Sugar Savvy

Easter signaled the end of the candy season until Halloween, and Easter candy sales were the last chance to stock up on favorites until next year.  Every year I look forward to making the rounds and picking up some of my favorite Easter cand,y as well as trying out a few new things I would not usually buy at full price.  Unfortunately, this years’ sales were sad, to say the least.  The majority of stores in my area had sold out of most of the good candy long before Easter.  After scouring the local stores, I was able to find the following few items at pretty good sale prices:

(Giant) Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg: A ridiculously large (6 oz) molded chocolate egg with peanut butter filling.  The peanut butter dominates here as it makes up the majority of this confection; it is firmer than the filling in the regular sized Reese’s egg and slightly less sweet.  Growing up having eaten the firmer all-natural style peanut butter, I really enjoyed this filling.  I will be buying this again next year.

(Small) Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs in Milk and White Chocolate: A bite sized (.6 oz) individually wrapped version of the regular Peanut Butter Egg with either a milk chocolate coating or white chocolate coating.  These taste the same as their bigger counterparts, but are a nice bite sized portion.  I like the built-in portion control these offer and will be buying them again next year.

Russell Stover Chocolate Crème Egg:  A milk chocolate shell filled entirely with milk chocolate crème.  The filling is very runny and tastes like it is artificially chocolate flavored.  The intense sweetness of the filling leaves a burning sensation that lingers in the mouth.  I did not like this at all and will not be buying it again.

Russell Stover Vanilla - Chocolate Crème Egg:  A milk chocolate shell filled with white vanilla crème (similar to a Cadbury Egg) and a milk chocolate crème center.  This egg also has an overwhelmingly sweet runny filling as well, and doesn’t taste very much like either vanilla or chocolate (I taste notes of artificial coconut flavoring).  I will not be buying this egg again.

Russell Stover Marshmallow & Caramel Egg:  A milk chocolate shell filled with marshmallow fluff and a soft caramel center.  The marshmallow filling is spongy and not liquid like the other two eggs.  The marshmallow is nice and soft, not too sweet, and the caramel is a nice complement.  I actually enjoyed this one and will be buying it again next year.

I’m hoping that next year’s Easter sales will be more fruitful.  Did you score interesting candy at the after Easter sales?