My reviews: Reese’s Outrageous, and it is outrageous because this is the world we live in.

Not going to lie, I was drooling when I saw this beauty on my desk thanks to Jess, my gym sister!

My absolute favourite chocolate ever is the Reese’s with mini Reese’s pieces embedded in it. AMAZING. Any shape- Xmas trees, the flying saucer, whatever. The best. Man. Ever eaten something that was so good, it felt like you were breathing for the first time? THAT.

But then every month (week, or hell, day…) I get in this weird existential crisis. A new day or month or whatever is a chance for a fresh start. Part of me wants to be ‘good’ and eat like, vegetables, fruit, water…And the other part of me is like, ha, no. Pass me the Reese’s! (Or Mars, or Snickers, or whatever. I don’t discriminate!). So, as I eat this fabulous bar, studded with mini Reese’s, draped with caramel…I think. How long do you really want to live? Plus, since I can’t really eat French fries, or apparently home-fried doughnuts anymore without puking…I figure I am falling deeper and deeper into the clutches of Big Sugar. And I like the sweet embrace. (my teeth however beg to differ).

So anyways, in the daily battle between ‘good’ me and ‘bad’ me…This bar is worth it! Is it better than the original Reese’s big cup with mini Reese’s pieces? No! Blasphemy! Nothing will match it. It is peerless! I think the caramel kind of ‘muddies’ the water a bit here, so to me, a low-quality chocolate purist (hah), it is delicious and worthy of being eaten, but NOT better than the originals. Not to be confused with Reese’s ‘Nutrageous’ which is…something different I guess?

My reviews: Dolfin Pink Peppercorn Chocolate

That’s right, thanks to my dear friend Sarah, I was able to try this unique chocolate last week. The packaging is a very attractive rose-pink, in kind of a laminated ‘pocket’, where the chocolate is also wrapped in a plastic sheeting with what I can only guess is ‘chocolate-making supplies’ dotted across it. It’s all very seasonal and Valentine-y looking.

I think Sarah said she got it at Quality Foods, so I can’t comment on price but I do know that dark chocolate is expensive. The scent off the top is intriguing- kind of a chili-forward smell, with a cocoa under layer. It’s not offensive at all, and it goes one really wondering what exactly peppercorn chocolate tastes like??

I’m here to tell you…Eh.

Like, I am a person who does not discriminate on chocolate. Milk, dark, cheap, expensive, I like all of them! (obviously). But I have a real fondness for what I describe as ‘volume eating’ and dark chocolate…Not a good volume eat, at all. Trust me on this. So this chocolate bar, upon first bite, tasted lightly smoky, with a very subtle peppery nose – like wine! However my gripes with this bar that led to my rating of ‘eh’ were as follows: Smells better than it tastes, the peppercorn flavour is more crunch and textural than flavour, and the dark chocolate itself had a weak mouthfeel with none of the richness of say, the Lindt bar that Melissa got me at Christmas.

To sum up, it looks good, smells lovely, and tastes flat. More crunch than flavour. If you are a heathen that likes eating chocolate cold or frozen (I know, I was gasping in horror when I learned that people do that!), then this might be the chocolate for you. For everyone else? Pick a different bar, this one has flash and style but no substance. It kind of reminds me of an item being ‘soulless’- usually described as evil people, bad music, or bad corporations, but in this way, I mean that it lacks depth, integrity and interest.

(or don’t listen to me, I also dropped a piece of a fabulous chocolate chip cookie on the carpet at work this morning, which I KNOW does not get cleaned, and I still ate it…)

 

All chocolate MEGA food reviews! Featuring chocolate you have never heard of!

That’s right people, buckle up because I have a mega-review coming down the pipes!

We start with a tour of Europe, where my dear friend Melissa generously procured for me an excellent variety of chocolate from both Romania (I know, I didn’t see that coming either!) and from Switzerland (a classic!!).

We will start with Romania. Melissa bought two bars for me, and I forgot to take photos of them and greatly regret it, but picture this below:

It looked sort of like this?

And two flavours: Coffee, and Cherry. The nougat in the bars was very reminiscent of the nougat in a Snickers or something like a flatter, denser 3- Musketeers type of bar. The flavours were also much stronger- the cherry bar immediately had a marzipan-esque flavour to it, and I really liked it! It had an almond aftertaste (an aftertaste of which it shares with arsenic, if Forensic Files has taught me anything), and a bright, cheery-cherry top note. Tasty!

