Monday, March 3, 2008

Russell Stover Eggs

imageA couple of years ago I was pleasantly surprised by the Russell Stover Cream Easter Eggs. Though I’ve never been much of a fan of the Cadbury Creme Eggs, I wasn’t surprised to see that Russell Stover is now making a similar product and knowing that they did nice things with the other eggs, I thought I’d give this array a try.

There are some striking similarities between the CCE and the Russell Stover. First, they’re all 1.2 ounces (yes, the Cadbury’s used to be larger, back in 2007 they were changed from 1.35 to 1.2). The Cadbury’s currently come in the classic Creme Egg, Caramel Egg and the newest version is the Orange Creme Egg.

The Russell Stover Eggs do not duplicate any of these flavors. Instead they’ve gone with slightly different versions.

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The most promising in my mind was the Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Creme Egg. One of my major complaints with the CCE is that it’s far too sweet and lacking in flavor. I figured a dark chocolate egg with a chocolate creme might provide some, I dunno, flavor to balance the sugar.

It looks good, I have to admit. The dark shell holds a thick and glossy creme. It doesn’t smell like much, but the textures are pretty good. The shell is crisp and easy to bite but doesn’t shatter into a gazillion bits. The creme center is rather like a gooey frosting, it’s not very deep in chocolate-ness, but still pleasant. When eating around the edges and getting more chocolate than creme, it was pretty good. But the proportions towards the center began to make my throat burn it was so sweet.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

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Russell Stover Chocolate Creme is the same as the dark chocolate egg, only with a milk chocolate shell. It’s not an overwhelmingly milky chocolate, so it doesn’t really do much to add a different flavor to the whole thing.

I found it much sweeter overall than the dark chocolate version. Still pleasant if you’re the type who eats frosting by the spoonful (which I admit to doing at times). The fudgy-ness of the creme center is more noticeable in this one.

Rating: 5 out of 10

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I know you’ve probably wondered how they make these. Here’s what I think they do (and I’m just guessing):

Russell Stover Vanilla & Chocolate Creme

  • The hollow chocolate shell is molded in two pieces.
  • After the shell hardens they fill it with the egg “white” material. Then they deposit the “yolk” in one side of the egg. Both are not flowing goo like it is when you open the eggs, instead it’s a near solid material like fudge. An enzyme is added to it just before filling the eggs that creates a reaction that makes the goo into a viscus liquid in several weeks. (This is how cherry cordials are made.)
  • While they’re still solid the two hemispheres are joined (perhaps a hot iron is used to heat the chocolate shells around the edges and they’re pressed together. They’re wrapped in foil and sent off to stores.
  • If anyone actually knows how this actually happens, please pipe up in the comments!

    The Russell Stover Vanilla & Chocolate Creme was the egg that I least wanted to eat. Milk chocolate with a white creme and a dollop of chocolate cream in the center, the most similar to a Cadbury Creme Egg. I’ll admit that I only ate half of this. The creme did have a strong vanilla flavor (though it verged on coconut sometimes). The chocolate shell was pleasant, but I really couldn’t tell when the chocolate creme kicked in.

    It was better than my previous experiences with the Cadbury Creme Egg, but still not something I’m interested in eating again (or even finish the last bite of).

    I give this one a 5 out of 10.

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    The Russell Stover Marshmallow & Caramel egg is a milk chocolate shell with a marshmallow center with a little dollop of caramel for the yolk. This one is actually lighter than the others, as you might guess, and only clocks in at .9 ounces.

    The marshmallow is very moist and has more of a “fresh pie” meringue texture to it. It wasn’t very sweet, instead it was just a little foamy. The caramel had a little salty and buttery taste to it that set off the marshmallow and very sweet milk chocolate well. It’s not at all like a Scotchmallow, but had it’s own wonderful qualities.

    This was a very different sort of egg from all the others that I’ve had and the one I enjoyed the most.

    Rating: 7 out of 10

    Overall, they’re interesting, and certainly attractive and compact. But none of them fit the bill as something I’m interested in indulging in. I’ll stick to what I think they do best, their enrobed eggs. Alicia at The Girl Tastes also found the full line and split them open and displayed their gooey glory as well.

