Blue Monday (Mint)

A variation on the Kentucky candy classic, the Blue Monday Mint bar is a  square of scrumptious mint-flavored cream candy that tastes like Oreo icing, an after dinner mint, and the center of a Peppermint Pattie combined, dunked in rich, flavorful dark chocolate.

This is a soft mint, not a harsh-tasting toothpastey mint, and the creaminess makes it delectable indeed, but the chocolate does dominate the mint somewhat, so I have to deduct a point from the rating for that

Still, quite an enjoyable confection and . . .

This candy has been rated IST (insanely tasty)

Blue Monday (Original)

A kentucky confection, this is a bar of white cream candy that tastes like and has the consistency of the icing in an Oreo cookie, coated in dark chocolate.

The chocolate is intense and flavorful, with coconut notes, but it does dominate the taste of the creamy, melt-in-your-mouth "icing" in the center. So, for that, I have to shave a point off the rating.

However, this bar is still a satisfying and delicious piece of confectionery, so

THIS CANDY IS RATED IST (INSANELY TASTY)

Mom Blakeman's Creamed Pull Candy (original)

      I have finally found my holy grail of confectionery. If you ate the frosting roses first off a cake at a birthday party as a kid -- or took them off and saved them for last -- this is the candy for you. If you ever ate frosting straight from the can -- or were tempted to do so -- this is the candy for you.
     Whitish bricks of yumminess that melt in the mouth with the richness of frosting and the lightness of mousse, these little delights are decadently craveworthy.


  THIS CANDY IS RATED D (DIVINE)

Oriental Trading Sweet Cream Candies

     These little delights are pretty, pastel colored cubes that look like after-dinner mints and have the same consistency, only instead of being flavored with mint, these tiny delicacies have a delectably smooth and rich fruit and cream taste. Think Creamsicles.
    These cube-shaped melt-in-your-mouth confections are more than reminiscent of hardened cake frosting. If I close my eyes, I'm five years old again, savoring the frosting roses on a cake at a birthday party. They are addicting, and it's all I can do to refrain from reach for another handful. Too bad they're only available in strawberry and orange. They'd taste great in vanilla, maple, cherry, coconut or banana.

     This candy has been rated D (divine)

KC Candy ginger hard candies

       Hard candy never quite has the glamour and charisma that softer sweets like chocolates and caramels are invested with. A suave, romantic gentleman may have a fancy satin box of decadently rich chocolate delicacies tucked in the crook of his arm on February 14 to win the heart of a hoped-for consort. Giggling young teens at a slumber party may make -- and blissfully feast on -- creamy, melt-in-your-mouth fudge. Vendors at seaside funparks hawk luscious, chewy "kisses" of saltwater taffy, After trick-or-treating on Halloween, a petite princess or small superhero may smile upon finding caramels or candy corn in that little plastic jack o'lantern. But hard candy is what we suck on to soothe a rough throat, or to freshen the breath after an oniony lunch. It's what many a nine-to-fiver passes up at the office candy dish in favor of Hershey's minis or kisses. It's what  is offered to little "Caitlin" or "Owen" at banks and doctors offices to avert tantrums. It's what Grandma places in fancy glass dishes to look pretty when company comes to visit. Even candy canes at holiday time may be considered more of a tree ornament than an actual edible confection. No one ever describes a hard candy as being "rich tasting." No one ever said that a hard candy tastes "absolutely divine."
      Until now. KC Ginger Hard candies are flavored with real ginger essence, and the spiciness warms the mouth with a pleasant spark. The sweetness and the spice play off each other beautifully, and the piece is indeed rich-tasting, and it's satiny smooth, with few voids
       It may be strange to give hard candy such a rating, but
       THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE).
 

Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Peppermint Cream Santa

Like the raspberry cream Santa I reviewed previously, this piece doesn't look much like Santa out of the wrapper -- but it does taste like the kind of candy that you'd want Santa to leave in your stocking!
 There's a rich, bittersweet note to the dark chocolate, although it doesn't have much of a melt -- but it's the filling that's the star of the piece -- a whipped frosting-meets-mousse concoction that isn't a strong mint, but rather, a fluffy vanilla "mousse" with just enough of a minty spark to make the confection delightfully delectable. It's creamy, rich, and more than a little reminiscent of the yummy, rich-tasting, melt-in-your-mouth fluffy frosting that blanketed many a cake at a childhood birthday party. I found myself scooping some of the mint "mousse" out of the chocolate shell with my finger so I could save it for last. 


