Starburst GummiBursts

I came across these new StarBurst GummiBursts at CVS last week and thought I would give them a try. I should start by saying that I am very picky when it comes to gummy candy. I do not like gummies that are too slimy, loose, greasy, or chunky. In fact, I find my ideal gummy to be the Haribo brand gummy bear - nice chew without slip sliding all over my mouth. Unfortunately, I found the Starburst Gummibursts to be exactly the type of gummy that I do not like.


Gummibursts come in the traditional Starburst flavors of lemon, orange, cherry, and strawberry. My 1.5 oz. bag contained mostly lemon flavor among the random assortment of about 12 pieces per bag. Each gummy piece is about the diameter of a nickel and 1/2 an inch think. What sets this gummy apart from others, and puts the "bursts" in GummiBursts, is the small well of corresponding flavored liquid that fills each gummy center. The liquid is pretty tasty and not what ultimately turned me off to these candies. In fact, I thought the cherry liquid center was the best tasting thing in the bag. It was sweet and tangy with a slight cherry cold medicine edge to it, but I kinda liked that.

What I disliked most was the texture of the gummy. I found it way too thick, so much so that when I chewed it, it broke off into little chunky pieces. I can equate it to eating Jell-O that has been sitting in the fridge a little too long and developed hard ridges on it's edges. When I made this correlation in my mind, I almost gagged because I hate eating Jell-O like that. As a picky gummy eater, I did not like this product. If I am looking for a tasty Starburst product I will stick with Sour Starbursts, which I am kinda hooked on right now.

Test Your Candy Bar Knowledge

Back in the day I wrote about an online cross-section candy bar quiz. Now, treat yourself to an all new candy bar ID quiz compliments of AOL Food. I got 19 out of 20. In my defense, I've never eaten the candy bar I misidentified, but I won't tell you what it is because I don't want to influence your test score. Feel free to share your scores in the comments!

http://food.aol.com/play-with-your-food/candy-bar-id-quiz

Candy Land Cake

I celebrated my birthday last weekend. As a surprise my mom and sister made me this awesome Candy Land cake resembling the children's board game of the same name.

All of the major Candy Land landmarks were represented. The Peppermint Forest, Gumdrop Mountains, Lollipop Woods, the Chocolate Swamp, and last but not least (not to mention my personal favorite), Candy Castle. Candy Castle stood at the the top of the cake. Marshmallow ice cream cones were dipped in colored sugar to mimic the ice cream cones that make up the Candy Castle. The marshmallow cones were then surrounded by giant chunks of blue rock candy, as a path of sour Starburst spelled out "Happy Birthday". It was truly a thing of beauty.

Sweets from the "Island of Enchantment"

I recently returned from a restful summer vacation in Puerto Rico. Of course, while there I tried to get a feel for the local candy scene. While much of the candy in Puerto Rico is very similar to the offerings here in the States, Walgreens seems to be universal, I did stumble upon a few surprises. For the most part, the local candy reflects the tropical climate of the island incorporating a lot of coconut, guava, mango, and pineapple flavors. The sampler box (pictured above) contains typical PR candy. There are flavored coconut bars like Coconut Ginger, Coconut Pineapple, and Coco-Cream. The coconut bars that I have tried so far are very tasty, but have an unexpected crumbly and dry texture, almost like a cookie.

Sesame seeds also play big role in Puerto Rican candy. I saw them suspended in lollipops and sold in a semi-solid bar state called Ajonjoli. Usually I am a big fan of sesame seed candy, I love the honey sesame seed sticks I get here at home, but the Ajonjoli didn't do much for me. The sesame was in a thick, gooey substance that looked and tasted like tar. Not very appetizing.

I am a big fan of the pilones, or lollipops. I saw pilones in strawberry, cherry, and coconut flavor, but chose a bag that had a coconut pineapple combo. They are delicious! The coconut is rich, creamy, sweet and balances well with the pineapple for a nice pina colada finale.

Pachy's sells authentic Puerto Rican candy online. Visit www.pachys.com to see their selection.

