Sugar Savvy

“For people may not know what they think about politics in the Balkans, or the vexed question of men and women, but everyone has a definite opinion about the flavour of shredded coconut.”

This quote from a poem about chocolates by Louis Simpson is a fitting way to begin this review of the See’s Candies new Dark Chocolate Cocoanut (please note the odd spelling of coconut is See’s Candies not mine) buttercream since coconut can be “a love it or hate it” flavor and everyone seems to know what they think about coconut.

Many of us grew up with the ubiquitous Almond Joy/Mounds commercials making sure we knew we had the choice of coconut filling with or without a nut on top. However, my childhood buddies and I gagged at the thought of either candy bar and chose to spend our allowance on Milky Way or Hershey bars with an occasional Baby Ruth or Sugar Daddy for variety.

Now that I am a grown up, I seek out the flavor of coconut in my drinks, curries and other foods. Maybe it is time to re-evaluate my childhood prejudice and give chocolate-covered coconut another try.

Tasting Report

Description: This is a new candy featured in the See’s Candies shops. It is a rough rectangle roughly one-inch by one-half inch. The dark chocolate has a good, deep color and a high gloss. The enrobing seems very thick, giving a substantial amount of chocolate in each bite. The filling is creamy looking and white giving no hint of the coconut shreds contained within. It is not pictured on the website, but it’s milk chocolate cousin can be viewed here as piece number 29.

Taste: The first sensation is of the creamy buttercream and then the coconut comes through. In the beginning, the coconut taste is not overwhelming but it loses some of its subtlety as it gradually overpowers the buttercream taste. The chocolate adds a welcome note of acid and the rich taste of the dark chocolate lasts on the tongue giving a pleasant aftertaste. The coconut filling is fresh tasting and not too sweet, but the candy leaves unwelcome bits and shreds of coconut in your teeth.

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Ingredients: Because this is a new candy and not listed in my ingredients sheet, I can only make assumptions about the Dark Chocolate Cocoanut’s constituent parts.

I assume it has the same dark chocolate covering as other non-truffle See’s Candies, which is sugar, chocolate, cocoa butter, butter, soy lecithin, vanilla and vanillin. The Milk Chocolate Cocoanut filling boasts sugar, cream, coconut, corn syrup, butter, vanilla and salt.

Well Fed Ratings: As compared to other See’s Candies I would rate the Dark Chocolate Cocoanut (I think the name is probably a bit of a pun — cocoa + coconut for a chocolate covered coconut candy — but I am just guessing) a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. In the end it was not the flavor of the shredded coconut that deterred me, but the texture. I liked the candy’s balance, but it lost points for the shreds-in-the-teeth, where’s-the-dental-floss factor.

Pros: The plentiful, rich dark chocolate and how it interplays with the coconut filling.

Cons: The shreds.