly about buying American. The reality that many tend to ignore is not all countries have the same infrastructure or sanitation standards as the U.S. And the candies and other products made in other countries do not taste the same! Maybe they’ve also changed the recipe when they move their factories to foreign countries to save costs also??  Who knows what you’re getting! There are some countries whose sanitary conditions are equivalent to the U.S, and I will on occasion purchase food products from those countries if I cannot find U.S brands. But Mexico is not one of them. I’d rather pay more and regularly do pay more for assurance of the quality and safety of the foods I consume. If I can’t find a Made in America version, or made in a country I approve, I go without. I’m not depriving myself as I’d rather go without than eat products that are sub standard, or to eat candy that tastes and smells like crayons.

      Comment by Ann on 10/29/11 at 12:48 am #
    27. Ann-
      Your comments resignated with ours, after we ate a few more candies in our package, although I still liked the fake maple and banana flavors. I’m allergic to gluten, casein, and peanut butter, so just eating Halloween candy is heaven to me.

      It is my opinion, the FDA and USDA are bought off worthless govt sponsored entities. Mexico and China certainly have horrid health and envionmental laws, which reflect in their exports. I agree with your well stated post in general. I’m hoping Brach’s has a legal team to keep their imports at least healthy and honest. (Healthy as in poison and lead free)

      I thought you brought up some good points.

      The sad part is we can’t even trust our food manufacturers or food labeling. I just read Wheat Belly and learned why I can’t eat wheat or gluten from a scientific point of view. It “ain’t” wheat anymore to quote Dr Davis MD. Yikes.
      Happy Halloween everybody. Walk off that sugar.

      Comment by Laura on 10/29/11 at 7:07 am #
    28. Do you make the Christmas candy (fondue type) like candy corn, that had bell, Christmas trees and other Chirstmas shapes in green and red colors anymore. I have not seen them in a while. If you have candy corn, why not Christmas candy?

      Comment by downs on 12/05/11 at 9:47 am #
    29. I wantt he christmas mellow cremes back!!!!! if you make halloween then you should also make christmas it is a big holiday and last much longer than halloween does… I have loved these all my life an i am now grown an still love them but can not find them anymore… Dissatified at the moment

      Comment by Donna Adams on 12/18/11 at 8:36 pm #
    30. downs & Donna,
      I haven’t tried the Christmas Mellowcremes yet, but now that you suggested them, I’ll stop by Walgreens tonight and see if they have them. Walgreens buys Brach’s on a national basis, per Brach’s 800#. You can also call Farley-Salther’s(they own Brach’s) 800 # (co website contact page) and ask them where they are in your zip code. I hope this helps.

      Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone.

      Comment by Laura on 12/19/11 at 4:42 am #
    31. I agree with everything said here about the Brach’s candy corn that is made in Mexico. If you recall the candy corn that was made in Chicago was nice and shiny and delicious looking. Take that candy corn from Mexico out of the bag it’s dull looks a little dirty actually. I’ve been to Mexico many times and it’s a nice place to visit a resort but not a great place to have your food or in this case candy manufactured. I emailed Brach’s and basically the company doesn’t care because they think the public isn’t smart enough to know that they are getting a lesser product. I’ve read online that Zachary candy corn which I believe is available at Target is made in Indiana and I"m going to give that a try.

      Comment by COLLEEN on 9/11/12 at 8:06 pm #
    32. Hi I live in England and I am soooo upset as my cousin, who lives in New Jersey, brought me some Halloween Pumpkins so I can make some sweet trees with them (you can see them on facebook…Debbies Candy Creations). I was so excited as we dont have great Halloween candy here and thought they were something different and knew this would make a fantastic looking tree. I knew everyone would want to buy one but now after reading all about how they are made in Mexico I don’t want to use them. Im glad I read this.

      Comment by Debbie on 9/27/12 at 9:45 am #
    33. I just purchased a bag of Brachs candy corn and am sooooooooooo disappointed in BOTH taste and smell.  There is none of either!!!!!!Not good, no taste just flat! What has changed? Waiting to hear.

      Comment by Gail Meyer on 9/05/13 at 6:50 pm #
    34. I’ve been buying it in bulk (at the little penny candy shop by the uptown movies earlier yesterday, at Disneyland’s Downtown Disney in Anaheim, Calif.,
      a few weeks ago), and it’s reasonably edible and honeyed (meaning it may be Brach’s, but there’s no way of knowing-at least when I get Circus Peanuts in “store brand bags” usually, with the name stamped on ‘em, I’ll know it’s Spangler, but I can’t tell with Candy corn.

      Agreed with both Ann and Laura on the taste issue..though I haven’t had much bad luck with taste in candy corn (though Walgreen’s Circus Peanuts-Nice store brand, actually Spangler-made, is another story,rock hard describes what I used to find..Candy corn can be either hard or sometimes like at Disneyland suddenly get soft and go all over my teeth..and make them hurt a bit..!

      And finally, I love the blog design (like Susan above) and enjoyed the conversation between Dena, Cybele herself, and Trish on why candy corn’s (not just Brach’s, by the way, if I’m right) made in Mexico.

      Comment by SJCarras on 5/02/16 at 12:18 am #
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