sweet Archives - Page 19 of 26

December 19, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Cacao Reserve Premium Dark Chocolate Truffles – Not as Premium as You’d Like

Truffles

Hershey launched Cacao Reserve, its “upscale” line of chocolates, a couple of years ago (you know a chocolate maker is trying a bit too hard to seem fancy when they use the pretentious “cacao” rather than the more common “cocoa”). I guess it’s a been a success for them, because here we are two years later and the brand is still kicking around. That’s somewhat of a surprise to me, as nothing I’ve tried in the Cacao Reserve line has been particularly stellar.

These truffles are quite small – probably about half the size of an average truffle. They have a kind of uneven look, as if they’ve been made by hand, though it’s pretty obvious that they all come from a mold. As for the taste, they’re kind of odd – they have a 65 percent cocoa content (sorry… cacao content) and aren’t very sweet. However, they don’t really have the rich chocolately flavour that you might expect. To call them flavourless might be a bit harsh, but there’s no doubt that they are lacking in the taste department. The texture is also a bit off, as they have a strange, somewhat peanut buttery consistency that seems somewhat out of whack with how you’d expect a truffle to be.

They’re edible, certainly – I wouldn’t recoil in horror if you were to offer me another one, but overall I’d have to give these a marginal thumbs down.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Calories (8 truffles, 51 g): 260

December 17, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Yorkie – A Decent Dairy Milk Knockoff

Candy Bars, Chocolate

Yorkie is the British bar which proudly proclaims that “it’s not for girls!” Based on that slogan, I had sort of figured that Yorkie was going to do something like cram every conceivable candy bar filling into one bar, or something similarly ridiculous. But nope, it’s just plain milk chocolate. I’m really not sure what makes that female-inappropriate, since on the whole women tend to appreciate plain chocolate more than men. Yorkie is slightly bigger (and thus higher in calories) than your average single-serving candy bar, so I guess that could be it? Anyway, it’s highly probable that I’m overthinking what amounts to a silly (and potentially offensive) marketing gimmick.

What about the bar? Well, as I said, it’s just plain milk chocolate. The wrapper describes it as “chunky milk chocolate”, which is something else that puzzles me about this candy – it’s pure chocolate, no chunks. In North America, “chunky” is generally only used to denote something with chunks (at least in the context of candy), but I guess that’s different over there in the UK. But again, I digress.

So how’s the chocolate? It’s not bad, actually. It kind of reminds me of a slightly inferior version of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk. It’s sweet and creamy, with a similar taste and consistency to Cadbury’s product. I don’t think it’s quite as good, though if I had tried this without knowing what it was, I certainly could have been fooled into thinking it was Dairy Milk.

Manufactued by: Nestle
Calories (68 g bar): 367

December 15, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

Heath – Classic Toffee Deliciousness

Candy Bars

Heath may not be the most exciting bar in the store, but with its memorable combination of crunchy toffee and creamy milk chocolate, it’s definitely a classic.

Heath pretty much defines simplicity: it’s just a flat piece of crunchy toffee coated in chocolate. That’s it. Simple, but good. The toffee is crunchy and somewhat crumbly, with a rich, almost burnt-sugary taste. It has a buttery flavour, with a mild saltiness that helps to offset the overall sweetness of the chocolate and the toffee. The chocolate is decent, and unlike some other Hershey products, it’s still real milk chocolate.

I’m really not sure what else to say about Heath, a bar that’s been around for just about eighty years. Uh… it’s good in ice cream?

Okay, I think I’ll cut this one short.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Calories (39 g bar): 210

December 8, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

3 Color Coconut – Not Something I Ever Need to Eat Again

Candy Bars

I’m generally a pretty big fan of coconut in candy – Bounty, which is essentially a superior version of Mounds, is one of my favourites. But there are those who feel differently, such as Steve Almond, who described coconut as having a “creepy dead skin texture” (in his very entertaining book, Candyfreak). I can see what he’s saying with a complaint like that, though it’s not something that generally perturbs me. 3 Color Coconut, however, is drier and less sweet than the usual coconut candy, which makes the “dead skin” factor much more of an issue.

3 Color Coconut contains three sections with three distinct flavours: strawberry, vanilla and chocolate. The strawberry section definitely has the strongest flavour, with a sweet, unmistakably strawberry taste. Vanilla is just plain, sweetened coconut – only it’s not very sweet, and it doesn’t have a particularly pronounced coconut flavour (leading to the flavour running out before you’re actually done chewing it, and to the aforementioned dead skin problem). The chocolate section has a weak, vaguely chocolatey flavour (there’s no cocoa or anything even resembling chocolate in the list of ingredients, so take from that what you will).

The chocolate coating that you’d generally find in a coconut confection such as this (like Mounds or Bounty) is definitely missed here. It’s kind of dry and not particularly flavourful; while the three different flavours make this an interesting novelty, I can’t say it’s something I’ll ever buy again.

Manufactured by: Friesinger’s Candies
Calories (71 g bar): 320

December 3, 2008January 10, 2021 Michael

100 Grand – Chewy, Crispy, and Tasty

Candy Bars

The contrast between chewy and crunchy/crispy is a popular one among many candy makers, and is certainly at the forefront here. Featuring an appealing mix of crispy puffed rice and chewy caramel, 100 Grand is a tasty bar (or a couple of bars, in this case).

The caramel is soft, chewy and slightly grainy. It’s sweet, but with more mellow flavour than what you’d typically find in a candy bar. I know this is a bizarre thing to say, but the taste almost reminds me of cookie dough. Obviously the flavour isn’t even close to identical, but the more of it I ate, the harder it was to shake the cookie dough connection.

The puffed rice adds a satisfying crispiness which complements the chewy caramel quite well. Puffed rice is actually a fairly common ingredient in candy bars; I think it’s because it’s crispy without being too crispy, and without having much of a flavour to speak of (so it just contributes to the texture of a bar without interfering with the taste). It works really well here; 100 Grand can officially be added to my list of candy I wish I could buy in Canada but can’t.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Calories (43 g bar):190