    Related Candies

    1. Cadbury Canadian Creme Eggs
    2. See’s Egg Quartet
    3. Melster Marshmallow Eggs
    4. Wonka Golden Creme Egg
    5. Cadbury Orange Creme Eggs
    6. Kinder Egg
    7. Dove Truffle and Snickers Eggs
    Name: Various Filled Eggs
      RATING:
    • 10 SUPERB
    • 9 YUMMY
    • 8 TASTY
    • 7 WORTH IT
    • 6 TEMPTING
    • 5 PLEASANT
    • 4 BENIGN
    • 3 UNAPPEALING
    • 2 APPALLING
    • 1 INEDIBLE
    Brand: Russell Stover
    Place Purchased: Walgreen's & RiteAid (Echo Park)
    Price: $.44 & $.50 depending on store sale
    Size: 1.2 & .9 ounces
    Calories per ounce: unknown
    Categories: Chocolate, Caramel, Marshmallow, United States, Russell Stover, Easter

    POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:21 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

    Comments
    1. I was only able to find the Vanilla/Chocolate and the Marshmallow ones. I’m even more eager to try them now! smile

      Comment by Sera on 3/03/08 at 10:48 am #
    2. Couldn’t they just freeze the filling and add it as a solid?

      Comment by Amy on 3/03/08 at 12:24 pm #
    3. Amy ^_^ That’s a good idea!  We could make our own chocolates with filling inside at home.  Just freeze the filling.  Then when it’s frozen, dip it in melted chocolate, let it cool and ta da!!

      Comment by Philly on 3/03/08 at 2:43 pm #
    4. Yay!  I liked the marshmallow one.. it was the only one I finished, the others were too sweet for me!

      I love the shot of the dark chocolate piece.

      Comment by Alicia on 3/03/08 at 5:00 pm #
    5. hi.  i found this description of how the eggs are made on encyclocentral:
      Its shape fascinated the people of Britain. As a result of gaining tremendous reputation it easily outsold every other chocolate bar during the time. However, it is not found in the market throughout the year. It is on sale between January and Easter each year. That is just the reason why they are called an Easter treat. Cadbury Egg has several steps in the manufacturing process. Firstly, the chocolate shell is made. The liquefied chocolate is placed in an egg shaped mould. Then, it is filled with white fondant and a dab of yellow fondant to simulate the yolk.

      The two mould halves are closed together very quickly and cooled to allow the chocolate to set. When the moulds are opened, the Cadbury Egg created fall onto a conveyor which transports them to the foiling machines. The foils are then wrapped around the eggs and are made ready to be sent to the market. Every year 300 million egg shaped chocolates are made which if put on an estimate would mean that every citizen of UK gets five chocolates manufactured every year for them selves.

      Comment by Amy Elliott on 3/04/08 at 8:58 am #
    6. Amy, the filling will attract condensation when it comes back up to room temperature. Moisture is bad for chocolate and will cause the covering to come off.

      Comment by Kevin on 3/06/08 at 4:27 am #
    7. I didn’t come up with this idea, but rather I cut and pasted it directly from the listing in encyclocentral.  According to them, this is how it’s done.  I couldn’t find anything else.

      Comment by Amy Elliott on 3/08/08 at 3:25 pm #
    8. It could be simply that the filling is injected into each of the open shell halves in a cooler-than-room-temperature state (this will affect the viscosity - or runiness - of the filling and make it thick enough to stay put). Once the completed chocolate is at room temperature, the filling would be at the ideal viscosity (more runny as shown in the picture).

      Just my two cents from what I’d guess from hanging around in a chocolate factory for a few years!

      Comment by Yael on 3/09/08 at 3:40 pm #
    9. Why is it that Reese’s PB Eggs taste better that regular PB cups? Maybe it’s just my imagination but, they seem more peanuty and chocolatey. Fresher.

      Comment by Sean on 3/11/08 at 2:42 am #
    10. Directly from the Cadbury web site:

      How Cadbury Creme Egg is made

      Cadbury Creme Egg is manufactured by making a chocolate shell in a half-egg shaped mould, which is then filled with white fondant and a dab of yellow fondant to simulate the yolk. Two mould halves are closed very quickly and cooled to allow the chocolate to set. When the moulds are opened, the eggs fall onto a conveyor which transports them, first to the foiling machines and then to the finished packing.

      Straight from the source.  There ya have it.

      Comment by Amy on 3/23/08 at 10:30 am #
    11. mmm, I was just wondering, do any of you guys know what I should do with a great new marketing idea for eggs, introduce them to the Hallowe’en market?

      Comment by simon on 12/15/08 at 4:21 am #
    12. Where can I look for the calorie count on the egg candy?

      Comment by Deb on 1/01/09 at 4:37 pm #
    13. I know you aren’t big on boxed chocolates, but if you ever have the chance, you should pick up the russel stovers boxed chocolates. They are the type of thing you set out and let family/friends pick at. And its nice to know which ones to pick out.

      I, for example, always steal the Roman Nougats.

      Comment by gst on 3/04/09 at 9:24 am #
    Commenting is not available in this channel entry.

    Next entry: Princess Marshmallow Eggs

    Previous entry: All Egg Week




     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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