Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Go Max Go Twilight Candy Bar

TwilightThe Twilight Candy Bar from Go Max Go Foods is a vegan version of Milky Way (Mars for those in the rest of the world).

The package is odd and incongruous. It’s lavender and has a simple and rather small name emblazoned on the middle of it, but most of the package is taken up with explaining what’s not inside: dairy free, vegan, no trans fat, no hydrogenated oils, no cholesterol, nothing artificial.

At over $2 per bar it is at least a beefy size (hah, I used a meat to describe a vegan bar) clocking in at 2.1 ounces.

Now imagine that rich, fluffy, chocolately nougat topped with a layer of thick, buttery-tasting caramel all wrapped up in our very own creamy, rice-milk chocolately coating. If this gives you sweet dreams of good taste, then the Twilight(tm) bar is for you!

Yes, that’s a whole lot of mock products there. Mock caramel (because real caramel contains butter and/or cream), faux nougat (because real nougat contains egg whites) and of course the rice milk mockolate (it’s possible to make real rice-milk chocolate without palm oils).

Twilight Bar

The bar looks, well, rather like a dud. The coating doesn’t have the bloom problem that my Mahalo did, but it’s also not shiny or crisp like real chocolate. Just kind of chalky looking with no sheen. It doesn’t smell like much either, just a little sweet and a little malty (which isn’t a bad thing in my book).

Twilight Bar

The construction of the bar is similar to Milky Way - a nougat layer on the bottom, caramel then covered in chocolate.

The caramel has some stringy pull to it, but not in the same silky way that a good dairy caramel does. This one is a little grainy (not a dealbreaker) with a well rounded saltiness, but severely lacking in the toasted sugar notes. Instead it tastes like brown rice, toasty but in a “toasted wheat bread” way, not a “sugar shell on a creme brulee” way. (But to be honest, the Milky Way caramel isn’t all that either.) The nougat is fluffy and has a hint of malt to it. It’s fine, but I’ll admit that this fluffed sugar nougat that American candy bars have isn’t really my favorite thing. The chocolate-flavored shell melts to a point, but not into anything creamy. It doesn’t impart anything chocolatey to the party.

In a way this bar succeeds because it’s just as throat-searingly sweet as a Milky Way. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t want to finish it. I think the vegan versions of the caramel and nougat are good enough for those who can’t eat the real stuff, but a good quality dark chocolate could have saved this bar.

(For anyone interested in the candy maker’s reaction to this post, check this out.)

Go Max Go is not organic, not fair trade, not Kosher and is made in a facility with dairy, eggs, wheat, peanuts and other tree nuts. They do market themselves as dairy free and gluten free, but there can be traces because of their manufacturing practices.

Related Candies

  1. Go Max Go Mahalo Candy Bar
  2. Mini Charleston Chews
  3. The Oh Henry!s
  4. Reese’s Whipps
  5. Head to Head: Milky Way & Mars (Canada & UK)
  6. Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews
Name: Twilight Candy Bar
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Go Max Go Foods
Place Purchased: Whole Foods (Park LaBrea)
Price: $2.39
Size: 2.1 ounces
Calories per ounce: 119
Categories: Mockolate, Caramel, Nougat, United States, Go Max Go, All Natural

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:51 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. how long did it take you to let the candy bars melt, get mashed and mangled, before taking the pix?  by the way…..dark chocolate is as boring as your blog.

    Comment by susan on 2/26/10 at 1:16 pm #
  2. The “sheen” that you’re craving is confectioner’s wax, which is not vegan.  Essentially shellac, it is made from bugs.  Still craving it?

    Comment by Abby on 2/26/10 at 1:42 pm #
  3. Cybele's avatar

    Susan - I bought the bars on January 8th around lunchtime at Whole Foods on Fairfax & 3rd Street in Los Angeles. I photographed them on January 9th. I actually thought this bar looked pretty good.

    For the record, sweet readers, Susan’s comment was from an email domain registered to the manufacturer of the candy bar. (I was unsure at first, but this tweet confirmed that it was an actual member of the company) Similar comments by Susan were left on all the GoMaxGo products I reviewed.

    Comment by Cybele on 2/26/10 at 1:43 pm #
  4. Cybele's avatar

    Abby - You are incorrect. The confectioners glaze you mention is used on panned candies, not enrobed candies.

    Cocoa butter, a vegan product, has a unique crystalline structure that can be achieved through careful heating and cooling. Vegan chocolate that contains only cocoa beans and sugar will have an exquisite high gloss if handled correctly.

    I know what shellac is, I know what honey is. Reality does not jar me.

    Comment by Cybele on 2/26/10 at 1:47 pm #
  5. It is hard to imagine a less honest/less accurate review!

    The caramel is ‘grainy’?

    Look folks, vegan or not (and I have shared these with lots of people… and watched them drool as they slipped from everyday consciousness into Nirvana wrapped euphoria)...

    ..this bar is the BEST and creamiest ‘milk’ chocolate you will ever eat! It simply doesn’t get any better.

    The caramel is so rich, creamy and decadent… it is beyond words!

    Seriously, go find a closet… lock the door (no lock on the inside of your closet?) and take a bite… let the dream state descend… there are moments when interruptions simply must be rendered impossible… and with your Twilight bar in tow… you are about to embark on one.

    Don’t listen to this jealous moron… the pics aren’t anywhere true either. Ignore this review and skip over to Amazon ... Go Max candy is reviewed there… and the comments are spot on.

    OK, I’m jealous too… nowhere near this Mexican town I’m in is there anything like a Twilight bar :(

    AND, I have NO affiliation with Go Max Go or anyone selling their products or selling anything for that matter… just found this page doing a search to see what might be new… and when I read this… well, I just had to comment.

    Why do people feel the need to trash great accomplishments? Why not just say thanks Go Max Go?

    Comment by Cheryl Hugle on 6/15/13 at 10:25 pm #
  6. LOL Angry vegans…  I can’t imagine a group of people less personable/less secure in themselves.

    Comment by Paul on 6/16/13 at 10:01 am #
  7. Cybele,
    Confectioner’s Glaze is absolutely used on “enrobed” candies.  Been to Trader Joe’s lately?

    Paul,
    It’s nice that you’re secure in your lack of compassion; congratulations on that.

    Comment by Abby Bean on 6/16/13 at 2:22 pm #
  8. The key word in my comment is “angry.”  Cheryl decided to call cybele a “jealous moron” because she offers her opinion on a certain product.  I say live and let live, but that seems to be lost on the kind of veg/vegan who administers ad hominem attacks against anyone who doesn’t blindly praise and support all things vegan.

    As for me, I really am a compassionate person.  You, of course, wouldn’t know that either way, but you assume because it fits your agenda to attack, attack, attack people who consume animal products.  Personally, I prefer animals not to suffer to provide my meat, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop eating meat, and THAT doesn’t mean I lack compassion.

    Now can we please stop being so serious on a comments section of a candy blog?

    Comment by Paul on 6/16/13 at 4:18 pm #
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