Have you been known to drive considerable distances to track down Limited Edition candies that you heard about?

Do you raid your kids’ Trick-or-Treat bags and Easter baskets
to find new favorites?

Do you love discovering a new sugary treat or reminiscing
about an old favorite?

Then we’d love to have you join the Sugar Savvy team!  Interested in writing for us?  Drop Cate a line at info@wellfed.net.

That being said, I’m a big fan of Lifesavers and I remember vividly the commercials in the early 1990s when the first Lifesavers gummis were released on the market. I begged my parents to let me try them, and when they finally caved in and let me have them, I felt underwhelmed by the flavors. I was big into eating the rolls of the hard candy versions back then, and the flavor in the gummis were nowhere near as strong. I finished my package and never asked my parents for them again.

Lifesavers recently came out with a new flavor package for their gummis: Island Fruits. I’ve seen them around in two forms: one is a big bag like the one pictured above, and another in a single serving roll. The package is very fun and eye-catching, so it’s not a hard one to miss. Not being one to let past experiences to dictate my opinions, I knew it was time to give these another go.

The gummis themselves are adorable. They look like pneumatic Lifesavers, and in the roll they stand upright in a section tray. They’re bouncy and squishy to the touch and I couldn’t help but play with them in my hands before taking my first bite.

The texture is a very nice gummi: chewy, with a good structure so it doesn’t immediately dissolve in my mouth. They come off as very fresh and satisfying.

Strawberry Kiwi: red/pink: Light and sweet and immediately tastes of fake strawberry. Just like those fruit snacks you ate as a kid. The kiwi flavor shows up as a tart note towards the finish of the flavor.

Mango Melon: orange: Beautifully fruity, floral and of cantaloupe right away. I’m not sure of the mango part, but I’d say this is the best of the bunch. It’s punchy, yet not overpowering and the flavor is refreshing and real.

Fruit Punch: dark red: Starts off very fruity, then gets that slightly bitter and floral taste of Hawaiian Punch. It’s like your mom tried to hide your cough syrup in your morning orange juice. It’s tasty, yet strange as artificial punch flavors always are.

Pineapple: Yellow: Light and sweet, this flavor is very muted and mildly juicy. It doesn’t have that flavor explosion I expect with Lifesavers flavors, but it’s very authentic with nice sweet/tart notes.

I was impressed with these and my early childhood experiences with these are now replaced with this tasty experience instead. I shared these with my boyfriend, who raved about them. He especially loved the Fruit Punch one.

The bars are long and thin and remind me of sticks. Which is a funny thought to me, sticks of chocolate. The 35g bar is long, thin, tall, and trapezoidal in shape. It’s reminiscent of a Toblerone, but these are more squat and there’s no point at the top. Each bar is nicely separated into six sections. The snap is hard with a very clean break. I did see an air bubble or two, but it’s nothing terribly noteworthy.

72% Dark: The chocolate smells acidic with notes of green coffee, juniper berries, red berries, pepper and cedar. The flavor is immediately dry, and I taste coffee, cocoa, cedar and earth. Then sweeter notes of cream appear before the chocolate turns extremely dry again with very acidic and tannic notes akin to citrus, red berries, cherries and raspberries. This chocolate tastes very wild, untamed and earthy. You get a real sense of the terrain in it, and I like that.

60% Pineapple: This bar smells the same as the 72%. Very tannic, tart, green coffee, cedar, and earth. On the bottom of the bar you can see the bumps from the pineapple chunks, and I see them in the break when I take my first bite. The pineapple is little freeze dried pieces and you taste them right away. They’re sweet, punchy, and full of fruity flavors like passion fruit, peach and apple with that twang of pine. The chocolate itself doesn’t taste different from the plain 72%. It’s dry, and tart with berry and coffee flavors. The texture is a little different as the freeze dried pieces add a subtle crunch amongst the smooth, thick chocolate.

I liked the flavor of this chocolate and I also really like the format. For some reason, this elongated bar takes longer for me to eat, which means I’m eating it slower and enjoying it more, which is important to me when I find good chocolate, as sometimes it’s all too tempting to just gobble it up all at once.

So what’s the next big candy trend? Here’s what the National Confectioners Association has to say in their 2009 trend report:

• Confections will have healthier options and fortified benefits.
• Chocolate isn’t just for dessert. Providing the most surprising flavor combinations, chocolate and cocoa will be used as a key ingredient in main courses.
• Sweet and savory duos like chocolate and bacon, and chocolate and cheese will be popular in stores and on menus.
• International spices and ethnic flavors will also have a large influence on new U.S. products and flavor development overall, especially Asian and Latin flavors.
• Intense new flavors and interactive experiences will dominate children’s candies.
• Eco-friendly manufacturing efforts, like recyclable packaging, will influence product development and consumer purchasing.

