nougat Archives - Page 2 of 3

November 22, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Baby Ruth – Chewy, Nutty, and Tasty

Candy Bars

Like Crunch and Butterfinger, Baby Ruth is one of the candy bars that was recently bought out by Ferrero and reformulated. In this case, the wrapper is very proud to proclaim that they’ve improved the recipe with the addition of dry-roasted peanuts. Alas, it’s been several years since I’ve last tried a Baby Ruth, so I couldn’t particularly tell you whether or not this is an upgrade.

The other thing that initially stands out is the presence of mockolate rather than actual chocolate on the exterior of the bar (red flag: the wrapper doesn’t mention the word “chocolate” once). I thought this might be a Ferrero thing, but a quick search reveals that Baby Ruth has used fake chocolate since at least 2008.

Aside from the mockolate coating and the new-and-improved dry-roasted nuts, the other two elements of a Baby Ruth are caramel and nougat.

If you’ve ever had an Oh Henry, this is basically the same thing. I think the level of chewiness here is slightly less intense, but they’re very similar.

It’s quite tasty. In particular, the much-touted dry-roasted peanuts add a ton of flavour; there’s a really satisfying roasty nuttiness that complements the bar’s other flavours quite well, not to mention the pleasant crunch.

The other thing that I quite like here is the caramel — a lot of candy bar caramel basically tastes like thick, chewy sugar, but the stuff here actually has some flavour outside of generic sweetness.

The bar definitely tastes sweeter than average, but there’s also a nice hit of salt that helps to balance things out. As for the mockolate, it’s fairly inoffensive; it adds zero taste or texture. Real chocolate would have been nice, but the mockolate doesn’t detract from the bar, which is really all you can ask.

Manufactured by: Ferrero
Nutritional info (1 bar, 53.8 grams): 260 calories, 12 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 130 mg of sodium, 35 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 28 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, dry roasted peanuts, corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil (palm kernel, coconut, and soybean), nonfat milk, cocoa, less than 2% of high fructose corn syrup, dairy product solids, glycerin, dextrose, salt, soy lecithin, lactic acid esters, carrageenan.

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.

April 26, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Buccaneer – An Overpriced Mars Bar without the Caramel

Candy Bars

Buccaneer is a bit of an odd one. It’s ostensibly a premium candy bar; I bought it at Whole Foods for over three bucks, and the wrapper proudly proclaims that it contains “nothing artificial.”

But the wrapper also uses the word “chocolatey” not once, but twice. Chocolatey is absolutely, positively not a word you want to see on a chocolate bar wrapper (or on the packaging for anything, really). It’s the word companies use when they can’t legally use the word chocolate, because the thing in their product that purports to be chocolate is not actually chocolate.

So that’s not great.

That being said, the “chocolatey coating” here is actually not bad. It’s not great, mind you, but it has very little of the waxy greasiness you associate with mockolate. Eaten with the rest of the bar, it could pass for middling dark chocolate.

As for the bar itself, it’s basically a Mars bar, but without the caramel (it’s also quite 3 Musketeers-esque, though the nougat here is a bit more dense, which makes me think of a Mars bar).

It’s fine, I guess? Its sweetness is a bit more restrained than its inspiration, which is nice, but there’s also nothing about it that particularly stands out. It basically tastes like one of those cheap imitation candy bars you can find at Dollarama, only it costs like triple the real deal, for some reason?

Manufactured by: Go Max Go Foods
Nutritional info (57 g bar): 230 calories, 7 grams of fat (6 grams of saturated fat), 75 mg of sodium, 43 g of carbohydrates, 1 g of fibre, 33 grams of sugar, 1 gram of protein.
Ingredients: Cane sugar, organic rice syrup, organic dehydrated cane juice, palm kernel oil, cocoa powder, palm oil, enzyme modified soy protein, salt, natural flavors, sunflower lecithin, guar gum.

October 31, 2011January 10, 2021 Michael

Snickers Peanut Butter – Not Enough of that Sweet PB Flavour

Candy Bars

Ah, Snickers: the old standby. It’s not the most exciting candy bar in the store, but it’s always there when you need it, and it’s always tasty. I like Snickers. I also like peanut butter. So, is this two great tastes that taste great together? Uh… kind of?

Snickers Peanut Butter is divided into two square chunks. Each one consists of a layer of nougat, topped with a layer of peanut butter filled with chunks of peanuts, topped with a layer of caramel, and all enrobed in milk chocolate.

It’s not bad. The first thing you notice is that it’s very, very sweet – cloyingly so, but with a strong salty kick that attempts to balance things out. It’s a bit of a throat-searing combination, but it did grow on me after a while.

Between the peanut butter, the nougat, the caramel and the chocolate, there’s a lot going on in this bar. Maybe a little too much; the peanut butter doesn’t really stand out as much as you’d think it would, considering that it is ostensibly the main attraction here. I should also note that the peanut distribution is somewhat uneven – my first square had almost no peanuts, while the second was actually quite peanutty.

The whole thing reminds me a lot of Reese’s Fast Break, which is another bar that I’m not crazy about (the very Reese’s-esque thick, crumbly peanut butter certainly solidifies this connection).

Manufactured by: Mars
Calories (two squares, 50 g): 250

January 21, 2009January 10, 2021 Michael

Zero – The Nuttiness Grows on You

Candy Bars

Not to be confused with the far superior Belgian chocolate truffle bar, Hershey’s Zero consists of nougat studded with tiny pieces of almonds and peanuts, topped with chewy caramel and enrobed in white chocolate. Only, it’s not really white chocolate – Hershey calls it “white fudge,” presumably because it doesn’t contain the requisite amount of cocoa butter to legally be allowed to be called chocolate (vegetable oil is one of the first ingredients).

Zero sort of resembles a nuttier Mars Bar (or Milky Way in the States). Unlike a Mars Bar, the nougat contains really small chunks of peanuts and almonds. I think the pieces are probably a bit too small, as they give the bar an off-puttingly gritty texture. They do, however, lend the bar a pleasantly nutty flavour, which gives the nougat an almost marzipan-like taste. The caramel adds some additional chewiness, though it doesn’t really contribute any real flavour to the bar. As for the “white fudge,” it’s basically just superfluous.

For the first couple of bites, I was definitely ready to give this a negative review. But it grew on me. It’s not as sweet as you might expect, and it has a much nuttier flavour than you’ll find in most mainstream candy bars. It’s certainly not great, but it’s not bad either.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Calories (52 g bar): 230