food Archives - Candyrageous

October 18, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Apple Pie – Nails the Apple Pie Flavour

Candy Bars

I’ll admit that I was actually pretty excited to try this one. I mean, it’s Apple Pie Kit Kat; if you don’t think that’s irresistible then you and me are very different people.

I got a bit less excited when I looked at the ingredients list and noticed that there isn’t anything even remotely resembling an apple in what is ostensibly a candy bar all about apples.

But then I took a bite and got excited again because holy cow this thing tastes a surprising amount like a slice of apple pie. Like, it’s weird how much it tastes like apple pie. It nailed that flavour way more than I thought it would, particularly after perusing the ingredients.

Specifically, it tastes like apple pie a la mode, with a hint of tartness from whatever scientific magic they used to replicate the apple flavour, a subtle hint of cinnamon and other spices, a decent amount of pie crust flavour from the wafers, and a milky creaminess that made me think of pie a la mode. I’m shocked that this is as good as it is; I enjoyed the hell out of it.

Between this and the birthday cake variety, Kit Kat is absolutely knocking it out of the park with these novelty flavours that have the potential to be horrible but are actually amazing.

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, 40 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), wheat flour: skim milk, corn syrup solids, lactose (milk). Contains 2% or less of: chocolate, natural flavor and artificial flavor, lecithin (soy), salt, yeast, baking soda, artificial color (yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, blue 2 lake, red 40 lake), PGPR.

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.

August 23, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Matcha Green Tea – Nails the Green Tea Flavour

Candy Bars

I’m probably not the best person to review this particular Kit Kat variety. I’m not sure why I even bought it; I’m just not a fan of green tea, either in beverage or dessert form. It’s a super popular flavour, and I keep waiting for something to come along to sell me on it. But this Kit Kat isn’t it.

It’s fine? I guess? There’s something about the bitter, vaguely swampy flavour of green tea that just never clicks with me, but if you like that then I’m sure you’ll like this. The matcha flavour is surprisingly pronounced, and the sweetness is relatively restrained.

It is what it is — it’s a Kit Kat that tastes like green tea instead of like chocolate. If that sounds good to you, then this is exactly what you’re hoping it’ll be.

The only real issue here, outside of my personal distaste for matcha, is that the stuff on its exterior has no relation to chocolate — the bar contains palm and vegetable oils and zero cocoa butter, so it’s not the white chocolate with green tea that you’d expect. But it’s creamy enough, with very little of the waxiness you’ll find in most mockolate. If I hadn’t known, I don’t think I would have realized.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (1 bar, 35 grams): 190 calories, 11 grams of fat (8 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 35 mg of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fibre, 14 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: palm kernel, palm and vegetable oils, modified milk ingredients, sugar, wheat flour, maltodextrin, green tea powder, glucose syrup, soy lecithin, green tea leaves, salt, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, baking soda, calcium carbonate, protease, xylanase, natural flavours.

August 3, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Twirl – An Easier to Eat Flake Bar

Candy Bars

Twirl is basically just an enhanced version of Flake; it’s a Flake bar that’s been covered in milk chocolate. That doesn’t seem like much, but it actually makes a pretty huge difference when you’re eating it.

Flake is one of the more painful chocolate bars to eat. Its distinctive shape means that as soon as you take a bite, it starts crumbling into bits.

Twirl thoroughly solves that issue; the chocolate coating holds it all together quite nicely. Every bite is crumb-free.

Other than that? It is what it is. It’s standard Cadbury milk chocolate, but in a different shape. It’s certainly not the most interesting candy bar in the store, but if you’re craving chocolate, it’ll hit the spot. The flaky texture makes it a slightly different experience from eating a standard block of chocolate.

As for the quality of the chocolate itself, it’s very sweet, but it’s nice and creamy and has a pleasant milky flavour. It’s good.

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (1 finger, 21.5 grams): 114 calories, 6.3 grams of fat (3.6 grams of saturated fat, unknown grams of trans fat), unknown mg of cholesterol (British labeling standards are different, I guess), 50 mg of sodium, 13 grams of carbohydrates, 0.5 grams of fibre, 12 grams of sugar, 1.5 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk, sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, whey powder (from milk), vegetable fat (palm, shea), emulsifiers (E442, E476), flavourings.

July 29, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat – An Absolute Classic

Candy Bars

After reviewing (and being delighted by) a bunch of Kit Kat variants, I figured it was probably time to write about the original.

I was under the impression that Kit Kat had gone down in quality; the last couple of times I’ve eaten it, I’ve been underwhelmed.

Well, either I was wrong or the quality has gone right back up, because this one was absolutely delicious. Top-notch stuff.

Everything here just works. In particular, the ratio of chocolate to wafer is spot on; there’s enough chocolate to give you a satisfying chocolatey hit, but you also get a good amount of crispiness from the wafers. It’s a great balance, and as I’ve mentioned in previous Kit Kat reviews, the wheaty wafers do a great job of offsetting some of the sweetness of the chocolate.

I mean, it’s a Kit Kat; it’s not the most exciting thing at the store, but if you haven’t had it in a while, I think you might be surprised. The chocolate is pretty decent, the wafers are nice and crispy, and it’s not too sweet. It’s not gourmet, but for a mass-market candy bar made by one of the huge candy companies, it really doesn’t get much better than this.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (1 bar, 45 grams): 230 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 35 mg sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, whey powder, lactose, soya lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, natural flavour), wheat flour, sugar, modified palm oil, cocoa, sodium bicarbonate, soya lecithin, yeast, natural flavour.