October 31, 2008
CandySnob's Monthly Roundup for October
Candy News
Candy Recipes
Candy Reviews
Gourmet Candy
Gum
Halloween Candy
Novelty Candy
Random Candy Stuff
October 31, 2008
Chocolate Postage Stamps - No more icky licking of stamps
Toby Ng designed these first class stamps, called Chocolate Mail. They come in 3 flavors - dark, milk and white chocolate. If interested, they're sold in a set of 24, and the packaging is designed to look like a bar of chocolate/envelope.
From Toby Ng Design
October 30, 2008
Happy Halloween from CandySnob!
Happy Halloween!
By the way, we do not believe that you can only enjoy Halloween candy on Halloween. Tiny chocolate bars, candy corn and scary goodies are good any time, so check out Halloween Buying Guide to see what our favorites are.
October 30, 2008
Monbana Chocolate Thin Cube
Monbana, a French chocolatier, recently has launched Le Cube à chocolat de Monbana. Its is a reusable cube shaped receptacle that holds different flavored chocolate thins. No more spreading your thins on a plate, trying to fan them into a nice presentation.
I'd tell you more about Monbana, but the website's in French. So anyone who wants to tell CandySnob readers more, let me know.
From TheDieline.com
October 24, 2008
Candied Grapefruit Peel
My grandfather used to always have these at his house. As a young kid, I veered away from them and straight to the raisin clusters (who wouldn't??). But I'm thinking its time to see what I was missing. Thanks to Cooking Books for the recipe and photo.
Candied Grapefruit Peel
2 grapefruits
2 1/4 cups sugar, plus 1 cup for coating dried peel
water
Cut the grapefruit in quarters and juice them. Hold on to the juice for another use, something like this one. With your hands, start on one end of the grapefruit quarter and begin pulling up on the pulp. The membrane should begin to let go of the pith and you should be able to pull the whole thing out in one chunk (see picture). If there's plup or membrane left on, you can use a grapefruit spoon to scrape it off. You should be left with a nice clean pith and peel.
Cut the grapefruit peel into 1/4 inch strips. I found it was easiest to do this with a serrated knife, with the peel site facing up.
Fill a 2-quart sauce pan with water and bring the water to a boil. Simmer the peel for 5 minutes, then drain. Re-fill the pan with fresh water, return to a boil, and add the peel back in, simmering for 5 minutes again. You want to do this for a total of three times so that the grapefruit peel will loose its bitterness.
Once you have boiled the peels for the third time, combine the 2 1/4 cups sugar with 1 1/2 cups water in the same sauce pan. Over medium-low heat, stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves completely, then add the peel back in. Brush down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water so that the simple syrup doesn't burn.
Return the peels to the water, increase the heat so that the liquid comes to a gentle boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer the peels for between 1 and 1 1/2 hours, until they are very tender and sweet and the liquid has been reduced to a syrup.
For Candied Peels in Syrup
Cool the peels in their syrup until lukewarm, transfer to a clean container and store, covered in the refrigerator. The peels in syrup are a beautiful jewel-tone, and would be perfect as a garnish over a sponge or cake, baked into muffins or breads, or spooned over ice cream.
For Dried and Sugared Peels
Spread 1 cup of sugar on a cookie sheet and put the peels directly from the syrup onto the sugared tray. Roll the strips in the sugar until they are well coated. Place a cooling rack over another tray and as each strip is rolled in the sugar, place it on the cooling rack. The peels should not be touching so there is enough room for air to circulate around each one. Leave in a safe, dry place overnight until the peels are dried out. You can store the peels layered between parchment paper in a sealed container.
October 22, 2008
Candy Corn Alert: Dylan's Candy Bar Paint Can with Original Candy Corn
One pound of sweet, corny goodness - in a very cool, transparent paint can. Whether you're a candy corn fan yourself, or you want to give a really cool Halloween gift, you want to check this out.
What else would you expect from Dylan's Candy Bar?
