Candy Bar Review
SNICKERS FUDGE


I first learned about this several months ago, when Candy Blog gave a brief mention of upcoming products. I think this was back in May, and since then, I have been waiting . . . and waiting . . . and . . . well, you get the idea.

I finally saw the Snickers Fudge bar on sale at Rite Aid today. With my wait finally over, I quickly grabbed a couple of bars for review purposes.

This variation on the Snickers bar replaces the peanut-embedded caramel with a layer of fudge, which is also embedded with peanuts. The peanut butter nougat remains, and the car is covered in milk chocolate.

The fudge layer is clearly the dominant flavor in this bar. It is smooth, creamy, chewy, and well, fudgy. The chocolate flavor of the fudge blends well with the milk chocolate, and the peanuts in the fudge provide the crunch you usually expect from a Snickers bar.

The only drawback is that the fudge completely overwhelms the flavor of the peanut butter nougat. If it weren't for looking at a cross-section after I bit into the bar, I would have had a hard time believing that it was there. If the composition had been fudge and caramel instead of fudge and nougat, I think the flavors of the different components would have remained more distinct.

This is a limited edition, so the standard disclaimer applies. I have no idea how long the Snickers Fudge bar will remain on the shelves. At this point, I have no idea when I will be seeing it on the shelves of other stores. But I will be enjoying this one while I can.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
PEARSON'S CARAMEL BUN


When I wrote yesterday's entry, I already had the necessary research material for this review at hand. I just wanted to write two separate reviews, and as you may have noticed, I don't post more than one entry per day.

The Caramel Bun follows the same basic construction as its maple counterpart. In this case, it's built around a center of caramel, topped with peanuts, and covered with chocolate.

The caramel in this bar is very firm. I like a caramel that is this stiff; it provides the right amount of chewing to distribute the caramel flavor over all of the tastebuds. The sweetness of the caramel is also the dominant flavor in this particular bar, with the flavor of the chocolate relegated almost to a supporting role.

I nibbled at the edge of the Bun, so I could get a taste of just the chocolate. It confirmed the impressions I had when I reviewed the Maple Bun. The milk chocolate Pearson's uses is a little richer than most milk chocolate I encounter. I'm guessing that the percentage of cocoa solids is a little higher than what you would find in Hershey's chocolate, but that theory is something I could confirm only with laboratory analysis. And since I don't have a fully equipped like you would find on NCIS or any of the CSI series (not to mention the knowledge and training of how to use that equipment), you will have to settle for the rather subjective imnpressions gathered with my tongue.

Biting into a Caramel Bun shares similarities with a bite into its maple counterpart. The chocolate is the initial flavor encountered, and slowly, the flavor of the caramel center becomes more pronounced. The main difference is that the caramel lasts longer than the maple cream center, and the caramel flavor lasts longer on the tongue.

As I mentioned, Pearson's makes three varieties of Bun Bars. That still leaves the Vanilla Bun Bar to be reviewed -- and this time, I don't have one of those waiting for me to conduct the proper research. Looks like it's time to conduct a field expedition to locate the necessary research material . . .


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
PEARSON'S MAPLE BUN


I have no trouble finding some candy bars. I can easily find them at Kroger, Walgreens, or just about any other supermarket or pharmacy. Then there are other bars, which I tend to find in out of the way places. The Pearson's Bun Bars are prime examples of the latter. I think I see them most often at Big Lots, but I have also seen them at Meijer and Dollar General.

The Pearson's Bun takes a creamy center (in this case, a maple center), tops it with peanuts, and covers everything with a thick layer of milk chocolate.

I suppose the best way to describe the maple center is to call it a maple cream. The consistency is similar to what you would find inside a box of chocolates. Something like a fondant, very smooth, melts on the tongue, and most importantly, a very rich maple flavor.

As is usually the case, the peanuts are noticeable more for their crunch than their flavor. I suspect that nut lovers of all kinds are usually disappointed by this particular aspect of adding their favorite nuts to any candy; that the flavor of their favorite nut gets lost in all the other flavors that are in the candy bar.

The milk chocolate covers the Maple Bun in a thick layer. I get the impression that it's a thicker layer than the outer shell of most candy bars. It at least feels thicker to my teeth; the chocolate on the Maple Bun gives more resistance as I bite through it. And it also tastes a little richer than the chocolate used in other candy bars on the market.

The chocolate is the dominant flavor when you first bite into a Maple Bun. But as you chew each bite, the maple flavor gradually becomes more pronounced, and by the time you finish with one bite, it is the maple cream center that leaves a sweet aftertaste on your tongue.

Pearson's also makes two other varieties of Bun Bars. And as soon as I can find the necessary research material, I'll probably be writing reviews of them as well.


-jc-

Candy Review
COCONUT M&MS


I was just a little surprised when I saw this M&Ms variation at Dollar Tree yesterday. Cybele May of Candy Blog had written about them recently, in an entry about upcoming releases. But if I'm remembering correctly, she said that the Coconut M&Ms wouldn't be out for another month or so. That was the thing that surprised me.

First, let's get the obvious bits out of the way. This is a variation on the milk chocolate M&Ms candy -- what used to be called "Plain M&Ms." The inside is milk chocolate which has been infused with coconut flavor. No coconut, just the flavor. This coconut-flavored chocolate is covered in the M&Ms sugar shell makes it . . . well, I think you all know the slogan.

The shells for this limited edition have a different color scheme than the usual M&Ms. There are only three colors -- brown, white, and green. Brown and white to represent the outside and inside of a coconut, and green because, well, the M&M spokescharacter Green is featured on the bags. (That's the conclusion that first comes to mind, anyway, and Occam's Razor would seem to apply.) While most of the shells have the usual "M" imprint, a few of the candies bear imprints of the "M" with an umbrella, a palm tree, or a sun. This seems to be in keeping with the tropical theme of this candy.

The coconut flavor is stronger than some of the other flavors Mars has used in previous M&Ms limited editions. This is good; in some of those other variations, the infused flavor was too subtle, almost to the point of it barely registering on my tastebuds. Not here. The coconut and chocolate flavors are on equal footing here. Neither overwhelms or dominates the other.

As I said, there is no actual coconut in these M&Ms. When I tried my first candy, I thought there might have been some coconut in the chocolate, but I quickly realized that any texture I was encountering was the crunching of the candy shell.

As I said, this is a limited edition, so the usual disclaimer applies. I have no idea how long these will stay on the shelves. The tropical theme of both the flavor and the packaging would make it ideal for an annual release every summer. Whether Mars thinks this is a good idea is another matter.


-jc-

Candy Review
STRAWBERRIED PEANUT BUTTER M&MS


The Snickers Nougabot Bar isn't the only tie-in that Mars is producing in conjunction with Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. Mars is also bringing us the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms.

I must confess that this particular edition leaves me just a little puzzled. As i mentioned in my review of the Nougabot Bar, it at least has a connection of some kind to the Transformers through the yellow color of the nougat. There doesn't seem to be any particular connection between this M&Ms variation and the Transformers universe. But as I have mentioned previously, I am not a Transformers fan, so there could easily be a connection, and I am not aware of it.

This edition is a variation on the Peanut Butter M&Ms. It starts with a core of peanut butter, which is covered with milk chocolate that has been infused with strawberry flavor. This is covered with the M&Ms sugar shell. And since I have probably gone through every possible joke on the M&Ms slogan by now, I think I will let you make up one of your own.

The shells have a slightly different color scheme for this edition. There are only three colors for the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms: Red, brown (both of which can be found in the regular M&Ms bags), and a red-splotched yellow. The last one gives the appearance of something yellow that has been splattered with red paint.

The strawberry flavor in the milk chocolate is pleasant, but almost too subtle for this edition. It might have been better if Mars had made an M&Ms edition that was just strawberry-flavored milk chocolate. When the peanut butter is added to the mix, the strawberry flavor is almost too subtle, becoming almost overwhelmed by the flavor of the peanut butter. It isn't a bad combination of flavors; it's just that the strawberry flavor need to be a little stronger to make it a better balance of flavors.

Unlike the Nougabot Snickers, the Strawberried Peanut Butter M&Ms didn't come with any Transformers Bits & Bytes. I was a little surprised, because after last year, I was rather expecting some interesting bits of trivia on the packaging of both movie tie-ins.

And since this is a limited edition, the usual disclaimers should apply. This should be around for at least the first few weeks of release for Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen. After that, I have no idea if Mars will ever plan a re-release. So enjoy them while you can.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
SNICKERS NOUGABOT BAR


For the past few years, Mars has released limited editions of their product line in conjunction with various summer movie releases. Last year, it was Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Two years ago, it was Shrek The Third. This year, the movie is Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, and one of the tie-in products is the Snickers Nougabot Bar.

The Nougabot Snickers is quite similar to the Shrek Snickers bar produced a couple of years ago. In the Shrek bar, the peanut butter nougat was tinted green -- ostensibly the same verdant hue as that title character's epidermis. With the Nougabot bar, the nougat is tinted a bright yellow. (As I understand it, it's supposed to be the same color as one of the "fallen" mentioned in the title. I'm not a Transformers fan, however, so I'm just a little fuzzy on the details.) Other than the coloring of the nougat, the bar is the same as the original Snickers bar.

My first bite of a Nougabot Snickers was very careful. I wanted to take a good look at a cross section of the bar, particularly the nougat. And yes, the nougat is indeed a bright yellow; a sunshiny xanthic hue that Sinestro himself would be proud to display. (Yeah, I know, different fictional universe. It's the analogy that works best for me. Deal with it.) And I did not notice any difference in taste between the Nougabot bar and the original Snickers bar.

Just for verification, though, I gave one of the Nougabot bars to one of my co-workers, and I asked her opinion. I think she was a little put off by the color added to the nougat -- I think she prefers that the nougat stay its normal color. But when I pressed her about the taste, her reply was, "Tastes like a Snickers to me."

At the moment, I have seen the Nougabot Snickers only as bags of Minis. But we should be seeing full-size Nougabot Snickers bars on the shelves soon. After all, the movie won't even be in theaters for another couple of weeks. And since this is a movie tie-in, we should probably see it on the shelves at least through the first month or so of the movie's release. After that, it's going to disappear.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER VANILLA & CHOCOLATE CREME EGG


In my last review, I mentioned that I Russell Stover had repackaged two of their chocolate Easter eggs as "buzzard eggs" for Halloween. The second that I have seen (at least for the moment) is the Vanilla & Chocolate Creme Buzzard Egg.

On the outside, it looks the same as the Marshmallow & Caramel egg I previously reviewed. It's about the size of a Grade A Medium egg. (At least, I think it's the size of a Medium egg. Most of the time, I get Large eggs whenever I buy eggs, so I'm basing my estimation on the fact that these chocolate eggs are just a little smaller than that.) The milk chocolate shell has the same decorative lines that suggest a decorated Easter egg. (Probably using the same molds for both Buzzard Eggs.) And in case I didn't mention it, both of the Buzzard Eggs really are egg-shaped, and are not the flattened ovals that you find in some chocolate Easter eggs.

Inside the shell are two different fondants. One is vanilla flavored, and the other is chocolate flavored. (Or "flavoured," for those of you living in England or Australia.) By the time the product has reached the store, though, the two have started to blend together somewhat. When you bite into one, you can still see the translucent white of the vanilla fondant on one side of the egg, and the more opaque brown of the chocolate fondant on the other. In the middle, however, there is an intermingling of the two.

That intermingling of the two fondants makes it a little difficult to distinguish the two flavors. A more solid center -- say, a truffle filling -- would make it easier to distinctly taste both the chocolate and the vanilla fillings. With the fondant fillings, however, the flavors of the two meld together, rather like chocolate syrup on vanilla ice cream.

Both of the fillings (or perhaps, their combination) are sweeter than the chocolate shell. That sweeter taste serves as a counterpoint to the richness of the chocolate. And the milk chocolate is the same as I have encountered in Russell Stover's other candies. Very rich, very smooth, very creamy.

