Sugar Savvy

Raspberry and Strawberry Creams

Cherry and plum blossoms are in bloom here in northern California and my neighborhood seems frosted with petals ranging from the palest pink to the richest fuchsia, so thoughts of the impending spring led me to this week’s selections at The Chocolate Box — See’s Candy’s Raspberry and Strawberry Creams.

(For more information on this series, please click here for background info. Please go to the See’s Candy website for information on store locations and mail order.)

Tasting Report:

I was not expecting to like these pieces as much as I did. Both had real fruit flavor. I would buy both again.

Description: From the outside, these look like the typical See’s buttercreams with flattened domes and slight swirls to the top. The inside of the dark chocolate raspberry cream was a vivid purplish, almost reddish, dark pink that looked like it could be artificial, it was so intense. The flavor and color are all natural, however. The milk chocolate strawberry cream was faded pinkish beige inside with tiny dots of real strawberry pieces here and there. The raspberry cream is piece number 38 in the catalog and website. The strawberry cream is piece number 37.

Taste: The raspberry cream’s sweet-tart taste was like a little bit of springtime on my tongue. The dark chocolate shattered and mixed pleasantly with the raspberry filling, which was smooth and not too creamy tasting or sweet. All I tasted was the fruit. I normally take a bite, think a bit, maybe write down a note or two then take another bite and think some more, slowly eating whatever candy I’m tasting. This one I ate in two big bites without reflecting at all. This candy was a sleeper. It is only available with the dark chocolate coating.

The milk chocolate strawberry cream tasted sweeter and there was more of a butter and cream note to it. The slightly unappealing faded color was probably due to See’s not using any fruit puree in this candy. I liked the look of the tiny bits of strawberry. The texture of the filling was still very smooth and you couldn’t discern the bits in your mouth. The fruit taste was there, but not as intense as with the raspberry. Overall, I liked this candy but I was not won over by it like I was with the raspberry cream. It is only available with the milk chocolate coating.

Free sample (at time of purchase): Café Au Lait

Ingredients: (For chocolate coating details see the ingredients list here.)
Raspberry Cream – dark chocolate coating, sugar, cream, raspberry puree, corn syrup, freeze-dried raspberry, butter, salt
Strawberry Cream – milk chocolate coating, sugar, cream, corn syrup, freeze-dried strawberry, butter, natural and artificial flavors, salt

See’s Trivia: See’s uses 400,000 pounds of fresh freeze-dried blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, oranges, key limes, Granny Smith apples and Hawaiian pineapple a year. The freeze-dried fruits are prepared by Oregon Freeze Dry.

Well Fed Net Ratings: As compared to other See’s candies, I would give the raspberry cream a 9.5 and the strawberry cream a 7.5. Pro: The raspberry cream filling had an intense sweet-tart taste that was reminiscent of real fruit. Con: The strawberry cream filling was a little too sweet, which detracted from the fruit flavor.

Please check back next Friday, when The Chocolate Box participates in “Five Days of Fudge” on Sugar Savvy.