October 20, 2008
Hersheys Minatures for Halloween
We've seen some of the fun size offerings for Mars and Nestle for Halloween, what does Hersheys have going this year?
Get it over with quick (our recommendation) by getting a Hersheys Miniatures Variety Pack
Or...if you have to go with just one, we recommend the following choices:
As they say, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't. So depending on your mood you'll want to check out either Mounds miniaturesor Almond Joy miniatures
You simply can't go wrong with peanut butter cups. Ok...except if a kid has a peanut allergy, in which case you should have another choice...Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
Another big favorite of Candy Snob - Kit Kat Miniatures
Where are the regular 'ole Hershey Bar miniatures, or the Hershey Bar w/ Almonds minatures? Good question. The short answer is that we're not a big fan of them. We like the items above much better if you're looking for solid candy that kids will love.
October 19, 2008
Candy Corn Alert: Jelly Belly Gourmet Candy Corn
The original gourmet candy corn from Herman Goelitz, which is now the Jelly Belly Candy Company. C'mon, it uses a recipe that is 100 years old for goodness sake, it has to be good. Plus, its packaged in nifty 1-ounce packs, which we like because they're great for tossing into the bags of trick or treaters.
Check it out at
Candy Warehouse
October 17, 2008
October 16, 2008
Candy Corn Alert: Galerie Gourmet Candy Corn
Galerie's gourmet candy corn comes in three varieties: Cherry, Green Apple, and Tangerine. Candy corn with a twist - they are the same shape, size and texture, but the flavors are obviously different and the colors get away from the traditional white, orange and yellow.
Produced by Galerie
Photo and another awesome review at Candy Addict
October 14, 2008
Mars Candy Miniatures for Halloween
So many miniatures for Halloween, how do you choose? We're going to look at some of the offerings from each of the major candy makers to help in the decision making process. Today we're looking at some of the Mars offerings.
Our personal favorite - Snickers miniatures
A tiny morsel of milk chocolate, nougat, caramel and peanuts. Snickers may satisfy, but miniatures certainly do not...
A close second, Milky Way miniatures
Rounding out Mars' big three bars - 3 Musketeers miniatures
If you're are commitment-phobic, or if you just can choose (a problem I often have), you can't go wrong with an assortment. Check out this packwhich includes Twix, Milky Way, Milky Way Dark, Snickers, and 3 Musketeers.
BUT...let us not forget M&Ms...which will make any Trick or Treater a very happy kid. Either classic is available: Peanut M&M`s Fun Size Packets or Plain M&M's Fun Size Packets
Mellowcreme Candy Pumkins for Halloween
As a nice change of pace from candy corn, we like to throw in some candy pumpkins. Still small, still orange, still sugary and delicious. We particularly like these mellowcreme pumpkins from Farleys.
Check out Mellowcreme Pumpkins here.
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October 13, 2008
Candy Corn Artwork - Circle of Candy Corn
More than 35 million pounds of candy corn are produced in a year, which adds up to almost 9 billion pieces--enough to circle the moon nearly four times if laid end to end.
From the Conde Nast store, the photograph from Gourmet and Romulo Yanes.
October 12, 2008
Candy Corn Alert: Make Sure You're Stocked for Halloween
We've been talking a lot about candy corn this Halloween season, hopefully bringing attention to some of versions of the classic candy you weren't aware of. But...let's be practical. You need a bowl of candy corn perpetually out in your house during this month if you're truly in the Halloween spirit. If this is the case, you don't want to break the bank on gourmet stuff, you need good, solid candy corn that is a crowd pleaser. Here are four options.
Candy Corn
Brach's Candy Corn
Indian Candy Corn
Farley's Candy Corn
October 10, 2008
The Five Most Expensive Chocolates in the World
Knipschildt's Chocopologie - $2,600 per pound
$250 dark chocolate truffle with French black truffle
Noka Vintages Collection - $854 per pound
A compilation of the finest dark chocolates obtained from selective plantations in Venezuela, Côte d'Ivoire, Trinidad and Ecuador.
