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

Megaload Original

Product name: Megaload Original
Purchase details: £2.50 for a pack of three cups (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 120 per cup (360 per pack)
Country of origin: USA

I’ve made no secret of the fact I love peanut butter and, until recently, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have been at the top of my leader board. Today, though, I bring you Megaload – peanut butter cups covered in real chocolate (rather than a chocolatey coating) and finished with different toppings. (According to the paper cases within this pack, this brand was previously called ‘Overload’.)

Prior to starting this blog, I tried Megaload Sweet & Salty which were topped with different pretzels, and were delicious. This post, though, is reviewing Megaload Original, which I finally managed to track down in A Quarter of Sweets where the friendly man behind the till took the time to comment on how good they were.

This pack contained three peanut butter cups which were smaller in size than their Reese’s competitor, and were served in a plastic tray rather than on a piece of cardboard. It was clear from their appearance that the chocolate was indeed the real deal due to its glossy nature and the way it had set around the three different finishing touches on offer: a chocolate chip cookie, candy coated chocolate pieces, and a chocolate sandwich cookie. The cups emitted a faint scent of peanut butter, but ultimately, this was overpowered by the smell of chocolate.

These cups certainly looked interesting, with the candy coated chocolate variety looking particularly attractive due to the bright, shiny colours. (These appeared to be genuine M&M’s Minis as they were decorated with the familiar letter ‘M’, but I’ll refrain from referring to them as such in case they were just good imitations!) The chocolate sandwich cookie was Oreo-like in appearance, albeit with a different pattern on the shallower biscuit, whilst the cookie appeared standard with three large chocolate chips lopsidedly on show.

Inside, the peanut butter filling did not appear to be very deep, although I should add that my picture is misleading as the centre of the cup collapsed slightly! The depth of the peanut butter towards the edges of the cup is a true representation of the quantity throughout. 

The peanut butter in these cups was very smooth, although its flavour wasn’t as strongly nutty as I’d hoped. However, I did find that its taste built during the consumption of each cup, and the creamy cocoa of the chocolate coating provided plenty of alternative flavour.

I don’t think I can choose a favourite out of the three available toppings – they all offered different things but were equally yummy. As expected, the cookie had a standard flavour, although with more chocolate chips hidden inside, and I was surprised at how well its dry, crunchy texture worked with the softer, moister cup beneath. The Oreo-like biscuit didn’t have the strong cocoa taste I was expecting, but its centre was a creamy vanilla flavour. Again, the contrasting textures were a nice touch here, particularly as it had the layered effect of soft cup, crunchy biscuit, soft cream biscuit filling and another crunchy biscuit. As for the candy coated chocolate pieces, these added a lovely sweetness, in addition to a nice crunch.

I have to say that I think this is a genius concept, made even better by the inclusion of real chocolate. Once again, the combination of sweet and salty is a winner, and I just loved mixing the soft and crunchy textures. The only reason these haven’t scored more highly is that I think they could do with either a nuttier peanut butter, or a deeper peanut butter filling, in order to better counteract the extra sweetness provided by the toppings. Other than that...brilliant!

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.75/10