Random candy tidbits

I've got a new computer, which should be a good thing, but it came equipped with Windows 8, which is a bad thing. It's the most un-intuitive, difficult abomination of a system I've ever experienced. I'm telling you this because I'm just going to start posting some random candy stuff since everything seems to be working okay tonight. You never know what will happen tomorrow.

First up, candy from Singapore. The Sugar Baby's friend from preschool (who has the same name, only spelled differently), moved to Singapore for a couple of years. But last summer, Shuger Babee returned from the other side of the world, much to everyone's delight. And lucky me! His mom brought me some super yummy hard candies called Sticky. I love these. First of all, they're visually fantastic. The Passionfruit Rock looks like little pieces of passionfruit. The I (Heart) Mango Pudding has little red hearts in the center and the Pineapple Rock has pineapples in the center. The Lychee Pillows are little pink and green puffs. They're adorable. Even better is the taste. They're juicy and tart. Why can't we have hard candy like this in the U.S.?

 

 

 

Next up, a picture of the contents of the Sugar Baby's piñata. He turned 7 in May and I filled his Minecraft Ghast piñata with Ring Pops, Laffy Taffy, SweetTarts, Bottle Caps and other assorted sugary delights.

 

Lastly, we have this York Peppermint Patty-flavored creamer. My boss put these out at work one day and I couldn't wait to try some in my coffee. Looks yummy, right? Wrong. It was too artificial tasting and it didn't do anything to satisfy my chocolate craving.

Smackdown! Turkish Raisin Sausage vs. Chinese Traditional Food Fruit Candy

On the way home from Tennessee, we realized that our dear friends The Professor and Maryanne The Painter lived just an hour out of our way, so we stopped in to spend the night.
The Professor has always understood me on a very primal level. He gets my passion for all things candy-related, so I was ecstatic when he said he brought me back a little something from his recent trip to Turkey.
I won't keep you in suspense. Here it is, folks. One genuine Raisin Sausage with Walnut.*Now, first off, it looks like a giant turd. There's just no way around it. But I kept an open mind. The ingredients were simple enough: sugar, walnut, wheat starch, grape molasses and citric acid. What's so wrong with that, right?
I'll tell you what's wrong. This stuff was like biting into plastic tubing stuffed with walnuts. The resistance on your teeth made it feel like you were eating something from Home Depot, not the grocery store. It's like you could find it in the aisle between the PVC piping and the bathtub caulk. Truly foul. Had this been from anyone else, I would've thought they were either trying to mock me or challenge my devotion to candy. But I know in The Professor's mind, this was more than just candy; it was an experience. That's why he "gets" me. Fortunately, he made up for his transgressions by allowing me to taste some of the chocolate-covered Seafoam he'd gotten from McDonald's Homemade Candies in Michigan. Now this was some tasty stuff. Little chunks of airy, brown-sugary seafoam with a thick coating of dark chocolate. Mmmmm!It all went to hell, however, once the "Chinese Traditional Food" Fruit Candy was pulled out. I can't even remember what was in it, but it was more disgusting than I thought it would be. Match it up against the Raisin Sausage with Walnut and I don't know who'd win.
He had some other crazy-ass candy from Turkey and it was all right, but the true winner of the visit came from The Professor's daughter, Chocolate E-Clare. She generously gave me one of the Kinder Bueno bars she had hoarded from their trip to England. Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?! She said it was her favorite candy bar, and it's easy to see why. Creamy chocolate, crispy wafers, hazelnut filling ... now that's a candy I can love.
Being a good guest, I brought The Professor my own contribution to this extravaganza of sweetness: half a box of Mint Moon Pie Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches. When I bought them, I thought they were mint-flavored Moon Pies-- the soft cake with marshmallow filling. Only after I opened them did I realize that they were cookies. These were pretty yummy, very similar to Girl Scout Thin Mints, only with a cream filling.We had a lovely visit. We see them far too less than we'd like, but distance and busy lives get in the way. The Raisin Sausage *almost* makes up for the distance. Almost.
*In the upper corner of the sausage package, it says "Aphrodisiac." Believe me, nothing says love like a Raisin Sausage.

A Delightful Yumster and a Shameless Mr. Goodbar

When I started this blog back in 2003, I had no idea where it was going. In fact, I didn't really think it would "go" anywhere. I had two readers-- my sister and, well okay, maybe it was just one reader, and I barely knew what a blog was. I started this as an outlet to write about my passion-- candy-- versus the stuff I normally write about for publication, and it just kept rolling along. I never expected, though, that I would "meet" so many cool people. I've found that candy lovers are some of the nicest, most giving people on the planet.
Take, for example, Kendra, a Yumster from Ontario. Not only does she read Candy Yum Yum faithfully, but she sent me this awesome box of chocolates from her local chocolatier, Reid Chocolates.