Delfee© - $504 per pound
Made by applying real 24K edible flakes of gold to each praline by hand.
Richart © - $120 per pound
Made up of 70% Criollo cocoa from Venezuela, which is considered to be the best quality of chocolate in the world.
Godiva "G" Collection - $117 per pound
Comprised of various ingredients and flavors like Palet d'Or, Tasmanian honey and Mexican Hot Chocolate.
From Thrifter
October 9, 2008
Chinese Chocolate w/ Melamine As Close as Canada
Looks like the melamine we have heard about from China has made its way to Canadian Costco stores, specifically chocolate coins sold there. Read more here.
Thanks for the heads up Chocolate Obsession
October 8, 2008
ChocolateSmith Sampler Pack Has Arrived!
I'm very excited, my
ChocolateSmith items have arrived. Thank you in advance to the folks at the Santa Fe based artisan chocolate company. I saw this company on Food Network's Road Tasted with the Neelys, and had to check them out.
Aside from the great flavor combinations, what struck me about these folks is that they called their chocolates "pate" - because they use cheese wax to cover their chocolates. Besides being a brilliant shipping move (my stuff arrived seemingly unscathed in 100 degree AZ heat), the wax itself serves as beautiful, one of a kind artwork. Wait until you see the photos of this stuff!
Stay tuned...
In the meantime you can check them out here.
October 7, 2008
Brilliant Candy Idea - Credit Crunch
If there was ever a timely candy, this is it. With an 800 point drop in the market yesterday, we're all feeling the credit crunch. So why not turn that into an opportunity? This is exactly what Laura Santini has done. Credit Crunch is honeycomb enrobed in chocolate, yummy no matter what you call it. They have milk (40% Cocoa Solids) and dark (66% Cocoa Solids) versions.
Ironically, you'll need a credit card to buy them online, but they're only $3.99 at Chocolate Society so its not too bad...
October 6, 2008
Review: Green & Black's Organic, Bite-sized Milk Chocolate
We picked up a bag of Green & Black's Organic Milk Chocolates the other day and were very pleased by the experience. The bag is filled with individually wrapped, bite-sized pieces of milk chocolate that Green & Black's calls "Intense," which is a very accurate description. All the ingredients are organic: raw cane sugar, whole milk powder, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecithin and vanilla extract.
Each piece is a little bigger than a quarter, with a nice G&B imprint on top. It is the perfect size - a little bite that packs a big punch to quash your milk chocolate craving. The flavor is more complex than most milk chocolates. You definitely get a caramel flavor which is delightful. But you also get an occasional hint of sour, which isn't off putting, but instead adds depth. It has amazing mouthfeel - its so creamy that it is almost sticky, the kind of stickiness you'd get with a thinner peanut butter. But of course much smoother and creamier.
CandySnob loves these little morsels of goodness. The perfect little treat during the day.
Check out Green & Black's Organic Chocolate goodies here.
Candy Snob's Halloween Candy Guide: Frankenmallows
Marshmallows and candy corn, all wrapped up in a fun Halloween-y package for the kids. What more could you ask for?
Find out how to make them at Tami's Kitchen Table Talk
Ashtray Disguised As Chocolate
Glad I knew about this before it was too late and I bit into this! Its a portable ashtray (apparently a big trend in japan) that comes disguised as either dark and white chocolate.
From shopmodi via NOTCOT
October 5, 2008
McCain & Obama Debate Critical Issue - Chocolate or Peanuts?
Milk Chocolate, Peanut & Banana Bars
(makes 8 servings)
Peanut chocolate base:
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup peanuts, toasted and chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Chocolate filling:
4 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temp'
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel, or other mild sea salt
1 banana, for brulee
1 tablespoon sugar, for brulee
Learn what to do with these ingredients at Chefs Gone Wild
Halloween Candy: Ode to Candy Corn
Found this on NPR from last year - worth listening to. Amazingly, the report says that 35 million pounds of candy corn are made each year, which is about 9 billion kernels.
