Archive for October, 2008
October 21, 2008 at 10:46 pm
· Filed under Candy, Chocolate, Nestlé, Positive, Review, Venezuela ·Tagged crispies, milk chocolate, peanut butter
This particular candy bar was brought to me from Venezuela, though it can be found throughout the US. To my knowledge, there’s no variation in this product between South and North America. I’m excited to try it out because I’ve always liked the taste of a regular Butterfinger, but I’ve found the crystallized, flaky core of them to be a little off-putting. Hopefully, the Crisp version will be more to my liking.
Structure
Four layers of wafer separated by three layers of “Butterfinger” cream topped with a layer of crispie pieces – all enrobed in milk chocolate.
Have you ever noticed how artificially orange the inside of a Butterfinger is?
Texture
The Butterfinger Crisp is light and crisp (go figure!). The layers crumble apart as you bite through. It’s very similar to another Nestlé product I’ve reviewed, the Crunch Crisp, except this one is a little thicker. The crispies on top add some extra crunchiness and the peanut buttery stuff is a little chewy. All together, there’s a nice balance between the different textures.
Taste
Butterfingers have a distinct taste and this product definitely has it, though the Crisp is not as sweet as a regular Butterfinger. That is because the tasteless wafer layers temper the sweetness of the peanut butter filling and chocolate.
Verdict
The Litmus test for derivative products is to compare them to the original and in my opinion, the Butterfinger Crisp is superior to it’s ancestor.
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October 20, 2008 at 11:04 pm
· Filed under Candy, Chocolate, Hershey's, Positive, Review, United States ·Tagged caramel, milk chocolate, peanut butter, peanuts, pretzel
Flavors that work for ice cream generally work for candy bars too. Cookies and Creme, Peanut Butter Cup, and Mint Chocolate Chip are all delicious as ice cream and candy bars. Hershey’s Take 5 reminds me of Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby, which is one of my all-time favorite ice cream flavors.
Structure
From the bottom up, Take 5 is two segments of hard waffle pretzels, peanut butter, caramel and chopped peanuts. Each segment is enrobed in milk chocolate.
Texture
You’ll first notice the crunchiness of the pretzels, then the crumbly peanut butter and finally, the creamy caramel that sticks in your teeth and outlasts the rest of the components. The chocolate coating is very soft, but smooth. Overall, the Take 5 is a bit on the dry side, but that’s to be expected from a product consisting of peanut butter and pretzels – I don’t really fault them for that. Just keep in mind that this is a product that goes well with something to drink.
Taste
This is a salty candy bar and really tastes a lot like a plain old chocolate covered pretzel. However, the caramel, peanuts and peanut butter all add further deliciousness that elevate the Take 5 beyond it’s classic candy cousin.
Verdict
There’s so much going on with this candy bar. It’s crunchy, salty, sweet, chewy and just plain good. Though Hershey’s is using fake chocolate with this product, that wasn’t a deal breaker. The pretzel, peanut butter, and caramel do most of the heavy lifting, while the chocolate seals everything in and plays a supporting role. Don’t get me wrong though, this candy bar would be even better if it had real chocolate.
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October 15, 2008 at 10:46 pm
· Filed under Atkinson's, Candy, Negative, Review, United States ·Tagged coconut, sugar
I’ve formed a habit of looking for candy bars wherever I go. The other day, I was in a costume store looking for a Halloween getup and found myself scanning the candy stacked up at the checkout counter. Amongst the Gummy Flesh Fries and Sour Mud Worms, I spotted an odd looking candy bar – the Rainbow Coconut Bar. The bright colored packaging includes the tagline “Pure Coconut for Pure enjoyment!” and a quick scan of the ingredients shows that it’s almost entirely made of coconut.
Structure
A solid slab of coconut, sugar, salt and corn syrup pressed together. It’s not quite a rainbow, but it is striped on either side with red food coloring.
Texture
It’s tough to bite through, as the coconut has been pretty tightly compressed. Once you get a bite in your mouth, you’ll notice it’s chewy and a bit dry.
Taste
I was expecting the Rainbow Coconut Bar to be really sweet. It’s actually not at all. The sugar content is relatively low and this allows real coconut flavor to poke through. Some bites are a little salty which I would normally like, but didn’t quite work here.
Verdict
I admit, when I purchased this candy bar, I was already expecting a dud. I bought it because it was different and I thought it would be fun to blog about. Even though I’m giving it a thumbs down, it surpassed my expectations. Ultimately though, this candy bar is too one-dimensional (only coconut) to get a positive review. I’ll still reach for an Almond Joy next time I want a coconut fix.
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October 12, 2008 at 2:12 pm
· Filed under Annabelle's, Candy, Chocolate, Negative, Review, United States ·Tagged cashews, marshmallow, milk chocolate
Rocky Road has always been one of my favorite ice cream flavor combinations. Traditionally, it’s a mix of chocolate, marshmallow, and walnuts (or sometimes almonds). This candy bar has the chocolate and marshmallow, but interestingly, the manufacturer elected to use cashews as the nut. Cashews are more expensive and softer than walnuts or almonds, so I was a little surprised they’re used in this product. On the other hand, I absolutely love cashews, so maybe they were in fact a brilliant choice. We’ll see.