Okay, wait just a second. Here's a "real time" comment: I just went to open the box to look at the chocolates and make some comments and I see that the giant milk chocolate turtle is GONE. I cannot believe this. Mr. Goodbar has once again gotten into my stash and eaten the piece I was saving until last. Seriously, this is not acceptable. Apparently he learned nothing from the previous episode when he ate my espresso truffle. Please hold while I go address the situation...

Okay, I'm back. He didn't even try to deny it. Once again, he said he ate half and tried to save the other half for me, but it was so good he couldn't control himself. "Those are good chocolates," he said.
"But they're MY chocolates!" I said.
"Just because they come to the door with your name on them doesn't mean, well, okay, they are your chocolates, but I didn't know you liked turtles," he said. "I like nuts. I don't usually like caramel, but that was really good." Um, is this supposed to be making me feel better? Cause it's not.
Well, I suppose if anything it's a good plug for Reid Chocolates. And thank you Kendra for being such a devoted Yumster. At least you know your kindness has touched two souls.

Pillow-Soft Boozey Goodness

Waaaaay back when in 2008, I sampled some boozey-enhanced candies called Crown Nuggets Borrachitos. They came in two flavors: Cafe and-- I say whispering-- ((tequila)). They looked like this:
I just couldn't get myself to try the tequila ones back then and, to be perfectly honest, I still can't. As they say, once bitten, twice shy: one bad night with some cheap tequila will remain forever etched in my brain. I was able to try the Cafe ones, though, and I likened them to happy hour in a candy.
Fast forward to 2010, when I was asked if I'd like to try their new flavor Whiskey. I hesitated at first. Whiskey isn't my drink of choice, either, but at least I can say the word without gagging.
The first big change was obvious. The packaging is a hundred, thousand, million times better. The photo on the package shows some darn yummy looking candies and identifies them as "Creme & Liquor Filled Caramels." I noted before that they almost look like little pastries or cruellers. What I totally forgot about was the texture. It completely surprises me every time. Rather than a dense chew or a crumbly, almost doughy texture, these have a gelatinous feel to them, almost more marshmallowy than caramel. (The website refers to them as "pillow soft.") The alcohol-- up to 4%-- gives them a very definite kick. The whiskey ones taste just like the highballs* my parents used to make on Saturday nights. If whiskey is your poison, then these candies are your treats.
Mr. Goodbar loves these. I've watched as the package has slowly disappeared throughout the week. If you're the type who devours rum balls at Christmas, these are most certainly for you. They aren't really my thing, but I can say they're unique. If, however, they come out with a champagne-flavored version, watch out. Then it will be happy hour for me all the time. You can order these at www.crowncandies.com.

*It wasn't until just this very moment, when I looked up the definition of highball, that I realized that a highball is actually a generic name for a family of mixed drinks. According to everyone's favorite sketchy source Wikipedia, highballs are "composed of an alcoholic base spirit and a larger proportion of a non-alcoholic mixer." So technically, a gin and tonic or rum and Coke are also considered highballs. Huh. Who knew?

Brazilian Candy: It's Like John Mayer--Not Very Attractive, But Really Good

After two months of sampling the best food that America has to offer (Oreos and giant jawbreakers), the Von Schokolats' exchange student "Manfred" shared a Brazilian candy recipe with them. "We all really enjoyed it," said the Baroness. "Great flavor and crunch. Not very attractive, but really good."

Here's the recipe, in an unedited, translated from Portuguese kind of way.

Negrinho

1 small can sweetened condensed milk

2 tbsp butter

2 generous spoons of cocoa

Put above in a pan and cook until thick

Pull off heat and put in half a can (from condensed milk) of honey.

Break biscotti into thirds (see picture below). Put them in the mixture and stir well. Place on a plate and put in refrigerator until cool. Take out and eat.

