Thursday, March 30, 2006

Chocolate Covered Sugar Babies

A long time ago, when I was a little kid, my sister and I would be given two dimes each and were allowed to walk down to the corner store with other children in the neighborhood. (This was back when candy bars were only 20 cents

15 cents each.) But even at the tender age of four or five I realized that there were better values out there in the candy world than the standard candy bar. One of those things was penny & nickel candy. These were either junior versions of regular sized candies or special small morsels, like lollipops, Bit-o-Honey, Jawbreakers, Mary Janes and Tootsie Rolls.

I was especially fond of a candy called Sugar Mama. It was part of the Sugar family which was headed by the excellent Sugar Daddy and included the wee Sugar Babies. The Sugar Mama was a chocolate covered Sugar Daddy. I often got Sugar Mamas because they were the best of both worlds - the intense caramel flavor plus the chocolatey coating that made it feel more like a candy bar. Sugar Mamas, like Sugar Daddys, were pretty big and because they were softer than a regular hard candy lollipop, they were more interactive. This starts with an impression of the roof of my mouth, then slowly shaving off the chocolate with my teeth and then twirling and pulling the naked, softened caramel into shapes. It was a pretty good way to spend a nickel.

image

Of course they don’t make Sugar Mamas anymore and Nabisco sold the Sugar family to Tootsie back in the mid-nineties. Sugar Babies, though, continue to be produced and are actually easier to find than Sugar Daddies (there were also Sugar Daddy Nuggets at one time which were divine in their own right). They’re fine little caramel bits unlike anything else on the market because they’re panned - I’m guessing with a layer of sugar or caramel or something to make a smooth shell that turns grainy when you chew it.

I haven’t had a Sugar Daddy in years, and I guess part of it is a fear of losing dental work. I’ve never actually hurt my teeth that way (though I once lost a filling eating scrambled eggs), but it’s a huge fear and I figure better safe than sorry.

My favorite way to eat regular Sugar Babies is to soften them up by putting the package into my pocket or just holding a few of them in the palm of my hand for a while. This is especially important when I get the really stale ones.

Now, on to the product at hand ... it seems that Tootsie is getting into the limited edition racket and has introduced Chocolate Covered Sugar Babies. Now some of you might think that this is the same thing as Milk Duds. First, chocolate coating aside, a Milk Dud doesn’t quite have that caramelized sugar taste to them (they’re more milky) and they don’t quite have the same graininess towards the end of the chew. The thing that surprised me most about these was that they’re actually fully formed Sugar Babies under the chocolate ... I thought maybe the Sugar Baby wouldn’t have the candy shell on it on the inside. This makes the little candy a bit hard and the option of warming them first is kind of gone because of the mess that ensues by holding a piece of chocolate in the palm of your hand for a few minutes.

The chocolate coating is pretty good, much better, in my opinion than a Milk Dud and they’re certainly pretty looking when I dumped them out of the box. There’s a slight cinnamon hint to the whole candy and they combine well once it all warms up. However, I still prefer the plain old Sugar Babies. It was a good effort and I’m glad they tried it, but I don’t need them to add this to the line permanently but if I were going to the movies, this would be a good option (I bet they taste great with popcorn).

Thanks to Joanna at SugarSavvy for pointing out their existence!

Name: Chocolate Covered Sugar Babies
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Tootsie
Place Purchased: Dollar Tree (Carson)
Price: $1.00
Size: 5.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 127
Categories: Chocolate, Caramel, United States, Tootsie, Limited Edition

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:58 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. Ooh, these sound interesting. I used to love Sugar Babies and Daddies (I remember getting my mouth locked shut with a Sugar Daddy or Now and Laters many a time…) but haven’t had them in years.

