Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Cadbury Christmas Candy Thingies

imageThere I was last spring, talking up the Easter-only Cadbury Mini Eggs. But it turns out they do have a Christmas version of them.

Irritatingly enough they couldn’t be bothered to name them. The package says Cadbury Solid Milk Chocolates with a Crisp Sugar Shell. What the? You call that a name? How about Christmas Cadberries?

image

I was hoping they’d be just like the Mini Eggs. I opened the package and they smelled similarly inviting, like sugar and cocoa. But the colors, oh, they colors are just off. I don’t know if the photo above conveys it. They look like pencil erasers. Kind of chalky, not quite pastel, not quite vivid. Inconsistent, bumpy and just weird.

On the tongue they’re familiar. Soft and slightly cool, the shell is crisp and crunchy. The milk chocolate inside is a little tangier than the last time I had these. I was terribly disappointed to see that they have PGPR in them as well (which was pointed out by a reader, Jenn, who commented on the Mini Eggs review and prompted me to search for these).

It’s odd how quickly my feelings can change, I have a hard time believing this is a bad bag. It might be the different colors or the PGPR (that could be in the Easter version for all I know) but they’re just not the same. I can’t give these more than a 6 out of 10 (the taste is okay but they sure don’t look tempting).

Name: Cadbury Solid Milk Chocolates with a Crisp Sugar Shell
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Cadbury (mfd by Hershey)
Place Purchased: Walgreen's (Echo Park)
Price: $2.29
Size: 8.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 138
Categories: Chocolate, United States, Hershey, Cadbury, Kosher, Christmas

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:02 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. this is really disappointing.  i love the mini eggs & never share the small bag i get at easter. it would have been good to have some at christmas, too.  not a chance of my trying them now!

    Comment by anne on 11/28/06 at 7:31 am #
  2. i just bought a bag of these today! the appearance definitely leaves something to be desired…rather faded looking, like old candy (yuck). what is pgpr?

    Comment by carol on 11/28/06 at 8:04 am #
  3. Carol: According to Wikipedia, PGPR is

    Polyglycerol Polyricinoleate (PGPR), E476, is an artificially derived emulsifier that is mainly used to replace some of the cocoa butter in chocolate used in lower grade candy bars.

    PGPR is a yellowish, viscous liquid comprised of polyglycerol esters of polycondensed fatty acids from castor oil. It may also be polyglycerol esters of dimerized fatty acids of soya bean oil, or may be animal derived.

    It is strongly lipophilic, soluble in fats and oils and insoluble in water and ethyl alcohol. In chocolates it is used as a viscosity reducing agent.

    It can also be used as an emulsifier in spreads and in salad dressings or as a crystal inhibitor and anti-clouding agent in fractionated vegetable oils.

    Comment by Samantha on 11/28/06 at 8:19 am #
  4. Yikes! This PGPR stuf sounds scary (and icky)! Hmmm, since it’s a polycondensed fatty acid, is it some type of trans fat? Or not because it hasn’t been fractioned?

    Comment by Sera on 11/28/06 at 9:11 am #
  5. Hmmm…. I noticed that these were manufactured by Hershey’s. In Canada, we have Easter and Christmas mini eggs from both Hershey’s and Cadbury. The ones you sampled look exactly like the Hershey’s Christmas ones, but the real Cadbury version (in a red package) are identical to their Easter ones (no chalky-looking shell), save for the fact they’re red,white and green instead. Definitely worth seeking out.

    Comment by M on 11/28/06 at 12:28 pm #
  6. it always strikes me as funny when christmas candy is kosher.

    Comment by rachel b. on 11/28/06 at 12:53 pm #
  7. I would be tempted to get some, but I still have half a bag of Easter ones left.

    Comment by Grace on 11/28/06 at 2:15 pm #
  8. hi cybele:
    thanks for the heads up on this product.  i’m a fiend for the cadbury easter eggs, but i’ll know better than to buy the christmas ones. 

    you’re the best!

    Comment by klava b dava on 11/28/06 at 3:50 pm #
  9. Christmas Cadberries, what a great idea for a name! Alas, doesn’t sound like they deserve a cute name, though…

    Comment by Tricia on 11/28/06 at 3:59 pm #
  10. That name is like the title of that Primitive Radio Gods song, “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand.”

    Comment by Marvo on 11/28/06 at 7:57 pm #
  11. Hi—

    I don’t know if you’ve seen the new Hershey’s Sticks, but I think you should promptly get to your nearest grocer and buy a pack.  It’s worth writing about.  I wrote about them on my chocolate blog:  http://prochocolate.blogspot.com/2006/11/hersheys-sticks.html

    Comment by Sara on 11/28/06 at 10:13 pm #
  12. Hi Cybele-
    I was really surprised to read your post on the Cadbury Christmas eggs! As another poster already mentioned, the Cadbury Xmas eggs we have in Canada do not look anything like the ones you photographed. The packaging is entirely different (bright red), the shape is more egg-like (like the Easter version) and the colours are definitely more vivid. Plus, I checked a package I had at home…and they contain cocoa butter! No mention of PGPR. Maybe this is because Hershey does not make Cadbury in Canada, because Cadbury here is owned by Schwepps? I’m not positive on this - it’s just a theory. But don’t give up on the Cadbury Christmas eggs: try to get the Canadian version!

    Comment by J on 11/29/06 at 3:54 am #
  13. I was just blogging about these and was trying to find a picture and found your site. They are a little odd looking, but I thought they were tasty. I may eat the whole bag right now.

    All Cadbury chocolate made in Canada is better. The only thing I can eat in the Hershey’s version is creme eggs and mini eggs (still not as good as the “real” stuff.) When I lived in Detroit, I’d drive to Canada to buy my precious Fruit & Nut because the Americans have done something very bad to it. Probably put in that junk that the European countries won’t allow to be in chocolate.

    Comment by Laura on 12/13/06 at 8:33 am #
  14. If anyone has any idea where to get these around Boston, please let me know. I’ve been searching everywhere without success.

    Thanks.

    Comment by Bruce on 12/16/06 at 6:37 pm #
  15. Bruce—I found some last week in Boston at a CVS, so try there.

    Comment by david z on 12/18/06 at 8:33 am #
  16. My wife found these at Target and they really taste like true Cadburys chocolate inside. They are gorgeous. I want to see if I can get them on a regular basis.

    Comment by Ed Hoffman on 12/24/06 at 4:22 pm #
  17. I simply love them! I think they taste just like Cadbury Mini Eggs! I was so happy to find that instead of waiting for that once a year craving I can now have it twice a year to look forward to. Life is good!

    Comment by Amanda on 11/17/08 at 8:03 am #
  18. I tried the recipie on the back, thinking they would be yummy. I was very very dissapointed! It is a horrible recipie! The raw dough was better than the finished baked treats. The actual recipie itself wasn’t written very well. It read to bake 1 teaspoon of cookie dough 14 min. That is way tooooo long. They didn’t taste very good at all.

    Comment by Tina on 1/21/09 at 7:29 pm #
  19. I ran across this website and just happened to have purchased 3 bags of the “Cadbury Solid milk Chocolate and a Crisp Sugar Shell” candies.  I was trying to find Hershey’s Kissables, a cross between a M&M and a Hershey Kiss, but found these instead.  The Kissables do not have a peanut warning; M&Ms; do.  The Cadbury thingies don’t have a nut warning either.  After reading your comments about them my daughter and I had to open them and try them.  We like them.  They are bigger than the Kissables, but good.

    I vote for Christmas Cadberries!

    Comment by tfscott on 12/15/09 at 9:42 am #
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