creamy Archives - Page 6 of 8

November 25, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Caramel Crisp – An Overwhelming Punch of Caramel

Candy Bars

The smell hits you hard when you open the Kit Kat Caramel Crisp wrapper — caramel, but caramel times a million. It’s intense.

The flavour is equally intense. Featuring bits of crispy caramel in a thick milk chocolate coating, the caramel flavour here is unmistakable and overpowering. There’s also something about it that’s vaguely off; the packaging lists “natural flavour” among the ingredients, and there must be some kind of flavouring going on because normal caramel shouldn’t taste like this.

It’s also intensely sweet. The nice thing about Kit Kat, normally, is that the wafers do a great job of balancing out the chocolate’s sweetness. But the outer coating of chocolate here is so thick and so sweet that it completely overwhelms the wafer. The wafer adds crispiness, but that’s about it.

Also adding texture: the toffee-like crispy caramel bits. The creamy/crispy contrast here is quite nice; it’s just too bad that the flavour is a bit wonky.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (4 pieces, 40 grams): 200 calories, 10 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 45 mg of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 21 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, wheat flour, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, modified palm oil, palm, palm kernel and vegetable oils, cocoa powder, sunflower and soy lecithin, natural flavour, salt, baking soda, protease, xylanase, tocopherol, citric acid.

November 1, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Fudge Brownie – Chewy, Crispy, and Tasty

Candy Bars

I remember when M&M’s were pretty much only available in regular and peanut (which, as I’ve mentioned before, is and shall always be the king of M&M’s), so I still find wacky flavours like fudge brownie to be thoroughly delightful, even if they are old hat at this point.

And this is one of those combos that’s so M&M-friendly that I’m surprised it took this long to happen. With a lot of gimmicky M&M’s varieties, they attempt to infuse the chocolate with flavouring, to questionable results (some of these, like Carrot Cake, are actually pretty good, while others, like Red Velvet… are not).

This flavour, on the other hand, features an actual piece of brownie (or something resembling a brownie) crammed into the middle of an M&M. They’re exactly what you’re hoping they’re going to be — they taste like a combo of M&M’s and fudgy, store-bought brownies. The brownie interior has a nice chewiness and a distinctive brownie flavour.

It’s nothing too mind-blowing, and it’s definitely sweeter than it needs to be, but the contrast between the crunchy shell, creamy chocolate, and chewy brownie works quite well.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 pack, 40 grams): 190 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 40 mg of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 25 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Semisweet chocolate (sugar, chocolate processed with alkali, chocolate, cocoa butter, milkfat, skim milk, soy lecithin), sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, chocolate processed with alkali, skim milk, cornstarch, less than 1% – milk fat, lactose, dextrin, salt, coloring (includes blue 1 lake, yellow 6, red 40, yellow 5, blue 1) carnauba wax, artificial flavor, chocolate, gum acacia.

October 28, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

3 Musketeers – Chewy, Sweet, and Tasty

Candy Bars

3 Musketeers is basically a Mars Bar without the caramel. It’s extremely simple — it’s just chewy, cocoa-infused whipped nougat covered in a fairly generous layer of milk chocolate.

The way that Mars has named both this and Mars Bar is a bit confusing; this one is known as 3 Musketeers in North America, but Milky Way in the UK. That’s not to be confused with the American version of Milky Way, which is actually called Mars Bar everywhere else. Simple, right?

Whatever it’s called, 3 Musketeers is a classic — the nougat is nice and fluffy, with a decent amount of chewiness and a satisfying chocolatey flavour. It’s very sweet, but not overwhelming, with a nice hit of creaminess and flavour from the milk chocolate exterior.

Clearly, there’s a reason why it’s endured since the ’30s.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 54.4 grams): 240 calories, 7 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg of cholesterol, 95 mg of sodium, 42 grams of carbohydrates, <1 gram of fibre, 35 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, skim milk, lactose, milkfat, soy lecithin), sugar, corn syrup, vegetable oil (hydrogenated palm kernel oil and/or palm oil), cocoa powder processed with alkali, less than 1.5% – salt, egg whites, artificial and natural flavors.

October 7, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Mallo Cup – Overly Sweet Marshmallow Cups

Candy Bars

It’s been several years since I’ve had a Mallo Cup; my memory is that it’s basically an inferior version of Valomilk. But then Valomilk isn’t exactly easy to find. I’ve only ever seen it in the Cracker Barrel gift shop, which makes it pretty much impossible to buy at the moment. Popping down to the States for a day trip probably isn’t going to be in the cards for quite a while.

Well, Mallo Cup, it turns out, is exactly as I remembered. It’s fine? I guess? But Valomilk is the superior candy in literally every regard, and they’re so similar that it’s impossible not to compare them.

It’s a pretty simple concept; it’s a chocolate cup filled with marshmallow creme (which the packaging calls “whipped creme”). Mallo Cup distinguishes itself from Valomilk by including coconut flakes in the chocolate, but they’re otherwise identical.

The coconut is actually a nice touch; it adds a very subtle crispy texture and a hint of coconut flavour. The cups are a bit bland aside from intense sweetness, so I actually wish there were a bit more coconut. But it’s fine.

That’s the thing, there’s nothing overtly wrong with it — the gooey creme and the creamy chocolate make for a satisfying combo. But the flavour is one-note sweet; neither the chocolate nor the creme have all that much flavour other than an overriding sugariness. It’s decent enough, but since Valomilk is a thing that exists in the world, it’s kinda superfluous.

Manufactured by: Boyer
Nutritional info (2 cups, 42 grams): 200 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), <5 mg cholesterol, 40 mg sodium, 30 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fibre, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk, chocolate liquor, and soy lecithin), corn syrup, sugar, water, coconut, dextrin, egg white, salt, guar gum, natural and artificial flavor, potassium sorbate (to preserve freshness) and soy lecithin.

October 4, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Maltesers Teasers – A Chocolatey Twist on a Classic

Candy Bars

Maltesers Teasers was a lot more Maltesersy than I was expecting. That’s a bit of a weird thing to say — Maltesers is right there in the name, after all — but sometimes these spin-off bars only have a very tenuous connection to the original. That’s definitely not the case here.

Teasers is basically a plain chocolate bar, but with bits of the classic Maltesers malty crispiness interspersed throughout. I think the chocolate itself might also be infused with a malty flavour, because that taste is quite pronounced.

It’s really good. If you like classic Maltesers (and what’s not to like??) then I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll like this. It’s basically reverse Maltesers — Maltesers is crispy with a bit of a creamy chocolaty hit, and Teasers is creamy with a bit of a crispy malty hit. But the flavour is basically identical; the only real difference is the creamy-to-crispy ratio.

It’s very, very sweet, but the thoroughly malty flavour does a great job of balancing it out and ensuring that it never feels one-note cloying. It’s delicious.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1 bar, 35 grams): 186 calories, 10.4 grams of fat (6.3 grams of saturated fat, unknown grams of trans fat), unknown mg of cholesterol, 130 mg of sodium, 20.3 grams of carbohydrates, unknown grams of fibre, 18.5 grams of sugar, 2.6 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, glucose syrup, palm fat, lactose and protein from whey (from milk), whey powder (from milk), barley malt extract, milk fat, emulsifier (soya lecithin), wheat flour raising agents (E341, E500, E501), salt, natural vanilla extract.