The presenter equates eating candy corn to a guilty pleasure, not unlike watching trashy reality TV - something that you'd be embarrassed to admit in public.
I don't get this at all, do you? Am I missing some elitist view of candy corn? Let me know.
Listen here
Buy candy corn here.
October 4, 2008
Candy Snob's Halloween Buying Guide
Scary Choice #1
Boogyman Lollipops
Some pretty creepy (and ugly) halloween lollies. Flavors include: Boo Raspberry, Gang Green Apple, Eerie Orange, and Scary Cherry.
Candy Corn
Zachary Candy Corn in 1-Oz Packets
No Halloween is complete without candy corn, and we particularly like these because they are in one-ounce bags, which make it a perfect, sanitary way to pass them out to kids. And its built in portion control for yourself, if you need that like I do. Even better, these are made with real honey.
Stand out with Nostalgic Miniatures
A vast majority of candy-bar houses are going to play it safe with Nestle, Hershey or Mars. Be a little different, that is to say, memorable to the kids with some miniatures that aren't quite top of mind anymore.
Miniature Zagnuts - From 1930, you can't beat the unique combination of crunchy peanut butter covered in toasted coconut.
Miniature Rocky Roads - A 1950's west coast classic - light fluffy marshmallow topped with flavorful roasted cashew nuts.
Candy Apples
Mrs. Prindable's Halloween Favor Apples
These candy apples are like none you've ever seen before. These Halloween favors are petite versions of the usually gynormous apples Mrs. Prindable usually puts out. IN addition to the beautiful enrobement, they are dressed in orange and black bows. You have your choice between milk chocolate pecan or triple chocolate.
Scary Choice #2
Creepy Peepers Filed Chocolate EyeballsWe like the idea of leaving a bowl of these outside your door, a pretty scary but equally delicious little idea. Even more gross is that they're chewy...with a "chocolate optic nerve and peanut butter retina center" that is either caramel, peanut butter or fudge.
For the Traditionalist
All Chocolate 150 Piece Halloween Fun Size Assortment
If you're feeling like taking it safe this year, you should go for a variety pack of candy bar miniatures. There are a lot out there, but we recommend this one because it has a ton of variety, and it mixes brands - you'll find both Hershey's and Mars items in this pack.
The Slightly Lame Choice
Smarties
Look...we like Smarties. And the reason they're on the list at all is because their packaging was perfectly designed to toss into a Halloween bag. But if you're a kid and you bring home a bag full of goodies, most of which are chocolate and richer candies...where do you think Smarties fall on the priority list?
October 3, 2008
Space Invaders Gets Its Own Gum for 30th Anniversary
Space Invaders is 30 years old, which makes me feel awfully old. But to celebrate, Japan's LOTTE candy company recently partnered up with Taito to create a commemorative Space Invaders gum.
Technabob poses a great question:
What flavor is a Space Invader anyhow? I'm thinking maybe some sort of lime, since they're probably filled with green space goo.
Note: Technabob is willing to award $10 to the first person who can get him a pack of this gum. CandySnob will pay $20!
From Taito Japan via Technabob
October 2, 2008
White Rabbit Candies Unsafe; Latest Chinese Food Scandal
From the LA Times:
The Food and Drug Administration and state health authorities warned consumers Friday not to eat any flavors of White Rabbit candy imported from China because they may be contaminated with the chemical melamine.
Thanks for the heads up ZOMG Candy
Askinosie Chocolate Packaging circa WWII
We covered Askinosie Chocolate back in April, and have now seen some cool packaging for this innovative, artsan chocolate maker. An army ration feel circa WWII to their packaging. Very cool.
From Dieline
October 1, 2008
Peanut Butter OR Mint Oreo Truffles
1 package of Oreo cookies with peanut butter or mint centers (I used double stuff with no problems)
1 8 oz package of cream cheese
3/4 package of chocolate almond bark
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
vegetable shortening to thin the dipping chocolate
From Amanda's Cookin'
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