Friday, December 20, 2013

SweetWorks Foil Covered Chocolate

SweetWorks, which makes many flavors of the break apart chocolate orange and Sixlets, also makes a wide variety of foil wrapped chocolate pieces and figures for all occasions.

SweetWorks Hollow Chocolate Rocking Horse

Their holiday range is quite diverse, featuring chocolate balls, disks and semi-solid figures. The company sent me a huge box filled with confections to sample before Thanksgiving, and I’ve finally made it through all of the items before Christmas.

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Ornaments

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Ornaments are one of the classics. They’re just a little solid chocolate sphere wrapped in foil.

Foil Colors: Solid Hunter Green, Solid Red, Diamon Silver, Diamond Blue, Diamond Red.

Taste: The milky chocolate is very smooth and has a lot of dairy notes to it. It’s on the sweet side but also has a lot of vanilla notes to it.

Verdict: Very nice, easily munchable. This sort of piece will appeal to kids and adults.

Rating: 8 out of 10

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Crisp Balls

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Crisp Balls

Foil Colors: Hunter Green, Silver & Red

Taste: The milky chocolate has a nice ratio of crisped rice. It’s creamy, a little softer than the solid chocolate bars but not quite as sweet.

Verdict: This is what I want from my candy in my stocking. It’s comforting and filling but still attractive.

Rating: 8 out of 10

SweetWorks Dark Chocolate Balls

SweetWorks Dark Chocolate Balls

Foil Colors: Hunter Green, Gold & Red

Taste: These are extremely dark looking, almost black. I checked and noticed the ingredients list: sugar, chocolate, chocolate processed with alkali, cocoa butter, butterfat (milk), soy lecithin, and vanilla. So this chocolate contains alkalized cocoa, which makes it darker. It also has butterfat in it, so it’s not vegan, which is too bad, because it’s hard to find vegan holiday treats. The flavor profile is a little odd. It’s definitely not overly sweet, but the particle size of the chocolate gives it a slight grain and a dry finish.

Verdict: I liked them well enough to pick them out as something to eat in combination with other things, like nuts, but I didn’t like the dry afterbite.

Rating: 7 out of 10

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Bells

SweetWorks Solid Milk Chocolate Bells

Foil Colors: Hunter Green, Silver & Red

Taste: These are a bigger bite than the balls, about 2/3 bigger, so it’s a lot more chocolate at once. I noticed the smoothness of the melt much more in this shape.

Verdict: These are easier to peel and eat, though one piece is a little bigger than I prefer a bit of chocolate to be. But they don’t roll around, so that’s a plus.

Rating: 7 out of 10

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bells

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Bells

Foil Colors: Green with Silver Trees & Red with Silver Trees

Taste: These didn’t smell like much in the package, but once unwrapped there was a nice fresh peanut scent. The milky chocolate is really smooth and the peanut center was part meltaway, part peanut butter.

Verdict: They’re not the same texture or peanut flavor profile as Reese’s, so as long as you’re okay with that, these are very satisfying.

Rating: 8 out of 10

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Medallions

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Medallions

Foil Colors: White Snowman, Blue Santa, Green Teddy Bear & Red Reindeer

Taste: Milky, sweet and creamy.

Verdict: This was the most disappointing design as far as I was concerned. They seemed dated and missed an opportunity for something a little more splashy. A simple patterned foil or perhaps better artwork for the illustrations would have put these over the top. I like the format of the disks, as they’re easier to bite than bells and something that can be used in S’mores very easily.

Rating: 6 out of 10

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Santas

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Santas

Foil Colors: Dominantly Red with Green & Yellow Accents - 4 designs

Taste: Thin and long, it’s an easy two bite piece. They were exceptionally shiny.

Verdict: Like the medallions, the design of the Santa foil is a little dated. But in the case I found it utterly charming, especially since I could walk them around on my desk and set them up in little tableaus as if they were interacting. The bonus here is that the Santa is molded with quite a bit of detail, so even unwrapped they’re beguiling.

Rating: 7 out of 10

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Santas

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Santas

Foil Colors: Dominantly Red with Blue & Bronze Accents - 4 designs

Taste: This has a similar light peanutty flavor to the Bells. It’s not a deep roasted flavor, it seemed a bit saltier and a little thick/stickier in the melt.