This candy has been rated D (divine)

Russell Stover Cake Assortment

A mini-box of four chocolate candy squares, in red velvet, chocolate cake, carrot cake and wedding cake flavors.

The chocolate coating had a smooth, velvety melt and the fillings tasted for all the world like cake frosting, including that slight grainy crunch of sugar crystals. These little confections were basically chocolate-dipped cubes of frosting. Chocolate coated frosting! Could there BE a more scrumptious delight in the candy universe! Two of the pieces had a white chocolate coating. I don't know if it was the real stuff or the cheaper "white confection." I just know it was delicious.

RED VELVET CAKE -- No chocolate note in the filling. It tasted more like the cherry-raspberry creams you get in a Valentine box.

CARROT CAKE -- Strong spark of spice, just like real carrot cake.

CHOCOLATE CAKE -- Rich and fudgy. Chocolate to the max.

WEDDING CAKE -- Remember the vanilla buttercream frosting on cakes at childhood birthday parties? Here it is, in a little cube-shaped confection.

Tasting these candies was one of the most enjoyable candy experiences of my life. I wish now I bought TWO boxes (kicking self). This mini sampler assortment is great for gifting, whether to a co-worker, a friend, a sweetheart, a parent, or a child.

 I have no choice.
THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Astronaut Ice Cream

 Maybe technically more of a snack or dessert than a candy, but I will consider it candy for the sake of this review.
This delightfully decadent novelty confection -- actual ice cream, freeze-dried for enjoyment in space and on camping trips -- is a mixture of crunchy and creamy, melting in the mouth in a creamy rhapsody of flavor and richness. Think meringue drops, cotton candy, and cereal marshmallow bits combined and you have these nuggets of yumminess. The neapolitan is a trio of fabulous flavors, the chocolate-chocolate chip packs quite a wallop of chocolatiness, and the mint chocolate chip is minty without being toothpastey and would be the perfect after-dinner mint.

This candy is rated D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Publix Dark Chocolate Dipped Dried Cherries

    Found this sweet little gem in the produce(don't laugh!) section of my local Publix supermarket. (am in Florida) If you don't live near a Publix and your local grocery store doesn't have these little delights, maybe your local natural-foods store has something similar.
     This was a real dried cherry enrobed in solid, non-waxy, melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate, creating an intriguing interplay of flavors that dance on the taste buds. These candies aren't too sweet but very satisfying and the perfect marriage of candy and fruit, healthfulness and decadence. I recommend them highly and am struggling not to finish off the whole container in one sitting.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Raspberry Creme Santa

This filled chocolate piece is wrapped in a Santa-motif wrapper, but out of its wrapper, the piece should be called Dark Chocolate Raspberry Creme Triangular Lump. If this thing looks like Santa, then I'm the Japanese emperor.
That said, however, this is a confection fit for an emperor. A delicate layer of robustly rich-tasting dark chocolate surrounds a satiny, sumptuous whipped raspberry "mousse" filling. The chocolate is not waxy and has a surprisingly smooth and creamy melt for dark chocolate, and the "mousse" would be perfectly at home in a pretty glass bowl at a fancy restaurant or enrobing a birthday cake, and has jamlike, fruity notes mixed with vanilla-creme notes. The whole yummy concoction melts in the mouth in a blissful symphony of chocolatey richness and a sweet spark of fruit-and-creme. A very craveable and satisfying candy. I could mow through a case of these things in the blink of an eyelash.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Toffifay

Ah, here's a confection I remember from childhood. The Broadway-esque advertising jingle had a line that went, "It's too good for kids." Not only did I find that blatant bit of ageism an insult, I thought it was bulltoot as well. The tweenage girl I used to be tried one of these sweet miniature delights -- can we say, a party for the taste buds?
Sadly, these scrumptious little gems had disappeared -- or so I thought. All these years later I was in Walgreens and there they were, a box of Toffifay candies. I picked it up, purchased it, and tasted a piece, thinking maybe the yumminess I remember was just a figment of an immature palate.
Nope. If anything, Toffifay candies are yummier than EVER BEFORE. A dainty cup of soft caramel that lacks that annoying dental adherence factor (it doesn't stick to your teeth), filled with a crunchy yet tender and buttery roasted hazelnut surrounded by a soft, rich frostinglike chocolate-hazelnut paste, like the filling in a Ferrero Rocher but smoother, and then, topped by a drop of chocolate rather like a flat Kiss. The whole thing melts in the mouth in a burst of nutty, caramelized sweet richness that lingers on the tastebuds and left me with a craving for more.
This is a craveable confection that, despite the slogan, will put a smile on the faces of young and old and everyone in between. My mother liked them too and, fortunately for my willpower, finished off most of the box. Truly an underrated candy classic.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Russell Stover Fine Assorted Chocolates

