candy Archives - Page 26 of 31

November 20, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

PayDay – Sweet and Salty Peanuts and Caramel

Candy Bars

I don’t think there’s any other bar out there quite like PayDay. It’s not particularly sweet, nor is it coated in chocolate like the usual candy bar. But it’s been around for almost eighty years, making it one of the oldest candy bars on the market – so it must be doing something right.

Payday is super simple: it’s a piece of chewy, somewhat crumbly caramel coated in whole, salted peanuts. The first thing you notice when you open the wrapper is the strong, peanutty aroma. If you like peanuts, then this is the bar for you, as it is surely the peanuttiest candy bar that you’ll find. Taking a bite, the first thing that hits you is the saltiness of the peanuts, followed by a mild sweetness from the chewy, grainy caramel.

It’s really quite good, though people who aren’t fond of the sweet/salty combo may be put off by the saltiness of the peanuts. However it does manage to strike a good balance between the two elements, with the caramel complimenting the nuts quite well. This is definitely one of the less sweet candy bars you’ll find – which would make it fairly ineffectual as a dessert. But as a satisfying mid-day snack, it definitely fits the bill.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Calories (52 g bar): 250

November 19, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Chocolove: Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate – Quality Chocolate and Crunchy Nuts

Chocolate

Though the name and packaging of this chocolate are seriously hokey (there is, as promised on the packaging, an actual love poem on the other side of the wrapper – in this case, Diaphenia by Henry Constable) it’s what’s inside the wrapper that counts.

A quick peek at the ingredients finds a refreshingly simple list: dark chocolate, dried cherries, and almonds. So the first question is: how’s the chocolate? It’s good; featuring a 55 percent cocoa content, it’s not the darkest chocolate ever, and is somewhat creamy and fairly sweet. The crushed almonds, which are plentiful, add a nice crunchiness to the bar. As for the cherries, they give the bar a chewiness which contrasts with the crunchiness of the nuts (it’s kind of similar to Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut, in that sense). However, they don’t add all that much flavour, save for a few mouthfuls where you get multiple cherries. Dried cherries have a pretty strong, sour flavour, so it’s probably for the best that there’s too few rather than too many.

My initial fear, when I first saw this bar, was that it was going to taste strongly of artificial cherry. Cherry seems to be one of those flavours that science just can’t get right, and so anything with fake cherry tends to have a vaguely medicinal taste. So I was glad to see that it was real cherries in here, even if they don’t add too much to the bar (taste-wise at least).

Reasonably high-quality chocolate, crunchy nuts… it’s kind of hard to go wrong with that.

Manufactured by: Chocolove
Calories (90 g bar): 480

November 18, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Colts Bolts – Further Proof of the Perfection of the PB/Chocolate Combo

Candy Bars

This is another item I found at the Cracker Barrel, which is somewhat of a treasure trove of hard-to-find candy made by smaller manufacturers (not to mention an above-average place to eat compared to similar family-friendly chain restaurants).

I think the easy comparison to make here is to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – but this is actually quite different from that, despite essentially being made up of the same components. Colts Bolts features a layer of milk chocolate, a very thick layer of creamy, sweet peanut butter with whole almonds mixed in, topped with another layer of milk chocolate.

The peanut butter is very smooth and sweet, and has a much more subdued peanut taste than your usual peanut butter – it almost tastes like peanut butter icing moreso than just plain PB. The addition of whole almonds gives the Bolt a satisfying crunch, as well as adding a nutty taste which helps compensate for the subtlety of the peanut butter. The almonds (rather than, as you might expect, peanuts) also contribute a unique flavour, which differentiates these from a standard peanut butter cup. The milk chocolate suits the peanut butter well, and the whole thing adds up to a pretty satisfying treat.

Manufactured by: Colts Chocolates
Calories (56 g cup): 300

November 17, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Lindt Hot Pralines – Spicy Chocolate Done Right

Chocolate

Though the combination of chili and chocolate is thousands of years old, it’s never quite reached a wide level of acceptance. I think for most people, the idea of combining spiciness and dessert is just a little bit too bizarre. It’s too bad, because done right, chili and chocolate can be surprisingly good.