    Comment by Grace on 3/30/06 at 7:40 am #
  2. cool find, cybele. have you heard anything about choc-covered tootsie rolls? i thought i read somewhere that they were putting those out… but maybe i’m confoosed

    Comment by tg on 3/30/06 at 8:56 am #
  3. Cybele's avatar

    Grace - yeah, that’s the scariest part of candy is getting it so stuck that you can’t open your mouth. As a kid it’s funny ... as a woman who worries that someday she’ll get osteoporosis and her teeth will fall out, it’s not so much anymore.

    tg - I did buy the chocolate covered Tootsie Rolls at the same time! I was so underwhelmed by them I can’t decide if I should even write about them. The good thing was that they were softer than any other Tootsie Roll I’ve had in my life. But the chocolate coating (which was good) just made the “less than chocolate” Tootsie Roll center seem lackluster. (Joanna mentioned them in her SugarSavvy post ... that’s where I read about them.)

    Comment by Cybele on 3/30/06 at 9:03 am #
  4. hmmm, never was a fan of these.

    Comment by Rachel B. on 3/30/06 at 12:37 pm #
  5. Aww this was such a sweet and nostalgic review.

    I LOVE GRAINY CARAMEL, TOO!!!  =P
    <3333333

    Comment by Kirsten on 3/30/06 at 1:47 pm #
  6. I tried them in february and wrote a qucik review. I agree - stick to the original smile

    Brian

    Comment by Brian on 3/30/06 at 6:11 pm #
  7. Thanks for the overview of the “Sugar” line - I remembered that all 3 products existed, but couldn’t remember what a Sugar Mama had been. I think I saw this product recently, but can’t remember where.

    And similar to your scrambled egg story, I once lost a temporary crown to a bite of tofu and rice! (This was not long after I’d lost the predecessor temporary crown to a gummi bear. I told my neighbor “the dentist told me not to chew gum, but he didn’t say anything about gummi bears.” “Umm, Tricia, it’s got ‘gum’ right there in the name.” “You’re right! Duh…” Needless to say, the dentist got a big kick out of that!)

    Comment by Tricia on 3/30/06 at 7:13 pm #
  8. How could covering something in chocolate possibly not make it better? Cannot…comprehend…

    Comment by Samantha on 3/31/06 at 3:25 am #
  9. Cybele's avatar

    Tricia - I also lost a filling on a cracked tooth once on some raviolis ... seems I have problems with soft foods! Most of this was dental work I had done when I was a pre-teen, so I guess it wasn’t expected to survive that long.

    Samantha - interesting question! Maybe if they were covered in really good chocolate and I enjoyed just shaving the chocolate off with my teeth or letting it melt in my mouth.

    Comment by Cybele on 3/31/06 at 6:15 am #
  10. wow now that thats somthing!

    Comment by Aaron on 3/31/06 at 9:37 am #
  11. Thanks for reviewing these.  I was falsely assuming that they were just chocolate-covered Milk Duds.  Which, you confirmed, they are not.  Sounds like they’re worth a try. 

    Why do we always want want we cannot have?  Now I’m really craving the Sugar Mama.  The man is always trying to keep his woman out of the spotlight - ain’t it the truth. What gives with those misogynists over at Tootsie?

    Comment by Joanna on 3/31/06 at 9:52 am #
  12. Cybele, you’ll never believe it.  I was at The Dollar Tree last night and saw SUGAR MAMAS. I’m not kidding.  Except… they’re not really Sugar Mamas.  I mean, they’re made by Tootsie and say Sugar Mama, but here’s what they are:  Individually wrapped caramels about the size of a Mary Jane - much softer than Sugar Daddies. More like the consistency of a Kraft caramel, but even a little softer.  And NOT covered in chocolate.  Curious!  Have you seen these?  I bought a bag.  Not bad, but not our long-lost beloved Mama.  And full of hydrogenated oils - bummer.

    Comment by Joanna on 4/04/06 at 9:09 am #
  13. Cybele's avatar

    Sugar Mamas that aren’t chocolate covered Sugar Daddies? That’s crazy talk!

    They used to have Sugar Daddy Nuggets - which sounds kinda like what you’re describing, but I haven’t seen those in years. (You can see them in this old ad.)

    Comment by Cybele on 4/04/06 at 8:27 pm #
  14. I checked out the Sugar Daddy Nuggets in the old ads - yeah, they look similar.  Except it’s definitely NOT Sugar Daddy consistency.  Much softer and easier on the ol’ chicklets (teeth).  I can send you a picture if you’re really interested… Love the Valomilk saga, by the by.

