The packaging for Cherry Blossom is bizarrely unappealing. If I hadn’t known how long it’s been around (since the 1890s!), I would have assumed it’s part of some sort of Producers-esque scheme to create an intentionally failed candy. But it’s been on the shelves for well over a hundred years, so I guess someone’s eating it.
It’s hard to get over how ugly the packaging is. I’ve seen it on the shelves since I was a kid, but I haven’t tried it until now, because why would I?? And let’s make something clear: I was a fat kid who wanted to try every candy bar in existence, and I still had no interest in this thing.
The ugliness persists after you open the box and unwrap it from the foil (yes, it’s still wrapped in foil, because apparently the whole experience is meant to replicate being a Depression-era hobo who can’t afford anything better). Is it impolite to say that it looks like a turd? It is? Okay, then I won’t say that it absolutely, positively looks like a turd, even though we can all clearly see that it looks like a turd.
Happily, it tastes better than it looks. It’s not great, mind you, but it’s not nearly as terrible as you’d think based on the packaging. The milk chocolate exterior features peanuts and coconut, which compliments the cherry and the goopy, cherry-flavoured syrup reasonably well. It’s a Hershey product, so the quality of the chocolate is about what you’d expect. The whole thing is way, way too sweet (a dark chocolate version of this might actually be pretty good), but if you like the cherry/chocolate combo, you’ll probably enjoy this.
Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 piece, 45 grams): 210 calories, 10 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 40 mg sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, modified palm oil and modified vegetable oil (shea, sunflower and/or safflower), modified milk ingredients, unsweetened chocolate, coconut, peanuts, cherries, corn syrup, lactose, soy lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, invertase, natural and artificial flavours, salt, acetic acid, citric acid, sodium benzoate, colour, sodium metabisulphite, potassium sorbate, sulphites.
Interesting. They remind me of a Big Cherry, but I’ve never seen one of these.