Candy

One of the keys to the gummy rise to candy greatness is the range of shapes it can take on. For a while I tried to collect photos of every single shape of gummy that I ever came across, but it was too big a task. Every time I step into a candy shop I discover a new shape, some are strange, some are pretty boring. This week's review looks at how shape is really becoming a crutch of gummy producers, and it seems like they may be missing the boat with flavour range.Again, today's review was provided to us from our great friends at sugarfina.com.Click here to read the review.CC

It’s been quite a while since I reviewed (or even ate) any Lindt chocolate, so I thought I would give this one a go. On reflection, it probably wasn’t the best idea. The name ‘Lindt Excellence Blueberry Intense’ should have been a clue. Blueberries are a lot of things, but one thing I wouldn’t describe them as is “intense”. A quick glance at the ingredients on the back of the packet confirms my worst fears. Not only is is a paltry 47% cocoa solids, but it’s also packed with other ingredients. Mmmmm, Vegetable Anthocyane E163! Feeling a little concerned about what I was about to let myself in for, I opened the pack. Rather than the pristine looking Lindt chocolate I had expected, this is what greeted me. It appears to be covered in ‘dents’, but I can only assume that those marks are some kind of moulding imperfection, as there are no marks on the packaging. It’s quite odd. Under the surface and on the underside of the bar, lots of bits of ‘fruit’ are visible, along with some fine slithers of almond. It’s not that it looks unappetising, it just looks like it’s been put together in a bit of a hurry. The chocolate itself is very soft. There’s no ‘snap’ to it, but it bends a little before it breaks. That’s partly because of the fruit, but the poor quality chocolate doesn’t help. The taste is overwhelmingly one of sugar and artificial fruit. There’s really nothing chocolatey here at all, unfortunately. Bizarrely, the fruit tastes more like apple than it does blueberry too. That long ingredients list have apple (and pineapple) on it, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The texture of the fruit pieces isn’t particularly pleasant either. They have a jelly like texture on the outside with a slightly crunchy, grainy texture in the middle. I’m not a fan. I always like to think of Lindt as a ‘stepping stone’ from confectionery chocolate to ‘real chocolate’, but this is so sweet and packed with unnecessary ingredients, I would have to put it firmly in the ‘candy’ category. Unless you really like the taste of sugar and artificial fruit, you should probably avoid it. Information Buy it online from: Lindt-Shop.co.uk Contains dark chocolate (47% cocoa solids). Filed under almond, blueberry, lindt. Tweet This The post Lindt Excellence Blueberry Intense appeared first on Chocablog.

Emma here. A quick update on how you can keep up with us at Sweets & Snacks 2013! I will be live-tweeting all the deliciousness on Twitter @zomgcandy. We’ve created an Instagram account @zomgcandy, too. We think we can take real cameras into the exhibit hall, so hopefully we’ll be able to upload hi-res, wider-angle shots at the end of each day. Let us know if you have any requests via Twitter, Instagram, comments on this blog, or e-mail!