Here's FOUR pieces for me to review. Gotta love boxed/baggged assortments

CARAMEL
A milk chocolate patty filled with firm, stretchy caramel of almost a gummi or jelly-candy consistency. The chocolate is delicate without being weak, with a maple note to it, and the caramel has almost molasses notes to it. Smooth and decadently satisfying.
THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

COCONUT
Dark chocolate with coffee-like overtones is the perfect partner for a moist, fine-textured coconut paste that has almost the consistency of frosting and (no almost about it) the taste of the islands. Like a higher-end Mounds. Melts in the mouth (perhaps the perfect confection to savor while watching your favorite episode of "Gilligan's Island?")
THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

PECAN DELIGHT
A milk chocolate cluster with a softer caramel than in the plain caramel piece and pecan bits. Very tasty and satisfying, but the chocolate and the caramel kind of dominate the taste of the nuts, and I do like pecans. For that reason, I had to deduct a point from the rating, but still a good, solid, enjoyable confection.
THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED IST (INSANELY TASTY)

MINT PATTY
A glossy, button-like piece. The dark chocolate has almost a fruitiness to it, and the filling, zingy with fresh mint flavor, is almost liquid, unlike the solid "icing" inside a York Peppermint Patty. Think donut glaze sparked with the flavor of mint. Delectable! (I'm a madwoman for mint!) Thing is, there's not enough of it. The ratio of chocolate shell to filling is higher. More filling in the piece would have garnered it a D rating, but even though I shaved a point off for there being more chocolate than mint, it was still a delicious, refreshing piece of confectionery, so ....
THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED IST (INSANELY TASTY)

TRIPLE TREAT KANDY KRITIQUE

Today, I have not one, but THREE candies to review

LITTLE DEBBIE NUTTY BARS
Okay, maybe these aren't technically a candy, more like a cookie or a snack, but for the purposes of this review, I will treat them as a wafer-based candy a la KitKat or Twix.

This confection consisted of two wafer sticks sandwiched with peanut butter filling and enrobed in "chocolatey coating."

The wafer is mild-tasting. The peanut-butter is rich and crumbly and nutty, a la the pb filling in a Reese's cup. The coating is a bit weak in chocolate flavor but with a smooth melt and pleasing mouthfeel. Enjoyable and satisfying, but had to take a point off the rating for the chocolate being a little weak.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED IST (INSANELY TASTY)


Q-BEL PEANUT-BUTTER WAFER BARS
One thinks of all-natural candies and imagines something that looks like a clod of earth and tastes like something you'd sweep off your floor. Well, this little delicacy (and I do mean delicacy!) blows that stereotype out of the universe! This is the Little Debbie Nutty Bar's classier cousin.

Two slim wafer sticks, with a delicate crunch. The chocolate (real milk chocolate! Not "chocolatey coating" or some such) is rich and bold-tasting, with an almost frostinglike consistency, and the peanut-butter filling is a bit creamier than the filling in the LD Nutty Bar. The flavors really sparkle, and this is a very craveable confection.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)



Q-BEL WAFER ROLLS
More yummy proof that "natural-foods" candy brands don't have to taste like dirt, these are crisp, cylindrical wafers, (a la Pirouline cookies), a bit sweeter than the wafer bars, filled with a satiny chocolate "frosting," sort of like the ganache filling in a truffle, dunked in a rich real-chocolate coating. What's not to love?
Again, the delicate crunch, the creamy chocolate richness. These are also very crave-worthy. Good thing I only bought one or it would be Pig-Out City, USA!

