Hershey's Candy Cane

Product name: Hershey’s Candy Cane
Purchase details: £1.50 for a 43g bar (A Quarter of Sweets)
Calories: 220 per bar
Country of origin: USA 

In honour of Christmas, I thought I’d post my review of Hershey’s Candy Cane today. Firstly, though, I’d like to thank the kind staff at A Quarter of Sweets who provided me with a discount on my last visit.

Described as ‘mint candy with candy bits’, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this bar – I hoped for white chocolate or something similar, but this phrase wasn’t used anywhere on the wrapper! However, it did contain cocoa butter which I took to be a good thing.

This Christmas product certainly looked festive since it was presented in fresh white packaging with red stripy tips to reflect the candy cane flavour. In addition to this, there were images of candy canes and the product itself. The inner bar was even more attractive, though, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it before! The main substance certainly looked like white chocolate but it was crammed-full of (artificially coloured) red candy pieces.

I was slightly apprehensive about trying this product since I love white chocolate and mint-flavoured chocolate, but I’m not a massive fan of candy canes and other mint sweets. As a result, I thought this bar may be more miss than hit with me. The aroma didn’t do much to alleviate my fears either since, whilst it had a strong mint smell, it wasn’t very sweet, and it did smell just like candy cane rather than something a bit different.

With my first bite, the bar was creamy but there was no mistaking mint as the main flavour (even though it only contained 2% peppermint oil!). It did initially taste more like a sweet than a chocolate but I quickly became accustomed to the flavours and found it began to taste nicer and creamier. Better still, I really enjoyed it, and it did taste like white chocolate with an added mint flavour!

I wasn’t sure if the tiny red balls were actual bits of candy cane (I suspect not) or just random candy pieces, but they were very crispy which provided a nice texture. In fact, even when these were left behind after allowing pieces of the bar to melt, it was still a pleasant experience.

There’s no denying it – this bar of Hershey’s Candy Cane was far nicer than I thought it would be and I’m hoping I don’t have to wait until next Christmas to have another! 

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

Flipz White Fudge

Product name: Flipz White Fudge
Purchase details: £2.25 for a 141g bag (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 130 per seven pretzel serving (19 per pretzel)
Country of origin: USA 

I’ve had my eye on the metallic blue bag of Flipz White Fudge for a long time and, when Bold Street Sweets recently had their half price day for Facebook fans, I finally took the plunge for £2.25 instead of the usual £4.50. 

The nearest I’ve ever got to coated pretzels was when I tried the wonderful Megaload Sweet & Salty in my pre-blogging days, but this was my first experience of the Flipz brand, as well as white fudge. In fact, I wasn’t even sure what white fudge was – all I knew from the ingredients was that it contained sugar, partially hydrogenated palm kernel and palm oils, milk, soy lecithin and artificial flavour. Whilst this didn’t sound terribly nutritious, the packaging did claim that the pretzels were ‘so completely irresistible’ that people would invent excuses to eat them. One example of this was being able to eat more because they had holes in – that did make me smile!

These Flipz were made by DeMet’s Candy Company and the bag contained about five 28g servings (although I preferred to have the odd pretzel here and there). The majority of my Flipz came stuck together in a couple of big clumps and, even though this wasn’t intentional, I quite liked it that way! However, I did notice that the cream-coloured coating didn’t appear that thick or even all over, so I did wonder what this would mean for the flavour. Based on the aroma, though, I didn’t think I had too much to worry about as it smelt fantastically creamy and vanilla-y.

This sweet vanilla element was, thankfully, very much present in the taste, too, and the overall flavour from the coating reminded me of cake frosting, which was lovely. Blending wonderfully with this was a saltiness from the pretzels themselves. This wasn’t very strong but it was noticeable and probably at just the right level to allow the fudge’s flavour to be properly enjoyed.

I was also delighted that the coating reminded me of white chocolate, although it was sweeter, and also had a slightly softer texture. This fudge melted well but, since the pretzel beneath was hard, it wasn’t the most comfortable way to eat this product. However, it did suddenly release the salt in a way that crunching the pretzels didn’t do, and this was a nice touch. I also enjoyed how, even when sucking the pretzels, they maintained their crunchiness rather that going soggy. As a final bonus, the shape of the pretzels, with their curved design and three holes, meant this snack was great to play with on the tongue.

