sweet Archives - Page 9 of 26

December 13, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Reese’s Take 5 – Sweet and Salty Goodness

Candy Bars

Reese’s Take 5 was formerly just known as Take 5, but last year Hershey crammed the Reese name onto it, because apparently all candy bars have to be affiliated with another candy bar. Think about it: pretty much every bar under the sun has about a billion variants (there are about a thousand different Kit Kat and M&M varieties alone), but when was the last time one of the major candy companies came out with an all-new candy bar?

By 2032, all candy bars will converge into one mega-flavour that will cause the universe to fold into itself and reset: a new big bang that’ll start this whole rigmarole over from scratch. Which, let’s face it, is probably for the best.

Until then: Reese’s Take 5, a combo of pretzels, peanuts, peanut butter, caramel, and chocolate.

It’s pretty good, though if you don’t like chocolate-covered pretzels you’re probably out of luck, because that’s clearly the dominant flavour here. I do like that combo, so I quite enjoyed it. In particular, the nice hit of salt you get from the crunchy pretzels does a great job of balancing out some of the sweetness from the rest of the bar. Which is a good thing, because Take 5 (sorry, Reese’s Take 5) is a scorcher; it’s intensely sweet. The caramel is probably superfluous, but the combo of chocolate, peanut butter and pretzels is so delicious that it barely matters.

Manufactured by: Hershey
Nutritional info (1 package, 42 grams): 210 calories, 11 grams of fat (5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg cholesterol, 210 mg sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 18 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fibre, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, enriched wheat flour (flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), peanuts, vegetable oil (palm oil, shea oil, sunflower oil, palm kernel oil, canola oil, and/or safflower oil), high fructose corn syrup, chocolate, hydrogenated vegetable oil (palm kernel oil, coconut oil, soybean oil), partially defatted peanuts, skim milk, contains 2% or less of: dextrose, whey (milk), salt, corn syrup solids, dairy butter (milk), glycerin, corn syrup, lecithin (soy), sodium hydroxide, mono- and diglycerides, artificial flavor, baking soda, carrageenan, milk fat, yeast, TBHQ and citric acid, to maintain freshness, disodium phosphate.

December 9, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

M&M’s Milk Chocolate Bar with Minis & Crisp Rice – Needs More Crispiness

Candy Bars, Chocolate

Why does the M&M on the packaging of this bar look so worried? Is it because he knows he’s about to be entombed in milk chocolate and then eaten? I’ve always found it odd that anthropomorphized M&M’s are the face of the candy. Why would an M&M want you to eat M&M’s?? Are those not his brothers and sisters? At least the look of terror on the M&M on the wrapper is honest about what the experience of being an M&M must be like.

But I digress. Outside of the ethical implications of eating a sentient being who has the capacity to feel fear for his own mortality, this was fine, I guess?

The bar consists of mini M&M’s and crispy puffed rice surrounded by milk chocolate. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I’m particularly keen to rush out and buy again.

The milk chocolate is typical M&M’s chocolate — it’s a bit too sweet and it’s not exactly the best chocolate you’ll ever eat, but mostly, it’s creamy and tasty. It’s chocolate. It’s fine.

The biggest issue is that there aren’t nearly enough M&M’s and puffed rice to bring the bar all that much crispiness. It’s neither here nor there; the level of crispiness is too mild to be satisfying. It makes the bar feel pointless. I’d much rather eat something way crispier, or not crispy at all. This particular bar teases crispiness but doesn’t deliver. It’s frustrating.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 bar, 36 grams): 190 calories, 11 grams of fat (7 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 10 mg of cholesterol, 30 mg of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 20 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, lactose, soy lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, artificial flavour), M&M’s Minis Milk Chocolate candies (milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, lactose, soy lecithin, salt, artificial flavour, flavour), sugar, colour (with tartrazine), corn syrup, tapioca dextrin, cornstarch, carnauba wax, modified coconut oil and/or modified palm oil (medium chain triglycerides), crisp rice (rice flour, rice bran, raisin juice concentrate, honey, salt).

December 2, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

English Toffee Peanut M&M’s – An Intense Kick of Toffee Flavour

Candy Bars

I’ve mentioned before that Peanut M&M’s are the king of M&M’s. This is a stone cold fact and if you think otherwise, as far as I’m concerned you may as well be a flat-Earther. That’s how ridiculous your “opinions” are to me.

Peanut M&M’s are delicious. And of course, English toffee is also delicious. So I was wondering if plain old Peanut M&M’s time on the throne might be coming to an end.

Spoiler alert: it is not. Regular Peanut M&M’s are still the king.

Still, these are tasty. As soon as you rip open the pack, the English toffee aroma hits you in the face. It’s strong. And the flavour is pretty strong, too; it’s almost overwhelming at first, but after you eat a couple, you get used to it.

I should note that, as far as I can tell, there’s no actual English toffee here, just a flavour in the chocolate itself. They might have gone overboard with that flavour, but mostly, it works. The combo of chocolate and English toffee is satisfying, and the peanut does a nice job of adding some nuttiness and balancing out the sweetness of the chocolate.

If the English toffee flavouring were a bit more subtle this might have been something special, but even still, it’s quite good.

Manufactured by: Mars
Nutritional info (1/3 pack, 31 grams): 160 calories, 8 grams of fat (3 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat), 0 mg of cholesterol, 15 mg of sodium, 19 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fibre, 16 grams of sugar, 3 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate, skim milk, cocoa butter, lactose, milkfat, peanuts, soy lecithin, salt, artificial and natural flavors), sugar, peanuts, cornstarch, less than 1% – palm oil, corn syrup, dextrin, coloring (includes yellow 5, red 40, yellow 6, blue 1, yellow 6 lake, yellow 5 lake, red 40 lake, blue 1 lake, blue 2 lake, blue 2), carnauba wax, artificial and natural flavors, gum acacia.

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.

November 19, 2020January 10, 2021 Michael

Aero Dark Chipotle Truffle – A Nice Combo of Sweet and Spice

Candy Bars, Chocolate

Spicy chocolate is an odd combo that can be off-putting if done poorly. Done right, however, and the spiciness adds a nice warm heat that compliments dark chocolate surprisingly well.

I honestly didn’t think Aero could pull it off, but hey, what do you know — they did it.

The chipotle truffle part of the bar doesn’t have a ton of flavour — there’s a mild floral heat, but for the most part, the bar tastes of dark chocolate with a bonus spicy kick. The level of spice is mostly just a mild tingle; you don’t even notice it at first. It’s there, but it’s subtle enough that it never gets in the way or makes the bar taste gimmicky.

And the dark chocolate is quite tasty; it’s on the sweeter side (the sweetness is likely amped up by the milk chocolate interior, which complements the dark quite well), but it has a deep chocolatey flavour that’s quite satisfying. As for the texture, the snappy exterior and the classic Aero bubbliness is a delightful combo.

Manufactured by: Nestle
Nutritional info (8 segments, 40 grams): 230 calories, 15 grams of fat (9 grams of saturated fat, 0.1 grams of trans fat), 5 mg of cholesterol, 15 mg of sodium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 2 gram of fibre, 17 grams of sugar, 2 grams of protein.
Ingredients: Sugar, unsweetened chocolate, modified milk ingredients, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, modified palm oil, soy lecithin, natural flavour, polyglycerol polyricinoleate, annatto extract, paprika extract.