Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Ice Cubes

Ice CubesAs a kid I loved Ice Cubes. They’re little squares of hazelnut mockolate. Their unique selling proposition included the fact that they were individual pieces that sold for 10 cents a piece and had a wild, cool feeling on the tongue when they melted instantly.

I remember buying them at the student union on the Kent State University campus when I was a kid waiting for my mother to be done with classes or my father to be done with work. (I usually panhandled to get the money to buy them, I was pretty shameless in the lengths I would go to get my fix.) Later when I was in college on my own I would use my meal points at the Jolly Giant Commons to buy these by the tub.

The little candies have been around since the mid-thirties, made in Germany by a small company called Nappo and sold by Albert’s in the States. They’re similar to the Caffarel Gianduia, except for the fact that they’re made with partially hydrogenated coconut oil instead of nut paste and chocolate.

Ice Cubes Stack

I was really excited to find these looking so smart and crisp at The Candy Store in San Francisco on Friday. I see them every once in a while, but they always look sad and melted. The Candy Store had a whole jar of pristine looking Ice Cubes in both wrappers (they’re switching to a gold wrapper from the traditional blue and white so there’s a crossover right now).

They don’t smell like much, a little sweet, a little nutty, but nothing like chocolate. They have a soft bite and an immediate hit of cool on the tongue. They melt quickly (as partially hydrogenated coconut oil has a melting point of 76 degrees F) and have a decent mix of nutty flavors, a little milkiness and a little hit of cocoa. A little grainy, they’re not quite as good as I remember.

Now, for the sobering part. Read the ingredients: partially hydrogenated coconut oil, sugar, low fat cocoa, dried sweet whey, soy flour, hazelnut paste, soy lecithin, artificial vanilla flavor.

There is no nutritional info included with these, but this page tells me that just one of them is 22% of my daily value of saturated fat (65 calories).

So while I enjoyed this little trip back in time to taste those little cubes of obsession and trans fats, now that I’m all grown up and have found good sources of candy, I don’t think I’ll ever eat these again now that I’ve found Caffarel Gianduias. (The traditional ones are perfect, the novelty shaped ones are fun & make a cute stocking stuffer.) In fact, at The Candy Store the price for Caffarel and Ice Cubes was identical ... 75 cents each. I bought a handful of Fig and Chestnut ones ... something I’ll feel a little less guilty about eating.

Related Candies

  1. Milka Alpenmilch
  2. Nutpatch Nougats
  3. Ferrero Mon Cheri
  4. Lake Champlain Hazelnut Eggs
  5. Scharffen Berger Gianduja
Name: Ice Cubes
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Albert's (made by Nappo)
Place Purchased: The Candy Store (San Francisco)
Price: $.75
Size: .39 ounces
Calories per ounce: 168
Categories: Mockolate, Nuts, Germany, Albert's

POSTED BY Cybele AT 8:36 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. I loved these as a kid!  There was something mysterious and oddly glamorous about them, and they did, in fact, feel “cooler” to the tongue than one expected them to, in keeping with the name.  That hazelnut flavor, too, was unlike anything else available at the candy store.  I’m not sure I’d be nostalgic enough to take the trans-fat hit, though.
     
    I don’t like the new gold wrapper—it doesn’t cue that “ice” thing in the same way and makes them look more like other candies.

    Comment by good enough cook on 11/21/07 at 9:36 am #
  2. These are known as “Icy Squares” in Canada.  There are also “Icy Cups” which are the same thing, just round and sort of shaped like a Reese’s mini pb cup.  They’ve also introduced “Dark” Icy Squares this year.

    http://regalcandy.com/pages/display.php?i=moritz&n=Moritz Icy Square

    Comment by Blush on 11/22/07 at 5:38 am #
  3. I used to love these when I was little and up here there is one place where you can get them called Suckers..

    Comment by Hollie Pollard on 11/24/07 at 8:02 am #
  4. Ah, the elite candy of my childhood only sold at the “expensive” candy store up the hill. I remember the upset it caused when Ice Cubes hit a dime a cube.