Now I’m at the end of my review, I have a confession to make: I don’t actually like pretzels! Or, at least, I didn’t. I really thought these were fabulous since, not only did they have the delicious combination of sweet and savoury, this was as a result of elements that were very flavourful in their own right.

I think I’ll have to try the chocolate versions! 

Appearance: 7/10

Aroma: 8/10

Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Frosted confetti cupcake

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Frosted confetti cupcake
Purchase details: £4.49 for a box of eight tarts (boldstreetsweets.co.uk)
Calories: 190 per tart (380 per pack of two)
Country of origin: USA 

Today I’m back onto a more traditional blue box of eight Kellogg’s Pop Tarts. I ordered this Frosted confetti cupcake variety from Bold Street Sweets a few weeks ago and, thanks to a Juice FM discount voucher, I effectively got them for half the £4.49 shelf price – winner!

I wasn’t quite sure if confetti cake was a real thing (a quick Google search suggests it is!) but it seemed pretty clear to me that the name was due to the colourful sprinkles on the white icing. Taste-wise, I was expecting a fairly standard vanilla cupcake flavour, but I also noticed that the image on the box seemed to show confetti in the filling as well as on the outside of the tarts. I liked how these multicoloured spots were also blended into the description ribbon on the packaging and, all in all, the design really reminded me of Aunty Mabel’s aeroplane from one of my favourite childhood TV programmes: Come Outside.

The pastries themselves looked pretty much how they did on the box, although the confetti wasn’t as evenly distributed and, where some pieces had been dislodged, the frosting looked worryingly greasy. The pastry looked like the standard type used for Kellogg’s Pop Tarts and, whilst the filling was barely noticeable next to this, there did appear to be some pink and yellow sprinkles on the inside too.

Despite being cold, there was an instant sweet vanilla aroma on opening the foil wrappers, and I was excited to realise the tarts did actually smell like cake frosting. Like with the other Pop Tarts I’ve tried, the pastry on offer here was still quite dry and soft, and there was a slight saltiness mixed in with the sweetness – I actually found this pastry to be tastier than normal. The filling added moisture and seemed to also contribute to the overall vanilla flavour on offer. However, it didn’t seem to taste like much on its own, which was a bit strange. The confetti did taste sweetened but didn’t provide a strong flavour in the grand scheme of things. Instead, its main purpose was to provide a slightly crunchy texture although, on its own, it was slightly cardboard-like. As usual, the frosting was crispy, but it also tasted more like icing than sugar which was a lovely change. With all the parts combined, the flavours were almost floury and tasted very much like a cake (although not as good in quality due to not being freshly baked). The texture was also quite doughy and stuck to the mouth in a good way by not being too dry or moist.

When toasted, the smell was stronger, warm and cakey – I just wanted to stuff the tart in my mouth! The pastry was soft but slightly crispy and this went really well with the lovely flavour. The filling also became more moist and noticeable as a separate entity. The toasted tart really was very tasty and, whilst not as good as a real cupcake, it was what I call ‘fit’, in its own right.

The microwaved tart didn’t really do anything to change its appearance but it did produce the same yummy smell. The pastry stayed soft whilst the icing remained quite hard. Again, the centre was nice and doughy and, overall, it was a very similar experience to the toasted version. There was simply slightly less crispiness, although the confetti did still provide a sugary crunch.

As a vanilla and cake fan, I really enjoyed these Frosted confetti cupcake Pop Tarts. Whilst some people may not find the flavour an exciting one, I thought these were delicious and also tasted a lot less artificial than some of the Kellogg’s Pop Tarts I’ve tried. We need these in the UK! 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 7.5/10
Taste: 7.5/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.75/10

Kellogg's Pop Tarts: Gone nutty! (frosted chocolate peanut butter)

Product name: Kellogg’s Pop Tarts: Gone nutty! (frosted chocolate peanut butter)
Purchase details: £2.50 for a box of six tarts (Bold Street Sweets)
Calories: 200 per tart (400 per pack of two)
Country of origin: USA 

A few weeks ago, Bold Street Sweets had an amazing 50% off day for their Facebook fans, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to buy some more expensive imported goods at the lowest prices I’ve ever seen.