The same disclaimers that I have used for other Halloween candy apply here as well. The Vanilla & Chocolate Creme Buzzard Egg will be around until the end of October. When November 1 arrives, it will quickly get moved over to a clearance shelf so that the Christmas candy can go on the shelves. More than likely, though, it will reappear for Halloween 2009, as well as making an appearance in the spring in its usual Easter attire, er, packaging.


-jc-

CANDY REVIEW
RUSSELL STOVER MARSHMALLOW & CARAMEL BUZZARD CREME EGG


Last Christmas, I mentioned that Cadbury had decided to get a little more milage out of their Creme Egg by repackaging it with a Christmas theme. I suspect the people at Russell Stover must have noticed this, because for Halloween, they have taken a couple of their chocolate Easter eggs, and are marketing them as "Buzzard Eggs." (Or as the late Jimmy Durante had occasion to say, "Everybody wants to get into the act!")

The "Buzzard Egg" name does evoke a haunting feeling suitable for Halloween. I think a slightly more menacing tone might have been struck by calling them "Vulture Eggs," or maybe even "Monster Eggs." This, of course, might just be a matter of semantics and personal preference, so I won't quibble over their choice.

The first Buzzard Egg I saw in Walgreens was the Marshmallow & Caramel Creme Egg. The outside is a milk chocolate shell, about the size of a Grade A Medium egg. Molded on the outside of the chocolate are a number of wavy lines, which is probably more in keeping with the Easter theme. Inside the shell is a "yolk" of caramel, surrounded by a "white" of marshmallow.

As I have mentioned in my other reviews of various Russell Stover products, their milk chocolate has a richer flavor than most of the milk chocolate you might find in the candy aisle. If I were to hazard a guess, I would say that Russell Stover probably uses a higher amount of cacao in their milk chocolate than does, for instance, Hershey. But this delves into matters of proprietary secrets, and I rather doubt that I would get anything resembling a straight answer from either company, so this will have to remain a matter for speculation and theory.

The marshmallow manages to be both gooey and spongy. It's too gooey to be able to stand up on its own, but it is still spongier than a marshmallow creme. Visually, it looks like something that might come out of a monster's egg, or an alien's egg -- or even an alien monster's egg. It works well for a Halloween candy.

The caramel is one of the more fluid varieties. Unfortunately, there isn't as much of the caramel as there is marshmallow. Depending on where the caramel is positioned inside the egg, and how you bite into the egg, it can be difficult to detect the caramel, both in terms of flavor and texture.

The Marshmallow & Caramel Creme Egg is a harmonious blend of contrasts, both in flavor and in texture. The milk chocolate is silky smooth on the tongue. It has the right amount of firmness, yielding to force applied from the teeth to let the foamy, spongy marshmallow and luscious caramel flow into your mouth. But as I said, there isn't quite as much caramel in the egg as I would have liked. If you aren't careful, it is easy to miss that golden pool of gooeyness, as both the chocolate and the marshmallow are dominant presences.

In terms of flavor, the chocolate is clearly the dominant one in the Marshmallow & Caramel Creme Egg. The marshmallow is a close second, providing a slightly sweeter taste to contrast with the richness of the chocolate. Again, the caramel's third element of sweetness can be elusive if you don't bite into it the right way. I would suggest taking about a third of the egg with the initial bite. After savoring that initial bite, take a look inside the egg. You should be able to see the caramel along one side of the chocolate shell. Go for that side with your second bite to enjoy the caramel to the greatest degree possible. Then finish the egg with one final bite.

This is a Halloween release, so it won't be around much past November 1. That's the bad news. The good news is that it will probably reappear on the shelves next year, somewhere toward the end of August. And of course, you should also see it in its Easter packaging just before the beginning of spring.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
FRY'S TURKISH DELIGHT


This bar is one of several that I have picked up at World Market. It's a British import, made by Cadbury. I've been meaning to write a review of this one for some time. I suppose my friend satyapriya is more or less responsible for my writing it now. She has been writing about preparing to travel to the US for this year's Worldcon. (and as I'm writing this, she's in the US, and on her way to Denver.) In a comment on one entry, her friend mothrababe (a native of Australia) asked satyapriya to bring over a box or two of Fry's Turkish Delight, because they are unavailable in her area. (I told mothrababe about World Market, but unfortunately for her, they don’t have a store in her area.)

There's not much to say when it comes to describing the Fry's Turkish Delight bar. On the outside, it's covered in milk chocolate. Inside is a dense, reddish-colored gel.

I have tried other imported bars by Cadbury. The milk chocolate seems to be the same here as in those other bars. And it seems to be a little richer than most American milk chocolates. It also seems to have a slightly different taste from the American Cadbury chocolate, but I can't be certain without a side-by-side comparison.

As for the gel center -- well, I'm not sure how I can describe it. It has a texture similar to that of a Gummi Bear. The flavor is sweet -- but beyond that, I have no idea what that flavor is. It's slightly fruity, but again, I have no idea what fruit it is supposed to be.

When you take a bite, the chocolate is the first flavor you notice. The flavors of the chocolate and the gel blend together a few seconds later, and the chocolate slowly fades away, leaving you with the lingering mystery flavor of the gel. For me, it's slightly maddening. Even as the gel's flavor lingers, I still cannot decide what it is.

I can see why mothrababe would want satyapriya to bring her a stash of these candy bars. "Delight" is a good name for the bar, because I think delightful is probably the best word to describe it. It would be nice if Cadbury (or rather Hershey, the company who has the license to the Cadbury name here in North America) would make a US version of the bar. I know of at least one person who would be jumping for joy. For that matter, there are probably other British and Australian imports who miss this bar as well.

ADDENDUM: I was in World Market a few days ago, and when I went by the candy section, I saw one woman acting . . . well, like a kid in a candy store. From what she told me, she grew up in Canada, so most of the candy bars that World Market carries were old familiar friends. This included Fry's Turkish Delight, so I asked her what the flavor of the gel was supposed to be.

She told me it was raspberry. Really? Hmmm, I may have to try it again. Obviously, the flavor didn't register as raspberry on my tastebuds the last time.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
SNICKERS ADVENTURE BAR


Last year, M&M/Mars released a tie-in version of their Snickers bar in conjunction with Shrek The Third. Mars didn't do anything too elaborate for the Shrek Snickers -- they colored the nougat a bright green (Shrek green, if you will), but otherwise, it was still the same Snickers bar.

This year, Mars brought out another limited edition Snickers bar as a tie-in with Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Mars played around with the basic Snickers bar for this edition, and the results are rather intriguing.

The copywriters at Mars already did a pretty good job of describing the Snickers Adventure Bar. So instead of banging my head against the wall trying to think of a better way to describe it, I will simply quote from the copy on the back of the wrapper:

"Satisfy your taste for adventure! Rich chocolate. Crunchy nuts. And a cliffhanger kick of exotic spice and a hint of sweet coconut flavor."

I'm not sure what that "exotic spice" is. I've sampled more than a few of the Snickers Adventure Bars, some in side-by-side comparisons with the original Snickers bar. Yes, I can detect something there, but the flavor isn't pronounced enough to be distinct from the other flavors. My first guess is that it's cinnamon, but I can't be completely certain.

As for the coconut flavor, I can detect that. There is more than just a hint of coconut flavor in the Snickers Adventure Bar. I would say that it is quite distinct, even coming close to the point of being the dominant flavor in the bar.

The coconut flavor and the spice (whatever it may be) have been added to the peanut butter nougat. I was curious enough to try separate, minute samples of both the nougat and the caramel. The caramel tastes the same as it always does, studded with peanuts. The nougat is what tastes different. And what the wrapper doesn't say is that the bar is that the whole is covered in milk chocolate.

While the coconut flavor is definitely the dominant taste in the Snickers Adventure Bar, it doesn't overwhelm the other flavors. It blends well with the milk chocolate and caramel, and even accentuates the flavor of the peanuts. And of course, the peanuts provide a satisfying crunch, as always.

There is one other bonus that comes with the Snickers Adventure Bar. On the back of the wrapper are one of eight "Indiana Jones Arti-FACTS." These are various bits of trivia relating both to the Indiana Jones movies, and to the Snickers bar.

The Snickers Adventure Bar comes in both full-size bars and bags of Minis. They have been on the shelves for a few weeks, released to build anticipation for Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. They will be around for at least a few more weeks, but when they go away, they will probably disappear like the Ark at the end of Raiders Of The Lost Ark -- unlikely to ever be seen again, I'm afraid.

Enjoy this limited edition while you can.


-jc-

Candy Review
WILDLY CHERRY M&MS


I'm guessing that Mars produced this limited edition for Valentine's Day. It does seem to be appropriate for the day, in any case. There is just one little thing, though. I don't think I saw this in the stores until a few days after Valentine's Day.

When I first saw the Wildly Cherry M&Ms, I assumed that this would be a twist on the standard milk chocolate M&Ms. I looked at the ingredients list on the back of the package, and quickly discovered that I was wrong. It's not a variation on the milk chocolate M&Ms.

It's a variation on the milk chocolate and dark chocolate M&Ms.

The Wildly Cherry M&Ms are disks of milk chocolate and dark chocolate that have been infused with a cherry flavor. Like the Razzberry M&Ms from a few months ago, these M&Ms are slightly larger than the standard M&Ms.

Of course, like all M&Ms candies, the chocolate is coated with the distinctive sugar shell so that it . . . well, you know the slogan. For this limited edition, the shells come in two colors instead of the various rainbow hues. The milk chocolate M&Ms in this mix have a bright red shell, while their dark chocolate counterparts have a darker red, almost maroon shell. Obviously, Mars is trying to suggest the idea of two different varieties of cherries with these shells.

The cherry flavor is noticeable but not overwhelming. It strongly hints at the idea of a chocolate-covered cherry, but still manages to retain a degree of subtlety. And the cherry flavor seems to be stronger in the milk chocolate M&Ms. I rather suspect that the same amount of flavor has been added to both the milk and dark chocolate, but the stronger flavor of the dark chocolate provides more competition on the tastebuds.

As I said, I would have thought the Wildly Cherry M&Ms would be a perfect choice for Valentine's Day. Maybe they were, and for some reason, they were shipped out later than originally planned. But since I started seeing them right after Valentine's Day, it also means that I have no clear idea of how long they will be staying on the shelves.


-jc-

Candy Review
CADBURY ORNAMENT CREME EGG


"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet."

Cadbury seems to have taken the words of Shakespeare to heart this Christmas. The Ornament Creme Egg should be very familiar to anyone buying candy during the Easter season. It's the same Creme Egg made famous in those commercials with the clucking bunnies, only given a red foil wrapper more suitable for Christmas.

Outside is a shell of Cadbury's creamy milk chocolate. Inside that shell is a soft yellow and white fondant. And as I said, it's the exact same yummy little morsel of sugary goodness that you will encounter in March and April.

Repackaging the Creme Egg for Christmas is a cute idea, but I was a little disappointed with Cadbury. As long as you're making a Christmas version of the Creme Egg, why not give it a little something to make it distinctive from the Easter Creme Egg? While I'm not the world’s biggest fan of peppermint, giving the fondant a touch of peppermint flavor would be a good seasonal touch. Or better yet, give the fondant center a cinnamon flavor. That would be a candy to trigger memories of hot chocolate with cinnamon -- perfect for this time of year.

Since I haven't seen any commercials for the Ornament Creme Egg, I suspect that this year might be something of a trial run for Cadbury. If the Ornament Creme Egg sells well this year, for 2008, we might be lucky to see some Christmas-specific variations.

And I would love to see commercials of clucking bunnies wearing Santa hats.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
TWIX PB


Not long after I picked up the research material I needed for my review of the Twix Peanut Butter bar, I noticed something a little unusual. What I noticed was that particular candy bar was disappearing from the shelves. The disappearing act went on for at least two or three months, and my initial reaction was that Mars had ceased production of the Twix Peanut Butter.

Kind of made my review a little useless, didn't it?