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Whoppers Malted Milk Balls

A classic and one I remember enjoying when I was teensy. And these bite-sized delights hadn't changed since then.
They may use "compound" chocolate these days instead of the pure stuff, but it sure tasted like the real deal to me, and the malted-milk crisp in the center delivered a delicate crunch and that rich, rather mocha-like taste that is hard to describe but oh-so-easy to savor. These sweet spheres melt to a sweet, decadent mush in your mouth and disappear leaving you with a craving for more. In a world where new candy innovations are constantly being churned out, it's great to know that there's always a place for the classics.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Pretzel M&Ms

These addictive little tidbits -- the newest addition to the M&Ms line -- have something for every craving -- salty, sweet, creamy, crunchy, all in little bite size spheres of yumminess. Bought them to review and was a major test of willpower for me to not polish off the whole bag in one go because . . .

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Manischewitz Milk Chocolate Swiss Mints

Another Passover candy that passes the yumminess test with flying colors. These are thick chocolate drops consisting of a velvety, creamy chocolate-and-mint flavored "icing" mixture (heaven for this candy reviewer, who, like she said, loves her some "hardened-cake-frosting" type candies) encased in a smooth, rich chocolate shell also infused with mint flavoring. Truly a confectionary delicacy, this is a candy that can be enjoyed year-round, (regardless of which religious franchise you subscribe to) and MY favorite way to enjoy them was to cleave off the chocolate coating with my teeth and savor that first, and then let the sweet, smooth spark of mint and chocolate caress my tastebuds as I slowly sucked on the "icing" center and let it melt on my tongue.

I recommend them highly, and had to really restrain myself from polishing off the entire box in one go. My tastebuds are still glowing.

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Ritter Sport Butter Biscuit

Was in Walgreens with a friend of mine and, looking for delicious confections I have yet to try so I could review them for this blog, found an item that would fit the bill very nicely.
This was a block of dense, rich, buttery cookie base, like the cookie in a Twix but crisper and richer tasting, topped with a creamy, milk chocolate "frosting," and the whole unit of yumminess was surrounded by the most melt-in-the-mouth milk chocolate ever to hit these tastebuds. The "frosting" was gooey and satiny at the same time. This wasn't "candy" as we know it. This was a fancy dessert in a candy wrapper and it should be outlawed! I can become addicted to this bar, very easily. I posted earlier on this blog about how yummy Twix bars were. Hah! Twix is garbage compared to this gem of the candymaker's art.
You can see where this is going

THIS CANDY IS RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Werther's Original CaraMelts

I have returned with a new candy review! The candy I am reviewing is a new item called Werther's Original CaraMelts.
This is NOT a caramel candy as you may know it. These are NOT the chewy cubes that your mom or granny or auntie may have made caramel apples with, nor are they the sweet goo you pour over sundaes, nor are they the stretchy, sweet sticky stuff used in tens of thousands of chocolate bars and chocolate pieces. Rather, they are flattish, tannish domes of a buttery white-chocolate-type confection with a creamy caramel/butterscotch/dulce-de-leche taste. Think semi-hardened dollops of dulce-de-leche flavored cake frosting. These little domed disks melt in the mouth in a rich, satiny fantasy of flavor, encasing the tastebuds in a wrapper of the most mind-blowing yumminess said tastebuds ever had the pleasure of knowing. It was a major effort not to finish my bag in one sweep!

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Rokeach Fruit Slices

Kosher-for-Passover candy has a reputation for being not the tastiest varieties of confectionery, but I like much of it just fine.
The Rokeach Fruit Slices are a glowing example of what Passover non-chocolate candy should be.
Pretty, colorful, thick crescent wedges made to look like a wedge of citrus fruit, with a crusty, sugary "rind," a white icinglike layer next, and then a soft, tender jelly-pectin-candy layer, all sanded with sugar crystals.
These heavenly half-moons were as delicious as they were pretty. They just sparkled with a bright, fruity flavor, and the chew was firm yet tender, with a slight crunch to them from the sugar sanding, and they don't stick to the teeth. Yummy all year round, whatever denomination you are.

Oh, yes . . .
THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)

Kandy Kritique -- Russell Stover Coconut Cream Egg

No plastic-tasting kiddie lunchbox snack, this (although any child would be all aglow to receive one of these little delights in an Easter basket). This is one of those candies that's really a fancy gourmet dessert in disguise. Rich, intense dark chocolate melts silkily to a satiny, fluffy center that's like a decadently ethereal whipped mousse shot through with tender coconut strands. A sweet delicacy of the highest order, these ovoids of yumminess are mindblowingly delectable and too bad that they're seasonal because...

THIS CANDY HAS BEEN RATED D (DIVINE)