Pop Rocks on a Roll

Mad props to my friend Susie who always finds me odd and interesting new candies. When she visited this past weekend she brought me the new Pop Rocks on a Roll, that I had never seen or heard of before. Of course, I was eager to try it out.

The package contains what is basically a strawberry fruit roll-up and a small packet of strawberry Pop Rocks. It's up to the eater to construct the treat for themselves and I had a feeling it was going to be a messy job. Step 1: I found a flat surface and rolled out the fruit roll-up. Step 2: Opened the packet of Pop Rocks and generously sprinkled it over the fruit (there was plenty to go around). Step 3: Rolled the fruit skin back up containing the magic Pop Rock ingredient. Step 4: Took a bite.

Overall, Pop Rocks on a Roll was...interesting. I think the fruit skin kind of suppressed the popping action of the Pop Rocks, so they seemed more like a crunchy candy than a popping candy. Fruit roll-ups are good, and Pop Rocks are good, but as a combo, they are no peanut butter and chocolate.

Pug Cakes

My sister is totally in love with her pug dog Presley, so I knew she would love these pug cupcakes I made for her birthday. I got the instructions for them out of the excellent new cookbook Hello Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Not only does this cookbook have some of the most creative and adorable cupcake decorations I have ever seen, many of the designs use some of my favorite candies. Take the pug cupcakes for example, the ears are made of flattened and shaped Tootsie Rolls and the tongue is made from a strawberry Starburst. The eyes are made out of brown mini M&M's with a dot of white frosting in the middle of them. (Oops! I forgot to mention that the nose is made from a black licorice Jelly Belly. The box I bought didn't have enough black ones to go around, so on some I used the brown Chocolate Pudding flavor which worked just fine.)

One of the great things about this cookbook is that you don't have to be an expert baker to achieve great results. All of the cupcakes in the book can be made with box cake mix and canned frosting. The candies used for decoration are also very common and readily available at most drugstores, gas stations...you get the picture. I really appreciate how this book made me look at candy in a new light. Before seeing this book, would I have ever pictured green Runts as green peas or a lemon Starburst as a pat of butter? Probably not. It's great to learn new things.

Indiana Jones loves Mint Crisp M&M's

Is anyone else excited about the new Indiana Jones movie, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", or it is just me? The movie opens nationwide May 22, just in time for the big Memorial Day weekend box office. Will it beat Iron Man? I guess we'll just have to wait and see. However, Indiana Jones has already won in my book because as far as I know, Iron Man doesn't have the awesome Mint Crisp M&M's tied to its release. Yes, Mint Crisp M&M's, and they are delicious. They blow the recently reviewed Wildly Cherry M&M's out of the water. If you are a fan of the mint chocolate combination found in Andes Mints or Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies, then you are sure to love these.


From the outside, Mint Crisp M&M's look like puffier versions of plain M&M's. They come in the mint-inspired colors of dark green, light green, and white. In place of the trademark "M" in the center of each candy shell, some pieces feature movie themed icons like a skull or the famous Indiana Jones hat. Biting into a piece reveals the crisp in the "Mint Crisp" name. At the center of each piece is a tiny ball of rice crispies which lend a nice, light crunch to each bite. The crispy center is surrounded by a layer of mint flavored chocolate. Now maybe I am examining them a little too closely, but I swear I can detect 2 chocolate layers. One, the traditional M&M milk chocolate filling, and around that, a very thin, darker layer of chocolate where I believe the minty burst of flavor lies.

Mint Crisp M&M's are only available for a limited time, so if you want to try them, search them out soon. CVS has them in both the small, single package and the large bag. You can't miss them, the bag looks all ancient-y and Indiana Jones is right on it. You can also visit the M&M's website to play a game where an M&M searches ancient ruins for a secret stash of Mint Crisp M&M's hidden underground by the Mayans. Check it out at: http://www.m-ms.com/us/indianajones.

