Tuesday, March 22, 2011

See’s Orange Cream Lollypops, Mayfair Egg & Pecan Butterscotch Bar

See's Orange Cream LollypopsI visited See’s Candy Shop over the weekend to see what was new.

See’s has really been increasing their seasonal Lollypops over the past few years. I quite like their Root Beer and Cinnamon offerings. The newest is See’s Orange Cream Lollypops for Easter.

They’re not sold individually like the regular flavors, so I had to buy a package of 8 pops for $5.35. The woman at the shop in Sherman Oaks said that they were selling well, and they only had the few packages that were on the counter left.

They’re Kosher though not all natural as they have artificial flavors and even some artificial colors. They are a rather low calorie treat, considering how long it takes to eat one. They’re .71 ounces and 50 calories.

See's  Orange Cream

The pops are the same format as the classic versions - a big 1.25 inch tall block on a stick. The hard candy is like a toffee with plenty of cream but uncrunchable. The color is a light, peachy orange. They smell like a milky orange and reminded me immediately of orange sherbet.

They’re smooth and slightly milky. The orange is light and fresh but ultimately just sweet. There was no really intense flavor to it at all. It’s not bad, but perhaps a little disappointing, though I’m sure it will be a great flavor for children who often prefer more mild flavors. Is a big switch from the more intense flavors lately like Cinnamon.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

See's Pecan Mayfair EggSee’s makes a fair number of classic Easter Eggs. I prefer the smaller versions, mostly because they’re a lot of small bites. But there’s something luxurious and decadent about the huge, decorated chocolate eggs they make. Thankfully they come in a wide variety of sizes. The largest are around 12-14 ounces, the middle are 7-8 and the small one I chose is 4.2 ounces. The Mayfair with Cherries & Pecans comes in a little box, tucked into a fluted paper cup. It’s less decorated than it’s larger pals, just a little sugar frosting rose on top.

Years ago one of my favorite pieces in the box of See’s Nuts & Chews was the Rum Nougat. It featured English walnuts, rum, cherries, and raisins in a chewy nougat, all covered in milk chocolate. I had to give it up about 10 years ago when my walnut allergy became apparent. Oh, how I would love it if they made it with pecans. (But there’s still a dark chocolate covered nougat that has almonds in it, though no rum and is the basis of the Awesome Nut & Chew Bar.) The Mayfair is pretty close to that rum nougat, in that it has that rum note to the buttercream center along with the cherries and for Easter, it comes in a walnut or pecan variety.

See's Pecan Mayfair Egg

The egg is about three inches long and has a thick dark chocolate shell (made by Guittard, which is also based in California).

The Mayfair egg center is thick and moist. I was actually shocked at how pink it was, I thought the coloring would be limited to the cherries, but the fondant is also quite a vibrant shade of pink. The cherries give the center mixture a rum, vanilla and cherry flavor to it with less of a maraschino note than I’d anticipated.

The cherries are firm and moist, but don’t have much character otherwise. They’re not crisp, they’re not tart and they don’t really taste that different from the fondant since they’re more glace at this point than just syrupped. The pecans are crunchy and give a little bit of a woodsy note to the center, though the pieces were generally small and not quite as numerous as I would have preferred.

Generally, I don’t care much for candy that requires utensils. Normal folks can’t just take a bite of this, it’s intended to be sliced and served. The thick chocolate cracks when I cut it, the proportions of chocolate aren’t consistent. It’s sticky when you eat the slices. The small versions are simply better - they’re pretty from beginning to end.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

See's Butterscotch Pecan BarI usually buy my standard favorites by the piece. For the past few years this means I get two or three of the Scotchmallow and the Butterscotch Square.

The Butterscotch Square is not square and isn’t actually what I’d consider butterscotch either ... but that doesn’t stop it from being a fatty, melt in your mouth delight. The center of the square is a crumbly, slightly grainy brown sugar fudge. It has a deep salty and light molasses flavor with some hints of toffee. The milk chocolate gives it a creamy quality that serves as a counterpoint to the quick melting grain of the sugar.

I had no idea there was a See’s Butterscotch Pecan Bar, which is a pre-wrapped 1.6 ounce bar that combines a chocolate base, butterscotch layer and then a healthy heaping of pecan pieces. (I think it might be overshadowed by the Scotchmallow Bar.)

See's Pecan Butterscotch Bar

The bar is an excellent portion, a little lighter than a standard candy bar but the satiety level of the nuts more than makes up for it (210 calories but not as much fat as some other chocolate combo bars). The maple and woodsy notes of the nuts and their crunch combine well with the buttery toffee flavor of the crumbly butterscotch. The chocolate holds it all together, though provides far less of a flavor contribution on this iteration. This may be a new go-to See’s product for me.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Related Candies

  1. Godiva Spring Pearls
  2. See’s Lollypops
  3. Pete’s Gourmet Confections: Marshmallows
  4. See’s Egg Quartet
  5. See’s Scotchmallow Eggs
  6. Cadbury Orange Creme Eggs


Name: Orange Cream Lollypops
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: See’s
Place Purchased: See's Candy Shop (Sherman Oaks)
Price: $5.35
Size: 5.6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 70
Categories: Candy, Easter, See's, Hard Candy & Lollipops, Kosher, 5-Pleasant, United States


Name: Mayfair Egg with Cherries & Pecans
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: See’s
Place Purchased: See's Candy Shop (Sherman Oaks)
Price: $5.85
Size: 4.2 ounces
Calories per ounce: 113
Categories: Candy, Easter, See's, Chocolate, Nuts, 7-Worth It, United States


Name: Pecan Butterscotch Bar
    RATING:
  • SUPERB
  • YUMMY
  • TASTY
  • WORTH IT
  • TEMPTING
  • PLEASANT
  • BENIGN
  • UNAPPEALING
  • APPALLING
  • INEDIBLE
Brand: See’s
Place Purchased: See's Candy Shop (Sherman Oaks)
Price: $1.50
Size: 1.6 ounces
Calories per ounce: 131
Categories: Candy, See's, Chocolate, Nuts, 9-Yummy, United States

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:52 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     CandyReviewEasterSee'sChocolateHard Candy & LollipopsKosherNuts5-Pleasant7-Worth It9-YummyUnited States

Comments
  1. Ooh, that butterscotch bar looks absolutely heavenly. I’ll pick one up along with my Bordeaux egg. See’s is just a great value in candy.

    Comment by Liz/PDX on 3/22/11 at 5:19 pm #
  2. Love the butterscotch pecan bar. A bit gritty and waay too sweet, but in a good way.

    Comment by Candy crusader on 3/23/11 at 4:07 pm #
  3. yum, that butterscotch bar looks super tasty!!!

    Comment by Leah on 3/23/11 at 10:18 pm #
  4. Seems like the cherry nougat/fondat/filling is See’s answer to Christopher’s Big Cherry (a candy that I absolute LOVE! They remind me of Easter eggs)>

    Comment by SJCarras on 4/03/17 at 10:04 pm #
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