But after two or three months, I began to see it gradually reappearing, with what I thought were merely cosmetic changes. While it was still a predominantly red color, the wrapper had been redesigned, and the candy bar now sported the name Twix PB.

But while I thought the changes were merely cosmetic, a closer look revealed that they went beyond the wrapper. The changes went into the composition of the bar itself.

They changed the cookie.

The vanilla cookie that had been the base of the Twix Peanut Butter (and is the base for the original Twix bar, as well as being the base for most of the recent limited editions) has been replaced by a chocolate cookie. Now, this is a darker chocolate cookie than what was used as the base of the Twix Triple Chocolate bar. As a rough estimate, I would say that Mars put at least twice the cocoa in the batter for these cookies. As a result, the cookie has a deeper, darker, richer brown color.

There is one other noticeable change with the new cookie. Its flavor isn't completely overwhelmed by the milk chocolate and the peanut butter. Those two flavors still fight to be the dominant flavor on your tastebuds, but the cookie's flavor has more presence.

The texture has also changed with the new cookie base, although it is still the dominant texture in this candy bar. I'm not completely sure how to describe the difference, other than to say that there is one. It would be easier if I had samples of the two cookies, without any of the other ingredients. I think I could make an accurate comparison then. I do suspect, though, that if I were to sample both the vanilla and chocolate cookie bases, the chocolate cookie would produce more crumbs as I ate it.

The change in the cookie base is the only one. The rest of the Twix PB remains the same. The cookie base is still topped with a smooth peanut butter, and the whole thing is still enrobed in milk chocolate. And there are still two slender bars in each single size package.

One other thing hasn't changed about the Twix PB. It still doesn't have the contrast in textures that the other Twix bars do. That, of course, is because the peanut butter lacks the chewiness of the caramel present in the other Twix bars.

The flavors of the peanut butter and the milk chocolate make for a good pairing, as they do in just about any other candy where they appear together. The slight saltiness of the peanut butter (very slight in this bar) and the sweetness of the milk chocolate both blend together and contrast with each other simultaneously. And as I said earlier, the chocolate cookie does not completely fade into the background. It provides some slightly darker chocolate undertones which provide an interesting contrast with the milk chocolate.

Switching to a chocolate cookie base for the Twix PB was one of those rare changes that really is an improvement. I hope that Mars decides to use this chocolate cookie in other Twix products. It would work particularly well if Mars ever decides to bring back the Twix White Chocolate bar for another run. As I mentioned when I reviewed that bar, I thought that the overall effect was a little bland. Using the chocolate cookie base would provide the right balance and contrast with the white chocolate.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER STRAWBERRY CREAM PUMPKIN


And here I was, thinking I had run out of pumpkins to review. Well, I was wrong. I found one more offering from Russell Stover.

On the outside, the Strawberry Cream Pumpkin is like all of the other candy pumpkins from Russell Stover -- a vaguely pumpkinish shell of Russell Stover's milk chocolate. Inside that shell is a fluffy strawberry-flavored cream filling.

Well, it's supposed to be strawberry flavored. It's a nice bright pink color, but I really don't detect anything resembling the flavor of strawberry in the center. I really couldn't detect any sort of flavoring in the center, come to think of it. It's sweet, but that is about all I could taste.

Fortunately, the chocolate shell does not disappoint. As always, the chocolate is rich and velvety on the tongue. With this particular candy, the chocolate is the overwhelmingly dominant flavor, because the filling provides almost nothing in the way of contrast.

And since today is Halloween, this may have already disappeared from the shelves of your favorite store. But on the off chance that it hasn't, and you have discovered more than a few still available, I would suggest waiting another 24 hours. The Strawberry Cream Pumpkin is definitely one that can wait until it gets discounted.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOW GHOST


I'm still trying to think of the right riff on the Ghostbusters theme for this review. I know that the best one would involve some reference to Mr. Stay-Puft, but finding the perfect way to make that reference is still eluding me.

One more candy ghost for Halloween, again from Russell Stover. The Chocolate Marshmallow Ghost looks even less like a ghost than the other candy ghosts I have reviewed. More than anything else, it looks like your average candy bar -- rectangular in shape. On the outside, milk chocolate. On the inside, chocolate marshmallow.

The marshmallow, like the marshmallow in the Russell Stover marshmallow pumpkins that I have reviewed, is a little different from the marshmallows you buy in your grocery store. I believe some of the adjectives I have used in describing it are light, fluffy, springy, spongy, and bouncy, just to name a few. The same holds true for the chocolate marshmallow inside the Chocolate Marshmallow Ghost.

The marshmallow is a light brown color. If you can grab a small fragment of the marshmallow all by itself, you will be able to detect the slightest hint of chocolate flavor. Otherwise, it will more than likely be overwhelmed by the rich flavor of Russell Stover's milk chocolate.

I've given the matter a little thought, and I think perhaps a white chocolate outer shell would work better with a chocolate marshmallow. Give the marshmallow just a little more chocolate flavor, and the two would contrast nicely off each other. Actually, giving the marshmallow just a little more chocolate flavor would be an improvement even with the milk chocolate shell. A slightly bolder flavor in the marshmallow would be an improvement no matter what the marshmallow's flavor is. Russell Stover makes a very rich milk chocolate; it needs stronger flavors in its fillings so that the chocolate doesn't overwhelm the fillings.

The Chocolate Marshmallow Ghost does have a nice compact size. With two graham crackers and 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave, you should have instant s'mores. That is an experiment I will have to keep in mind for after October 31. I can wait until after Halloween to play mad scientist in the kitchen.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER COCONUT GHOST


I thought of opening this review with some play on the theme from the movie Ghostbusters. Unfortunately, a satisfactory one doesn't come readily to mind at the moment.

Another Halloween goodie from Russell Stover; this time around, it's the Coconut Ghost. This particular candy didn't suffer from any blurring of details as the Peanut Butter Ghost did. Then again, it doesn't make much of a difference, because there really weren't any details to blur. The candy is an amorphous shape; a shape that vaguely suggests a ghost. Using a mold that would have put some recognizable details in the chocolate would have worked better, if only from an esthetic point of view.

The outer shell, like all of the Russell Stover Halloween candies I have seen so far, is milk chocolate. (I think I may have said this before, but I would love to see the offerings varied with some dark chocolate selections as well.) The chocolate shell surrounds a mass of sweetened coconut.

The obvious comparison would be to an Almond Joy without the almonds, and it's at least a fair one. The coconut tastes similar to that used in both the Almond Joy and Mounds bars, perhaps a little sweeter. And the milk chocolate that Russell Stover uses falls somewhere between Hershey's milk chocolate and their dark chocolate in terms of the percentage of cocoa solids used. (At least, that is how my rather unscientific tongue describes it to my brain.)

The richer milk chocolate dominates the taste of the candy, but its flavor doesn't totally overwhelm that of the coconut. Unlike the peanut butter in the Peanut Butter Ghost, the coconut has a flavor that is strong enough to stand up to the chocolate. And the coconut's chewy texture is enough to make it's presence known as you bite down on the Coconut Ghost.

Standard holiday disclaimer: Keep in mind that the Coconut Ghost, like the other Halloween candies, will be disappearing soon after the trick-or-treaters have made their annual raids on your homes.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
TWIX
TWIX PEANUT BUTTER


Since I started A Chocoholic UnAnonymous, I have written several reviews of different limited edition variations on the Twix bar. For a change of pace, I've decided to do something different. (Or as John Cleese might say, "And now, for something completely different.") I thought it might be interesting to review the Twix bars that are always on the shelves.

I think I may have mentioned this in a previous review, but let's start with a little bit of background. The original Twix bar was first introduced in 1979. It proved to be popular enough that three variations were released during the following year -- Peanut Butter, Chocolate Fudge, and Cookies & Creme. The last two disappeared from the shelves after only a year or two, leaving only the Original and the Peanut Butter Twix bars until the recent limited editions.

The Original Twix bar is a long, thin vanilla cookie, which is topped with caramel, then covered in milk chocolate. An individual-size package contains two of these bars.

The tagline for some recent Twix commercials proclaim, "It's all in the mix." (It might even be the tagline of the current ad campaign; I haven't seen a Twix commercial recently, so I can't say with any degree of certainty.) Yes, the tagline fits, because I think it's a pretty accurate description of what eating a Twix is like. Its about how the various elements of the candy bar come together in your mouth.

When you first bite into the Original Twix bar, the dominant flavor is the milk chocolate. As you chew, the caramel's flavor gradually becomes stronger, until it becomes the last flavor standing on your tastebuds. Occasionally, there are flashes of vanilla coming from the cookie, but at best, it provides undertones of flavor.

The cookie is most noticeable for its texture. Both the caramel and the cookie take equal yet contrasting roles. The caramel is firm and chewy, yet soft enough that it yields to pressure from the teeth. When you bite into a Twix bar, your teeth s-l-o-w-l-y sink through the chocolate and caramel, until they suddenly reach the rigidity of the cookie. But the cookie provides resistance for only a moment. As the teeth shear into the cookie, it gives way with a pleasing crunch. And as you chew, the bits of cookie become distributed through the caramel, giving the caramel an oddly pleasing granular feel.

The Twix Peanut Butter uses the same basic structure as the original bar. As the name suggests, peanut butter replaces the caramel on top of the vanilla cookie, and once again, the whole is enrobed in milk chocolate.

The peanut butter is smooth and creamy. The slightly salty flavor makes a pleasing contrast with the sweetness of the milk chocolate. Unfortunately, the peanut butter is also a little on the bland side. Normally, this would not be a particularly bad thing, but it is almost a little too bland. It almost needs to be just a little bolder, to stand out the same way the caramel does in the Original Twix bar. In the Peanut Butter Twix bar, the peanut butter's flavor is almost a shadow to the chocolate's flavor.

The cookie takes on something of a paradoxical role in the Peanut Butter Twix. On the one hand, the cookie's texture is clearly dominant. Here, the cookie isn't competing against an equally-dominant chewy caramel. The creaminess of the peanut butter clearly fades into the background as the cookie's crunch comes to the forefront. On the other hand, the flavor of the vanilla cookie is bland; even blander than the peanut butter. There doesn't seem to be the occasional flash of cookie flavor as it is ground to crumbs and rolls over your tongue.

Taking that first bite into a Peanut Butter Twix is also a slightly different sensation from the initial bite into an original Twix. Without the viscous resistance of the caramel to slow things down, the teeth quickly snap through the bar. The peanut butter offers little if any resistance, and as a result, the teeth have built up a little more momentum by the time they encounter the cookie.

The one good thing about both of these bars is that they are permanent parts of the Mars product line. I still think the Dark Chocolate Twix is probably the best version that Mars has produced, but unfortunately, they haven’t seen it that way yet.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
REESE'S WHIPPS


As is usually the case, this candy bar took me just a little by surprise when I first saw it in Kroger a few days ago. I picked up a couple of bars for research purposes, and prepared to be pleasantly surprised by this new confectionary delight. (Hey, I am rarely displeased by encountering a new candy bar.)

The Reese's Whipps bar is built around a core of peanut butter nougat. A "light and fluffy" peanut butter nougat, according to the wrapper. (Call me crazy, but I can't recall having ever seen a nougat that wasn't light and fluffy.) This nougat is then covered in milk chocolate.

The nougat is indeed light and fluffy as advertised, and has a rich peanut butter flavor. It has a slightly salty taste to it, which both contrasts and harmonizes with the sweetness of the milk chocolate. The nougat also melts into a river of peanut butter flavor on the tongue as you bite into the bar. I think Hershey uses this nougat as part of the Reese's FastBreak bar. I can't be completely certain of this, though; one of the problems with nougat is that while you can detect its presence in a candy bar, unless it's the sole component of the candy bar's interior (such as in the 3 Musketeers bar), the flavor can be overwhelmed by the other components of the bar's core.

From what I can tell, the flavor of the Whipps's nougat is close to that of the peanut butter nougat in the Snickers bar. Again, I can't be completely certain, for the same reasons I just mentioned. In the Snickers bar, you do notice the presence of the nougat, but it tends to take a back seat to the chocolate, caramel, and peanuts.