Slap Stix

There are three kinds of people in this world: those that love Slap Stix, those that hate Slap Stix, and those that have never heard of a Slap Stix. For those that have never heard of a Slap Stix, allow me to enlighten you. Slap Stix is a caramel sucker that contains a beautiful, chewy center of swirled yellow, pink, and white nougat. The nougat is said to be banana, cherry, and vanilla flavored, but anyone who has eaten a Slap Stix would confirm that the predominant flavor is banana. Therefore, if you are not a fan of artificial banana flavor, as I have discovered many people aren't, you will probably not enjoy a Slap Stix. But that's okay, there will be more for me.

The origin of the Slap Stix is unknown to me. I do know that they have been around since at least the 1980s because I ate them as a kid. I also know that they are a product of the classic candy company NECCO. In 1920, Howard B. Stark of the Howard B. Stark Candy Company, which was later named Stark Candy Company, created the Snirkle which shares some similarities to the Slap Stix. Snirkle, which is no longer made, was a caramel candy with a vanilla nougat swirl. Very similar to the swirled Slap Stix, minus the banana-cherry bonus. Somewhere along the way, the Stark Candy Company ended up being bought by NECCO, which leads me to go all Nancy Drew and conclude that the retired Snirkle was the predecessor to the Slap Stix.

By the way, I would not recommend actually slapping someone with a "Slap" Stix. It hurts quite a bit, or so I've been told.

Hubba Bubba Glop

Let's take this back to the 3rd grade.... An onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound it is describes. I believe this is what the people at Wrigley had in mind when they named their latest bubble gum creation Hubba Bubba Glop. Glop. The word doesn't necessarily conjure up the most appetizing visual, but for this product it kinda works, and I don't mean that as a diss.

What we have here are 5 very large egg-shaped pieces of Hubba Bubba bubble gum covered in a flavored candy shell and filled with a liquid center. Of course, we've seen liquid filled gum before, probably most famously in Freshen Up. The Hubba Bubba Glop is similar to Freshen Up except that there is much more liquid and it's thicker, gloppier if you will. The glop actually reminded me of the gel stuff in those Squeeze Pop liquid lollipops. Hubba Bubba Glops come in two flavors, Strawberry Gush and Watermelon Rapid. I tried the strawberry flavor and thought it was pretty decent. All three components - the gum, candy shell, and glop are infused with strawberry flavor. I do think the flavor could have lasted a bit longer, but other than that it was a tasty chew.

Twix Java

Admittedly, I am not a coffee drinker. Each morning I wake up with a steamy cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea, but never coffee. I enjoy the smell of coffee, however I just cannot seem to embrace the taste. Going into Starbucks and ordering a tall Vanilla Bean (a blended, non-coffee drink that tastes like a vanilla milkshake), getting strange looks from waitresses when I refuse a cup at breakfast - these things only remind me of my outcast status. Naturally, when I heard about the limited edition Twix Java, I was not as ecstatic as a real coffee lover might be, however I still picked up one up when I spotted it at my local Kmart store.


I am not entirely opposed to coffee-flavored candy. I like the somewhat granny-ish Coffee Nips, and occasionally crave chocolate-covered espresso beans. Unfortunately, I found the coffee flavor in the Twix Java too intense for my taste. The bar consists of coffee-flavored caramel, a chocolate cookie, and the standard milk chocolate coating. The caramel tasted like Folger's crystals were ground up in in it, which may be true judging by it's dark shade of brown. I was also not crazy about the chocolate cookie. I believe the traditional butter cookie is one of the best parts of the regular Twix, and am still puzzled over why the new version of the Twix PB has the inferior chocolate cookie when the old Peanut Butter Twix used to sport the delicious butter cookie. These things keep me up at night.

In order not to be entirely biased against the Twix Java, I had a known coffee addict give it a try and their opinion was that it was too sweet and artificial tasting. I've read other reviews online and most people rave about this new bar. Best thing to do is pick one up and try it for yourself, that is, if you are one of those coffee people.

Math is Delicious Again!

This calculator I found on fredflare.com could actually make me like doing math. It looks like a real chocolate bar AND it's scented. Kinda has a 1980s vibe to it, but it's still totally awesome! Check out the website if you want to pick one up for yourself.

