Monday, March 25, 2013
Short and Sweet: Easter Bites - Part 2I have a few more Easter items I wanted to include before Sunday. They’re not extraordinary products, but I didn’t want to pass them up. This year was, I felt, the best we’ve had so far this decade for Easter candy diversity. It was a nice mix of classic products, new flavor twists on existing items and then some exciting new diversions. The stores seemed well stocked, better than I saw them two years ago, for example. It’s an encouraging sign for the economy and for our tummies. Just Born is celebrating 60 years of their iconic Peeps marshmallow candies. They’ve come a long way from the early years when they came in plain yellow. Now they’re available in all the colors of the rainbow and special flavors. To mark the anniversary, they’ve created a 60th Anniversary version in Vanilla Creme flavor. They’re the individual Peeps (not a conjoined row) and feature little sparkly flecks of multi colored candies, like edible confetti. I prefer an uncolored Peep, as I think the artificial colorings get in the way of the pure sugary flavor. (Ghost Peeps, for that reason, are the best.) The Vanilla Creme is a soft flavor, artificial and lacking in the complexity of a nice Tahitian vanilla pod, but still it has a soft and comforting flavor that cuts a bit of the sugary sweetness. They’re bouncy and fluffy and grainy. The little confetti add a little bit of a crunch, but mostly they dissolve quickly on the tongue. These would be a fun version available all year round. I also heard that they’re releasing Birthday Cake Peeps which are a turquoise blue and yellow cake flavored. (Which is also a great idea for a year-round Peep.) Rating: 7 out of 10 I admit that I bought these because of the package. They’re just egg shaped gumballs. Smarties Bubble Gum Eggs are made by Ford Gum in the USA with real sugar, there are no artificial sweeteners in there. I bought them for $1.49 at Cost Plus World Market, but then I saw them at the 99 Cent Only Store for a dollar. They’re passably good. They come in different colors, but I really didn’t get a sense that they were different flavors, all vaguely and pleasantly fruity. They were soft enough to bite but have a satisfyingly crunchy shell. Each piece is a good size for chewing, two make for a little too much. The sugar takes a while to be dissolved, so there’s no bubble blowing right away. Even after the sugar is gone, they’re a little too stiff and snappy to blow a good bubble with. At other times of the year, they’re also available as plain old gumballs. I bought them before and feel the same way about them. They’re okay. Mostly I like them because they’re pretty. I just chew the sugar out, spit out the gum and start up with a new piece. Rating: 5 out of 10 I noticed this new Hershey’s chocolate bunny introduced in 2011 called Snapsy Snap-Apart Bunny. The concept is that the bunny is flat instead of dimensional, and pre-sectioned to break apart easily. The version I purchased, for a buck, is 2 ounces, or about the size of a King Size bar. It comes apart into five pieces. Each is a good size for dipping into peanut butter, which was always my favorite way to eat my Easter Rabbit. This is one of those products that solves a problem you didn’t know you had. I’m sure if this were sold on infomercials, the first part would demonstrate all the frustrating things about a sumptuous solid chocolate bunny and how hard it is to eat, how children fight over it and what it should be named. I don’t have much to say except that it’s a rabbit shaped Hershey’s bar. It’s made from Hershey’s marginally satisfying chocolate, the same stuff in Hershey’s Kisses, Hershey’s Miniatures and those addictive little Hershey’s Candy Coated Eggs. While I don’t think Hershey’s Milk Chocolate is good chocolate, it’s mighty fine candy. It’s fudgy, grainy and tangy and comforting. It’s also made in Mexico. (The Candy Professor had a bit of a rant about Snapsy.) Rating: 5 out of 10 Related Candies
POSTED BY Cybele AT 2:46 pm Candy • Peeps • Review • Easter • Ce De Candies • Hershey's • Just Born • Chocolate • Gum • Marshmallow • 5-Pleasant • 7-Worth It • Mexico • United States • 99 Cent Only Store • Cost Plus • Target • |
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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Cybele - have you tried the Nerds “bumpy jelly beans”? Curious what you’d think - they, well, they taste like Nerds… but I am strangely enjoying the orange-colored one specifically - has the zing of an orange tic-tac. Thanks for all the reviews, as always! I still hold out hope to find that giant sour patch bunny one day….
Ace - I tried them when they first came out. I love the texture combination. Review here.
looks like white chocolate m&ms; are transitioning to a full time addition to the menu… Target has them in two different bags (at two different pricepoints, oddly enough). yum!
Will be on the lookout for the commemorative Peeps. Famous Dewey’s Candy in DUMBO offered a selection of retro chocolate rabbits this Easter that are quite exquisite for their painted tin foil designs - come take a peak!
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