For the Love of Candy

Cheryl included this because it’s made where she lives. The wrapper informs me that it has been made since 1913 and that it is often taken on expeditions because of its high caloric density.

The wrapper is green and blue, printed with mountain ranges and rivers, which goes with the expedition motif. The cake itself is long and thick, a translucent white, and for the Americans among us, it has a sharp mint smell reminiscent of a York Peppermint Pattie. It’s a bit crumbly at the edges and is marked with little pockmarks and air bubbles which the wrapper assures me is not detrimental to the taste. Always good to know.

It crumbles easily upon being bitten and has a slightly gritty texture. It’s very minty, but less sweet than a peppermint pattie–perhaps it’s the lack of chocolate? It kind of reminds me of eating toothpaste.

I’m unsure as how to rate this. Is this a candy I’d want to pick up and eat a bunch of? Not really. But it’s a nice novelty and a decent breath freshener. I can also see how it might be refreshing if you were on a long hike. So, a 3/5 should work.

Like yesterday’s candy, this is one of Cheryl’s childhood favorites. And like the Fruit Salad, this is also a taffy, although this one is flavored with anise.

Today’s wrapper is striped black-and-white, and the color is a light black with some gray streaks. The smell is quite reminiscent of licorice–it reminds me of Good and Plentys. The taffy snaps off easily, as the Fruit Salad did.

The Taffy feels sour on the outside–not at all what I was expecting. As the taffy softens in the mouth the anise flavor comes more into play. However, the sourness is still present and it really spoils the taste for me. It’s almost as if they took the Fruit Salad and just added anise to it. The result isn’t too pleasant. I’d skip this one.

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Are you ready for the continuation of my British candy series? Oh good.

Today’s candy is the Bourneville bar, which is, according the Cheryl, the classic British dark chocolate bar. I was a little worried about reviewing this candy, since people seem to be rather mixed about it, but I decided to dive in.

The bar comes in a rather classy-looking red and black wrapper, and the chocolate itself is shiny, dark, and divided into several small sections embossed with the Cadbury logo. I broke off one section to taste and the “snap” was quite crisp and satisfying. The smell reminds me of a more subdued Dairy Milk.

The chocolate does deliver a more bittersweet chocolate taste than the regular milk, but I’m still not sure I like it too much. There’s a sort of sourness to the aftertaste, and the melt is on the clumpy side.

I’ll finish the bar–it’s in my purse for when I need an emergency chocolate fix–but definitely not my favorite dark chocolate experience

Yay, another offering from Cadbury! I just love Dairy Milk, and I love caramel too, so I’ve been looking forward to this one.

I got two pieces of Dairy Milk in my package, the single-serve kind with one block in a shiny purple wrapper. The blocks look very nice and professional, and the chocolate has a dull sheen to it. The candy made the journey very well.

Upon opening the wrapper I was met with the heavenly Dairy Milk smell. It makes you want to dig in right away. The chocolate is as delicious as my other Dairy Milk experience; no fault there, just creamy, chocolate deliciousness.

The caramel measures up as well. It’s slightly runny, sweet but with the smallest salty tang to it. This is a good thing, as it keeps the candy from delving into “toothache” territory as the Eclair did. The candy melts well and is wonderfully satisfying. Another 4/5 for Cadbury.

I’ll be taking a two-day hiatus for Christmas Eve/Christmas Day; I’ll be back on the 26th. I want to wish a Happy Holidays to my readers, whatever you may celebrate. Thank you so much for reading–I really appreciate it.

Cheryl didn’t mention these in her note; i think they were a last minute addition. I know from Jim’s blog, however, that they’re a kind of caramel-covered chocolate. How many of those exist? Not many, so I’m excited to try these.

The wrapper is a shiny gold-and-blue and the candy itself is a light brown, a little less than half the size of my thumb. There’s not much of an aroma, more of a slight, pleasant sweet scent.

The caramel is somewhere between hard and soft, and has a lovely sweet taste. The best part, though, is when it melts away to reveal the chocolate in the center. So good, it tastes almost dark and melts in a lovely way on the tongue.

The only problem is the sweetness–it made my teeth ache, so I’d only be able to manage one at a time. This might be better though, if not for the pain, it would be far too easy to eat one after another of these things.

Cheryl’s notes tell me that these were taken off the market for awhile and then reintroduced due to popular demand–she called them “a bit of 80s nostalgia.” I’ve never had aerated chocolate, so this is really cool for me.

