Candyrageous - Page 17 of 35 - A Blog about Candy

September 27, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Twix Cookies & Creme – You Should Probably Nix this Twix

Candy Bars

Between the Peanut Butter and Triple Chocolate varieties, I was starting to think that Twix could do no wrong. But I guess no one’s perfect.

Apparently Cookies and Creme was discontinued in the ’90s and recently revived. If you have fond, decades-old memories of this thing, I’d suggest that you pretend that it never came back and let your fond memories stay fond.

Well, it’s not that bad, I guess. It’s fine. It consists of chocolate cookies topped with some kind of sweet creme that’s studded with tiny little chocolate bits, and enrobed in milk chocolate.

It’s mostly inoffensive, and as usual for a Twix bar, the combo of creamy milk chocolate and crunchy cookies is a winner. But the creme has an off-putting lack of flavour; it’s thick and sweet, and… that’s about it. There’s not much to it. I would have rather just had cookies covered in chocolate. The creme adds nothing to the equation, and in fact only detracts, because what’s it even supposed to be?? It’s not really sweet enough to be icing, and it doesn’t particularly taste like cream, so what’s the point of it? I guess it’s supposed to be Oreo-like, but that connection only occurred to me long after I ate it, so clearly the flavour isn’t there.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 pack, 38.6 grams): 200 calories, 11 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 85 mg of sodium, 24 grams of carbohydrates, <1 grams of fibre, 17 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin, PGPR, artificial flavor), palm oil, enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), sugar, corn syrup, less than 2% – cocoa powder processed with alkali, skim milk, modified corn starch, salt, cocoa powder, baking soda, soy lecithin, whey protein isolate, artificial flavor.

September 23, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Dairy Milk Crispy Rice – A Better Version of a Crunch Bar

Chocolate

I recently wrote about my disappointment with the current version of the Crunch bar, which was bought by Ferrero, reformulated, and made thoroughly mediocre.

Crunch used to be one of my favourites, so this kinda bummed me out.

Well, here comes Cadbury to the rescue — Dairy Milk Crispy Rice is basically a Crunch bar, but without the crushing disappointment.

There’s not much to it; it’s just crispy puffed rice and milk chocolate. And of course, if you’ve ever had Cadbury milk chocolate, then you know exactly what to expect here. It’s distinctive and tasty, and aside from the rice, that’s the entirety of this bar.

The puffed rice is nice and crispy, though I wish there were a bit more of it. The ratio of chocolate to rice is higher here than in a Crunch bar, but that’s a fairly minor complaint. The contrast between the creamy chocolate and the crispy rice is absolutely delightful.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (10 squares, 38 grams): 200 calories, 11 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 50 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavour), rice crisps (rice, sugar, salt, malted barley extract, monoglycerides).

September 20, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Mars Fudge – A Pleasant Variation on a Classic Candy

Candy Bars

The last Mars Bar variant I tried was Mars Caramel, which was a pretty clear downgrade from a standard Mars Bar. So my expectations weren’t particularly high for this one, which replaces the original’s nougat with fudge.

But hey, what do you know — it’s actually not bad. It probably helps that unlike the Caramel version, this one feels more like a tweak than a huge change.

Mostly, it tastes like a standard Mars Bar, but with a slightly stronger punch of chocolate flavour (though I will admit that it’s been a few years since I’ve had the original, so I might not be the best judge of this). If there’s a huge difference between the original’s nougat and the fudge here, I certainly couldn’t tell.

It’s quite satisfying, with a nice chewiness from the fudge and the caramel, and an intense sweetness that’s in-your-face but not too overpowering. It’s nothing to get too excited about, but it’s a solid candy bar.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 50 grams): 230 calories, 9 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 75 mg of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 1 grams of fibre, 30 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, corn syrup, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, dried egg-white, natural and artificial flavours.

September 16, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Birthday Cake – Sweet and Delicious

Candy Bars

I recently reviewed the Hershey Birthday Cake bar, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought it tasted a heck of a lot like Betty Crocker vanilla frosting, which flashed me back, Ratatouille-style, to a childhood love of Dunkaroos.

Well, Kit Kat Birthday Cake is basically that, but in Kit Kat form. I don’t know if the coating is the exact same stuff (I think the sprinkles might be a bit crunchier), but it tastes very, very similar.

I already quite enjoyed it when it was just a bar, but with the addition of Kit Kat wafers? It’s fantastic. The wafers add a satisfying crispiness and a do a great job of offsetting the intense sweetness of the frosting-esque exterior. It takes something tasty and cranks it up from good to great.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 package, 42 grams): 220 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 35 mg of sodium, 27 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, and/or safflower oil), skim milk, wheat flour, corn syrup solids, lactose (milk), contains 2% or less of chocolate, cornstarch, natural flavor and artificial flavor, lecithin (soy), artificial color (blue 1, blue 2 lake, red 40 lake, yellow 5, yellow 6, yellow 6 lake); PGPR, salt, yeast, carnauba wax, confectioner’s glaze, baking soda.

September 13, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Twix Peanut Butter – Obviously Delicious

Candy Bars

Twix Peanut Butter is one of those things that you don’t even need to try to know that it’s going to be good. I mean, it’s chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies. That’s going to be delicious by default. You’d have to work hard to mess that combo up.

And yeah, it’s good. Of course it’s good. Again, it’s chocolate, peanut butter, and cookies. How could that be bad? The chocolate is nice and creamy, the cookie is crispy and sweet, and the peanut butter has a decent amount of saltiness that helps to balance out the sweetness of the bar.

I think the cookie might be slightly different than the cookie in a standard Twix bar? That one has a buttery, shortbready quality to it, but this one seems a bit lighter and crispier. That might be my imagination, however, and either way the cookie here compliments the rich peanut butter quite well.

My only real complaint is that I wish the peanut butter were smoother and creamier. It’s certainly tasty enough, but it’s quite dry and crumbly. Alas, that’s par for the course for a candy bar. I think the only mass market chocolate bar I’ve ever had that featured peanut butter with the consistency of actual peanut butter was PB Max (R.I.P. PB Max; you were too beautiful for this world).

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 pack, 47.6 grams): 250 calories, 14 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 130 mg of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fibre, 25 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, milkfat, soy lecithin, artificial flavour), peanuts, wheat flour with folic acid and iron (ferrous fumarate), sugar, palm oil, maltodextrin, less than 1.5% – hydrogenated rapeseed and cottonseed oil, modified corn starch, salt, glucose syrup, soy lecithin, baking soda, propyl gallate to maintain freshness.