    Comment by Jeanna Olson on 11/24/07 at 8:43 am #
  5. I too, remember these fondly as a kid. The only place to get them was in the local German butcher. They were 5 cents each. I’ve seen them occasionally lately at .75 to 1.00 each, and I admit, I’ve grabbed a couple from time to time. I have to agree with one of the other posters that they are grainier than I remember. I went in a local grocery store while travelling recently in Maryland. They had them in the bulk candy section for $2.49 per pound. That price didn’t really register, until I plopped 10 of them in a bag, put them on the scale, they weighed a little less than 1/4 pound, and the total price was 55 cents.
    That is 5 cents each. Who says you can’t go back in time? I even checked the item code, thinking I might have put in the wrong code, but there on the label it said “Albert’s Ice Cubes” and $2.49/lb. Ahhhh. Can’t wait to go back smile

    Comment by Nancy on 4/08/08 at 5:06 am #
  6. The best candy ever!  These ice cubes rate much higher than just “pleasant”  they get a super superb from me.  I’ve got an idea, I’ll trade you diet food for the ice cubes.  I don’t care about how much saturated fat they have, they are totally worth it.

    Comment by KD on 4/23/08 at 3:11 pm #
  7. to those of you who think the blue-and-silver wrapper is the “traditional” one: sorry, folks, but you’re *way* wrong!

    i don’t know from the 1930’s, but in the 60’s and 70’s, the gold wrappers were the way i discovered these little, irresistable, melt-in-your-mouth, delectibles, at the firelands country store, when my family and i would go on weekend fishing trips.

    and they were 2?, not 5?!  it took a great deal of dedication to pass over all the penny candies, just to indulge in these sweet, luscious squares! smile

    happy reminiscences!

    blingadore

    Comment by blingadore on 5/07/08 at 9:20 pm #
  8. Blingadore….YOU ARE RIGHT, the gold ones were the original. I thought that too, when I first found this site, but they seem like such the authority (in a good way) on candy, I didn’t question it, I thought maybe I’d missed something. I always remember them in the gold and 5 cents. They never had them in my penny candy store, I found them much later. Thanks for adding that, now I know I’m not losing my mind!
    —Nancy

    Comment by Nancy on 5/10/08 at 5:09 am #
  9. Loved these as a kid and really hard to find now.  I remember that sometimes they melted in your hand even before you could open the wrapper.  No one else I know even knows what I’m talking about when I tell them that I LOVE them!

    Comment by Carrie on 5/24/08 at 3:09 pm #
  10. I was happy to find these in a candy store yesterday, but when I bit into my first one in many years I found that the coolness had diminished a lot since my last last taste ago. In trying to find out what has changed I looked at the ingredients and saw hydrogenated coconut oil. I don’t know that hydrogenated coconut oil existed when I was a kid and suspect that it was pure, unadulterated coconut oil back then. I, too, noticed some graininess to yesterday’s experience and am a little disappointed. The gold wrapper was always the better than the silver wrapper type. I think the silver wrapper contained an actual nut, but why waste money on that when more of that coolness was in the gold style. I’d love to know if they have altered the ingredients since 1965. Anybody?

    Comment by Peter Martin on 7/14/08 at 12:39 pm #
  11. The Gold Foil wrappers are the one’s from the 60’s and 70’s that I remember. The thing that is different in the “Blue Foil” product is they don’t have any or near the amount of Hazelnut flavoring or additives. They taste more like frosting from a can than the old , rich, smooth, hazelnut flavored chocolate. If they made them like the “old days” they would be so great! With the “new” gold foil wrappers, did we get a return to the taste from before???

    Comment by Rick Reid on 12/08/08 at 2:10 pm #
  12. When you think about it back in the day (for me the 70’s) these ice cubes were half the size they are now and I could buy 2 for five cents.  I don’t think its a grainy thing, just more of a good thing.  I remember they were the perfect size with a slight Hazelnut flavor listed in the ingredients then.

    Comment by janet on 12/10/08 at 8:33 am #
  13. my memory is from when i would buy these for 2cents each a our local five and dime in ravenna, ohio(right next door to kent state). i have passed this fondess on to my son and daughter-in-law. even though i now pay 25 cent each, they are well worth the guilty pleasure. enjoy!

