Candyrageous - Page 3 of 35 - A Blog about Candy

June 13, 2021 Michael

Caramel M&M’s – Chewy, Caramely Goodness

Candy Bars

Caramel M&M’s aren’t exactly new (they were introduced in 2017), but considering how much of a no-brainer the chocolate/caramel combo is, it’s surprising that it took that long.

It’s pretty much exactly what you want it to be. The intense sweetness is a bit of a shock at first (the best M&M’s flavours, like peanut and pretzel, work as well as they do because they balance out the sweetness of the chocolate and the candy shell), but it grows on you. The caramel has a satisfying butterscotch-infused flavour that works quite well with the sweet chocolate.

I wish the caramel were a bit creamier, however — it’s not exactly at Reisen levels of intense chewiness, but it does stick to your teeth a bit. It kinda reminded me of what you’ll find in a Rolo. It generally works, but the best M&M’s varieties have an addictiveness where you just wanna pop one after the other, and these ones never quite get there.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/4 cup, 42 grams): 200 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 65 mg of sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fibre, 27 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, lactose, soy lecithin, artificial flavours, salt), sugar, corn syrup, milk ingredients, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, cornstarch, lactose, tapioca dextrin, salt, mono and diglycerides, colours (with tartrazine) carnauba wax, cocoa mass, artificial flavour, modified coconut oil and/or modified palm oil (medium chain triglycerides), gum acacia.

June 6, 2021 Michael

Dairy Milk – Classic Milk Chocolate

Chocolate

How do you even review Dairy Milk? Just plain old regular Dairy Milk? The flavour of Cadbury milk chocolate is so fundamental that trying to describe it is like trying to describe the colour blue. I don’t know, it’s… Dairy Milk. It tastes like Dairy Milk. What do you want from me?

I will say that I think I accidentally bought a Greek version of the chocolate bar — like a lot of European confections, there are about a dozen languages on the packaging, but Greek is first. If it tasted any different from the usual Dairy Milk, however, I couldn’t tell.

The texture is a bit grainier than you’d like; a quick perusal of the ingredients reveals the presence of palm and shea oils, which is never a good thing. It’s still creamy enough, but it’s slightly off (this might be a Greek and/or European thing, because Canadian Dairy Milk doesn’t contain either of those oils).

Otherwise, it tastes how it tastes: it’s milky, chocolatey, and very sweet. It’s Dairy Milk. It tastes like Dairy Milk.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (27.5 grams): 147 calories, 8.4 grams of fat (5.1 grams of saturated fat, unknown grams of trans fat), unknown mg cholesterol, 70 mg of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 0.5 grams of fibre, 15 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, vegetable fats (palm, shea), emulsifiers (E442, E476), flavourings.

May 30, 2021 Michael

Planters Salted Caramel Nut Bar – Like PayDay, but Better

Candy Bars

At first glance, the Planters Salted Caramel Nut Bar looks like it should be identical to a PayDay. Like PayDay, it consists of salted peanuts, caramel, and a nougat centre (well, PayDay is technically caramel all the way through, but the “caramel” base is actually quite nougat-like).

It tastes quite different, however, thanks to the nougat centre, which is delightfully soft and creamy, with a fluffy consistency and an almost marshmallow-like flavour. It’s very sweet, but it’s perfectly balanced by the salted caramel and the very generous amount of salty peanuts, which have a nice roasty flavour that adds a lot to the bar.

It’s kind of like a cross between a PayDay and the Pecan Log Rolls they sell at Cracker Barrel (which, FYI, are amazing — the next time you find yourself in a Cracker Barrel, buy one. Trust me, you’ll thank me later). It’s crunchy and creamy, sweet and salty, and it’s delicious.

Manufactured by: Planters Peanuts
Nutritional info (1 bar, 85 grams): 390 calories, 22 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 10 mg cholesterol, 200 mg sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 36 grams of sugar, 3 grams of fibre, 9 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Peanuts, sugar, corn syrup, palm oil, reduced lactose whey (milk), salt, coconut oil, natural and artificial vanilla flavouring, soy lecithin, modified soy protein, invertase, natural antioxidant (canola oil, rosemary extract, natural mixed tocopherols, sunflower oil).

May 26, 2021 Michael

Dairy Milk: Peanut Butter Cookie – As Delicious As You’d Hope

Chocolate

There are some chocolate bars that you can tell are going to be good just by looking it. Peanut Butter Cookie Dairy Milk is one of those bars. Dairy Milk: delicious. Peanut butter cookies: delicious. Chocolate + peanut butter: delicious. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that this is probably going to be delicious.

And hey, what do you know: it’s delicious. Who could have predicted that??

The wrapper describes this as “milk chocolate with cookie pieces and peanut butter chips.” The biggest surprise here is that the cookie pieces aren’t actually peanut butter cookies — all of the PB flavour comes from the peanut butter chips. This works out fine, however, with a nice combo of crunch and peanutty flavour. It’s not as peanut buttery as something like a peanut butter cup, but the flavour is there and is unmistakable.

The sweetness is surprisingly restrained, mostly thanks to the crispy cookie bits, which aren’t as sweet as you’d expect, with a fairly distinct wheaty flavour.

And of course, the milk chocolate is classic Dairy Milk, and is as tasty as always.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (10 squares, 42 grams): 200 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 55 mg of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 22 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (milk, sugar, cocoa butter, skim milk, whole milk powder, unsweetened chocolate, butter oil, soy lecithin, artificial flavour), Cookie pieces (wheat flour, sugar, palm oil, natural and artificial flavours, glucose syrup, corn flour, salt, soy lecithin, baking soda, com starch), peanut butter chips (sugar, modified oil (palm and palm kernel), peanut flour, modified milk ingredients, peanuts, dextrose, salt, soy lecithin, lactose).

May 23, 2021 Michael

Mars Bar – One of the Greats

Candy Bars

Mars Bar (A.K.A. Milky Way if you’re in the States) is an absolute classic. It’s essentially the platonic ideal of a candy bar: it’s chocolatey, substantial, chewy, sweet, and thoroughly satisfying. It’s always been one of my favourites — I haven’t had one in years, and it might have been even better than I remembered.

(In fact, I think I was so eager to eat it that I actually forgot to take a photo of the bar itself. Whoops.)

It’s extremely simple: it’s just nougat, caramel, and chocolate.

Everything here just works. The fluffy nougat and dense caramel are chewy, but not aggressively so (it’s not going to work out your jaw like some overly enthusiastic nougat or caramel bars). The nougat has malted milk powder mixed in, which might just be the bar’s secret weapon. It adds a delightfully malty flavour that brings some complexity and helps to balance out the intense sweetness of the bar. Mars Bar is very, very sweet, but it’s a well-tuned sweetness; it never tastes overbearing.

And then, of course, there’s the generous layer of decent quality milk chocolate, which is what you want it to be. Sometimes the chocolate on a candy bar is basically there for appearances only, or just to bind everything together, but the chocolate here adds a lot to the bar. It’s good stuff.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 52 grams): 240 calories, 9 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, 30 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, corn syrup, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, hydrogenated palm and palm kernel oil, lactose, malted milk powder (malted barley, milk ingredients, sodium bicarbonate, salt), palm oil, soy lecithin, salt, dried egg-white, artificial flavour.