Sugar Savvy

If there is one aspect about candy I love in particular, it’s how easily it can be underestimated. This is how I began my relationship with a sample of “Chocolate & Walnut” caramels I recently received from DAS Foods, a company that specializes in salted caramels.

My experience with gourmet caramel is sorely lacking. When I think of this amber colored confection, I automatically think of the cheap variety. Something you might find in your grandmothers’ candy dish wrapped in plastic that’s been sitting on her coffee table since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It’s never particularly good, and you leave your granny’s house now knowing why she wears false teeth.

But these salted caramels surprised me from the beginning, arriving not in a generic clear plastic bag but in a rather nice and petite white box. Inside were sixteen quarter sized pieces each individually wrapped in wax paper.

Unwrapping one I could already feel the difference in texture. These weren’t Neolithic stones, but soft to the touch. Before popping one into my mouth, I glanced at the ingredients, noting the inclusion of chocolate, ancho chile powder, ground pepper, and Fleur de Sel (hand harvested French sea salt). So then these would be spicy? An eyebrow was raised.

The taste was salty, but not overpowering. I do like salty sweet candy, which is probably why I go gaga for Payday bars. But these weren’t as nutty as I would have liked. Yes, walnuts are reportedly its signature ingredient, but for me, the taste of it was almost nonexistent. As for the chocolate, it was a very nice compliment to the saltiness of the caramel.  The more I chewed, the more I realized the taste was evolving. Slowly the saltiness was replacing by a pleasant warming sensation. A surprising experience I hadn’t anticipated, and one that remained with me when I finally swallowed.

From beginning to end, these small cubes were a very enjoyable experience, but perhaps for me that’s where the love affair ends. I did enjoy the taste, but I was a bit disappointed in the ratio of nut to caramel. But by no means does this mean I wouldn’t seek out more from the caramel family, or even more from DAS Foods. If anything, this product opened my eyes to how just how complex caramel can, in fact, be. These caramels are by no means retro paper weights.

The taste was salty, but not overpowering. I do like salty sweet candy, which is probably why I go gaga for Payday bars. But these weren’t as nutty as I would have liked. Yes, walnuts are reportedly its signature ingredient, but for me, the taste of it was almost nonexistent. As for the chocolate, it was a very nice compliment to the saltiness of the caramel.  The more I chewed, the more I realized the taste was evolving. Slowly the saltiness was replacing by a pleasant warming sensation. A surprising experience I hadn’t anticipated, and one that remained with me when I finally swallowed.