Structure
A rectangular slab of marshmallow topped with chopped cashews and covered in milk chocolate.
Texture
95% of the Rocky Road is made of the marshmallow interior, which is light and fluffy. It has the texture of a homemade marshmallow, not like the Jet-Puffed marshmallows you buy at the supermarket, which tend to be drier. The chocolate, on the other hand, was disappointing. It had an unpleasant, waxy consistency. The chopped cashews were almost completely lost in the mix – as I would have predicted. Again, walnuts or almonds would have been a more logical choice.
Taste
The marshmallow is sweet and has that distinctive “marshmallow” flavor. I guess it comes from the combination of vanilla and egg whites. However it happens, marshmallow just tastes distinct and this product tastes mostly like that because the chocolate and the cashews bring no flavor of their own.
Verdict
A “rocky road” candy bar makes sense. It’s a classic combination that goes together as well as peanut butter and chocolate. Annabelle’s is the only company I am aware of that makes a candy bar like this, but I was less than impressed with their offering. All it needs to be great is better chocolate and, in my opinion, almonds instead of cashews. They would then have a huge winner.
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October 10, 2008 at 12:08 am
· Filed under Candy, Chocolate, Choxie, Negative, Review, United States ·Tagged dark chocolate, lime
In the candy aisle of my local Target, on a shelf full of $3 Choxie candy bars, I spotted this one marked down to $2.50. That’s not exactly a good sign, but I thought maybe people were scared away by the thought of lime and chocolate. I thought to myself however, that this bar conceptually worked. I’ve had frozen key lime pie covered in dark chocolate down in Key West and it was delicious. I’ve also made lime flavored white chocolate candies with graham pieces and they were delicious. So despite the suspicious sale price, I had high hopes for this candy bar.
Structure
The label has the following detailed description: “Dark chocolate with a truffled filling of white chocolate balanced with tart key lime and crunchy graham biscotti cookies.” The bar is constructed by lining an 8-segment mold with dark chocolate, filling the cavity with white chocolate lime ganache and sealing the bottom with another layer of dark chocolate.
Texture
The dark chocolate coating is a bit waxy, but still smooth with a firm snap. The truffle filling feels pretty much like regular white chocolate. The difference between the hardness of the dark chocolate and the inside is slight. It’s almost like biting into a solid, thick chocolate bar. The graham biscotti cookie bits are small and sparsely sprinkled throughout. This was disappointing because I was hoping they’d provide some crunch and contrast to the texture of the chocolates. Overall, the texture of this product is very one-dimensional.
Taste
The lime flavor is very subtle. I had an expectation of a sweet and sour citrus burst countered with the bitterness of dark chocolate. Instead, both the lime and the chocolate were underwhelming. You do get a little bit of the sour lime flavor on the finish, but it’s not nearly as pronounced as I would have liked. The flavor of tiny graham bits is imperceptible. Without the aid of the product label, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that they were graham biscotti versus any other type of cookie bit.
Verdict
I give Choxie credit for trying to create a unique candy bar, but I think they fell short on the execution. It’s almost like they were scared to make it taste TOO much like lime. This is unfortunate because if you’re the kind of person who would pluck this product off the store shelf, that’s exactly what you would be looking for. I wasn’t completely turned off by the Choxie brand though and I’m sure I’ll be trying out some of their other products in the future.
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October 5, 2008 at 5:52 pm
· Filed under Candy, Chocolate, Freia, Norway, Positive, Review ·Tagged dark chocolate, milk chocolate, nougat, peanuts
The Peanøtt Kubbe (“Peanut Log”) is a Norwegian product manufactured by Freia – a subsidiary of Kraft Foods. This bar didn’t stand out much amongst the dozen or so candy bars I currently have from Norway. The ingredients list – chocolate, peanuts, and toffee -looked good enough, but it’s not exactly exotic; we have bars like that here.
Structure
The inner toffee core is first surrounded by a layer of dark chocolate and next by chopped peanuts and milk chocolate. The package contains two segments.
Texture
I was expecting the toffee center to be firm and chewy. To my delightful surprise, it was very soft and smooth. The milk chocolate is soft and creamy, while the dark chocolate is a bit harder and the chopped peanuts provide crunch. All together, there are many textures and they work together wonderfully.
Taste
The flavor is deep and complex. The toffee center has a burnt caramel flavor. The dark chocolate cuts the sweetness of the milk chocolate and adds to the uniqueness of the overall flavor (I can’t think of many candy bars with dark and milk chocolate). Of course, both of the chocolates used are high quality and taste great. Finally, the roasted peanuts add to the mix by providing a nutty background flavor.
Verdict
The Peanøtt Kubbe is an amazing candy bar with many textures and flavors all working well together. It’s one of the best candy bars I’ve ever had actually. I’d say this one is even worth buying online and having it shipped, but I can’t find a place online that sells it. If you ever come across one, either online or off, do yourself a favor and buy it.
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