Now, if Mars had released this bar instead of Hershey, it probably would be a variant of the Snickers bar. Remember the Snickers Xtreme limited edition that was released last year? That was the Snickers bar without the nougat. The Reese's Whipps bar (or any similar version produced by Mars) is a Snickers bar without the peanut-laden caramel.

The wrapper for the Whipps bar also makes the claim that it has 40% less fat than "the leading chocolate candy." I can believe that. A fluffy candy ingredient such as nougat would be deflated by the addition of too much fat. Besides, Mars makes similar claims for the 3 Musketeers bar.

The Reese's division of Hershey has long known that chocolate and peanut butter are two flavors that work well together. The Reese's Whipps bar is yet another example of how well they do work together.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER PEANUT BUTTER GHOST


Well, I have run out of candy pumpkins to review. So, I'm moving on to Halloween ghost candy. First up, the Russell Stover Peanut Butter Ghost.

This particular candy is more or less ghost-shaped. (It's a little hard to tell; it apparently melted slightly on my way home, and any details of the chocolate mold have been blurred.) The outer shell is Russell Stover's milk chocolate, which surrounds a peanut butter filling.

The taste and texture of the Peanut Butter Ghost is not too dissimilar from that of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. There are distinct differences, though. Russell Stover uses a richer milk chocolate formula than Hershey, and its flavor tends to overpower the flavor of the peanut butter. The peanut butter has, for lack of a better term, a little blander flavor than the Reese's peanut butter. I don't know what it might be, but the peanut butter that Russell Stover uses is lacking in something that would give it more of a punch. There isn't anything to strike a contrast with the chocolate. And as a result, it's not as good as it could be.

Nice try, but I will have to say "Booooo!" to this ghost.


-jc-

Candy Review
HERSHEY ORANGE MARSHMALLOW PUMPKIN


Pumpkins and oranges are only similar when it comes to color. They don't share any sort of similarities when it comes to flavor. So if you are going to produce a candy pumpkin with a marshmallow interior that is the color of a pumpkin, why not also give it the flavor of a pumpkin?

Hmmmmm . . . I may have just gone into overanalyzing when it comes to these reviews.

Like Russell Stover, Hershey has its own version of an orange marshmallow pumpkin. Outside, it's Hershey’s milk chocolate. Inside is marshmallow that has been both tinted and flavored orange.

The orange marshmallow seemed to be a little denser than the marshmallow in the Hershey Marshmallow Pumpkin. It's still not quite as dense as the marshmallow in the S'Mores bar, but it doesn’t have the sponginess that I have found in some of the other marshmallow pumpkins.

The orange color of the marshmallow in Hershey's pumpkin is as bright and vivid as that of the marshmallow in Russell Stover's version. The flavor, however, is another matter. Hershey's pumpkin has a very noticeable orange flavor. It reminds me of the orange flavor in the Cadbury Orange Creme Egg that was produced for the first time this past Easter -- very sweet, with a pleasant orangey aftertaste that remained in the mouth long after you finished with a bite. The stronger orange flavor harmonizes well with the milk chocolate, and would probably do equally well with a dark chocolate shell. (Not-so-subtle hint here!)

Okay, maybe a marshmallow pumpkin with a pumpkin-flavored marshmallow wouldn't sell as well. I think it would be interesting to see a pumpkin-shaped candy that actually tasted like pumpkin. Well, pumpkin pie, at least.


-jc-

Candy Review
HERSHEY MARSHMALLOW PUMPKIN


And here I thought that I was finished with reviewing chocolate pumpkins. I forgot that Russell Stover isn't the only candy maker to make chocolate pumpkins for Halloween. Hershey makes a pumpkin or two of their own.

Hershey's version of the Marshmallow Pumpkin isn't all that different from Russell Stover's version. Both have an outer shell of milk chocolate, and an interior of marshmallow. The shell is molded in the shape of a pumpkin, although it is not as elaborate as some of the Russell Stover pumpkins. (And one interesting thing to note is that while almost all of the wrappers for these chocolate pumpkins feature art of a pumpkin carved into a jack-o-lantern, none of the candies themselves are jack-o-lanterns.)

The shell is Hershey's usual milk chocolate; nothing out of the ordinary. The marshmallow was a little disappointing to me. Hershey does great marshmallow. Just try one of their S'Mores bars, and you will experience a wonderfully dense, chewy marshmallow. Unfortunately, Hershey didn't use that wonderful marshmallow for this pumpkin. Instead, they used a marshmallow with a lighter, springier, spongier texture. It's a little sweeter than your average Jet-Puffed marshmallow, which does make for a good contrast of flavors with the chocolate. But after sinking my teeth into a S'Mores bar and its marshmallow, I have found that I really want to experience that marshmallow more often.

I find that I am running out of ways to state the obvious. You know, that since this is a seasonal product, it will be around only until the end of the holiday. I figure that most people would already know that, but I suppose it never hurts to mention it. In any case, if you wait until November 1 to look for these, you will be stuck with whatever gets pushed to the clearance shelves.


-jc-

Candy Review
3 MUSKETEERS MINIS MIX
(2007 edition)


When I reviewed the various limited edition Minis that Mars released last year, I commented in each review that Mars had made one big mistake. All of them were released about seven weeks too early, in the middle of summer. I thought that Mars should have waited until the Halloween season rolled around, because the small size would have been a natural to give out to the assorted ghosts, witches, Power Rangers, and other trick-or-treaters.

The inordinately immodest part of me (yes, there is a part of me that's like that) wants to think that someone at Mars must have seen those reviews. The more practical side of me suspects that lots of other consumers felt the same way, and told Mars on their 800 line. Whether someone at Mars read my reviews or not, whether someone at Mars even saw my reviews or not, someone agreed with the sentiments expressed in those reviews, as I learned when I saw store personnel at Walgreens stocking the seasonal aisle with Halloween candy.

I think bags of the Twix Minis Mix were the first to catch my eye. They were the same as last year's Minis Mix -- Original, Dark Chocolate, and Triple Chocolate. I haven't seen the Snickers Peanuts Chews, but there is a Snickers Minis Mix that has the original Snickers, Snickers Almond, and Snickers Dark Minis. (No Snickers Dark Almond, though, which is something of a disappointment.)

Then I saw the 3 Musketeers Minis Mix. It turned out to be slightly different from last year's version. This one doesn't contain the original 3 Musketeers in mini form. (Both the original 3 Musketeers and the recently-released 3 Musketeers Mint get bags of Minis all to themselves.) It does have the French Vanilla and Mocha Cappuccino varieties that were released last year. Joining them in this year's edition is a third variation, 3 Musketeers Strawberry.

(I should point out that this may be a case of Mars bringing back a blast from their past. From what I have read, the 3 Musketeers bar originally had three different flavors inside -- chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. As far as I can tell, though, Mars abandoned the three different flavored centers for just the chocolate nougat center long before I was born.)

The French Vanilla and Mocha Cappuccino varieties are the same as they were in last year's Minis Mix, so you might want to refer back to my earlier review for those two. (Just look for the "3musketeers" tag.) I think I may have suggested that either of those two might be even better if they had been enrobed in dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate. My initial encounter with the 3 Musketeers Mint a few weeks ago strengthens that earlier opinion. Dark chocolate would provide a stronger flavor contrast with both the vanilla and coffee-flavored nougats.

Like the other two, the Strawberry 3 Musketeers Mini is covered in milk chocolate. Inside is a bright pink strawberry-flavored nougat. Unfortunately, the strawberry flavor is mostly an artificial flavor. It's more than a little noticeable on the tastebuds, too; there is something that says "almost, but not quite" strawberry as the nougat rolls over your tongue. Using natural flavors would have been a great improvement with this Mini.

Becoming reacquainted with both the French Vanilla and Mocha Cappuccino Minis reaffirmed my desire to see either or both of these 3 Musketeer variations as full size bars, whether they are covered in milk chocolate or dark chocolate. I think the Strawberry still needs just a little tweaking before I would want to see it as a full size bar, though. If it is ever produced as a full size bar, though, the Strawberry definitely needs to be covered in milk chocolate. I think the flavor of dark chocolate would overwhelm the strawberry flavor.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER COCONUT CREME PUMPKIN


I think this is going to be the last of the pumpkin reviews. If I'm not mistaken, I have run through all of the various candy pumpkins that Russell Stover makes for Halloween. I should point out, though, that they also make candy ghosts.

The Coconut Creme Pumpkin is a little different from the other pumpkins from Russell Stover. The ones I tried previously had a three-dimensional quality to them. The surface had gently rounded ridges, mimicking the look of a real pumpkin. I thought that one of them might have even had the face of a jack-o-lantern "carved" on the surface, but I could be confusing that with the wrappers. All of the art on the wrappers have featured pumpkins that have been carved into smiling jack-o-lanterns.

In contrast, the Coconut Creme Pumpkin has a shape that can only be described as being a "generic pumpkin" shape. By that, I mean that it is a more or less round shape with a protrusion representing the stem at one end.

The outer shell is milk chocolate. Inside is a fluffy, coconut-flavored creme filling. There are a few bits of shredded coconut here and there in the filling, but for the most part, the coconut is in the flavor.

This might be a coconut candy that Steve Almond would like. While, as I said, there is a small amount of coconut in the creme filling, I don’t think there is enough to elicit the effect that Almond has likened to dental floss. (Of course, he might feel that any amount of coconut would produce that effect, so he would of course have to have the final say on that matter.)

The flavors of the milk chocolate and the coconut blend well together. With the Coconut Creme Pumpkin, the combination is not what I would call earth-shattering. Instead, I would call it agreeable. The two flavors get along amiably on the tongue, and the contrasting degrees of sweetness are pleasing to the tastebuds.

I have been slightly disappointed by one thing in Russell Stover's selection of Halloween candies. All of the pumpkins that I have seen have had outer shells of milk chocolate. During the Easter season, Russell Stover produces various candy eggs. Some of them have milk chocolate shells; some have dark chocolate shells. (I think the ratio is 50/50, but I will probably have to wait until Easter again to confirm that.) Why can't they do the same at Halloween?


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER CARAMEL & MARSHMALLOW PUMPKIN


Okay, so far, I've reviewed a marshmallow candy pumpkin from Russell Stover (two of them, in fact), and a caramel candy pumpkin from the same company. So what else could Russell Stover do in the way of candy pumpkins? Well, how about a pumpkin that combines the two?

Inside the by now familiar pumpkin-shaped shell of milk chocolate is a combination of both vanilla marshmallow and caramel. The marshmallow takes up most of the inside of the pumpkin, but that is volume alone. If you go in terms of weight, the two seem to be about equal.

At first, I thought I would compare this to the GooGoo Cluster, minus the peanuts. That's not a particularly accurate description, though. The marshmallow in the Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin (try saying that three times fast) is much too light and fluffy. It has a certain springiness; so springy that you almost think your teeth will bounce off the pumpkin as you bite into it. The marshmallow in the GooGoo Cluster, on the other hand, is denser, less spongy. When you bite into one of those, your teeth s-l-o-w-l-y sink into the Cluster.

The caramel is rich and chewy, just as it is in the pumpkin where the caramel is flying solo. But I have noticed one thing with the caramel in both of the Russell Stover pumpkins featuring caramel. In both cases, the caramel is smooth, yet I get a certain sensation of graininess in my mouth. It is not an unpleasant sensation, but it is a rather odd one.

And since I did mention the GooGoo Cluster a couple of paragraphs ago, I should note one other thing. In my reviews of both the GooGoo Cluster and the GooGoo Supreme, I described biting into both as a pure sugar rush. That isn't quite the case with the C&M Pumpkin. Yes, it's sweet; it just doesn't hit you the same way. Which might be a good thing if you are serving them to the little ghosts and goblins at a Halloween party.

