Nestlé Butterfinger: Crisp

Product name: Nestlé Butterfinger: Crisp
Purchase details: £1.19 for a 40g pack of two pieces (cybercandy.co.uk)
Calories: 210 per pack
Country of origin: USA

Being a massive peanut butter fan, it’s imperative that I try as many products as possible that contain this magical ingredient. In my pre-blog days I had, of course, sampled the Nestlé Butterfinger which delivered the desired peanut butter flavour but in the form of a chewy brittle rather than the thick, creamy form I’ve come to know and love. When I heard of this Crisp alternative, consisting of ‘baked wafers’ and ‘Butterfinger crème’, I just had to give it a go.

Within this 40g packet was two pieces which, together, formed the 210 calorie serving. I was initially pleased that it had been separated in this way as I figured it meant a larger surface area for the chocolate coating. However, I then realised that the product description didn’t mention anything about this outer layer which I thought was odd, so I had to Google it. It was on Wikipedia that I discovered that this, unfortunately, was another American product that used ‘compound chocolate’ (ie a chocolatey coating) rather than real chocolate.

The Butterfinger: Crisps’s aroma wasn’t far-reaching but, up close, there was a definite peanut butter-like smell that broke through the chocolatey coating. Inside, the peanut butter crème was far darker and more orange in colour than I expected, although this did allow for a better contrast with the pale wafer. I actually thought that the four layers of wafer alternated with the three layers of Butterfinger crème looked quite attractive.

I much preferred the Crisp’s texture to the original Butterfinger since the peanut butter was in this crème form rather than a brittle. However, I found the peanut butter tasted far more sugary than nutty, although there was still the required saltiness. The wafer made much more of an impact, flavour-wise, than I expected, although this was also very sweet and my overall conclusion was that it was a pretty artificial-tasting bar.

The Butterfinger: Crisp definitely lived up to its name, although I wouldn’t have minded a bit more of the soft crème added into the textural mix. However, if this were to happen, I think the crème would need to be a lot less sweet to prevent a sugar overload. 

I did actually enjoy this bar, but I felt like I shouldn’t have done, and it certainly wasn’t up there with my favourites. I probably would buy it again but it was a bit too artificial to be a regular purchase. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.25/10

Goo Goo Cluster: Peanut butter

Product name: Goo Goo Cluster: Peanut butter
Purchase details: £1.79 for a 43g Cluster (cybercandy.co.uk)
Calories: 230 per Cluster
Country of origin: USA

Before placing my order on Cybercandy's website, I’d never heard of Goo Goo Clusters, let alone this peanut butter variety. Ever willing to sample peanut butter delights, though, I had no problem in adding one to my basket.

This product came in a pretty plain and old-fashioned looking wrapper, with the pale brown background reflecting its peanut buttery contents. I didn’t actually know what to expect from what was inside since, aside from the picture and the ingredients list, the only descriptive information given on the packet was ‘made with real milk chocolate’ – this, at least, pleased me since I knew I wasn’t about to be greeted with another artificial coating.

The wrapper’s illustration suggested that the milk chocolate was a very dark shade of brown but, on opening it, I was relieved to see that it was far paler and, therefore, more in line with what I would expect from a milk chocolate. The cluster itself was by no means perfectly circular, and it was clear from the lumps and bumps that it contained a lot of nuts under the chocolate’s surface.

Through the sweet-smelling cocoa, my nose could detect the peanut butter and so I was keen to cut open the product to see exactly what was inside. In short, this Goo Goo Cluster: Peanut butter consisted of a generous helping of peanut butter, surrounded with peanuts and covered in milk chocolate. I should also add that, although it looks like there was an air-filled gap between the peanut butter and the chocolate, this wasn’t actually the case – the chocolate itself was quite thick but some of the peanuts dislodged themselves in the dissecting process which is why my picture shows gaps.

As pleased as I was that this product contained real milk chocolate, I can’t say it was the type I’m used to. It felt greasy between my fingers and it was also really sugary and not very creamy. However, it certainly provided a contrast for the peanut butter which was particularly salty.

Texturally, the quantity of peanut butter was lovely and, despite its stickiness, easily melted in the mouth. Surprisingly for the thickness of the chocolate, it was really soft, but the peanuts beneath its surface gave a nice crunch to the cluster.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, and this product was no exception. However, as good an effort as this Goo Goo Cluster was, the balance wasn’t perfect. For me, the peanut butter was overly salty and the chocolate was overly sweet. Whilst I would have expected these factors to cancel each other out, they were just a little too strong and could really be felt in the back of the throat. However, the presence of the real peanuts did provide a distraction from this, and my tastebuds still loved the flavours this product provided.

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7.5/10
Overall score: 7.38/10

Oh Henry! Peanut butter

Product name: Oh Henry! Peanut Butter
Purchase details: £1.93 for a 58g bar (cybercandy.co.uk)
Calories: 300 per bar

I first heard of the Oh Henry! bar from my brother-in-law who has family in Canada. He raved about it so I tried one last year and, to be honest, I wasn’t that impressed. As much as I adore peanut butter, I get less excited about peanuts themselves – at least, on their own. For me, the original Oh Henry bar was just too much like a Snickers and, for that reason, I was disappointed. However, I was still keen to try the peanut butter variety so it was with great excitement that I added this bar to my recent Cybercandy order.

This hunk of a bar (58g!) was ‘imported by’ Hershey Canada but the colourful wrapper didn’t actually state where it was produced. However, to the best of my knowledge, this variety is only widely available in Canada.
 

