Abba-Zaba – Ultra-Chewy Taffy with Peanut Butter

Abba-Zaba has been around for almost a hundred years (since 1922), so it clearly has its fans.  I can’t say that I’ll ever buy one again, but if you’ve been around that long, you must be doing something right.  It’s basically just a big old hunk of ultra-chewy taffy, and if you’re into that, you’ll probably enjoy it.

Abba-Zaba

It’s odd; the shiny white bar looks plasticky enough that after I opened it I assumed it had some kind of inner wrapping, but nope, that’s just the bar.  It’s certainly not the most appealing looking candy bar ever.

Abba-Zaba

It’s filled with a decent amount of creamy, slightly salty peanut butter, which is where most of the flavour comes from.  It’s otherwise surprisingly restrained in its sweetness, and is mostly notable for how incredibly chewy it is.  It’s actually kind of aggressive in its chewiness, like, “oh, you want to chew me?  Good luck with that, pal.”  It made my jaw tired almost immediately.

I wasn’t crazy about it, but then I’m not a huge fan of taffy in general, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

2 out of 4

Manufactured by: Annabelle
Nutritional info (1 bar, 51 grams): 210 calories, 4 grams of fat (2.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 45 mg of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fibre, 22 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Corn syrup, liquid sugar (cane sugar, water), peanut butter (dry roasted peanuts, sucrose, hydrogenated rapeseed and cottonseed oil, salt), fully hydrogenated vegetable oil (palm kernel oil, soybean oil), dextrose, salt, mono- and diglycerides, BHA (antioxidant).

Rocky Road — It’s Better than the Ice Cream

Rocky road ice cream is fine.  It’s generally not the first (or second, or third) flavour I’ll go for in an ice cream shop, but it’s there, and it’s tasty enough.  I like it, but I definitely don’t love it.

But what about the candy bar?  Annabelle’s Rocky Road is one of those hard-to-find old-timey candy bars that’s been around for decades despite the fact that there’s a decent chance that you haven’t heard of it.  I know hadn’t before buying it for this blog.

Annabelle's Rocky Road

There’s not much to it — it’s just marshmallow coated in a layer of cashew-studded milk chocolate.  I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.

Sometimes the marshmallow in a candy like this can be overly chewy and spongy, but the stuff here strikes a delightful balance between chewiness and creaminess.  And the generous layer of milk chocolate is clearly above average, with a really satisfying flavour that compliments the marshmallow quite well.

Annabelle's Rocky Road

As for the the cashews, they add a nice nuttiness without being too crunchy or assertive; the creamy chocolate and chewy marshmallow are clearly the stars of the show.  The nuts are there in the background, but they let the marshmallow and chocolate shine.

3.5 out of 4

Manufactured by: Annabelle
Nutritional info (1 bar, 46 grams): 220 calories, 10 grams of fat (4 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 30 mg of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate, sugar, corn syrup, cashew nuts, palm kernel oil and coconut oil, cocoa powder, whey powder nonfat milk powder, soy lecithin as an emulsifier, vanillin (an artificial flavor), sorbitol, gelatin, glycerine, salt, artificial flavor [Milk chocolate contains: sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, milk powder, soy lecithin (as an emulsifier), natural vanilla and artificial flavors]