And as I have already mentioned, you have a deadline for locating these particular goodies. They will be around through the end of October, but even if there are some few stragglers that survive the Halloween candy rush, they won't survive very long after that. Discounted prices and Christmas candy muscling its way onto the shelves will see to that.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER VANILLA MARSHMALLOW PUMPKIN


Most candy companies would be satisfied to be selling one marshmallow pumpkin during the Halloween season. Not, however, Russell Stover. As I mentioned a few days ago, they have an Orange Marshmallow Pumpkin, and to go with it, there is also the Vanilla Marshmallow Pumpkin.

Structurally, the Vanilla Marshmallow Pumpkin (hereafter referred to as the VMP) is the same as the Orange Marshmallow Pumpkin (henceforth known as the OMP, because typing out the full names is starting to feel just a little silly). A milk chocolate shell in the shape of a pumpkin is formed around a marshmallow center. The only difference is that the marshmallow in the VMP is a brilliant white rather than a blazing orange, and it is vanilla-flavored.

Well, I should probably say that it is nominally vanilla-flavored. I might have detected the slightest hint of vanilla here and there, but the overwhelming flavor in this candy comes from the milk chocolate. As I have mentioned in other reviews, Russell Stover uses a rich, indulgent milk chocolate in this candy; the same as in its other candy pumpkins.

Other than the color and flavor, the marshmallow is the same in the VMP and the OMP. Light, fluffy, springy, spongy, bouncy -- I think I have used all of those adjectives previously, and I am using them now because they still fit. When I reviewed the OMP, I mentioned the idea of using one to make some s'mores in the microwave. I could easily do the same with the VMP as well.

I might be mistaken, but it seems that Russell Stover doesn't use the same pumpkin molds for all of its candy pumpkins. I think I saw two slightly different pumpkin shapes for the different pumpkins. I might have been imagining things, but if I’m not, it is a nice touch.

I suppose if I ate enough of the Vanilla Marshmallow Pumpkins, it's possible that even I might get tired of them. Since they are a seasonal item, though, that shouldn’t be too likely to happen.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
BOUNTY


I picked up this particular candy bar at World Market not long ego. It's an import, from the British unit of Mars. But it is not a candy bar with which I am unfamiliar.

Mars marketed the Bounty candy bar in the US in the early 1980s. Maybe the late 1970s; I keep thinking that I first saw them in either 1979 or 1980. In any event, Bounty did not prove to be popular with American consumers, because they disappeared after only a few years. It was apparently more popular in England, because Mars continues to make Bounty for that market.

Bounty was Mars's answer to the Mounds candy bar. The Bounty is an oblong slab of sweetened coconut, which is covered in chocolate. Each package contains two pieces. Mars produces the Bounty in both milk chocolate and dark chocolate versions.

This time, I selected the milk chocolate Bounty. (If I'm not mistaken, that may have been all that World Market had at the time.) I remember trying both version of the Bounty oh so long ago, and the bar I tried for this review didn't seem to differ with my memory of those earlier bars.

Bottom line: The milk chocolate Bounty isn't that different from a milk chocolate Mounds (something that Peter Paul did produce in the early 1970s) or an Almond Joy without the nuts. The Bounty's coconut might be a little moister, and maybe just a little sweeter. And there is a slight difference between the Bounty’s milk chocolate and the milk chocolate in Mars's other candy bars, but I attribute that to slight differences in formulas being used in different countries.

Since it is an import, it's also a little pricier than what I would find at Kroger or Walgreens, so I probably won't be making the Bounty a regular buy. But as is the case with any of the candy bars I pick up at World Market, it was interesting to try. And I may be getting another one soon. The name "Bounty" sounds like it would be something perfect to enjoy on International Talk Like A Pirate Day, which is September 19.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER CARAMEL PUMPKIN


As you perhaps may have noticed, Labor Day has come and gone. We have seen yet another Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, and Atlanta has survived yet another Dragon*Con. At least, I think it has. In absence of any news to the contrary, I will have to assume that Atlanta has survived yet again. But I’m going off on a tangent (or perhaps a cosecant).

The Halloween candy has begun appear on the shelves of your favorite supermarket, pharmacy, and department store. It looks as though I need to start reviewing now. I think there may be quite a few confectionary delights awaiting my analysis.

This time around, it's another candy pumpkin from Russell Stover Candies. Inside this pumpkin-shaped shell of milk chocolate is a caramel center.

I'm still trying to decide how to describe the flavor of Russell Stover's milk chocolate. Yes, I have said that it is richer than the average milk chocolate you encounter in the stores. But as Buffy Summers once said, "Can you vague that up a little?" Unfortunately, the right adjective is proving more than a little elusive at present. I am confident enough in saying that Stover's milk chocolate contains more cacao solids than your average store brand. In fact, I think that if you took the milk solids out of this milk chocolate, this would be coming very close to being a dark chocolate.

Inside, the caramel is firm -- firm enough to provide a solid support for the milk chocolate shell, yet still soft enough to yield to the teeth. As you bite into the pumpkin, you feel your teeth sinking into the caramel. This is the type of caramel that I like the best. It stays in place, and more importantly, it doesn't ooze excessively. (Okay, it doesn't ooze at all; that's what I really like about it.)

As is the case with most of Russell Stover's Halloween candies, they are sold by the piece. (Well, I suppose I should say that I haven't noticed any of their candies being sold in bags.) So instead of buying them for any and all little hobgoblins that come knocking on your door, it might be a better idea to buy them for just a few special trick-or-treaters when Halloween rolls around.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
NESTLE CRUNCH CRISP


Some candy bars by their very name tell you what to expect. For instance, take the Nestle Crunch bar. The name suggest that the bar is, well, crunchy. But then there is something like "Crunch Crisp." Doesn’t that name sound as though it comes from the Department Of Redundancy Department?

Well, not really. The name was chosen to suggest two different yet subtle shadings. While both "crisp" and "crunch" suggest the same basic texture, "crisp" usually denotes the lighter, airier, more delicate end of that spectrum. "Crunch," on the other hand, usually refers to a heartier, much more robust version.

The Nestle Crunch Crisp bar layers several sugar wafers with a chocolate filling. These wafers are covered in milk chocolate, and crisped rice tops the bar (with possibly additional chocolate to ensure that the rice stays in place.

Biting into a Crunch Crisp bar is a blend of contrasting textures and flavors. The wafers are light and airy, yet provide a firm resistance to the teeth. They are probably what you notice most about the bar, since the wafers are the bar's largest component. The crisped rice is less noticeable, acting more as a undertone to the bar.

In terms of flavor, the milk chocolate and the vanilla flavor of the wafers vie for equal attention for your tastebuds. The contribution of the rice is again more subtle, providing a malty undercurrent, like a bass who goes almost unnoticed because of the two lead singers.

I would have to say that the Crunch Crisp bar is more crispy than crunchy. I think that the bar would work a little better if there were more crisped rice to provide more of a crunch to the bar. At the moment, though, I'm not entirely certain how that could be achieved.


-jc-

Candy Review
RUSSELL STOVER ORANGE MARSHMALLOW PUMPKIN


At Easter, we get chocolate bunnies and eggs. At Halloween, it's chocolate pumpkins. Some of them are familiar, but slightly altered, like the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups that magically morph into Peanut Butter Pumpkins. (No fairy godmother involved, by the way.) Then there are the candies that are brought out just for the season.

If you haven't guessed by now, this particular offering from Russell Stover is one of the latter. On the outside, it's milk chocolate, and roughly in the shape of a pumpkin. Make that a rather flattened pumpkin. Inside is a marshmallow filling, both orange flavored and orange in color.

I suspect that when I mention the name "Russell Stover," you are more likely to think of boxes of chocolates. And I'm also guessing that you probably think of a chocolate that might be a notch or two above your average candy bar. Well, that's a fair assessment. The milk chocolate does seem to have a richer flavor than the usual offerings from Hershey, Nestle, or Mars. I would guess that the chocolate contains a slightly higher amount of cacao solids, but I would have to run an analysis to confirm that guess. And since I have neither the facilities nor the technical expertise to run such an analysis, I will rely on the far less accurate analysis that my tongue can provide.

I mentioned that the marshmallow center was orange flavored. It's just the barest hint of orange flavor, though. Just enough of a hint to nudge the tastebuds, and spark a few synapses along the neural pathways. By contrast, the orange color of the marshmallow is quite vivid, and most definitely noticeable after you take your first bite of the pumpkin.

The marshmallow has a light, springy, spongy feel as you bite into the candy. A spongier feel than what you would get from a your average Jet-Puffed marshmallow. Depending on what you might be expecting when you take that first bite, it could be a little disconcerting. I will confess that I had the thought of putting half an Orange Marshmallow Pumpkin on a graham cracker, and putting it in the microwave to make s'mores. It would be interesting to see how well it would perform.

Because of the holiday nature of candies like these, I already know that they are limited editions. Better get them quick, because at the stroke of midnight on October 31, these pumpkins turn into . . . well, they get marked down so that they will vanish even more quickly.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
HERSHEY MILK CHOCOLATE WITH CRISP CORN BITS


My first reaction when I saw this new candy bar was something along the lines of, "That's a little strange." With my initial glance, I thought it said "Milk Chocolate With Crisp Bits," which looked more than a little awkward to me. In fact, I first thought it was a rather strange renaming of Hershey's Krackel bar. It was only with a second, more careful look that I noticed the word "corn" in much smaller letters. The name is still a little awkward, but now it makes a little more sense.

Okay, Hershey definitely could have thought of a better name for this candy bar. On the other hand, I don't have to spend a lot of time describing the bar to you. It's precisely what the name on the wrapper says it is -- Hershey's milk chocolate, which has had crisp bits of corn added to it.

That being said, I'm not completely sure what those crisp corn bits are. I wouldn't call them popcorn; the bits have a crunchier, grittier texture than popcorn would have. And they definitely aren't whole kernel, because most kernels of corn are larger than the thickness of the standard Hershey chocolate bar. My best guess is that the corn is toasted and ground before it is added to the chocolate, and I honestly have no idea which of those steps come first.

As I suggested just a moment ago, the corn bits add a certain crunch to the bar. The corn also adds a certain flavor undertone. It isn't a malty flavor, like the rice in the Krackel bar adds. It also isn't a popcorn flavor, either. It is something that is recognizable as a corn flavor, but other than that, it remains vague, elusive, difficult to pin down.

I first saw this bar around the middle of May. At that time, it was available only in the giant size bars. I think it was about another couple of months before the regular size bars began arriving on the shelves of the stores. At the moment, it looks as though it will be a regular part of the Hershey product line, but of course that will depend on how well it is received by the public.


-jc-

Candy Review
NESTLE TURTLES


A few months ago, I reviewed two Turtles -- Nestle White Fudge Turtles and Nestle Dark Chocolate Turtles, to be precise. After looking around, I realized that I hade never reviewed the original Turtles candy. As Shannon Foraker once said, "Oops." Obviously, this review is supposed to rectify that situation.

Okay, I promise no jokes about the "®" symbol this time. I think I pretty much milked it in the first two reviews. (Which is rather strange, since this is the time that I'm reviewing the version that has milk chocolate.)

The core of all of the Turtles is the same. All three varieties are built around a blob of caramel which has been imbedded with pecans and cashews. In the original version, the caramel and nut blob is then covered in milk chocolate.

As I noticed in my review of the Dark Chocolate Turtles, they were smaller than the White Fudge Turtles that came out around Valentine's Day. At the time, I guessed it was because the White Fudge Turtles were being sold as single pieces, while the Dark Chocolate Turtles were being sold in a box. The original Turtles are about the same size as their dark chocolate counterparts, and that seems to support my theory. Which is a little disappointing, because I want something that is more than just a bite or two.

I think this time I picked up some Turtles that didn't have the nuts chopped as finely as some other batches have had. I really couldn't differentiate the texture differences between the pecans and the cashews, but this batch seemed to have more crunch to it.