The coffee-nougat one was very in-your-face. I almost left it for Ian to eat, but remembered that I don’t share chocolate with someone who doesn’t appreciate it! It’s almost like espresso flavoured, and as someone with chronic insomnia, I had a moment of worry- would this chocolate bar keep me up at night? It’s so strong! (It didn’t, and I actually read the other day that sugar can cause insomnia or contribute to it, but whatever I plan on living my life as a normal human, soooo not giving that up!). It was great but I didn’t love it as much as the cherry bar. Go Romania!

I tried to find images of these bars, but all I got was a Ganong ‘Roma nougat’ bar instead. ??

Now we drift on to Switzerland, where Melissa picked up the most excellent Lindt bar du jour: The Lindt Creations melting chocolate cake bar. Think ‘lava-cake’ in bar form. Did it deliver? oh BOY did it! Mouth feel of a much more expensive bar, it was just delicious. Did I get a lava-cake taste? Hard to say- it was excellent all around, so that wasn’t really the sticking point for me. Think about those St. Moritz ‘Icy Squares’ but like…a million times better.

Now we move on to Ottawa, where another lovely friend mailed me a CHOCOLATE POSTCARD!! Yes we are in 2020 people and this is a THING! I immediately checked out the chocolatier, Alicja’s Confections, and was blown away. Really sharp, classy packaging, unique and very out of the box flavours and a fun, novelty idea that got chocolate from my friend into my mailbox! What’s not to like? The flavour was peanut butter mixed with high quality milk chocolate- 33% chocolate, according to the packaging. The melt/mouthfeel was really high quality- smooth, flavourful and you can tell it is top-notch! The only quibble I had was for this to be a true ‘Tiger Butter’ bar, it has to have more peanut butter- as a PB aficionado, I need to be able to taste the impact of the peanut butter. People who are more chocoholics than PB-lovers will love this! On the whole, an excellent effort and a new chocolatier to keep an eye out for! Thanks Caitlin 🙂

And now we go closer to home, I guess? Brent at work brought in a new After Eight offering: Limited Edition Chocolate Mint with Orange! Now I was puzzled by this- everyone knows about the dreaded ‘orange juice & toothpaste’ combo, sooooo how was this going to taste? The good news is that it tastes like 100% orange- not a hint of mint! So that’s good? But I kind of wanted to taste more subtlety, not just chocolate-orange (Terry’s does that one well already). It is also incredibly sweet, sort of mouth-burny sweet. Now, I like that but I also fully realize a lot of people don’t. So, this is is kind of a miss if you like the traditional After Eights (I certainly do!!), but also a fun novelty. Heavy on the orange, light on the mint.

Holiday candy review X 2!

That’s right, in honour of my rapidly approaching Xmas holidays (so long, suckers!!) I am gracing your inboxes with a two-pronged candy review. Lucky you!

This first bar is courtesy of my gym-sister Jessica! Thanks Jess for the opportunity to try something new. 😊

First up, we have the very holiday-styled candy bar ‘Hershey’s Candy Cane’ featuring white chocolate with attractive crunchy red and white nonpareils embedded inside.

It’s a delightfully minty sensation, but not like brushing your teeth- it is much tastier than that. The crunch bits add some fun and texture to the bar, and the effect is quite pleasing. I don’t really love white chocolate -fake- but in this bar it is transformed into a nice holiday treat that is quite refreshing and unique to eat!

My biggest quibble/complaint: Hershey bars are SO THIN that there is barely any bar left anymore? I can practically see through it. Please, Hershey, I know you moved your factories to Mexico so you can’t be too hard up to make a bar that is slightly more substantial than a soda cracker. This bar, while very seasonally appropriate and quite tasty, is still a ripoff with how slim it is. You will have to pry Reese’s or O’Henry out of my cold, dead hands. Note: This complaint holds true to their other quite delicious and unique Hershey’s Gold Bar, which has pretzels! But crazy tiny. How do they have so many calories when it is this thin???

Next up, this one I tried thanks to Carlene! Yeah! Thanks Carlene.

She found these at Winners, which is indeed a haven for interesting candy and gummies. I have enjoyed a great variety of fun gummies from the UK there in the past. So, how did Rosé and Prosecco Bears fare?