    Comment by amy on 12/30/08 at 1:52 pm #
  14. I have loved ice cubes since a child in the 70’s…when traveling i find them every now and again…BUT since Christmas our local gas station down the street has them for 25 cents each!!!  I usually get four at a time but try to keep it down to once a week!!!  As a matter of fact…I just had three!!!  Love Them!!! wink

    Comment by Joy on 1/22/09 at 8:59 am #
  15. I was sad when the price went up, but it didn’t stop me from buying them when (very occasionally) I’d com across them.  Now its been years since I’ve seen them.  I just found them on the web and was planning on stocking up - I think this is something that all of my family and friends need to experienc because none of them know what Ice Cubes are.  Although, now that I hear all of these things, the graininess, the loss of flavor, the change of ingredients… I’m not so sure.  Maybe I’ll just get one pound to see first.  If I am going to dose all of my chocolate-weak friends (and myself), I want the saturated fat and calories honestly, darn it!

    Comment by Lori on 5/08/09 at 11:51 am #
  16. for those having a hard time finding these. (I used to have to travel to a candy shop in Gettysburg called Fuzziwigs to get my fix) but now I see them in Giant grocery stores in their candy aisle with the plastic bins where you can make your own candy bags.

    Comment by Michelle on 5/09/09 at 1:11 pm #
  17. Yes, Giant, Shaws and Weis have them in the bulk candy aisle. I had seen them at Cracker Barrell about a year ago, I think 5 were packaged up for $1.99. I was dieting at the time (what a waste of time), so I didn’t buy them, but since get my fix at the bulk candy aisle. I think I also saw them at Wegman’s. It’s great we are keeping this thread going! —Nancy

    Comment by Nancy on 5/13/09 at 4:31 pm #
  18. I bought these in the 1950’s for 2 cents each at Minnie’s Candy store, “conveniently located” just across the street fom our elementary school. They came in the GOLD wrapper… the blue and silver came much later ... snd they were not as soft- they did not melt in your mouth.  I even had to quit the Brownies/scouts because I spent all my dues on these things (without my parents knowledge ofcourse) I just rec’vd a bunch for my 55th birthday and can’t control myself… I’ll be glad when they are gone! Love ‘em.

    Comment by Mary on 6/22/09 at 8:46 am #
  19. i love, love, love these!!! i remember buying them for 25 cents at the mobil mart all the time. they were a nice and affordable treat. i hope we see them more in the future.

    Comment by silli putti on 8/16/09 at 12:19 pm #
  20. where can ice cube candies be purchased in the san antonio, tx area

    Comment by trish on 9/17/09 at 9:02 am #
  21. How funny, I am 21 and I never knew the history these little guys had. I found Ice Cubes at a small corner store by my house when I was 7. They were 25 cents each. I used to save a dollar from my lunch money through the week and buy 4 every Friday after school. When we moved away a few years later I never saw them again.

    But, just last week a new Candy Shop opened in my area of town and I was meandering by when something urged to go in.. How funny to see a small box of Ice Cubes (now 50 cents a piece) on the shelf. Needless to say, I bought the whole box and enjoyed 4 of them on Friday.

    Oh, the simple things in life. smile

    Comment by Sarah Rene on 1/05/10 at 9:50 pm #
  22. I just recently rediscovered Ice Cubes in the gold wrapper at my local convenience store for 25 cents.  I was really surprised because they were that price about 18 years ago when I first bought them. In this time of rising chocolate (and everything else)prices, they are still a bargain.

    Comment by judy on 2/04/10 at 4:06 pm #
  23. I lived on a military base in West Germany in 1960-63.  A horse drawn wagon would come into the base and sell candy to the kids.  I remember buying a small plastic cup shaped like a champagne glass, with a plastic spoon attached to the side, filled with chocolate. 

    Years later, back in the States, I bought an Ice Cube candy (about 1969) and the memories came flooding back!  This was that chocolate in the plastic champagne glass!

    I love them to this day and wish I could find the plastic champagne glass again; it was fun and cool!