Along with the Peanut Butter Crème Filled Chocolate Cookies, the Newman’s sampler box also contained some other flavors, including their Organic Ginger n’ Crème Ginger - O’s (one of the most unique flavors of crème filled cookies I have seen on the market).   Although these have been around for awhile, I had never tried one before.  For some reason, I was expecting a vanilla cookie filled with a ginger crème, so I was surprised when I opened the package and the cookies were all a light tan color.  These are ginger cookies with a plain crème filling (I guess I missed the part where it clearly says “crème filled ginger cookies” on the label).

The spicy/sweet taste of these cookies reminds me of gingersnaps.  There is a clear hit of ginger and nutmeg when you bite into one.  If you are not a fan of ginger, then this might not be the cookie for you.  Unfortunately, the ginger flavor has a bit of harshness that comes from using powdered ginger instead of fresh.  The crème filling, however, tames the bite of the spices nicely and makes the cookies sweeter than a gingersnap.

As usual with all the Newman’s Own products, the ingredients are fairly straightforward (organic unbleached wheat flour, organic powdered sugar, organic palm fruit oil, molasses, organic sugar, ground ginger, soy lecithin [an emulsifier], salt, sodium bicarbonate [leavening], nutmeg,  monocalcium phosphate [leavening]), and do not contain any hydrogentated oils or trans fats.

Although I prefer some of the company’s other crème filled cookies a little more, overall I was pleasantly surprised at how good these were.  I have also heard that the Trader Joe’s Ginger “Jo-Jo’s” are amazing; sadly, however, they were discontinued before I had a chance to try them, so I cannot compare the two.

The folks at Funky Chunky offer a nice selection of popcorn and pretzel items in clear glass jars that make them perfect for gift-giving.  Whether you like the caramel version or are a chocolate fiend, you just may find the perfect gift for giving here … whether for someone else or yourself!

Be sure to keep checking back for new flavors … we have it on good authority that there is a candy-cane popcorn version come the holidays.

Billy’s Bakery, founded in 2003, opened their newest sweet spot at 75 Franklin Street, located between Church and Broadway, and the new space is … well … spacious, especially as compared to their first location.  As with their original bakery, the new one will offer corporate and personal catering, along with delivery in the Manhattan and Tri-State area.  Throwing a party?  Their new individually sized favor boxes might be just the thing.  Holding just one cupcake, it is perfect for children’s birthday parties or just because.

And don’t worry.  If cupcakes aren’t your thing, you won’t go hungry.  You’ll also find layer cakes, cookies, cheesecake, breakfast items and much more.  If you happen to be in the NYC area, or passing through, do give Billy’s a try.

You see, I find that there is always one missing component; for example, the chocolate coasting is too thin or too thick, the ratio of malty center to chocolate coating isn’t quite right, or the malt center is too dry and powdery.  I have ruled out Whoppers, Mighty Malts and Maltesers because the chocolate coating they use is not real milk chocolate and tends to leave an unpleasant aftertaste.

I thought I had found a real contender when I tried Brach’s Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs (an egg shaped malt ball available during Easter) which advertises that it is made with “real milk chocolate” right on the package.  The eggs have a thin candy shell coating that covers a nice milk chocolate layer.  Don’t get me wrong, these are very good malt balls (one of my favorites), but they have a bit too much malt center for my taste, which makes them a little dry and the candy shell coating makes them very sweet.

On a trip to Bristol Farms Market (a Southern California based upscale grocery chain similar to Whole Foods), I decided to try their name brand chocolate malt balls, and found that although the chocolate coating was delicious, it was so thick that it completely overpowered the tiny malt center.

Still determined to find the elusive “perfect malt ball,” I decided most recently to give another grocery store malt ball a chance.  This time it was Fresh and Easy, a division of Britain’s biggest supermarket group Tesco, which has opened locations in California, Nevada and Arizona.

I picked up a box of Fresh and Easy Milk Chocolate Malt Balls.  The label reads: “Our handmade chocolate confections have a crunchy malt center and are coated with a rich milk chocolate.”  I checked the ingredients and the chocolate is indeed real, and the malt center contains actual malted milk, as well as malt extract (not sure what that is), so I was very hopeful that this would be it — the “perfect malt ball.”

The Results:

The malt balls have a nice chocolatey smell.  The chocolate to malt center ratio is good.  The chocolate coating is smooth and creamy, not too thick, not too thin.  The malt center is light, crispy and crunchy and reminiscent of honeycomb, but doesn’t have a very pronounced malt flavor.

So is this the “perfect malt ball?”  Not quite, but it sure is close, and it is definitely my new favorite.

Have any of you found malt ball perfection?

Over the weekend, my husband wanted to try something besides our normal summer indulgence of ice cream at our usual grocery trip, so he grabbed Klondike bars. We  debated over dark chocolate or Oreo, and decided upon the cookie bites inside the chocolate shell. That night, I nestled in my chair with a big paper towel, and nibbled into this delicious sweet treat. The creamy vanilla ice cream with Oreo cookies inside a hard chocolate shell was melting in my mouth and on my hands. I will definitely have another, but I might need to eat it a little faster though.

The calories are not sweet, however, but it is worth every bite. I would cook a veggie plate, even eat eggplant and brussel sprouts and then run ten miles just to eat this lip-smacking square. So, what would you do for a Klondike bar?