The milk chocolate is the first thing that your tongue encounters as you bite into a Turtle. But unlike the dark chocolate version, the milk chocolate flavor doesn't completely dominate your tastebuds. Gradually, almost grudgingly, the vanilla flavor of the caramel begins sliding around your tongue, and is generally the last thing to leave your mouth. And as I have also mentioned in both previous reviews, the caramel is firm enough to hold the shape of the candy, yet soft and yielding enough to provide the right amount of chewiness.

After sampling three different Turtles from Nestle, I'm asking myself one simple question. What else can they do with this particular candy? If I gave myself just 10 or 15 minutes, I could easily think of a dozen or more ideas. But that doesn't do me any good. What I need is for Nestle to think of those aforementioned dozen or so ideas, and not only that, put them into production.


-jc-

Candy Review
RAZZBERRY M&MS


I just saw this new limited edition earlier this morning. To give you an idea of just how new it is, I was in the same store last night, and the display with the Razzberry M&Ms was not in place then. (And the retail display for this candy is not easy to miss; if it had been there last night, I would have noticed it.)

The Razzberry M&Ms are larger than the standard M&M size. If I'm not mistaken, they are the same size as the Mega Size M&Ms. I would probably say that they are about twice the size of the standard M&Ms. They are milk chocolate, which has had raspberry flavor infused into it. Instead of the usual multi-hued rainbow, the outer candy shells are a uniform dark pink. I think Mars was trying for that shade of magenta that most of us think of as "raspberry," but what they got was just a shade or two lighter. The color I think they were trying to get is the primary color of the wrapper. Now, that is a shade I would call raspberry.

I like the combination of raspberry and chocolate. (Hell, I like the combination of chocolate with just about any fruit.) And Mars did a fairly decent job with the Razzberry M&Ms. The raspberry flavor is subtle; almost a little too subtle at times. I think the candy could have been improved if the raspberry flavor was slightly more intense, but that may be my own personal preferences coming into play. And as always, the crunch of the candy shell adds an interesting texture to the blend.

The raspberry and milk chocolate go well together, but I think that raspberry is a flavor that goes best with dark chocolate, and I was a little disappointed that Mars didn't try this as a Dark Chocolate M&M. Again, though, this may be just my personal preferences coming into play.

As I said, I saw the Razzberry M&Ms for the first time today, so they should be around for at least a month or two. I don't really see this becoming part of the regular Mars product line, though. For some reason, it just has the feel of something that Mars released because they thought it would be fun to do.


-jc-

Candy Review
REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER & BANANA CREME CUP


It's hard to believe that it has been almost 30 years since Elvis left the building for the last time. (The actual date is August 16, to be precise.)

Hershey chose a unique way to commemorate the anniversary. One of Elvis's favorite things to eat was a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and Hershey drew upon that as inspiration for their latest limited edition, the Reese's Peanut Butter & Banana Creme Cup. Wait, it's not a limited edition. The wrapper calls it a "collector edition."

One of the first places I saw the Banana Creme Cup was at Dollar General, at the cash register. I asked the cashier if she had tried it. She had, and she went on to tell me that she thought it was much better than the Reese's Peanut Butter/Caramel Cup. The main reason she thought it was better was that the Banana Creme Cup didn't leave a circular patch of chocolate stuck to the paper cup when it was removed.

The Banana Creme Cup is constructed the same way as both the Peanut Butter/Caramel and Peanut Butter/Marshmallow Cups. A layer of banana creme is deposited in the empty milk chocolate cup. Peanut butter is placed on top of it, and the cup is finally sealed with a top layer of milk chocolate.

As that cashier told me, the Banana Creme Cup doesn't leave a large part of itself behind when you remove the paper cup. My own theory is that the banana creme is firmer, less gooey than the caramel or marshmallow. As a result, it makes the bottom of the cup more structurally sound.

The banana creme is very sweeter; sweeter than the milk chocolate. It provides a harmonious contrast with the slight saltiness of the peanut butter. And the milk chocolate with the two to make it a three-part harmony on your tastebuds. No one flavor dominates; instead, as the candy rolls over your tongue, first one flavor, then a second, then the third has its solo moment.

Now, other than a banana split, I can't remember eating anything that combined the flavors of chocolate and banana before. (While I probably have, I just can't remember when at the moment.) While I do recall seeing some banana-flavored candies in the past, I am fairly certain that I have not seen one that combined banana and chocolate before. That's a shame, because it's a combination that works very well.

The wrapper features an image of Elvis in his prime (before he started packing on the pounds), and the back of the wrapper features Elvis trivia. For instance, did you know that Elvis paid $102,500 when he bought Graceland in 1957? Or that Elvis gave nearly 1,100 concert performances during his "concert years" of 1969 to 1977?

The Banana Creme Cups come in both the regular size cups and the Big Cups. (Make that "King Size" cups, thank you very much.) I first saw them on the shelves in June, and I am certain that they will stay on the shelves at least through August, if not longer. I have no idea when they will leave the building, but if Elvis's legion of fans like it, this is one limited edition (collector edition!) that could easily make a comeback by popular demand.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
SNICKERS -- SHREK SPECIAL EDITION


The third Shrek movie (named, appropriately enough, Shrek The Third) opened this past weekend. But even before the movie was released, various tie-in products began appearing on the shelves.

M&M/Mars produced several special versions of their candies in conjunction with the movie. Some took a simplistic approach. For instance, the Shrek M&Ms were merely oversized versions of the regular candy -- or "Ogre-Sized," to use the copy from the wrappers.

The special edition of the Snickers bar, though, took a more imaginative approach. The peanut butter nougat was tinted green -- presumably matching the same shade of green as Shrek's skin, but it probably varied with different batches. The wrapper called it "Green Shrek Filling."

Other than the verdant hue (which looked fairly close to a lime green to me), everything else about the bar stayed the same. The milk chocolate, the peanut-studded caramel -- it all looked and tasted the same. Even the peanut butter nougat tasted the same as a regular Snickers bar. Just green.

The green nougat was a cute idea, but after Shrek The Third's initial release, it's unlikely that we'll see it again. Even if M&M/Mars has a licensing agreement for the next movie, they will probably try to think of doing something new and different for that.

Of course, I can think of one holiday that would be perfect for a green nougat. That would be St. Patrick's Day, of course. It might even work better if Mars tinted the vanilla nougat of the Milky Way Midnight bar a bright green for sale around March 17.


-jc-

Candy Review
CADBURY ORANGE CREME EGG


One of the mainstays of Easter candy for over a decade has been the Cadbury Creme Egg. This year, Cadbury added something new to their Easter selections -- the Orange Creme Egg.

Like the original Creme Egg, the Orange Creme Egg has an outer shell of milk chocolate surrounding a soft fondant center. The fondant even has "yolk" and "white" colors, just like the original Creme Egg's fondant. But there are slight differences. In the orange Creme Egg, the "yolk' part of the fondant is a rich, vivid orange rather than a bright yellow color, and the "white" part of the fondant has just the slightest touch of orange color. Not too much; just enough to be noticeable. And the fondant also has an orange flavor.

The shell is Cadbury's milk chocolate -- a slightly richer chocolate that most domestic milk chocolates. The shell is substantial; thick enough to ensure that the fondant center doesn't leak out until you bite into the egg.

When you do bite into the Orange Creme Egg, you first encounter that smooth, rich chocolate. That is followed by a burst of sweet orange flavor as the fondant hits your tongue. The two flavors blend together harmoniously on the tastebuds, bringing together different notes of sweetness.

When the original Creme Eggs first came out years ago, I would stock up on them both before and after Easter. In more recent years, my attention turned to the Cadbury Caramel Egg, which I found more to my own preferences. Now, I may have another chocolate egg that I might find myself stockpiling.

Because of its seasonal nature, the Orange Creme Egg will be gone once the Easter Bunny has hopped off into the sunrise of Easter. I'm willing to bet, though, that we will be seeing it again next year. I think Cadbury might have another winner on their hands. Now if they would just bring back the commercials with the clucking bunnies . . .


-jc-

Candy Review
WONKA GOLDEN CREME EGG


In previous reviews, I have lamented that for the most part, Nestle has used its Wonka license for non-chocolate candies. Well, for Easter, Nestle has brought out the rare Wonka chocolate product, the Wonka Golden Creme Egg.

Like the Cadbury Creme Egg, this candy egg truly is egg-shaped, and not a flattened oval, although it is more symmetrical than Cadbury's eggs. It's closer to a football shape, but I am digressing. The wrapper describes the Golden Creme Egg as "chocolate creme and caramel with graham flavored cookie pieces in a milk chocolate shell."

The outer shell is Wonka milk chocolate, and nothing but Wonka milk chocolate. All the better to surprise the person who didn't pay attention to the copy on the golden foil wrapper -- or the youngster who sees it only as an obstacle to the confectionary yumminess inside. The chocolate creme and caramel lay nestled side by side inside the chocolate shell, with the graham cookie pieces inside the chocolate creme.

The caramel is firm, not flowing. It's firm enough to be chewy, which is always a plus to me. The semi-liquid caramel that I have encountered in some candies is pleasant enough, but there is always the problem of keeping the caramel under control once you bite through the chocolate shell. That is not a problem here.

The graham cookie pieces are slightly smaller here than they are in the Wonka Bar. They provide the same crunch, but either their smaller size or the amount of cookie pieces in the egg (possibly a combination of both) mutes the effect of the crunch ever so slightly. And while the flavor of the cookie pieces is quite noticeable in the Wonka Bar, in the Golden Creme Egg it is almost overwhelmed by the sweetness of the caramel and the chocolate creme.

It's a little difficult to distinguish between the chocolate creme inside and the milk chocolate shell outside. The two are just too similar; the total product would have been better if one had been a darker chocolate. Having said that, it's probably the only major complaint I have with the Golden Creme Egg.

As is the case with all seasonal candy, the Wonka Golden Creme Egg will fade away from the shelves once Peter Cottontail has finished his annual hop down the bunny trail. I strongly suspect, though, that it will reappear somewhere around February 15. I think this is one that be making annual appearances from now on.


-jc-

Candy Review
HERSHEY MILK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE KISSES


This particular twist on the Hershey's Kiss caught me a little by surprise. Not the product itself. After I saw the Dark Chocolate Truffle Kisses last year, I figured that it was only aa matter of time before Hershey decided to produce a milk chocolate version.

What surprised me was the packaging. These Kisses don't come in the usual bags of varying sizes. Instead, they are packaged in triangular prism shape -- something quite similar to the packaging for the Toblerone candy bars. There are only five Kisses in each of these packs. And these Kisses are larger than usual; roughly 50% larger.

The Kisses are a shell of Hershey's extra creamy milk chocolate. Inside that shell is a chocolate truffle filling. It's the same truffle filling that Hershey has used for the Dark Chocolate Truffle Kisses, the Truffle Nuggets, and the Cacao Reserve Truffles.

The milk chocolate is as smooth and creamy as usual. The shell seems to be thicker than it would on a standard size Kiss, which means that there is proportionally less of the truffle filling than there would be if this was a standard size Kiss. From just an eyeball guess, it looks as though the truffle filling in this Kiss is the same amount as it is in the Dark Chocolate Truffle Kisses. This is only a guess, though, and not anything resembling a scientific measurement.

As I mentioned earlier, the truffle filling is the same that Hershey has used for other products. It has a slightly richer flavor than any of Hershey's milk chocolates, but it doesn't come quite to the point of being a dark chocolate. And as I think I have mentioned in previous reviews, using a darker chocolate truffle filling with a milk chocolate shell would provide for a stronger contrast in flavors between the shell and filling.

And therein lies what I consider to be the main problem with these Kisses. The flavors of the milk chocolate shell and the truffle filling are too close to one another. If you're going to have a filled Kiss, the filling needs to have enough difference in flavor so that your tongue can notice the difference. There is a slight difference, but you really have to be paying attention as the chocolate rolls over your tongue and around in your mouth. The Kisses are good, but they could be better.

I'm still a little puzzled by why Hershey chose to produce the Milk Chocolate Truffle Kisses in this larger size, or why they packaged them the way that they did. I suppose one possibility is that they wanted something that would be considered a single serving package. I can't think of anything else that would make more sense at the moment, so we'll go with that.