Unlike the smoother chocolate bars we’re used to in the UK, Oh Henry! Peanut Butter was lumpy in appearance due to the visibility of peanuts beneath the outer chocolatey coating. Cutting into the bar, I was pleased to see that all of its components were clearly visible. There was a smooth Reese’s peanut butter core down the centre of the bar which was surrounded by a thin film of ‘creamy caramel’. This in turn was covered in real peanuts and then topped with a chocolatey layer. Due to the common ingredients of peanut butter and an artificial coating, this bar did smell similar to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, although the inclusion of the real peanuts did add an additional nutty element which made the aroma even more mouth-watering.

Once again, I felt the chocolatey coating to be a disadvantage over real milk chocolate. In this case, it actually caused the bar to feel slightly greasy between my fingertips, as if the ‘chocolate’ couldn’t melt quickly enough. However, apart from the missed opportunity for extra creaminess, I can’t say this dampened by enjoyment of the product too much. Quite frankly, this bar took my tastebuds on a brilliant journey – there was just so much going on. The saltiness of the peanut butter blended well with the mellower peanuts and, combined with the sweetness from the caramel and outer coating, this really was a taste sensation.

Furthermore, this combination of ingredients made for a fantastic texture. The initial crunchiness from the peanuts was met with a slight chewiness from the caramel, which then combined with the softness of the peanut butter core. My only criticism is that the rugged nuts meant that the smoothness of the peanut butter couldn’t be appreciated. However, I did love the way the peanuts stayed perfectly in place within the bar, but easily separated out in the mouth. For me, this was a sign that the quantity of caramel was just right – enough to do its job, but not to cause so much chewiness that eating the bar became a hassle.

I genuinely loved this bar, although I’m aware that the concept is identical to that of the Reese’s Nutrageous, which is another favourite of mine. At this stage, I can’t judge which is better, but I currently have the latter in my stash so I guess the decision will be made when its time for review comes! At the moment, though, I suspect that Oh Henry!: Peanut butter might just clinch it since it is the bigger of the two bars and, therefore, may feel like more of a treat. Watch this space!

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 8.5/10
Taste: 9.5/10
Texture: 9/10
Overall score: 8.75/10

Megaload Caramel Crunch

Product name: Megaload Caramel Crunch
Purchase details: £1.39 for a pack of three cups (cycbercandy.co.uk)
Calories: 110 per cup (330 per pack)
Country of origin: USA

A couple of days ago I reviewed the creative Megaload Original which was a twist on the peanut butter cup. Well, tonight, I bring you a further twist in the form of Megaload Caramel Crunch.

I purchased this packet from Cybercandy and it contained three chocolate cups, filled with caramel rather than peanut butter, each with a different topping (almond buttercrunch, candy coated chocolate pieces, and peanut butter crunch). I can’t say I was quite as excited about this packet due to the lack of peanut butter, but I was genuinely intrigued to try a caramel product in a cup format. (The knowledge of the peanut butter topping also helped!)

These cups were presented in the same way as Megaload Original (although with a golden yellow wrapper to reflect the caramel variety) and they had a strong cocoa aroma. Interestingly, the overall smells emanating from the cups really reminded me of the scents that drift out of selection boxes. I can only assume that what my nose was experiencing was a combination of the chocolate, caramel and nuts, rather than a specific ingredient, since all three tend to be consistently present in such boxes of chocolate.

Each cup was made from a solid, chunky milk chocolate which, whilst not the best quality in the world, was still very enjoyable, especially when combined with the amber caramel inside. This caramel had felt stiff to cut through, but it was actually really soft and runny which is just what I like in a caramel. Whilst the cups didn’t seem as deeply filled as their peanut butter sister products, the consistency of the caramel meant that this wasn’t an issue as a little went a long way. It also had a lovely buttery element to it.

The almond buttercrunch cup was attractively decorated with tiny pieces of almonds (far smaller than the picture on the packet!) that I could easily have mistaken for walnuts, along with slightly larger, toffee-like pieces (the buttercrunch). These provided a nice, caramelised flavour, but I have to say that I couldn’t taste the actual nuts over the inner caramel. I also found that they didn’t seem to add a crunch at all.

The candy coated chocolate pieces cup was exactly the same idea as the peanut butter version so, again, added a splash of colour and a great crispy texture. This was my favourite of the three cups as a creaminess could be detected from the cup’s chocolate and caramel, as well as the different chocolate within the candy pieces.

The peanut butter crunch cup had a similar appearance to the almond buttercrunch one, albeit with nuts that were more golden in colour. Sadly, I couldn’t smell the nuts, but there was a slight saltiness in the taste which hinted at peanut butter – this certainly wasn’t obvious though. Again, I found that despite the apparently abundant nutty topping, this cup did not have a crunchy texture. However, the buttercrunch pieces did give a slight chewiness. Whilst not what I was expecting, this was still pleasant.

I thought it was a nice change having Megaload Caramel Crunch – they were certainly satisfying and I did enjoy them. I don’t think the toppings on offer here were as exciting as the other Megaload variants, but I think this is fine as, ultimately, the idea of a cup filled with caramel rather than peanut butter is the unique selling point here. Personally, I’d always prefer the peanut butter varieties, but I’m sure caramel lovers would get more satisfaction from this version.  

Appearance: 8/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 7/10
Overall score: 7.38/10