Really well! The smell is quite unusual- a dry, sort of wine scent that has a sort of winery or brewery tinge to it? Makes me feel like the bag is indeed promising some real booze flavours. The flavour? Good! But if you are expecting sweet, in-your-face flavour, it isn’t the right bear for you (try Haribo or Albanese). It is quite subtle, with an off-dry grape/must flavour. I liked it a lot! It’s definitely an ‘adult’ gummi bear, if there ever could be a thing- I would really expect children to hate these. They are a gummi bear for more refined palates, ones that appreciate a good ‘patio- pounder’ Rosé in the summer….Ah, take me back. I would definitely buy these. Note: I couldn’t actually taste the difference between Rose and Prosecco? My faulty tastebuds? Or asking too much of a gummi bear? Anyways, the texture was very pleasing, fresh with a good chew but nothing too tough.

My reviews: Nature Valley Peanut Butter and Chocolate Granola cups

And I have to say that while I liked it (and let’s face it, peanut butter and chocolate can NEVER go wrong in my books!), it was pricey for what it was- glorified granola bars in puck-form. A box is $3.99 at Save-On, and each pack has two granola pucks.

The peanuts on top were a nice addition but weirdly the only thing I could think about when I was eating it was that it needed to be more dense and like, filling? It’s ridiculously light, feels like air. Peanut butter is more substantial than that!! Also it could have a deeper well for the peanut butter, and the chocolate coating on the bottom was ‘eh’…could barely even taste it. For show, mostly. Would I buy again? Only if it was on sale. I liked it, but I also like eating peanut butter out of the jar for roughly the same price for a whole jar, soooooo yeah. Nice try though, Nature Valley, on keeping me separated from my money once again.

 

I gave one to Ian and he had 1 bite and said he didn’t like it, because- and I quote- “It was too much peanut butter.” ?????????? So that’s been a fun marriage.

 

I ate the rest of his. And the rest of the box, if we are being honest here.

My review: Reese’s White Chocolate minis

I love Easter, it’s one of my favourite holidays. I think because the candy is my favourite, it give me a chance to complain at length about how Cadbury’s is ripping the people off by shrinking their Cadbury’s Crème Eggs year after year and now using these weird plastic packages, I love Peeps and now Reese’s entered the fray with their Reese’s Eggs AND who can forget the big Reese’s Bunny? I pointed it out to Ian this year and hinted heavily that this was ‘the best chocolate bunny money can buy’…I never said I had fine taste!

Also I love rabbits, so there is that too!

But this isn’t quite an Easter candy review, though the white chocolate does give Reese’s a pretty pastel-like look, and I think it looks nice, like little snowballs or something? I took a photo of one I had bitten into, and it looked like a squashed cockroach, so you’re not getting that pic, ha. They smell delicious, a little bit fakey (thanks to the white chocolate), but they are actually pretty darn delicious! I am not a white chocolate person, but I AM a candy person/Reese’s girl, so beggars can’t be choosers, haha.

The taste is pure Reese’s, albeit sweeter than the traditional. You can eat them by the handful, which I like. I don’t like being forced to moderate my candy consumption, like why I kind of dislike dark chocolate. Let me eat you by the fistful already!!!

If you are interested in something new, I would rate these as slightly lower than the traditional mini Reese’s, but higher than Reese’s Pieces in terms of taste value. Two thumbs up! Thank you to my friend who knows what I like best!

Wordless Wednesday: Empire doughnuts

Feast your eyes….

My review: Tim Horton’s Love Reese’s to Pieces doughnut & brownies

My lovely friend Lindsay bought me both the Love Reese’s doughnut and the brownies last month from Tim Horton’s, and they were both great! And now I am sharing the favour with reviews of both. Starting with the doughnut…

Now, doughnuts from Tim Hortons automatically get marked down by me, because they are like the lowest-common denominator in sweet snack foods. They barely try at all, and it’s like well, better than nothing I guess but also pretty much EVERY doughnut out there is better than theirs. So… yeah. I ate the Reese’s doughnut gratefully (who am I to turn my nose up at doughnuts) and I remembered the last time I bought a Reese’s doughnut, I was bitter and appalled because it was a SHAM – it was a paltry Boston Crème doughnut with like, a few mini Reese’s peanut-butter cups on top. Pfft!

