Thursday, August 10, 2006

Responses to Reader Requests!

There are many wonderful people who write into Candy Blog (either via email or comments) to keep me abreast of what’s going on out there in the sweet real world. As I’m mostly a hermit, these tips are invaluable and here are my follow-ups on the most recent tips:

Assorted Fruit Headline

imageA couple of weeks ago Lesley popped me a comment to say that my dreams of there being a mixed bag of Fruit Heads (Lemonheads, Orangeheads, Grapeheads, Cherryheads & Appleheads) have come true.

I rushed off to the 99 Cent Only Store to find it’s true! I haven’t opened the bag yet, but I thought I’d share my delight with everyone else. I have no idea when Ferrara Pan decided to make this mixed bag or even if it’s because of that review. Yes, you can buy them separately in little boxes, but this is a much better deal.

Also, the bag is plastic, which means that the Fruit Heads are protected from the enemy of sugar candies ... humidity. (Many of you know the disappointment of a box of Lemonheads where the poor spheres are welded to the box and each other.) I should really follow up on my request for Grapefruitheads.

I give these a 9 out of 10! (Yummy)

Pop’ables Chocolate Crisps

imageSandy wrote to me earlier this week to tell me that there was a malted milk ball at the Dollar Tree. Well, I don’t have a Dollar Tree nearby, but as I was already at the 99 Cent Only Store searching for the Fruit Headline, I caught a huge display of these in the peg bag section: Limited Edition Pop’ables Chocolate Crisps. 

I’m not sure why they call them “chocolate crisps” because they’re malted milk balls and they’re a pretty well known segment of the American candy pantheon.  These were ridiculously good and again upset me to an insane degree because they’re limited edition. The chocolate is sweet and smooth with a slight coconutty note to it. The crisp center is light and malty with only a hint of sweetness. The packaging is completely uninspired, but I suppose it doesn’t matter as it is not only a limited edition item, but Mars has hinted that they’re discontinuing the Pop’ables line anyway. These were made in Australia. Super-addictive ... I ate the whole bag at work yesterday.

I give these a 9 out of 10! (Yummy)

Lindt Baking 70% Cocoa Bitter-Sweet Chocolate

imageWhile I was poking around in the candy aisle at the 99 Cent Only Store, I also found this little gem: Lindt Baking 70% Cocoa Bitter-Sweet Chocolate.

I’ve become a recent convert to Lindt via their impulsive truffles and couldn’t resist giving this “baking” bar a try to see if it rivaled their regular Lindt Excellence 70% bar that I see for three times the price at Cost Plus. At 3.5 ounces for 99 cents, it’s a fabulous deal for high-quality chocolate. They also had a semi-sweet bar that didn’t list the cocoa content (but sugar was the first ingredient on the list instead of chocolate).

I was worried that the bar would be past its prime, but it’s glossy and dark and with a good snap. Perfectly fresh. Lindt still isn’t my favorite chocolate, but at this price, it’s hard to buy a Hershey bar. This bar was made in France.

I give this a 7 out of 10! (Worth It)

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:18 am Tracker Pixel for Entry     Ferrara PanMarsChocolateDiscontinuedHard Candy & LollipopsLimited EditionMaltSour7-Worth It9-YummyAustraliaFranceUnited States

Comments
  1. i didn’t even know they made any heads other than lemon!  i love lemonheads!  i’ll have to hunt down some of the other flavors.  and grapefruit does sound fabulous.

    Comment by Jenni= ) on 8/10/06 at 6:41 am #
  2. Glad I could help!  (or “enable”?)  smile  For the record, all my Fruit Heads were brilliantly fresh.  Although there’s an interesting “panned candy” smell from that many Fruit Heads in one bag…!

    I’d never tasted Orange or Apple; Orangeheads are amazing, but Appleheads are a little freaky!

    Comment by Lesley on 8/10/06 at 7:51 am #
  3. Yummy!  Those all look good. raspberry

    Have you tried the Lindt 85% Cocoa bar?  I’ve never had chocolate that dark before in my life!  It was really good—bitter at first, but the sugar came through at the end.  I’ve love to read your review of it.

    Comment by MusicalMom on 8/10/06 at 8:16 am #
  4. Speaking of bagged candies, I recently found these on eBay and thought you all might find them of some interest.

    http://cgi.ebay.com/DR-PEPPER-CARBONATED-CANDY-RUSH-ROX-like-POP-ROCKS_W0QQitemZ120005798915QQihZ002QQcategoryZ38177QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

    Comment by GTO on 8/10/06 at 8:18 am #
  5. Wow, super scores!  I have to find the malted milk balls!  Why aren’t they at my desk right now?  Waaah.

