Milk Chocolate Archives - Page 4 of 23

May 2, 2021 Michael

Almond Joy – Crunchy, Coconutty, and Tasty

Candy Bars

Almond Joy is basically Mounds, but with the addition of almonds, and with milk chocolate instead of dark. It’s fine, but Mounds is clearly the superior of the two.

The milk chocolate actually makes a pretty huge difference. The dark chocolate on a Mounds bar gives it a more pronounced chocolately flavour, and its slight bitterness contrasts very nicely with the very sweet coconut. The milk chocolate here is decent, but it’s just sweet on sweet; I missed the dark chocolate.

Then, of course, there are the almonds. You’d think they’d be the star of the show; they’re right there in the name. Oddly enough, they don’t add much — they bring some crunchiness, but their flavour is completely lost. If they had a toastier flavour they might have been able to nudge through, but alas, they’re fairly bland.

You’d think the coconut would be exactly the same as in a Mounds (they’re both made by Hershey, after all), but the coconutty centre here seems a bit more dry. This emphasizes the problem coconut desserts tend to have, where you’re still munching on coconut bits long after the flavour has disappeared.

Still, the chocolate/coconut combo continues to be delicious, and while I prefer Mounds (and Bounty, the king of the chocolate/coconut castle), Almond Joy is tasty enough.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (2 pieces, 45 grams): 220 calories, 13 grams of fat (9 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 50 mg of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fibre, 21 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Corn syrup, sugar, coconut, almonds, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and/or palm kernel oil) chocolate, milk, contains 2% or less of: lactose (milk), milk fat, skim milk, cocoa, whey (milk), salt, lecithin (soy), PGPR, hydrolyzed milk protein, sodium metabisulfite to maintain freshness, vanillin, artificial flavor.

April 18, 2021 Michael

Aero Truffle: Chocoalte Mousse – Aero Milk Chocolate with a Creamy Truffle Layer

Candy Bars, Chocolate

This is one of those bars that doesn’t really need a review. I don’t know what I can tell you that isn’t right in the name of the bar; it’s Aero with creamy chocolate truffle filling crammed on top. It pretty much tastes how you think it will.

It’s tasty in all the ways you expect (it’s also extremely sweet, but then so is classic Aero), though I do wish that the dense truffle filling were creamier, which would probably contrast better with the bubbly milk chocolate. This would also help it resemble its namesake a bit better — there are pretty much no mousse-like properties here, other than the chocolate flavour.

My biggest problem is that the bar is kinda neither here nor there — there isn’t enough of the truffle filling to give you a nice hit of the creamy, rich truffle texture, and of course, the bubbly chocolate that you normally find in an Aero is reduced to make room for the truffle. I enjoyed eating it, but given the choice, I’d rather just have a regular chocolate truffle or a classic Aero bar.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (8 segments, 40 grams): 220 calories, 13 grams of fat (8 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 35 mg of sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 22 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, modified milk ingredients, cocoa butter*, unsweetened chocolate*, soy lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, natural flavour), sugar, modified milk ingredients, modified palm oil, cocoa butter*, unsweetened chocolate*, soy lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, natural flavour. *Rainforest Alliance Certified

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021 Michael

Trumpf Aero – Germany’s Version of a Familiar Treat

Candy Bars, Chocolate

Aero is produced by Nestle throughout the world — except for Germany, where it’s made by Trumpf. My attempts to google this have been fruitless, so I have no idea how or why this arrangement happened, but it’s not the only time Nestle has made a deal like this. I’m thinking of Kit Kat, which is produced by Hershey in the US and by Nestle in the rest of the world.

Whatever the reasoning may be, the two Aeros are surprisingly different.

They’re both essentially the same thing — they’re aerated milk chocolate bars, which means that they have hundreds of tiny holes that gives the chocolate an interesting texture.

Aside from that, they’re pretty different; the Trumpf version is aerated all the way through, and lacks Nestle’s solid chocolate coating. This makes a bigger difference than you’d think; it has a very pronounced lightness that makes it melt away almost instantly.

The flavour is also quite different from standard Aero, with an in-your-face milkiness that gives it a fairly unique personality. The chocolate flavour is muted, but not in an unpleasant way. It’s a bit too sweet (the Nestle version has the same issue), but is otherwise pretty tasty.