Breakfast on a stick

The creative folks at Lollyphile were nice enough to let me sample their maple-bacon lollipop. Yeah that's right, I said bacon...in a lollipop. And hey, why not? Bacon is one of the most delicious foods ever, not to mention it pairs excellently with the sweet, stickiness of maple syrup. Think pancakes people, yummm. With this lollipop, Lollyphile accentuates the best of both these flavors. The maple is sweet and subtle, not at all sickeningly sweet like those maple leaf sugar candies that always seem to show up in stores called "Ye Olde Something-Or-Other". Here, the maple nicely compliments the bacon. And yes, those are real bits of bacon in the pop! There is a nice balance between the sweet and salty, in fact I wouldn't say one flavor dominates the other. Both maple and bacon come together in perfect harmony.

Lollyphile is a fairly new company based in San Francisco. On their website, Lollyphile assures the use of the best of the best ingredients, meaning no artificial flavors and the use of organic maple syrup and bacon. Currently, they have only two flavors in their repertoire, the other being absinthe, but they promise some more exciting flavors in the near future. I'm really curious to see what they'll come up with next. This is definitely a company geared toward making sophisticated candy, in that sense I mean "meant for adults". It probably wouldn't look too good if Little Jimmy showed up at the playground with an absinthe lollipop. Regardless, check Lollyphile out for yourself at www.lollyphile.com.

Update on Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans

Looks like the Nerds Bumpy Jelly Beans I came to know and love this Easter will be sticking around all year as Giant Chewy Nerds! I saw them in individual packages at The Candy Store in Wyandotte, MI today. I know a lot of people loved this product. This is great news!

They are also for sale online, in case you want a whole box:
http://www.candyfavorites.com/Giant-Chewy-Nerds-pr-3375.html

Wildly Cherry M&M's

According to the M&M's website, the limited edition Wildly Cherry M&M's were introduced back in February, however I just stumbled upon them last week on a trip to my local dollar store. The release of the flavored M&M seems to be trend from the company. I recall seeing a raspberry flavored M&M on the shelves not too long ago called "Razzberry", but never picked it up. I'm usually not a big fan of fruit and chocolate combinations, except when it comes to cherry. I've been known to enjoy a few Cella's chocolate covered cherries in my day, but even when it comes to chocolate covered cherries, I prefer the clear liquid center of a Cella's over those with white, gooey fondant.


The taste of the Wildly Cherry M&M's is very reminiscent of a Cella's. I couldn't tell if it was the candy shell or the chocolate which held the cherry flavor, but it's definitely in there. Cherry flavor exploded in my mouth as soon as I crunched down on the candy. The chocolate tasted a little darker than in a plain M&M, but it compliments the cherry flavor well. Plump all around, the individual candies are larger in size than regular M&M's. They are about the size of the Peanut Butter M&M's, and come in two cherry-inspired colors - bright red and dark red.

I don't know if these candies ended up in the dollar store because they are past their prime (in a marketing sense, not freshness), or because they didn't have a wide release. Sometimes I find interesting things at the dollar store, like a giant box of the newly re-released Good N' Fruity, which I may talk some more about later. Nevertheless, I'll be looking to see if the Wildly Cherry M&M's make it into more mainstream stores in my area.

Peeps Show II

On Easter Sunday the Washington Post revealed the winners of their second annual Peeps Diorama Contest. Here is a link to the slideshow:

Peeps Diorama Contest

The entries range from creative, to fun, to a little strange. I think my favorite is "Nightmare in Pink".

Happy Easter!

(Image scanned from a PEZ postcard)

Reese's Peanut Butter Whoppers

Every once in a while a new candy comes along that I am a little skeptical about. At first thought, the concept may seem downright strange, or the flavor combination a little far fetched. When I first saw this carton of Reese's Peanut Butter Whoppers, I harbored low expectations. Sure, I like Whoppers, and of course I love peanut butter, but I didn't think they would play together well. I'll be the first to admit I was wrong on this one.