    Comment by Julilla on 8/10/06 at 9:26 am #
  6. delurking out of sheer excitement over the prospect of grapefruit heads!

    ive never had much success with 99 cent store candy; i guess yours is a big one with good inventory turnover. 
    thanks for your blog; it’s a treat for me to help me past the post-lunch slump at work!

    Comment by kim g on 8/10/06 at 10:46 am #
  7. Okay - freaky, man. I made the grapefruithead comment to you earlier today before I even read this lastest post.  They could call them Ruby Heads - Pamplemousse Heads might be a little bit high brow for the Lemonheads crew. 
    But how can the same geniouses behind Heads be responsible for the Boston Baked Bean?  It doesn’t add up.

    Comment by Joanna on 8/10/06 at 3:33 pm #
  8. I love Lindtt, even with the expense, it’s not like there is any other decent chocolate around here. Have you tried the caramel crunch ( i think that’s it’s name) it’s got some really tasty caramel bits in there!

    Comment by Leigh on 8/11/06 at 1:40 am #
  9. I am searching high and low for the perfect malted milk ball. One with more malt than chocolate coating. I have even searched for a recipe for the just the centers. The only one even offered is white chocolate mixed with the malted milk powder.
    I know you are a malted milk freak like me. I had no idea how hard this would be.
    I like the malted milk balls at The Fresh Market here but there is more chocolate than malt. Anyone know of the perfect combo out there or better yet a recipe for the centers??? Thanks. Great blog. Loved all you candy freaks like me!!

    Comment by Elizabeth on 8/11/06 at 5:53 pm #
  10. Just stumbled upon your blog and was wondering if you had a recipe for making real licorice, like the soft kind from Australia? Do any of your readers maybe have input!? I have been searching for at least 5 yrs., everywhere I can and have only found licorice caramel recipe. Not what I am looking for, dog gone it! Thanks

    Comment by Kate on 8/12/06 at 2:53 pm #
  11. Cool that you test out candy based on readers’ remarks! I was wondering what you’d think about Milka, a popular German candy bar…Hope you like it, I do!

    Comment by Tania on 8/13/06 at 5:03 pm #
  12. Cybele's avatar

    Elizabeth - I’ve tried in vain to get a hold of the bare malted milk balls. Right now the best balls with the least amount of chocolate seem to be these limited edition Pop’ables. Next on the list might be the Malteasers from the UK.

    Some people have recommended Horlicks malt tablets, which I don’t think are meant to be eaten, but that doesn’t stop many of us.

    Kate - I’m afraid I don’t know how to make my own licorice. It’s obviously a mixture of flour, molasses and licorice extract, but I don’t know how you’d make it not set up like a piece of leather.

    Leigh - I’ll put the caramel crunch on my list!

    Joanna - well, I’m doing my best to convert as many people to the Pink Grapefruit Mentos ... Grapefruit Heads can’t be far behind.

    Kim G - I think that the 99 Cent stores vary by location ... there’s another one I go to in Hollywood that has some deplorably old product on the shelves.

    Julilla - I went back on Friday and bought some more (and confirm that they do have them in more than one location).

    GTO - sounds interesting! I have some cherry cola pop rocks that I haven’t tried yet.

    MusicalMom - I have eaten quite a few of the 85% bars! They’re quite good.

    Lesley - yeah, I haven’t had the appleheads yet ... they’ll probably rank higher than cherry though.

    Jenni - I’ve been seeing lemonheads and some the other flavors more often than I used to.

    Comment by Cybele on 8/13/06 at 5:18 pm #
  13. I love Lindt dark chocolate and all dark chocolate.  What was this Lindt chocolate doing in a 99cents store?  I shall start pay more attention to those 99 cents stores from now on.

    Comment by Patty on 8/23/06 at 3:17 pm #
  14. Response to #12 - “Some people have recommended Horlicks malt tablets, which I don?t think are meant to be eaten, but that doesn?t stop many of us.”

    Product Description: Horlicks Malted Milk Tablets are a highly nutritious food that is easily digested by anyone. The tablets contain rich milk extract of malted barley and wheat. They can be eaten right out of the package or mixed with milk for a delicious drink.

    The forerunner to today’s power bars and sports snacks, Horlicks Tablets have been satisfying people’s cravings for a flavorful, nourishing snack for over a century.

    Features:

    Made with nutritious wheat flour, malted barley, and skim milk
    Fueled many of the early expeditions to the North and South Poles
    Available in natural or chocolate flavors

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I and scores of others grew up on Horlick’s malted milk tablets, as well as the malted milk powder.  Wonderful!

    Comment by Terry on 5/16/08 at 11:05 pm #
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