Lindt Hot Pralines consists of three different varieties: papaya and chili, pomegranate and chili, and maracuja and jalapeno (maracuja apparently being a type of passion fruit). I was going to review the three types separately, however they’re all pretty much interchangeable, with the exception of the maracuja one, which is slightly more tart and has a mild jalapeno flavour.

The three chocolates consist of chocolate mousse topped with a strongly fruity, spicy jelly, and covered in dark chocolate. The first thing you notice when you eat these is the tartness of the fruit, followed by a surprisingly strong, lingering spiciness. I’ve had chocolates like these where the heat was overpowering and mostly just distracting; that isn’t the case here. The spice does a good job of bringing out the flavours in the chocolate and the fruit, as well as adding its own distinctive appeal, without becoming overwhelming. The dark chocolate coating is quite intense with a 70 percent cocoa level, which gives these a really rich, chocolately flavour and helps to balance out the sweetness of the jelly.

Though I’m not too sure about the maracuja flavour – it’s a bit too sour, and the mild jalepeno taste is bizarre – the other two flavours are good enough to definitely recommend this, if you can find it (I bought it at a Lindt store in an outlet mall in Buffalo).

Manufactured by: Lindt
Calories (3 pieces, 37 g): 170

November 14, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Valomilk – Absolutely Delicious (if you can find a Fresh One)

Marshmallow Treats

I recently took a day trip into the States, and of course, I had to stop by a Cracker Barrel in order to pick up a candy I have a definite love/hate relationship with: Valomilk. Love, because when Valomilk is fresh, it’s delicious and easily among my favourites. Hate, because finding a fresh one is ridiculously hit-and-miss.

Each package of Valomilk contains two chocolate cups – each about the size of a Reese’s Big Cup – filled with a soft, flowing marshmallow centre. The marshmallow in here is very unique; it’s not fluffy at all (or at least it shouldn’t be, assuming it’s not too stale) and is similar in consistency to the caramel inside a Caramilk or Caramello. It has a satisfyingly rich vanilla taste, and combined with the better-than-average milk chocolate, it thoroughly hits the spot.

As you can see from the picture, both cups suffered from a bit of leakage, which seems to be the norm with these (in fact, I think I got lucky with the minimal amount of leaking in these cups – I’ve seen far worse). The only way to ensure that you get a pair of cups without too much damage is to stand there in the store and feel the tops of each package, until you find one that feels smooth.

Of course, this being Valomilk, staleness has reared its ugly head – while I’ve had much worse, these cups were already a bit past their prime. You can’t tell from the picture, but the flowing marshmallow had started to partially solidify in certain areas.

Which leads me to this: I have some advice for the good folks at the Russell Sifers Candy Company: change the packaging. Seriously. Change the packaging. What you’ve got right now, which I can only assume is sealed by hand, is completely inadequate. Maybe it has some kind of old-timey appeal, but I couldn’t care less about that. You need to completely overhaul your packaging to maximize the freshness of the product. When buying your candy is like rolling the dice at a craps table, you know you’ve got trouble.

I have a suggestion: lose the flimsy paper wrapper. It does absolutely nothing to protect the delicate cups, nor does it particularly do much to slow down the product’s disconcertingly fast march towards staleness. Perhaps a small cardboard box would work better; one just big enough for the two cups so they don’t slide around at all. And vacuum pack it. I know this will be more expensive. You’ll have to raise the price. Do it! I’d pay double if I knew that I was almost certainly going to get a fresh product. I don’t buy nearly as many of these as I used to, and it’s only because finding a completely fresh, undamaged one is sort of like finding a four-leaf clover.

Finally, you need to print a “best before” date on the packaging. I know you’ll probably lose some money once the product goes past its date, and people no longer want to buy it, but in the long run I’m sure you will gain sales. People will be much more likely to buy your product if they know it’s going to be (reasonably) fresh. Perhaps I’m wrong, though I suspect otherwise.

This is starting to get a bit long, so let’s just say that I think Valomilk is great, but with a few substantial caveats. I’m going to give it three-and-a-half chips; at its best it easily deserves four, but finding a pristine Valomilk is much harder than it should be.

Manufactured by: Russell Sifers Candy Company
Calories (2 cups, 57 g): 260