Instead of chocolate, the malted milk ball of the classic Whopper is coated with a layer of Reese's peanut butter. The peanut butter is smooth and kinda waxy, but I like it. It's very similar to the peanut butter found in Reese's Pieces rather than that in a Peanut Butter Cup. The combination of malt and nutty peanut butter is a quite tasty. Overall, I am a fan and would definitely by these again. Sometimes it's nice to be proven wrong.

Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper Egg Breakers

One of the 1980's candies I long for from my childhood are Wonka Dinasour Eggs. I can picture the small, cellophane package containing two glossy, smooth, egg-shaped jawbreakers like it was yesterday. Dinasour Eggs came in great colors too like lime green, turquoise, and lemony yellow. I've searched Wonka and other sites online trying to find some word of their fate, a picture, obituary - anything! I repeatedly came up empty and was beginning to think I imagined them until I found the above photo on grickily's Flickr page, finally proving that indeed they did exist.

While my beloved Dinasour Eggs may long be extinct, I have found a worthy replacement, and it just happens to be an Easter candy. Same company, same taste, just smaller in size, Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper Egg Breakers are the next best thing to Dinasour Eggs. Egg Breakers are miniature versions of Wonka's Gobstoppers with the holiday enhancements of pastel colors and being egg-shaped rather than round. Like Gobstoppers, they share the promise of changing colors and flavors as you suck on them. And while they may not last forever, I am quite happy when I reach the tart, condensed sugar core.

In case you've ever wondered where the word "gobstopper" comes from, just look to those crazy Brits. "Gob" is British slang for "mouth". When you think about it, "mouth stopper" is pretty much the same idea as "jawbreaker" in the US. Wonka's gobstoppers are named after the Everlasting Gobstoppers which appeared in the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Roald Dahl was from Wales, hence the use of the word "gobstopper" to describe a jawbreaker.

Cadbury Mini Eggs

Many traditionally "Easter" candies are now available year round. Peeps chicks and bunnies morph into snowmen and pumpkins to make an appearance at Christmas and Halloween. You can buy Jelly Belly jelly beans in August, and now even Cadbury Creme Eggs are available at Christmas. So far, the one Easter treat that has maintained its springtime exclusivity is the Cadbury Mini Egg.

Mini Eggs are a special treat. Their matte, pastel shells lightly freckled with brown dots resembling a robin's egg, seem very sophisticated to me. The combination bite of the crisp, sugary shell with the salty, cocoa-y chocolate does not disappoint either. The creaminess of the Cadbury chocolate seems to coat the whole mouth with goodness, while the sugar shell lasts just long enough to provide a nice bit of crunchiness. Mini Eggs are available in many size packages, but I usually prefer them one small, 50 cent package at a time. I guess it's just a personal preference, I'm sure the large bags taste just as great, but somehow if I have the small package I appreciate eat piece a little more. Plus, when I open the tiny bags they smell just like a package of Swiss Miss hot chocolate - yum!

Cadbury has added the Royal Dark Mini Eggs to their list of offerings. CandyBlog wrote about them last year, but I did not stumble upon them until a recent trip to Kroger. I'm not a huge dark chocolate fan, but curiosity fueled by Mini Egg love got the best of me. The Royal Dark Mini Eggs have darker sugar shells than the traditional Eggs, however they maintain the same matte finish and texture. The combination of the dark chocolate and sugar shell reminded me of nonpareils, in fact I thought they tasted exactly like Sno-Caps. I like Sno-Caps, but I think as an Easter treat I prefer the regular milk chocolate Mini Eggs.

Candy Package

Monday's mail brought me this awesome gift package of international candy. My friend Susie went snowshoeing in France and Switzerland a few months ago and sent me this box of treats she bought for me while on her travels. I've already devoured the Lion bar which I found mighty tasty. It consisted of a cream filled wafer (think those pink and yellow sugar wafer cookies), covered by caramel and krispies - all coated in chocolate. Very big bite, almost a meal in itself.

I'm was so excited to get the Haribo strawberry candies. I used to get candies similar to these when my family would go over to Windsor, Ontario when I was younger. I also picked some up in Germany last summer. As far as I know they are not sold in the USA, which is disappointing. More on their awesomeness, and the other Haribo treats, in another post. Stay tuned...