    Comment by Virginia Lee on 2/11/10 at 3:29 am #
  24. I found your blog, after I found the Ice Cubes online at several online places.  Just do a search for them and you’ll get several sites selling them.  I have yet to buy any online.  But locally I have not seen them for a while. Back in the mid-late 90’s I was a courier and would find them at odd country stores while out dropping things off. They were 25 cents mostly.  I love chocolate, the name intrigued me so I bought a few.  Gades, instant addiction.  I mostly remember them being hard to keep from melting in my hot car, and never getting enough of them. 

    Coconut Oil has a lower melting point and is cheaper than Cocoa Butter when making chocolate, so that might be a reason they used it.  I buy cocoa butter online to help make my own chocolate.

    Cheer, Charles

    Comment by Charles E Owens Jr on 2/14/10 at 5:42 am #
  25. I was just on a trip to Idaho and found these at a truck stop there.  The location was between Salt Lake City, UT and Idaho Falls, ID.  I paid 35 cents for just one.  I just ate it this morning.  It was good, but not 35 cents worth.  Back in the day I paid .02 cents apiece and just had to buy them all of the time.  I decided to look them up on the internet to find out where they are processed.  They are packaged in the gold, red & white foil wrappers.

    Comment by Sharilee Shults on 4/09/10 at 12:28 pm #
  26. I found something called “Icy Square” in a local Costco.  It is manufactured by a Canadian company - Moritz.  It looks almost the same as the posted photo.  It is very creamy, cool and taste is excellent, melt in the mouth and I love it. I paid C$7.99 for tub of 800 g.  I think the price is good.  I am going to get more as Christmas gifts.

    Comment by Suen on 12/10/10 at 1:51 pm #
  27. Where do they sell these in the Chicago area?
    I need a fix!

    Comment by MADELINE BYRNE on 4/17/11 at 11:44 am #
  28. where can I buy ice cube candy near bakersfield, ca.

    Comment by grannytimes10 on 4/17/11 at 12:24 pm #
  29. When I was a kid, they were a penny each. The local hardware store alway had a box of gold-foil-wrapped Ice Cubes by the cash register. My dad and I would take them in lieu of change. Best. Candy. Ever.

    I see them around now and then. I consider the bean-counters’ endless “race to the bottom” in pursuit of an extra tenth-of-a-penny-per-thousand margin, and I don’t even want to try one. Memories always get better; reality always gets worse.

    Thanks for jogging the memory.

    Comment by UppityProle on 6/14/11 at 10:06 am #
  30. Is there anywhere in San Diego that sells Ice Cubes (7-11 use to decades ago)

    Comment by mary on 7/11/11 at 8:16 pm #
  31. I love See’s Candies but even they have nothing on these little squares. I don’t care what’s in them, I don’t care how bad they supposedly are for me, I eat them occasionally only and in moderation—mostly because they are so damn hard to find!

    Comment by Jim on 3/21/12 at 1:15 am #
  32. I remember them in the 70’s in the Blue, silver and red package and they seemed to taste so much better back then.Has something changed???
    is the gold packsge a bit different maybe??

    Comment by joseph on 12/28/12 at 11:14 am #
  33. I’ve been enjoying Ice Cubes for 50 years, and I too buy the Moritz ones now. I can’t tell any difference between those and the ones I remember from childhood. They need to be refrigerated for the best eating experience - it firms up that coconut oil. And hey, coconut oil is one fat that’s actually good for you, so don’t leave these completely out of your diet.

    Comment by Jenny on 1/11/13 at 10:18 am #
  34. I tried these delicious melt in your mouth treats while on a road trip to Iowa to get married. They were absolutely mind blowing!!! They came in a gold wrapper and were fairly cheap. This store was an old gas station right in between Missouri and Iowa. I have been on the hunt for them since!!!

    Comment by Samantha on 9/17/13 at 2:02 pm #
  35. You can buy these online from the Moritz candy company. I have a container in my fridge (best way to keep them, or freezer) from World Market that is labeled Moritz and is in German.
    http://www.blaircandy.com/chocolate-ice-cube.html?gclid=CMnH45ys07kCFRDZQgodQhUA9A

    Comment by JENNY R MERTES on 9/17/13 at 2:12 pm #
  36. In the late 1970s, I had a paper route that also included a few small mom and pop stores and restaurants. One of those restaurants, Sauzer’s Waffle Shop in Schererville, Indiana, used to “tip” me a couple of “Ice Cubes” when I’d drop off their allotment of newspapers. Oh, how I made a beeline every week to get them their papers in order to obtain my delicious reward!