Happy to say that this one is no sham doughnut masquerading as a delicious doughnut- it has really good peanut butter filling it! And the toppings are tasty as well, chocolate glaze with Reese’s Pieces. My only quibble that takes it from being an amazing must-buy: There is not nearly enough peanut butter filling in it, and it’s in the end still a Tim Horton’s doughnut- too flimsy, makes you think you’re eating mega-calorie air and not at all satisfying. Plus I have a history with their old Reese’s doughnut, so I do hold that against them.

Now, the brownies…

So good. Must buy. The portion sizing is generous, you get two squares which was perfect for eating one before my riding lesson and one after. Genius! The texture is fantastic, it doesn’t taste like slightly stale air like all Tim Horton’s doughnuts seem to, and best of all it is soooo peanut-buttery! The icing is amazing, smooth mix of chocolate-peanut butter and really makes the brownie. Top notch! It is worth the calories–have no idea what the count is, but if it’s like all fast food (fat food) it’s probably heinous– and I loved it. Rich, so the two squares are a great idea, and offers some semblance of portion control.

My advice? Ditch the doughnut and go all in for brownie. Actually consider that my advice for life.

My review: Speculoos Cookie & Cocoa Swirl and bonus an opinion!

Thank you to my colleague for the tasty treat. I very carefully practiced willpower when you gave it to me last week, and that lasted until I got home with it unopened, and then I immediately dove into it and ate a few spoonfuls while proclaiming that it ‘needed something’ like pretzels or whatever to add to the flavour.

And just like that, the top half of the jar was gone. Ian said it was surprising I was saying it needed something while also shoveling it into my mouth via large spoon. At the time the only option I had cracker-wise was Ryvita and just…no.

Anyways, I did end up spreading it on a toaster waffle and while it is pretty good solo, it was GREAT with the waffle. The stripes of cookie butter blend well with cocoa, adding a bit of textural interest and granularity. I am someone who likes crunchy peanut butter so your mileage may vary on that account. One quibble-the cocoa stripes tend to dominate and take over the spread. It becomes more of a ‘cocoa with cookie butter’ spread rather than the other way around. So die-hard cookie butter lovers (there could be some, I don’t judge as a peanut butter fiend personally) may not love this as much as I do.

So yeah a week in there is like half a jar left, yikes. I have added it to homemade waffles as well (and marshmallows, crackers, etc) and it is a true delight! At the risk of sounding like a monster, I have also *gasp* added peanut butter to the cookie butter for waffles. I know eh, where does it end???

Also here is my opinion: The Reese’s Eggs are not as good as the flat Reese’s Eggs. Do they find this as confusing as I do?

The best! 

 

Merely ‘good’

My review: Reese’s chocolate rabbit! Just in time for Easter

So the picture below may not actually be the one I ate. I devoured it so fast I didn’t take a picture, and also now I can’t quite remember but I don’t think there was foil covering it…Anyways, without further ado- the BEST Easter candy of the season!

Reese’s Chocolate Rabbit! Maybe even the best candy I have had all year??? Tough call. But a fair one.

It is a fairly hefty sized rabbit, not quite the 1lb pound gargantua that I saw when I googled ‘Reese’s Chocolate Rabbit’ but given the fact that I wolfed this down in one sitting (for lunch, I’m not some sort of monster), I’m glad it wasn’t a full 1lb! I did kind of feel sick after and wanted vegetables so I can even recommend eating this whole in one sitting to encourage you to eat healthier after. Kind of like aversion therapy maybe.

It’s DELICIOUS!!!

Imagine the biggest, best Reese’s cup (like maybe the one with Reese’s pieces shards in it) and times it by three. Bigger, better, more peanut-buttery goodness inside. It is filled all the way to the ears, no cheaping out on the peanut butter. The texture of the peanut butter filling is slightly grainy in the best way possible. Mouthfeel is excellent, the chocolate covering is smooth and slightly greasy but pretty good too. It’s addictive and incredible. Man, I wish I hadn’t eaten the entire rabbit but also can enjoy that memory for all of Easter haha. I think it is even better than the half-pound Reese’s cup they have at Christmas…Which I may have also eaten in one sitting. But that was years ago.

This was purchased for me by the lovely colleague so I can’t comment on cost but I believe it is available at all the regular stores (might look slightly different, I can’t quite remember). Get this one- it is better than all the Mr. Solid/Mr. Crunchy and Mr. Munchy chocolate rabbits combined, maybe even better than all of those combined with Peeps! Also there should be a Peeps/Reese’s mashup. I would buy allllll of it. Get on this, people!