Verdict: I didn’t like the ratios as much as the Bells, but I have to appreciate the cute little Santa expressions.

Rating: 7 out of 10

DSC_4324rb

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Hollow Foil comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. They have Turkeys in full feather, Santas, Nutcrackers and a Rocking Horse. (I think they also do a Teddy Bear.) These are very sturdy, the foil is thick and well designed. Instead of a bit piece that wraps around to the back, these are crimped. This means that there’s a full front and back design with a large seam where the two sides are pinched together.

SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Hollow FoilThe sizes vary, as you can tell from the photos. As an example, the SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Santa is a little shy of 6 inches and weighs 70 grams (2.5 ounces). The base of the Santa is thick, which makes it very stable when standing. They’re all very attractive designs and would be good as either stocking stuffers or as decorations on a cookie plate or as place settings at a table.

The SweetWorks Hollow Chocolate Rocking Horse is 3.5 ounces, so the same as a standard tablet bar, only in a fancier format. SweetWorks uses all natural milk chocolate for their hollow molded figures. The ingredients list only: sugar, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate, soy lecithin and vanilla. They’re also kosher and gluten-free though processed in a facility with tree nuts and peanuts. The SweetWorks Hollow Chocolate Nutcracker is the largest of the pieces they make for Christmas, at 4.5 ounces and is nearly 7 inches tall.

DSC_4338rb SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Turkey SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Turkey

The SweetWorks Milk Chocolate Turkey is only 1 ounce, but seems like a far larger portion. The base, like the others, is mostly solid which keeps the figure upright whether it’s wrapped or not. The chocolate tastes milkier and smoother than the foil covered balls. (My guess is that the formulation is just a little different for the molded chocolate because of the production demands of filling the intricate molds.)

Rating: 8 out of 10

Like the others, the molding details are great, it really is a nicely sculpted turkey and completely recognizable when it’s unwrapped. I liked these much better than the Hershey’s or Dove versions found at Easter, but they’re not quite as rich as the Lindt foil figures. I really liked the Rocking Horse though, I thought its design set it apart from the other offerings on the store shelves. I saw the Turkeys at Dylan’s Candy Bar, and I think they were $2.99 but online they’re a bit less. I just wish they were easier to find. For Easter they make a 3.5 ounce Yellow Chick and 3 ounce sitting Rabbit. It makes me wonder if there are figures that could be more “year round” or generic for parties and decorations since the Teddy Bear seems like a natural item for a baby shower.

SweetWorks can be found in the bulk bins at Dylan’s Candy Bar (and probably other places). Their foil balls actually come in a dozen colors and are also available as hearts year round in a wide color and texture palette. You’re more likely to find these online (you can buy direct from SweetWorks.net) and usually for a pretty decent price for all natural chocolate that isn’t Hershey’s Kisses.

Related Candies

  1. Madelaine’s Foiled Milk Chocolate
  2. Riegelein Confiserie Hollow Chocolate
  3. Upscale Hollow Chocolate: Michel Cluizel & Hotel Chocolat
  4. Russell Stover Hollow Milk Chocolate Bunny
  5. Lindt Chocolate Bunnies (Dark & Milk)
  6. Caffarel Figs & Chestnuts (Fico & Castagna)
  7. Palmer Milk Chocolate Balls
  8. Thompson All Natural Milk Chocolate Crisp
  9. Short & Sweet: Butterfinger Jingles and Mint Miniatures

POSTED BY Cybele AT 12:45 pm Tracker Pixel for Entry     All NaturalCandyReviewChristmasSweetWorks, IncChocolateCookieKosherPeanuts6-Tempting7-Worth It8-TastyUnited States

Comments
  1. You are truly out of your mind to consider these candies anything more than merely edible.  Even children throw these away rather than eating this lowest derivative of anything chocolate.  Honestly, if I’ve learned one thing from your blog, it is to trust the exact opposite of any of your reviews will be the expected outcome.

    Comment by Luke on 12/29/13 at 4:11 pm #
  2. Cybele's avatar

    Luke - I’m glad I can at least provide consistency for you.

    Comment by Cybele on 12/29/13 at 4:49 pm #
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