Our friend, and regular follower Mark, mentioned to me that he'd never tried Turkis (or Greek) delight before. I couldn't let this stand, and promptly sent him a package in the mail. Mark offered a great insight into his candy experience, and agreed to let us share his tale:I knew the mail lady was here by the exclamation, "Oh yuck! you got a bird".Instantly the thought crossed my mind," the cats are at it again, fearless hunters of birds, snakes, squirrels, groundhogs, and the like!I spoke with our mail carrier and we discussed the cats and their inclination to hunt and drag their catch to our doorstep.Turning around I spied our mailbox, typical mail? Nope, not today!I saw a package that was very neutral to natural in color."What is this?" I think.I read the senders name and see a familiar C. Stewart.Now I am excited! What could it be? I think.Very intrigued with the surprise that is hidden between the layers of envelope. I remember a conversation about candy and junk food, and I realize; this could be the famed and hard to find Turkish delight we spoke about!After trying to open the bulky envelope with my bare hands, I come to the realization that I require the help of my trusty scissors!I cut through one layer of envelope to be greeted with a second durable delivery device!y anticipation is growing as I snip, snip, snip to find concealed a bar of one of my favorite treats, sesame seed candy! Oh wow! My grin proceeds to travel laterally yet slightly longitudinally at the ends. I pull out a second container the reads" Greek Traditional Delight; Lokoum with Rose" Now I am feeling like, well, a kid in a candy store.I am perplexed, which should I open first, the old favorite or the never before experienced Lokoum?Decisions, decisions!I break down and realize, I can only open one at a time, which should it be?I decide based on kid logic that I shall open the old favorite first and while enjoying it, I will open the second.I delicately tear open the sesame candy bar and pause, what would a Candy Critic likely do at this point. I look over the slightly thin bar noticing what looks to be a purposeful mixing of light beige, oak, flesh colored sesame seeds.I take a deep inhalation of the candy and savor the slightly smokey, slightly vanilla, toasted oat like smell.It is a very pleasant fragrance. I can wait no longer and I take a bite.The flavor is a wonderful mix of toasted sesame, toasted oats (even though I know there are none in the candy) and a very mild and not over sweet glucose product and the tell tale slight bitterness of sesame in it's varied stages of toasting.Ah yes, a wonderful and honestly, not so typically sweet, treat from a world away.Now that being said, I want to find out what this Turkish/Greek delight thing is all about. I stop and look over the package and ingredients. Not only is this Turkish/Greek delight, it is rose flavored!My family and friends know that I have a unique palate. I enjoy treats that are not your everyday run of the mill snack/junk food. I enjoy a floral breath mint (that contains no mint or minty flavor at all) called C. Howard's Violet mints.I open the package and am greeted by the sight of a clear tray the size of a compact disc case, with four chambers that are about an inch in depth.I remove the plastic wrap and cautiously smell the treat, caution solely based on the fact that whatever lies in the recesses of this package is covered with a fine heaping of powdered sugar and should my wife see me with white powder on my nasal area, I believe she would suspect me of shady behavior!Picking up one of the powder white treats the size of a half melted ice cube, I slightly squeeze to check firmness. This treat is pretty durable even for it's small size.With anticipation I take a bite of the treat and instantly, as if someone painted my palette with flowers, the taste of rose fills my olfactory senses. There is no mistaking the rose, it is vibrant yet soft in aroma, a delightful edible incense

Well I'm back, I had a few days between my Berlin adventure and Cretan fun times, but now I'm back for a while. While both of these places are very different, from a food standpoint, they both had some of the greatest food I've ever eaten. Most importantly both of them had some really good sweet treats that you must try. This week I'll be posting all about the Berlin portion of my trip, including a special piece about my visit to the Ritter Sport museum. Next week I'll post about some of the great treats I found on Crete, I can tell you now that it will include a lot of dairy products.Also, all this week we're celebrating with a Gummy Review-A-Thon, brought to us by our lovely friends at sugarfina.com. They sent us a great collection of high class gummies to sample, and every day this week we'll be posting a new review to celebrate. This morning we posted our first of many chewy fun reviews.Last week a package I sent to our good friend Mark finally made it to him. It was full of Greek delights, and Mark wrote a brilliant piece about getting these treats, he even included his own reviews. See, if you befriend a Candy Critic, free candy might come in the mail. I don't have that many contest (but I do have a few) instead I'd rather deal on a customer appreciation angle.So now I'm back to full strength, and working on a whole bunch of new ideas.CC

Gritty and dirty meet tropical something

All this week we're going to be sampling a great collection of gummy treats, brought to us from our good friends at sugarfina.com. They told us that they have one of the most original collections of gummy treats in the world, we told them to prove it, they did. So sit back, and enjoy some fun gummy reviews. Our first review might seem like a basic gummy bear review, but it's not. Why not mix your favorite drink with your favorite gummy, what could possibly go wrong.Click here to read our Champagne gummy bear review.CC