At the moment, I have no idea whether or not this is a limited edition. On the one hand, I have seen nothing on the packaging or on the store displays that would indicate that this is a limited edition. On the other hand, it started appearing in the stores right as the Easter candy was starting to nudge out the Valentine candy. It seems to be something of a Schroedinger's Cat question. We may not know if it is a limited edition until we actually see the last packages disappearing from the stores.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
KIT KAT BUNNY EARS


A few weeks ago, Hershey released a special version of the Kit Kat bar for Valentine's Day. With Easter coming up, Hershey has produced a similar Kit Kat for Easter -- the Kit Kat Bunny Ears.

As I mentioned when I reviewed the Best Friends Hearts Kit Kat, Hershey didn't go far enough in making something different for Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, the same holds true for the Bunny Ears as well.

Like the Best Friends Hearts, the Bunny Ears separates into two sections, instead of the usual four fingers. Each half has a bunny head at one end, and the ears stretch the length of the two fingers of each section.

It's a cute idea, but again, Hershey falls a little flat by using it with the original Kit Kat bar. I think they could have made it a little more special by using a different Kit Kat variation, although this time I am uncertain as to which variation would have worked best. Perhaps if Hershey had done something different for Valentine's Day, just using the original Kit Kat for Easter would have worked better.

Again, Hershey tried for a home run. Again, they ended up with only a triple.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
KIT KAT BEST FRIEND HEARTS


This year for Valentine's Day, Hershey did something a little different with the Kit Kat bar. Unfortunately, it wasn't as different as it could have been.

The Best Friend Hearts bar takes the Kit Kat bar, and places the usual four fingers into two sections that can easily be split in half. The milk chocolate is decorated with hearts and the words "Friends Forever." I'm guessing that Hershey is trying to invoke the idea of those friendship coin necklaces, where each coin is cut in a unique way, so that one half coin will only fit with its other half, and not with any other.

The problem, in my opinion, is that Hershey didn't make this bar special enough. They should have used the Cherry Kit Kat that they have for previous Valentine's Days with this idea. Or perhaps the Dark Chocolate Kit Kat. Or . . . well, anything to make it a little more special. Instead, the Best Friend Hearts was used with the original Kit Kat. Not that there is anything inherently wrong with the original Kit Kat; it's just that I think that Hershey could have done something a little more to make it more festive for Valentine's Day.

The Best Friend Hearts Kit Kat could have been a home run, a shot out of the park. As it is, though, it's just a ground rule double. Almost, but not quite.


-jc-

Candy Review
NESTLE GRANDE WHITE FUDGE TURTLES


I'm guessing that this limited edition is something that Nestle brought out for Valentine's Day. I saw it on sale for the first time a week or two ago, so I will assume that is the case until I learn otherwise.

In a number of reviews, I have described some candies as being "similar to a turtle." While looking at this candy's wrapper, I noticed one important little detail -- the ® symbol; the indication of a registered trademark. This time, it looks like I'm reviewing the real thing. (Wait, that was Coke's slogan, wasn't it?)

The wrapper describes these particular Turtles (or maybe that should be Turtles®) as "premium pecans, cashews, creamy caramel, and milk chocolate all covered in delicious white fudge." I've noticed that the term "white fudge" gets used whenever a candy company is using something that is almost but not quite white chocolate. In this case, it's just a little too white to be white chocolate. As I have mentioned on other occasions, a really good white chocolate is more of an ivory color.

When you bite into one of these candies, the one thing you notice more than anything else is the caramel. It is a firm, chewy caramel, with a rich vanilla flavor, and it is first and last thing to impact your tastebuds. After that, the most noticeable flavor is the milk chocolate, which tends to blend together with the caramel. The flavor of the white fudge tends to come in brief flashes on the tongue, creamy and smooth.

As is usually the case, I noticed the presence of both the pecans and the cashews by their crunch. This candy uses chopped nuts -- perhaps too finely chopped, because I was unable to differentiate between the two. Usually, I can -- pecans have a slightly softer crunch than cashews -- but this time, I really couldn't distinguish between the two nuts.

Besides the timing, another reason I suspect that Nestle brought the White Fudge Turtles out as a Valentine's Day release is that the wrapper is primarily red -- the color of a Valentine. (All together now: "Awwwwwww . . . ") Well, if you know that your true love's sweet tooth is easily satisfied with something like this, a box of these would make a nice gift. (So far, all I can remember is seeing these as singles only, though.) And enough people have thoughts along these lines, this might be a recurring item every year during late January and early February.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
TRIPLE CHOCOLATE TWIX


When I reviewed the Twix Minis Mix not too long ago, the one thing I found a little irksome was the one selection in the bag that I had not seen as a full-size bar. That was the Triple Chocolate Twix. The problem was that the Mini size made it difficult to get a decent sample for analysis and review. Much to my surprise, I saw a few days ago that Mars finally decided to release the Triple Chocolate Twix as a full-size bar.

In my earlier review, I thought that the "triple" in the Triple Chocolate Twix bar meant that there were three distinct sources of chocolate. That was confirmed when I saw the full-size bar. The wrapper proudly proclaims that the bar is "Chocolate Cookie & Chocolate Caramel, Covered In Milk Chocolate."

When you first bite into a Triple Chocolate Twix, the milk chocolate is the dominant flavor. Gradually, the chocolate caramel becomes more and more dominant, although the chocolate flavor is more subtle. I think I would have preferred a slightly stronger chocolate flavor in the caramel, especially since Mars made a mention of it. The chocolate cookie is there more for the crunch than anything else, although there is the occasional undertone of chocolate flavor coming from the cookie.

As I said, I think a slightly stronger flavor to the caramel would have improved the overall flavor of the bar. I also think that using a chocolate caramel in a Twix bar variation would be better if it were paired with white chocolate. I just have this feeling that those two would make for a more striking contrast in flavor.

Now, the bad news. The Triple Chocolate Twix is a limited edition. And as always, I have no idea how long they will stay on the shelves. What I plan to do is stock up on them while I can, hope that Mars might bring it back again, and probably mourn when I eat the last bite of that last bar in my stash.


-jc-

Candy Review
SNICKERS DARK MINIS MIX

I first saw this limited edition bag of Minis several days before I saw the full size Snickers Dark bar. When I first saw it, my initial thought was, "Dark Snickers, oooooooh!" and I am quite certain that my eyes lit up with delight. That was quickly followed by, "Why couldn't Mars have released this as a full-size bar?" Of course, a few days later, I did see my first display of the full-size Snickers Dark bars, and I knew it had to be reviewed first.

Like last year's Twix and 3 Musketeers Minis Mix limited editions, the Snickers Dark Minis Mix has three different variations on the Snickers bar. The name is a slight misnomer, though, because it would suggest that all of them are dark chocolate, and that is not the case. The first selection in the bag is a Mini of the original Snickers bar, covered in milk chocolate. The second is a Mini of the Snickers Dark bar, which I have previously reviewed.

The third selection -- that's the one that, so far, I have encountered only in the Mini size. That third selection is the Snickers Almond Dark. As the name would suggest, this is a dark chocolate version of the Snickers Almond bar. Inside, it does have the vanilla nougat of the regular Snickers Almond bar, and the almond-studded caramel. Outside, the bar is enrobed with dark chocolate.

I described biting into the Snickers Dark bar as being pure bliss. I don't know if I would apply the same words to biting into the Snickers Almond Dark, but it comes pretty close. There is one definite similarity between the two. The flavor of the dark chocolate gently dominates the other flavors, but gradually gives way to the flavors of the caramel and nougat. The flavor of the almonds is present to some degree, but the almonds make their presence known more by their texture than by their flavor.

There is one big problem with the Mini size, of course. They are just too small. They are intended to be only a single bite, but I manage to get two very small bites out of one Mini. Even then, I had to go through most of the Snickers Almond Dark Minis in a bag just to get a decent impression of the bar. (Which I was really glad when I saw the full size Snickers Dark bars; full-size bars are much easier to review.) I'm really hoping that somewhere down the line, Mars decides to release a full size version of the Snickers Almond Dark bar, just so I can get a better impression of it. Barring that, I would love to see this Minis Mix show up on the shelves from time to time, and not have their appearance be just a one-time thing.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
NESTLE CRUNCH WITH COCONUT


This variation on the Nestle Crunch bar surprised me at first. Instead of the flat molds of the original Crunch bar, this limited edition was made with the thicker molds used to make the Crunch With Caramel bar. Based on that initial observation, my first assumption was that the Coconut Crunch bar would be similar to the Caramel bar, but with a coconut creme filling instead of the caramel.

Well, that initial assumption was wrong. This is a bar of solid Nestle milk chocolate, with both crisped rice and toasted coconut added to the chocolate. (And if I were to hazard a guess, it would be that someone at Nestle reached the conclusion that the thicker bar was more suitable to hold both the rice and coconut.)

As is the case with other Nestle Crunch bars, the crisped rice is visible when you look at the bottom of the bar. A closer look reveals the coconut flakes as well, and when you bite into the bar, the cross-section shows that the coconut and rice are well-distributed throughout the bar.

In the Coconut Crunch bar, both the coconut and the rice provide the crunch. The textures of the two are slightly different, providing an interesting contrast. The toasted coconut has a slightly more delicate crunch than the bold crunch of the crisped rice. The crunch of the rice is slightly more noticeable, with the coconut providing more of a background crunch.

When it comes to flavor, the roles are reversed. The sweet flavor of the coconut is the stronger flavor in this bar. It isn't enough to completely overpower the malty flavor of the crisped rice, though; the rice provides more subtle undertones of flavor. And in the background is the milk chocolate, bringing all of the flavors together in harmony.

As is the case with all limited editions, I have no idea how long this one will stay on the shelves. I can think of one way I would like to see its return. If not as a full-size candy bar, I would love to see the Coconut Crunch on the shelves as a bag of miniatures.

And now that I'm thinking about it, I would also be interested in tasting how the combination of crisped rice and toasted coconut would go with dark chocolate . . .


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
100 GRAND WITH COCONUT


Steve Almond is probably going to avoid this limited edition, for at least two reasons. First, it's a 100 Grand bar (or at least a variation thereof), and as I've mentioned previously, he loathes that particular bar. (Of course, "loathe" is probably much too mild a word to describe his feelings toward the 100 Grand, but it will have to suffice.) Second, it contains coconut, which, as I have also mentioned, is far from one of his favorite candy ingredients. (Quite the opposite, in fact.)

That's all right. I hope he does avoid this bar. It means that I will be able to get more for myself.

As the name implies, this bar takes the basic structure of the 100 Grand bar, and adds coconut to it. Toasted coconut, to be precise. The coconut is added to the caramel core of the bar, while the outer covering of milk chocolate imbedded with crisped rice stays the same.

The addition of the coconut to the caramel changes the structural integrity of the bar somewhat. The caramel doesn't have the rubbery quality that Almond so eloquently described (and with which I happen to agree.) The caramel/coconut core still has a chewy texture to it, but it comes from both the caramel and the coconut, with possibly the coconut texture being the slightly dominant one of the two.

The flavor of the coconut is certainly the dominant one in this candy bar. It comes close to overpowering the flavor of the chocolate, and does overpower the flavors of everything else in the bar. It's definitely the last flavor that remains on your tastebuds after taking a bite.

The toasted coconut is also the texture that dominates this bar. As I said a couple of paragraphs ago, it is slightly chewy, but with a slight crunch to it. While it negates the rubberiness of of the caramel, it also overwhelms the crisped rice, almost to the point where it isn't noticed as you bite into a bar. And it's the coconut that is the last thing to leave your mouth, both physically and in terms of flavor.

Adding coconut to the 100 Grand bar is a definite improvement over the original. Not perfect, but it is an interesting improvement. Too bad it's a limited edition. It would be nice to see this one stick around for more than a few brief months.