Lemonheads and Licorice

Have you missed me? I've missed you. It's been non-stop action since Halloween. I'm happy to report that the last of the Halloween candy (as far as the Sugar Baby knows) was eaten today. The rest is stashed in a drawer for No-Nuts.
I got kind of sugared out after Halloween, but I think I've got my appetite back, so let's catch up, shall we? I was very excited to come across these Tropical Chewy Lemon-Head & Friends at the Christmas Tree Shop. You may recall that it was only recently when I tried the traditional Lemonhead & Friends and loved them. Good texture and perfect sour taste.
These, however, were a disappointment. The box says, "Two Flavors in Every Piece!" and they are: Kiwi-Strawberry, Peach-Mango, Berry-Banana, Cherry-Watermelon and Pink Lemonade-Lemonade. (That last one is a cheat, if you ask me.)
The Kiwi-Strawberry was way too sweet; it lacked a sour punch. The Berry-Banana was just weird and fake tasting. Cherry-Watermelon was actually pretty good. The initial taste was cherry and the finish was watermelon. I hate peach-flavored candies, and these were no exception. The best out of the lot were the redundant Pink Lemonade-Lemonade.
Next up, we have this oddity: Walgreens Candy Classics Australian Traditional Black Liquorice Smothered in real milk chocolate. Now that's a mouthful, eh? This is a thick stick of solid licorice. It has a nice aroma to it. The same spicy, piquant smell you get when you first open a bag of black licorice. But the thing is, chocolate just doesn't go well with licorice. I found the combination to be just plain odd. Kind of like when Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley were together. They just don't do anything for each other.

Mexican Candy: A Poop Theme

As I mentioned previously, The Connection brought me a bag of crazy candy from Mexico, which was incredibly thoughtful. The only thing was, I just couldn't bring myself to try it because I was afraid of swine flu tasting them. So I did the next best thing: I passed it all onto the Baron.

Pelon Pelon Rico:
Gretl says:
"Looks like something that comes out of the Sugar Baby's diaper. It's really bad, EW!"

The Baron says: "Really hard to dispense. It may be date or fig. Doesn't have a very good texture. Salty and gritty."

Limon 7: (not pictured)
Gretl says: "Smells like tires and I'm afraid to eat it, so I'll give it to Daddy to try it."

The Baron: "It tastes like Margarita salt mix for the rim of the glass. I'm not sure it's supposed to be candy?!"

Rellerindos
The Baron: "Looks like dog poop. You put this in your mouth? I'm not sure I want to play this game anymore!" (With this review, no one else in the family would try it.)

Veto Elotes
The Baron: "Gag, cough. Very salty. Sorry, can't get past the salt." He spit it out and washed his mouth out with water. "This is the lollipop that you give your kids when they are bad!" After the gag and the cough, no one else would try it.
Duvalin:
The Baron: "It's like cake icing, but with a thicker texture." He liked this one and didn't want to share.

Mini cow tales (not pictured, because these weren't supposed to be a sample. I had included a box of Mini Cow Tales for Memaw, who likes Bullseyes, which are similar.)
The Baron: "They don't have enough white stuff in them."

There you have it. Sorry Mexico. You may have good food, but your candy is really scary and gross leaves something to be desired.

Mexican Madness

Lookee here at this crazy assortment of candy The Connection brought me back from Mexico. That thing up top, right, which looks like a turd on a stick is a tamarind lollipop that's supposed to be corn-shaped. I'm not exactly sure what the Duvalin is, but it's the most appetizing-looking of all of them. The bag contains hard filled tamarind with chile candies and that other thing is ... well, I don't really know. So how do they taste?
I've got to admit, I don't know. I've been trying to work up the courage to taste these delicacies, but every time I look at them, all I can think is, "swine flu." I know that's so politically incorrect, but I can't help it. I know I should try them and give you the full report, but I'm just feeling a little wimpy. Anybody out there willing to give 'em a try?

O Canada!

Hey Yumsters! Heading to Canada this summer? Check out this video that the Montreal Food Insider sent me of a gem of a candy store, Confiserie Louise Decarie. I want to go there right now!

The Results Are In: Let's Go Back in Time!

Official results from the Candy Yum Yum! 6-year-anniversary question: "What would you like to read more about?"

No-Nuts has been busy earning her keep doing the official audit of the answers to our question: "What would you like to see more of on Candy Yum Yum!?"

I have to say Yumsters, you did surprise me a little. The number one thing you'd like to read about is old-fashioned/retro candy, followed in a tie between candy recipes and foreign candy.
I like these ideas a lot. When I originally began Candy Yum Yum!, I intended to delve into retro candy, but lately I've been star-struck by all the new Limited Editions that have been coming out. I promise, I'll be getting back to the good ol' fashioned penny candy very soon, and will be coming at you with some candy recipes, too.
As for foreign candy, I'm thinking that maybe some of you international Yumsters could help out. Do you live somewhere other than the U.S.? Write to me and tell me about some of your local candies! Perhaps we could even do a candy swap.

Other items of note: Reese's was the only brand that specifically was mentioned. Let's give it up for peanut butter and chocolate! Woo hoo!

You're definitely interested in things like organic, Fair Trade, vegan and sugar-free candy, so more on that too!

Lastly, check out No-Nuts' artistic skills. I had no idea she was both a math whiz AND an artiste!