Americans have had the luxury of peanut butter-filled Kellogg’s Pop Tarts for a few months now and I’ve been incredibly jealous. Thankfully, Bold Street Sweets had managed to get hold of the Gone nutty! (frosted chocolate peanut butter) variety, so I quickly snapped them up for £2.50 rather than the usual £5.00.

Unlike most boxes of Pop Tarts, this one only contained six rather than eight pastries, and the box was orange rather than blue in order to reflect the nutty flavour. The picture on the front looked pretty yummy since it showed a chocolate flavoured frosted tart with a gooey-looking ‘real peanut butter’ centre. In addition, there was a dollop of peanut butter and a chunk of chocolate to further emphasise the flavour which was described as a ‘melty peanut butter’ and ‘chocolate high five to the taste buds’.

The pastries were annoyingly, as usual, split into foil-wrapped packs of two rather than one, but I did like the surprise of the wrapper being gold instead of the normal silver. Unfortunately, the first thing I noticed when I opened the box was that one of my foil packs was already unsealed so I was concerned about the freshness. Regular readers will know that, on reviewing Pop Tarts, I always try them cold, toasted and microwaved so, on this occasion, I made sure I tried each method twice to ensure my views weren’t affected by possible staleness. (As it happened, I didn’t notice much of a difference!)

Pleasingly, the naturally and artificially flavoured tarts looked how they did on the box, although I was surprised that some of the pastry was visible through the smooth brown icing. The peanut butter was quite dark in colour but looked nice and moist.

When cold, the tarts had a strong chocolatey smell but I could also detect the peanut butter up-close. The pastry itself was dry and moist at the same time (allowing it to stick to the mouth), and had a slight hint of the unique American chocolatey baked taste that we just don’t seem to have over here, as well as a nutty flavour. The icing was crispy and sweet whilst the peanut butter was so moist that it was almost slimy on its own. I loved how squidgy it was – almost like a peanut butter brownie! Whilst the classic peanut butter taste was present, the chocolate flavour was also strong and, unfortunately, not the best quality flavour in the world. However, texturally, it was the best cold Pop Tart filling I’ve tried so far, and the centre of the tart was far better than the edges.

When I was little, my brother came up with a fantastic invention that he used to make for me: ‘peanut butter in the microwave’. This originally-named dish was simply a peanut butter sandwich that was microwaved so the bread went floppy and the peanut butter became warm and runny. I absolutely adored this and, as a result, I expected these warm Pop Tarts to be a bit special.

When toasted, the aroma had a warm, slightly burnt, chocolatey smell and the icing looked a bit molten. The peanut butter was wonderfully gooey in appearance to the extent that it almost looked like thick caramel. The edges of the pastry, whilst remaining pretty soft, became partly crispy, and I also found it to be more flavourful and like a chocolate flavoured biscuit. Unfortunately, I found that the strength of this flavour was at the expense of the slightly salty peanut butter, although the latter did still have a lovely texture which had become like molten lava – thick, gooey and warm. I was also pleased that the crispiness of the icing was maintained and provided a nice sugary shell that was a bit softer than, say, a Nestlé Smartie’s.

Microwaving these Pop Tarts made the pastry really floppy so that it broke apart. Texturally, this was dryer and softer, and it also tasted more chocolatey. The smell wasn’t that strong considering the fact it had been warmed but it was still chocolatey. I found that 10 seconds in the microwave didn’t make the filling too hot but did take me back to my childhood since the peanut butter became really squidgy. Thankfully, it also released more of the peanut butter’s flavour, although the chocolatey aspect still caught in the back of my throat and I did find it a bit artificial. Since I fancied a really runny filling, I dared to microwave another tart for 20 seconds. This made the pastry so soft that it was more like cake and, obviously, the filling became very hot so it needed handling with care (some of it also leaked through the base of the pastry). It was like being a seven year-old all over again, though, with a slightly burnt nutty taste and fabulous gooey texture that stuck to the roof of the mouth beautifully.

In terms of Kellogg’s Pop Tarts, I really enjoyed my first foray into the Gone nutty! range, but I have to say it wasn’t my favourite peanut butter and chocolate combination product ever. I would have loved the peanut butter to have shone through more so I would be interested to see how the Gone nutty!  (peanut butter) version compares since this doesn’t contain any chocolate. 

Appearance: 7/10
Aroma: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Texture: 8/10
Overall score: 7.25/10