The bar looks substantial, both in the wrapper and out, and the bar looks well-made–it has a dull sheen and a slight ripple pattern. I couldn’t resist breaking off a piece and indeed there are bubbles of tiny sizes all throughout the bar. There’s a slight cocoa smell–not as much as the Dairy Milk.

The bar cleaves easily when bitten, and it melts incredibly quickly. The chocolate isn’t as good as Dairy Milk, but still decent. The bubbles have a fun texture to them.

I can’t wait to try out other aerated chocolate as well–I rather like it!

According to Cheryl’s notes, the TV commercials say that “a finger of Fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat.” I also noticed that these only cost 15 pence. That’s so cool! I can’t think of anything you can get that cheap around here, especially something like this.

As the advert suggested the bar is long and thin and covered with milk chocolate (is this Dairy Milk?) which meant a heavenly cocoa smell, with a deeper, nuttier smell behind it. When I broke it in half I found a lighter brown, slightly crumbly center–it reminded me of penuche, a type of American fudge.

I can’t tell much about the taste of the chocolate because the coating is quite thin–perhaps a thicker coat would highlight the flavor more. However, the fudge is delicious–slightly crumbly, mildly sweet. It delivers a sugar hit without making your molars ache. It’s a great portion size too– enough to enjoy with some tea, but only 110 calories.

Another winner from Cadbury.

Today I got a package from my friend Cheryl in England! We did a candy swap, There’s a ton of awesome candy in here, and I plan to review them all in a row–this starts an 11 part series on English candy. She sent a list explaining why she chose each candy as well, so I’ll include her notes.

According to Cheryl, Cadbury is “the” chocolate of the UK. I’ve heard that Dairy Milk is delicious and I had to try it first. This came in a purple foil wrapper printed with planets and stars that looked as if they were made of chocolate. The smell–the smell is sooo good. So rich and milky. It smells like the hot chocolate my mother makes on the stove with milk and baking chocolate. The top is embossed with the Cadbury name and different designs It melts just slightly when I touch it, and I can’t wait to dig in.

I put the square on my tongue and let it melt so I could let the feeling wash over me. So good–rich and creamy, with a smooth feeling and a sweet aftertaste which avoids becoming cloying. I had to immediately break off another piece. I could easily eat a bar of this in one sitting–I had to put it up so I wouldn’t, in fact.

I recommend this especially to my American readers–it’s very different from what we’re used to, but in a good way.

These vanilla-flavored Midgees are available during different parts of the year as part of the “Frootees” assortment (I don’t get it either), but they sell bags of simply the vanilla-flavored ones during the holidays. Not that I’m complaining. I love these things.

The bag is a pretty blue-and-white that evokes winter more than it does Christmas. Which is kind of nice, it gives them a bit more longevity. The wrappers are in the same color, and both wrapper and bag inform that this is a LIMITED EDITION (caps intentional)

Once unwrapped the candy resembles a short, albino Tootsie Roll with a very faint milky smell. The Tootsie Roll has its usual soft on the inside, tacky on the inside consistency and a strong vanilla taste–slightly artificial, but delicious nonetheless. They’re very sweet–once I’ve had one of these, I’m good on candy for awhile.

If you don’t like Tootsie Rolls, there’s little here to change your mind. If you’re like me, and you spent your childhood jealously hoarding any that came your way, try these. You just may like them.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here, so I thought I’d review some Christmas-themed candies.

According to Cybele, these used to be made with real white chocolate, but are now made with white mockolate, which is largely made up of vegetable oils. So that’s a disappointment. Still, I was looking forward to these.

The bag is very festive–silver with red stripes. It caught my eye immediately on Target’s shelf of bagged Christmas candy, which is a wonder to behold. So many varieties. The kisses inside carry on the theme–the wrapper is silver, with little red candy canes printed on it, and the flag says “candy cane kisses.”

The kisses are white with red striping, and on some of them you can see the crunchy little nonpareils that were stirred in. When I put one in my mouth, I can tell it’s not real white chocolate–the melt isn’t as smooth and something seems a little off. They’re also extremely sweet. The mint is somewhat intense, although not as much as I was expecting. And for some reason, they’ve included non-flavored nonpareils instead of mint bits.

The funny thing is this–despite the fact these don’t live up to expectations they are, to borrow a word from my friends across the pond, extremely moreish. I have a hard time stopping at two of these. My friend Cheryl e-mailed me about her swap package (she got hers today) and the kisses were one of things she mentioned. So in spite of the fact I feel like I shouldn’t like them, I do. They’d be a fun addition to any holiday candy dish.