    One thing that I know has changed in the ingredient description is what they now call, “hazelnut paste.” Years ago, those unforgettable gold labels referred to the hazelnut content as either crushed or powdered; I don’t recall which, but it was definitely one of those two terms. I am certain it was not “paste.” I don’t know if that change was economics, or if it was some kind of improvement that made production easier, or in some way better. As far as my taste buds can tell, the product today tastes as did back then: delicious!

    Comment by Kent on 9/27/13 at 11:14 pm #
  37. I really enjoyed the cool sensation of these wonderful little candies as a kid. And last week I had some other chocolate that had that same cooling sensation that brought childhood memories flooding back. In the mid to late sixties we could get these from the penny candy store where almost all the candy was 1 cent each. But we had to lay down 2 cents apiece for these wonderful treats. I believe that the packaging back then was silver and gold and there was a small picture of a seal on it as well. Either way anyone looking to enjoy can find them online from several places. I believe I will place a order right now.

    Comment by turtlejoe on 12/26/13 at 4:43 pm #
  38. I used to run the snack bar at the Kansas school for the blind. I sold them for 2 cents each in seventy nine. I’m amazed at how they have gone up in price. great tips about looking in bulk candy aisles. I’ve only seen them on Amazon for around $38 per hundred count and won’t pay that much.

    Comment by Brian on 2/03/14 at 8:44 pm #
  39. I used to buy them for 2¢ in the early 1960s.

    Comment by E.A. Blair on 2/13/14 at 4:31 pm #
  40. Where I grew up in Brooklyn we had a stationery shop called Almars that also sold fresh chocolates by the pound. They were laid out on trays in a vitrine up by the cash register and they had these oblong bi-colored blocks they called “truffles” which were half dark chocolate and half, I guess, hazel-nut flavored chocolate, divided longitudinally. The chocolate was so fine it literally evaporated in your mouth like cotton candy. I can’t find this chocolate anywhere. Was this German chocolate like Ice Cubes?”

    Comment by Annalisa Cohen on 8/18/14 at 4:18 pm #
  41. I remember Ice Cubes when I was young, just the gold foil wrapper. There was a popular 5 & 10¢ store called Switz’s. They were always located next to the register. I don’t remember how much they were but knew they were more pricey than regular candy. Even though they were a luxury, my Mother would always let me get one. I thought they were fine German chocolate. It always made me feel special to get one of these candies. Today they are sold in the bulk food section at Wegmans and Red Apple gas stations in Central New York. I still love them today. They bring back memories of a much simpler time.

    Comment by Jimmy Tortorelli on 12/06/14 at 7:52 pm #
  42. I first tried one of these about 20 years ago, they were 4/$1.00 and have been ever since around here. I never realized they were such an old candy until my 60 year old mom saw one I had recently and recognized them from the 60s. I also didn’t realize they are kinda rare - the same gas station has sold them for at least 15 years and so do lots of other places, always 4/$1.00 in Northern Wisconsin.

    Comment by Re on 3/03/15 at 9:52 pm #
  43. Wow! I’ve seen these at 7-11 store years ago.  But I was 1st introduced to them in 1962 along with all the other penny candies.  But Ice Cubes were more, 2cents?? But I just recently came across these in a Winco store in the gold and brown wrapper.  Still same taste.

    Comment by hazel on 12/09/15 at 1:41 pm #
  44. Moritz is the name brand I found at World Market, apparently the European version of Ice Cubes candy. Everything is identical - packaging, taste - except the name. And it’s weird but Nutella tastes exactly the same. Can you freeze Nutella and get an Ice Cube?  smile

    Comment by Jenny Mertes on 12/09/15 at 3:10 pm #
  45. Loved these as a kid, some 25 years ago. Was my first choice in candy isle every trip to cvs or walgreens with grandma. I would love to find some silver wrapper ones, they seem to have the shape I remember over the look of the gold ones.

    Comment by Nick Dee on 4/18/17 at 6:08 pm #
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