    Comment by Joanna on 4/06/06 at 1:05 pm #
  15. Sugar Babies are pretty tough to beat, as long as they aren’t stale.  I don’t see them as much anymore, but I remember they would sell them in boxes at the movie theater when I was really young.

    Comment by John on 4/06/06 at 6:27 pm #
  16. I adore Sugar Daddy pops.  I cannot eat them too often, as I have lost dental work. . . I remember the nugget size from childhood.  I think I prefer that size to the large Sugar Daddy pop these days.  However, Dollar Tree sometimes carries the smaller version of the Sugar Daddy pop.  On a recent foray to Dollar Tree, I noticed a Sugar Mama caramel.  It is the size of a nugget, but it is a soft, chewy caramel (without a chocolate coating) as opposed to the harder caramel of the Sugar Daddy pop.  The Sugar Mama is not bad, but the Sugar Daddy is better.  Tootsie’s website does not have any information about the Sugar Mama. . .

    Comment by zelda the lab on 4/12/06 at 5:24 am #
  17. Cybele's avatar

    Zelda, thanks for the heads up on finding Sugar Mamas (whatever they may be) at the Dollar Tree, I’ll check into it next time I’m there. I noticed the lack of Sugar Mama info on the Tootsie site ... they also didn’t mention these limited editions.

    John - stale Sugar Babies are pretty easy to resurrect, it just means warming them up in your hand or keeping the package in a pocket. I guess you could microwave them for a few seconds, but that could go horribly awry if not timed properly. I’d suggest trying it in a microwave that’s not yours. (hee!)

    Comment by Cybele on 4/12/06 at 6:07 am #
  18. I wish I could find some sugar mamas I really like them because it was on a stick and it wouldn’t melt in the hand, but choc covered suger babies sound good

    Comment by Debbie Stell on 5/03/06 at 2:26 pm #
  19. I found Sugar Mamas at my local Dollar Tree today. They are ‘okay’. Out of the family, I prefer Sugar Daddies (they are my all time favorite candy on a stick) but I can’t find the big ones here! Sometimes I can get the little ones in a fun size bag. I don’t like sugar babies.

    Comment by Dee on 12/03/06 at 6:59 am #
  20. i like the sugar mamas but i love the sugar daddys and sugar babies!!!

    Comment by emily on 6/30/08 at 6:48 am #
  21. These are no longer “limited edition”. I was at Dollar Tree today and bought these (along with Chocolate Filled Peppermint Drops, those Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M’s [which I haven’t tried yet], wonderful Giant Chewy Nerds, and Claey’s Lemon Drops.) and I just tried a few. I think they taste very similar to Milk Duds, but having just tried the Original Sugar Babies two days ago, I find these much better. The chocolate gives a strange burn, but it’s delightful! (P.S. there is no longer a candy shell on the inside of the chocolate - just the caramel.)

    Comment by Asia on 5/10/09 at 4:10 pm #
  22. I do have to agree that these candies are wonderful. The fact they cover them in sugar is even better!

    Comment by Jason on 11/02/09 at 3:08 pm #
  23. Because enjoying a Sugar Daddy sucker at the movies is one of my favorite memories of childhood in the late 1950’s, I am sadly disappointed with what is now being sold under that famous name. The manufacturer, conceivably in reaction to the notorious McDonald’s hot-coffee lawsuit, is now producing, not a durable sucker that lasts through 30-60 minutes of serious attack, but a candy bar on a stick that lasts 5-15 minutes, depending on how much I care to chew up at each effortless, litigation-proof bite. This product is safer for dental work, but in my book it is no longer a genuine Sugar Daddy. From now on whenever I feel the urge, I’ll just save my dollar and remember the time when a nickel bought the real thing.

    Comment by Sam on 11/07/09 at 7:19 am #
  24. Looking for snack size sugar babies for party favors. Help, where can I find these?

    Comment by AL on 5/05/11 at 8:01 pm #
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