-jc-

Candy Review
TWIX MINIS MIX


This is another Minis limited edition that Mars brought out during the summer. As I think I may have mentioned once or twice in previous reviews, I think that either the back to school shopping season or Halloween would have been better choices for putting them on the shelves. But, Mars didn't bother consulting with me.

Like the 3 Musketeers Minis Mix, the Twix Minis bag contained three different versions of the Twix bar. The first of these is the Original Twix -- caramel on a vanilla cookie, covered in milk chocolate. The second is the Dark Chocolate Twix that Mars released a limited edition last year, and which I have previously reviewed.

The third version is the Triple Chocolate Twix. This variation is something that, as far as I can tell, Mars created just for this limited edition. Like the original Twix bar, the Triple Chocolate Twix is covered in milk chocolate. Instead of a vanilla cookie, though, the cookie base is also chocolate. I'm guessing that the caramel in the Triple Chocolate bar is a chocolate caramel. That is the only thing that would make any sense out of the "Triple Chocolate" name. It does appear to be a darker color than the caramel in either of the other Twix bars in the bag.

This is where the Mini size becomes a problem in reviewing. The Minis are really too small to make a careful and thorough analysis of how the different components blend together. I almost have to go through the entire bag to form even something of an opinion.

I did find myself wishing for two things while sampling the Twix Minis Mix. First, I really would love to see the Dark Chocolate Twix back on the shelves permanently. Second, I wish Mars had released the Triple Chocolate Twix as a full size bar.


-jc-

Candy Review
MAUNA LOA MACADAMIA CLUSTERS


I saw these on the shelves during the holiday season. I really didn't pay that much attention to them, though, until the after-Christmas markdown. Once I saw that they were marked down to half-price, I decided to pick up a box.

The Macadamia Clusters are another one of those candies that are closely related to turtles. Pieces of macadamia nuts are mixed in with caramel, which is then covered in milk chocolate. A final decorative touch is a squiggle of dark chocolate on the top of the candy.

The caramel has a consistency that I would call close to perfect. On the one hand, it's firm, but not to the point of being stiff. On the other hand, it's soft enough to be chewy, but it isn't so soft that it becomes semi-fluid. As Goldilocks would say, it's just right.

Macadamias have a fairly mild flavor, so the pieces in the clusters aren't as noticeable for the flavor. Rather, they add a firm crunch to the candy, although you do get to taste the odd piece when it becomes the last part of the candy remaining in your mouth.

The milk chocolate shell is fairly thick, surrounding and containing the other components quite well. The swirl of dark chocolate on top is purely for decorative purposes; there is not enough to make any distinct addition to the flavor of the Macadamia Clusters.

The manufacturer managed to strike the right balance between the chocolate and the caramel. There is just enough of each where one moment the chocolate will be the dominant flavor, and the caramel will be dominant the next. The chocolate and caramel provide an interesting dance of flavors on your tongue. Neither overwhelmingly dominates the tastebuds, as is the case with other candies with chocolate and caramel. And the macadamias provide a contrasting crunch, along with the occasional flash of mild sweetness.

As I said, I saw the Mauna Loa Macadamia Clusters on sale during Christmas. But not long after the last of the Christmas boxes disappeared from the clearance shelves, I began seeing more boxes among the Valentine's Day candy. It was a slightly different packaging, but the difference was not a seasonal one. It looks as though the Macadamia Clusters might be more than just a seasonal item.


-jc-

Candy Review
HERSHEY CACAO RESERVE TRUFFLES


I had known that these would be the second release for Hershey's Cacao Reserve line for quite a while. As I recall, they had been featured in the "Coming Soon" area of the Cacao Reserve website since it first went online. Well, they aren't in the coming soon area any longer. Now, they are here.

The Cacao Reserve Truffles come packaged in a tin the same size as an Altoids tin. Inside that tin are eight truffles, covered in either a premium milk chocolate with 35% cacao content, or a premium dark chocolate with 65% cacao content. With either variety, the center is generously covered in the chocolate, and in both cases, the chocolate is the same chocolate that was used in initial four Cacao Reserve releases.

Based on a side-by-side visual comparison, the ganache at the center of the truffles is the same for both varieties. Based on the taste, it seems to be the same ganache that Hershey has used in some of its other candies, such as the Chocolate Truffle Kisses.

Biting into one of these truffles is a similar experience, whether it is a milk chocolate or a dark chocolate truffle. In either case, the chocolate outer shell is thick enough that it provides a certain initial resistance. Once you teeth break through the chocolate, they slowly sink into the decadent creaminess of the ganache.

With the Premium Milk Chocolate Truffles, the rich creamy flavor of the milk chocolate almost overwhelms the ganache's flavor. Based on my own samplings, it seems to me that the chocolate and ganache are similar enough in flavor that it's difficult to distinguish between the two. The main way that I have been able to tell the two apart is by the difference in texture. I think that perhaps a ganache that used a darker chocolate would have worked better.

What I found surprising about the Premium Dark Chocolate Truffles is that the dark chocolate doesn't overwhelm the ganache nearly as much as the milk chocolate does. As I mentioned in my review of the first Cacao Reserve products, there is a slight bitterness to the dark chocolate. I think it might be that bitterness that helps distinguish the flavors of the chocolate and the ganache.

With both truffles, the chocolate has the dominant role. This is a little unusual, because with most truffles I have tried, it is more often than not the center that takes the starring role. (This is especially true for those truffles where the center is simply rolled in cocoa powder or something similar as a finishing touch.) But given that the product line does highlight the chocolate, I suppose it shouldn't be too surprising that the chocolate used on the outside takes center stage.

I suppose that if I had any real complaint about the Cacao Reserve Truffles, it would be that they are a little on the small side. As they are packaged, these are single-bite truffles. That is, of course, unless you are trying to take a look at a cross-section, as I did when writing this review. Then, you get two very small (and less than satisfying) bites. Part of it, of course, is dictated by the size of the tins in which they are packaged. I like the tins (much the same way I like the Altoids tins), but the single-bite size of the truffles give only a brief pleasure. Sometimes, that may be all that I want, but other times, I want more -- much more.

What I would like to see in addition to the single-bite truffle is a slightly larger version of the same truffles. A version that would provide at least two satisfying bites. I'm thinking that it would be nice to see these slightly larger truffles in a gift box, perhaps one that contains both dark and milk chocolate truffles. A heart-shaped box of these would make a nice gift for Valentine's Day, or a regular box would nice for the rest of the year.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
HERSHEY'S TWOSOMES


Last year, Hershey released three limited editions that came under the collective label of "Hershey's Twosomes." These candy bars were a melding of the Hershey bar with ingredients from some of Hershey's other products.

The result? Well, it was a nice idea in theory, but the execution could have been better. Not that they were bad; it's more that they weren't as good as they could have been.

There were common elements to all of the Twosomes. First, they all used the same molds as the regular Hershey bar. Second, they had Hershey's extra creamy milk chocolate as a base for the different bars. But at that point, they begin to diverge.

The first Twosomes bar had miniature Reese's Pieces in the chocolate. The tiny bits of peanut butter (complete with candy shells) added a little bit of color to the bar, and even a little bit of texture. What it didn't add was much in the way of flavor. The peanut butter's flavor was detectable at times, but not often enough. The chocolate proved to be more than overwhelming. It might have worked better if there were more of the mini Reese's Pieces in the bar.

The second bar had bits of Heath toffee mixed with the chocolate. The bits provided both flavor and crunch to the bar, but it wasn't all that different from the regular Heath bar. I was hoping for something that was at least a little different. After all, a difference that makes no difference IS no difference.

The third Twosomes bar combined miniature Whoppers malted milk balls with the chocolate. Of the three, this one was my favorite. The mini-Whoppers had all the wonderfully malty flavor of the regular Whoppers, as well as their satisfying crispy texture. The mini-Whoppers were also plentifully distributed through the chocolate; something that didn't occur with the Reese's Pieces Twosomes bar.

This year, Hershey brought out a fourth Twosomes bar. This time, it was an Almond Joy Twosomes bar. It had coconut and almond pieces combined with the chocolate. I think this one may have been the best one yet. There was plenty of coconut and almonds distributed throughout the chocolate; enough to give the bar the flavor that I associate with an Almond Joy, and enough to give it a satisfyingly chewy (and slightly crunchy) texture.

I'm guessing that Hershey may try other variations on the Twosomes theme in future limited editions. I hope any future Twosomes bars are as good as the Whoppers and Almond Joy bars were.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
MAUI CARAMACS


A few months ago, I reviewed some imported candy bars that I had found at Meijer. More recently, I discovered that World Market also carries candy bars from other countries, and that store is much more accessible to me. I picked up several candy bars that looked interesting to me, and reviews of them will be appearing here.

I really can't call this first one an import. It's from Hawaii, and I am fully aware that Hawaii is part of the United States. On the other hand, the only place that I have seen the Maui Caramacs has been World Market. I suspect that this might be the only place I find them; I get the feeling that I'm dealing with a smaller company here, and they don't have anywhere near the distribution of the Big Three.

The Caramacs are made by Hawaiian Host Chocolates. They quick way to describe them is to say that they are another relative of the turtle. Caramel and macadamia nuts are covered in milk chocolate.

As I have mentioned in other reviews, I like a caramel that is firm and chewy. That's what I get in the Caramacs. I would call it the dominant flavor in the candy, primarily because the caramel lasts longer than any of the other ingredients.

The chocolate is a little richer than the milk chocolate I find your average candy bar. It might be because there is a higher percentage of cacao solids in the chocolate, but there is also something else. It's an additional sweetness that I don't find in other milk chocolates. I almost want to say that the chocolate carries a hint of pineapple flavor, but I'm not completely sure about that.

The presence of the macadamias is a little disappointing. Because of the size of the individual Caramacs, they don't contain either whole macadamias or even macadamia halves, but smaller pieces. Unfortunately, this makes the presence of the nuts less noticible, both in terms of flavor and texture. The crunch is lost in the caramel's chewiness, and the flavor is overwhelmed by both the chocolate and caramel.

The Caramacs are a little bit larger than a quarter. That probably accounts at least partially for the smaller size of the macadamia pieces. I think a larger size candy -- say, something the size of a half dollar -- would allow for larger pieces, and more macadamia flavor.

I did notice a few other products from Hawaiian Host while I was at World Market. I think all of them contain macadamias in some form, and I think it will be interesting to try them as well.


-jc-

Candy Bar Review
GOOGOO SUPREME


If I had to rate it, I guess I would call the GooGoo Cluster all right. But if you're going to give me a preference, I will have to choose the GooGoo Supreme.

Like the GooGoo Cluster, the GooGoo Supreme is an amorphous blob of marshmallow, caramel, and milk chocolate. But instead of peanuts, the GooGoo Supreme is topped with pecans. And from a close examination, it appears that it is topped with pecan pieces. This is one distinct difference from the GooGoo Cluster. That bar is topped with whole peanuts, as I noticed during the research phase of writing that review.

From what I can tell, the same disdain for a precise structure that Steve Almond observed during the process of making the GooGoo Cluster goes into the making of the GooGoo Supreme. Caramel and marshmallow are brought together in whatever manner suits the operator of the machinery. Like the Cluster, the GooGoo Supreme is double dipped in milk chocolate, and for the same reason. The first coating gives the pecan pieces a support foundation, and the second seals them in place.

I described biting into a GooGoo Cluster as a pure sugar rush, and the same holds true for the GooGoo Supreme. The caramel/marshmallow combination is the same wonderfully chewy amalgamation, and it's virtually impossible to distinguish the flavors of the two. The flavor of the pecans is a little more subtle that the Cluster's peanuts, and the flavor of the milk chocolate stands out a little more because of that. This may be why I prefer the GooGoo Supreme over the GooGoo Cluster; I get to experience all of the flavors.

As I mentioned previously, the GooGoo Supreme isn't made by one of the big three candy makers, and distribution may be more limited than any of their products. But as I also said, they can be ordered over the Internet directly from the manufacturer.

And since someone suggested to me that I should give a link to their website, here it is:

http://www.googoo.com


-jc-