Manufactured by: Trumpf
Nutritional info (100 grams): 543 calories, 32 grams of fat (19 grams of saturated fat, unknown grams of trans fat), unknown mg of cholesterol, 170 mg of sodium, 56 grams of carbohydrates, unknown grams of fibre, 56 grams of sugar, 6.4 grams of protein.
Ingredients (Google translated from German): Sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, milk sugar, cream powder (milk), emulsifiers (soy lecithin, E476), vanilla extract. Cocoa: 30% minimum.

April 2, 2021 Michael

Mini Eggs vs. Eggies vs. M&M’s Eggs

Easter Candy

Here it is, the ultimate Easter chocolate showdown. It’s the battle of the small, egg-shaped chocolates; whoever wins, we lose. Or something, I don’t know. They’re all chocolate, so I guess whoever wins, we also win.

It’s Cadbury (Mini Eggs) versus Hershey (Eggies) versus Mars (M&M’s Eggs). Apparently there’s also an egg-shaped version of Smarties, so I guess I could have thrown Nestle into the mix, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

The results of this smackdown probably won’t surprise you. Mini Eggs are the original and the best, though Eggies come surprisingly close. If I tasted them both blind, I don’t know that I’d be able to tell the difference. Aside from the size (Mini Eggs are slightly smaller), they’re mostly interchangeable.

It’s honestly kind of weird how similar they taste. They both have a delicate candy shell encasing creamy, vanilla-infused milk chocolate. It’s a tasty combo. It’s also pretty obvious that Eggies are trying very hard to ape the flavour of Mini Eggs, because the chocolate tastes much less like standard Hershey, and more like what you’d expect from Cadbury.

Meanwhile, M&M’s are off in the corner doing their own thing. They taste absolutely nothing like the other two. They’re just M&M’s in a different shape, with a glossy exterior, a thick candy coating, and that very distinctive M&M’s chocolate flavour. I like M&M’s, but these are easily my least favourite of the bunch; something about the different shape and different candy-to-chocolate ratio completely throws off what makes plain M&M’s so tasty. They’re too sweet, the shell is too aggressively crunchy, and they’re just kind of a bummer to eat. They’re clearly inferior to regular M&M’s, and clearly inferior to the other two in this showdown.

As for Eggies versus Mini Eggs? It’s basically a coin toss, but if I have to pick, I’ll go with Mini Eggs; I think the quality of the chocolate is ever-so-slightly better. But they’re both delicious, so either way you can’t go wrong.

Mini Eggs

Manufactured by: Cadbury
Nutritional info (1 package, 33 grams): 170 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 25 mg sodium, 23 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, modified palm and modified vegetable oil, unsweetened chocolate, cocoa butter, gum arabic, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavour, colour (with tartrazine).

Eggies

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (12 pieces, 40 grams): 180 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 35 mg sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate [sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, lecithin (soy), polyglycerol polyricinoleate, natural flavour], sugar, corn starch, gum acacia, titanium dioxide, artificial flavour, tartrazine, indigotine, allura red.

M&M’s Eggs

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/4 cup, 42 grams): 200 calories, 8 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 30 mg sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 26 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavour, flavour), sugar, cornstarch, corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, colour (with tartrazine), carnauba wax, modified coconut oil and / or modified palm oil (medium chain triglycerides), gum acacia.

March 31, 2021 Michael

Kit Kat Chunky: Popcorn – Surprisingly Strong Popcorn Flavour

Candy Bars

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the popcorn version of Kit Kat Chunky. Considering that Kit Kat Chunky’s cookie dough variety basically doesn’t taste like cookie dough at all, I sort of figured that this would be more of the same.

I was extremely wrong. Popcorn Kit Kat Chunky pretty much hits you in the face with popcorn flavour.

My assumption was that the white stuff on top of the wafer would be some kind of popcorn-flavoured paste, but there are actual bits of popcorn in there, and their flavour is surprisingly strong. It’s mildly buttery, slightly salty, and actually compliments the toasty wafers and the sweet chocolate surprisingly well. The chunks are also large enough to add a bit of their own texture on top of the crispiness of the wafers.

It’s more of a fun novelty than anything else, but if you’re intrigued by the combination of Kit Kat + popcorn, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (1 bar, 48 grams): 250 calories, 14 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg cholesterol, 75 mg sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 22 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, wheat flour, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, modified palm oil, palm kernel, palm and vegetable oils, popcorn, cocoa powder, sunflower lecithin, salt, natural flavour, baking soda, protease, xylanase.