Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Golden Bonbon Nougats

I’ve mentioned before of my love of French nougat and Torrones. Part of it nostalgia and part of it is that they’re a really terrific candy. While I was at the All Candy Expo, I was intent on finding a year-round supply of affordable Italian/French-style nougats.

Golden Bonbon is made in Canada with an Italian family recipe (I even met Mr. Mazzucco). They make both soft and crunchy nougats, but I concentrated my tasting efforts on the soft ones because that’s what I prefer. Golden Bonbon boasts of their family’s long experience (three generations) making nougats and use traditional copper bowls and say that half the weight of the nougat is just almonds. Let me tell you, those were some tasty almonds, too.

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Almond - nice delicate almond scent and plentiful almonds both whole and pieces in the mix. Only a light touch of honey but very smooth and a slight hint of amaretto.

Orange - I can see the orange bits in the mix and it certainly smells orangey. The orange flavor brings out the honey notes, but the orange rind pieces can be a little tough. But the flavor combinations including the bold orange oils of the zest is really nice.

Cranberry - like the orange, you can see the large pieces of cranberry in here. It has a wonderful dark fruity aroma. The nougat is soft as are the cranberry bits. They add a nice floral, fruity and sour bite to the nougat, but I’m not that wild about it compared to the others.

Maple - the nougat on this one was slightly darker than the stark white of the others and smelled a lot like maple. Sure enough it tastes like maple, with its dark smoky tones and rich sweetness. It goes nicely with the almond and is certainly tasty, but it’s not really what I want in my nougat.

The company says that they have wide distribution in both the USA and Canada and I think I’ve seen them at Cost Plus World Market ... now I need to look closer. I don’t know about the pricing, but if I can find them for less than $20 per pound, I think I may have a new favorite. I would probably stick to the regular almond ... possibly the orange, but I’m kind of curious about the coffee flavor they have too that I didn’t get to sample.

Name: Soft Nougat: Almond, Orange, Maple & Cranberry
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Golden Bonbon
Place Purchased: All Candy Expo samples
Price: unknown
Size: .25 ounces each piece
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Nougat, Nuts, Canada

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:17 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. The Caffe Nougat is divine. I am eating one right now, right amount of grounded coffee bean flavor, but I can still taste the nougat’s sweetness.  Very balanced flavor overall.

    Comment by Jason Zhou on 8/01/06 at 12:20 pm #
  2. I’ve just stuffed myself with four of the Golden Bonbon nougats already, about to open the fifth one. My favourite flavour is the Maple Nougat Soft Tendre, they are the best!!! Love them!!!!!

    Comment by Ting TIng on 1/15/08 at 7:51 pm #
  3. My favorite are the blueberry ones.  The blueberries are richly flavored, more tender than the cranberries or oranges, and just the perfect small size.  I do also like the orange ones, for the reasons you have mentioned.  They have more variability in flavor due to variation in the orange rinds.

    Comment by Dennis Hodge on 6/27/08 at 9:26 am #
  4. My coworker brought a bag of Maple Nougat (crunchy) from Canada and it was so delicious! I can’t stop eating them… Not too sweet but hint of maple flavor and chunks of almonds add great texture to it. Where can I get them in the U.S.?

    Comment by Tomomi on 7/23/08 at 8:39 am #
  5. I picked up a bag of maple nougat (crunch) at the Vancouver Airport and had one piece left by the time I got back to Maine.  U.S. distributor is Prince of Peace 1-800-675-4784 but you have to order a case of 24 bags (I ordered 2!).  Try eBay as I may have to list a few.  Also, http://www.thegreatcanadiangiftcompany.com in Ontario is a pleasure to deal with and accepts small orders.

    Comment by Donna on 7/29/08 at 2:26 pm #
  6. I just few handfuls of almond, coffee and maple nougat from a store near world trade center in NY and i am in love with them…I was just wondering if anyone knows where are they available in main manhattan region..

    Comment by Vapali on 2/19/09 at 11:19 am #
  7. I came across Golden Bonbon nougat at Vancouver airport, bought some and simply cannot stop eating them. They are great for ” pasalubong” or arrival gifts. Just love them!!!

    Comment by Eva B on 8/24/09 at 11:56 am #
  8. We found cranberry nougat in a liquidation store here in a small interior BC town.  They are better than the traditional and really expensive products that I grew up on.  We have a large Italian population in our area… their nougat has always been a cherished Christmas treat.  QUESTION where can I buy and try other flavors, anyone?

    Comment by boffin on 11/28/09 at 7:42 am #
  9. Macadamia nut Nougat is totally out of this world.  Funny enough many people in Canada don’t know what it is, yet is probably one of the most delicious and oldest candies ever!!

    Comment by Brentt on 12/01/09 at 7:21 am #
  10. I just bought 2 bags in Vancouver to take back to the States, is there anywhere we can get them online?

    Comment by J C on 1/01/10 at 11:46 am #
  11. I would like to know if there are any stores in southern Jersey or even in NYC that sell the bonbon candies?

    Comment by Joe Imbesi on 1/06/10 at 7:15 am #
  12. Joe

    Hong Kong supermarket in Chinatown (Elizabeth and Hester) carries these goodies. A 100-gram pack of blueberry soft ones costs something like $2.50. Bigger packs also available but won’t be any cheaper per unit price wise.

    Comment by David W on 3/07/10 at 4:33 pm #
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