Emma and I are flying to Chicago for the Sweets and Snacks Expo at the crack of dawn tomorrow! The Sweets and Snacks Expo is the big annual candy and snacks convention/trade show, where hundreds of companies show up to show off what they’re making and selling. Last year, I got a bazillion samples that provided much candy blogging fodder in the months following. Below is a video of what we got at Day 1 of the Expo last year: No reviews this week. Instead, Emma will be live tweeting our conference experience @zomgcandy, and I will post short updates on the site whenever I get the chance. If you’d like to get an idea of what’s in store, here’s my coverage from last year’s Expo: Media Preview (don’t think we’re getting one this year. Or I wasn’t invited…), Day 1, Days 2 and 3, House of Blues industry social, and my tips for bloggers (which I will be following!). Get excited! So much sugar coma in my future!

The times when I’m stoked about a salad are few and far between. This is one of them! Can I say stoked? I’ve probably used the word thrice in my life, the third being above. I’m trying it out for size. This salad… ugh. So good. I’ve rambled about my love for chopped salads for years on this little internet page. I don’t know what it is. The crunch of vegetables turns me off so maybe it’s just that everything is smaller and tiny and can be picked up in one spoon? I think what it really is though.. is that I can use tortilla chips to eat this salad. Now THAT is where it’s at. I’m so into it. The salad has so many of my favorite flavors going on – bacon, feta, avocado, corn – that I kept the dressing simple: just some olive oil and lime juice. Lots of salt and pepper too, but other than that, just pure flavor. Even a little arugula mixed in with my beloved butter lettuce for something extra. On top of needing the majority of my salads in chopped form, I sure as heck need as much texture (like, non-vegetable texture) that I can get. Enter bacon. And corn. And if you’re feeling frisky… maybe crumble some of those tortilla chips on top. Uh huh. Do it. BLT Chopped Salad with Corn, Feta + Avocado Yield: serves 2 Total Time: 25 minutes Ingredients: 2 cups butter lettuce, chopped 2 cups fresh arugula, chopped 1 pint grape tomatos, quartered 4 slices thick-cut bacon, fried and crumbled 1 cup sweet corn 1 avocado, chopped 4 ounces feta, crumbled 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 1 lime, juiced 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper Directions: As a note, to chop my lettuce I like to lay it out on a big cutting board and just continuously run my knife through it (in all different directions) until it's chopped as much as I like. In a large bowl, combine lettuce, arugula, tomatoes, corn and avocado. Add in salt, pepper, olive oil and lime juice then toss well to coat. Fold in bacon and feta then divide evenly amount 2 plates. Serve! Take that Monday. ©2012 How Sweet It Is

Ingredients (to make 4 Chocolate Mille Feuille) 12 square wonton wrappers 50g butter, melted 3 tbsp icing sugar 450ml cream 100g drinking chocolate powder 250g raspberries Chocolate Sauce Ingredients 100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces 150ml cream 2 tbs brown sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Method To make the chocolate sauce… Place chocolate, cream, sugar and vanilla in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate melts. Bring to a simmer. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until it reduces and thickens. Pour into a heatproof jug and set aside. Preheat oven to 180°C (fan-forced 160°C). Place the wontons on two baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper. Brush the wontons with butter and sprinkle with icing sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool on trays. Using an electric mixer beat the cream and drinking chocolate until stiff peaks form. Set aside. Place a wonton onto serving plate. Spoon some of the chocolate cream on to the wonton and top with raspberries and then drizzle with chocolate sauce. Place another wonton on top and repeat two more times. Repeat process to create the other three mille feuille. Drizzle a generous amount of chocolate sauce over the top of each and enjoy! Tweet This The post Cheat’s Chocolate Mille Feuille appeared first on Chocablog.