White Chocolate - the NonChocolate

White chocolate is the red headed step child of the chocolate family. It's really not chocolate at all, (no cacao) but I still like it and I think we should keep an open mind. 

Can you believe I still have some Easter candy to review? I know, I know - time gets away from me! So much chocolate, so little time!

Lindt made a white chocolate Lindor truffle egg:

I can't say anything negative about this - sweet, delicious with that creamy truffle center.  Wow!

Neuhaus also did a white chocolate egg and this one is a solid "chocolate" egg:

 

This is also a great white chocolate egg - it's not as light and fluffy - not a truffle, but it's delicious.  It's hard to compare the two - both have great flavor, but are in such different consistencies I can't make a choice!

Now you all know I love Hershey's Kisses, but this white chocolate can't hold a candle to the Lindt or the Neuhaus - it has a waxier quality.  Nowhere near as good.  And the orange flavor is soooooo not my fav.  I could never eat another one of these again and be happy as a clam.

 

This is Lindt's Straccitella truffle egg:

It's the white chocolate truffle egg with some cocoa nibs on the outer layer.  The sad thing is, you can hardly taste the nibs at all.  Maybe if they were mixed all the way through?  I dunno - seems like they need more...something...maybe CHOCOLATE?

I found these at Harry and David:

They have a white chocolate outer layer, a dark chocolate layer and then the malt ball.  These didn't do anything for me.  The malt flavor seemed to offset everything else - kind of yucky.

These beauties are anything but yucky.  They are by one of favorite chocolatiers - Knipschildt.  And at $10.00 for five little eggs, they are not cheap.  But DAMN, they are delicious!

They are about the size of a robin's egg and are filled with a milk chocolate hazelnut paste that is amazing.  These are some of the best of the chocolates I had this Easter. 

These cuties are from L.A. Burdick and are the most adorable little white chocolate bunnies:

Each has an almond and a delicious chocolate and hazelnut truffle filling.  They also have a dark chocolate base:

L.A. Burdick makes the most gorgeous and delicious chocolates.  They also made this egg:

This delicious guy has our new friend white chocolate, then a layer of corn flakes (very crispy, very delicious!) and then a Gianduja filling (a sweet chocolate paste containing about 30% hazelnuts).    Not only is it totally cute, the combination of flavors and textures is wonderful.

So what did we learn?  White chocolate may not technically be chocolate, but it adds a lot to the family.  (Let's all join hands and sing "We are the World.")  It's mighty sweet, but it makes a great coating and has a lighter taste than milk chocolate.

Also - sometimes really great chocolate is completely worth the money.  There are artists who work in chocolate.

And finally, no chocolate is too cute to eat.

Have a great week - I'll be reporting from Candy Expo!!

Many, Many Malted Milk Eggs

I have fond memories of eating malted milk eggs as a kid - but I remember all that colored stuff coming off and getting all over my mouth. I swear I remember my brother's lips being blue after eating a blue malted milk egg! They don't make them like that anymore. : (

I seldom crave malted milk balls, but I like them alright. And at Easter time they seem to pop up everywhere as you shall see. And since I have now autopsied so many I know a bit about their secrets (which I shall reveal to you).

You know I had to see if Trader Joe's had any Easter Candy and sure enough:

They even give us some history on the carton:

Here, here!!

Yep - definitely egg shaped. Coated in chocolate with no outer candy coating or coloring. These are delicious and the chocolate is very, very good.

You KNOW Whoppers is going to do something! They have both regular size

and mini Robin Eggs:

Nice bright colors as advertised:

There we have an outer candy shell and a thin inner coating of chocolate. These are really good - and you can have almost twice as many for the same calories as Trader Joe's! And I don't mean twice as many mini's! It's because Joe's has more more rich, delicious chocolate. But these are really addictive and good.

The autopsy of the Mighty Malts eggs from Necco reveals something very horrifying:

NO CHOCOLATE!!! AAAIIIEEE!!! They have two types of malted eggs - one is Ice Cream Shoppe with the flavors strawberry, orange, chocolate, and cookie dough - this refers to the malted milk part - the coating doesn't seem to have much flavor. These remind me of cereal flavors - the strawberry tastes just like the Crunchberries in Captain Crunch cereal. The orange is really strong and sugary - heck these are all strong and sugary and fake tasting - kids would probably LOVE them! Me - not so much.

These are just regular old malt balls:

coated in a weird candy coating. Remember - no chocolate. Boo!!! I say. Boo!!!

Necco also makes the PAAS eggs. Interesting - the others are under the Mighty Malts brand and the Necco logo is nowhere to be seen - until you flip the bag over and look at the fine print.

These have a thin layer of chocolate:

and are the best of the three Necco offerings. I can't decide if I like them better than the Whoppers or not - they are larger and don't have the hard candy shell. Both are pretty good.

These are offered by Williams-Sonoma and Jelly Belly (I told you we'd get to those that were in the Deluxe Easter Mix!):

I think they are both made by Jelly Belly although the Williams-Sonoma bag says theirs are made exclusively for them. They taste the same, have the same ingredients, and the same autopsy results:

Get the Jelly Belly ones - I found them at Hallmark - they are $3.00 cheaper than the Williams- Sonoma ones. As pretty as these are, they were hard as rocks compared to some of the competition. The taste was okay - not impressive since these are the most expensive.

I swear these two are identical (same colors, same ingredients, same taste and autopsy results). One I found in Cracker Barrel:

And the other I found in Target:

These are good too! The candy shell is thinner than the Whoppers shell, which I actually like a little better. I'm not at all sure who makes these babies - each package just lists a distributor, not the actual maker. Another Easter mystery.

This is a Spring offering from Harry and David:

Now, I should like these! The candy coating is nice, they have a thick layer of chocolate, but for some reason - these were a no go. It was like the malted part didn't have any taste. All I had to do was eat one and then eat a Traders Joe's egg - the difference was clear. If it's going to be a malt ball it has to have that crazy crunch in the middle - it was kind of lacking here. Disappointing.

These have nothing to do with Easter, but since we're on a malted milk ball roll, check out these by World Market:

peanut butter!!!! Woohoo!!!

Yowzaa!!! These are really, really good! Very peanut buttery!! A+++

So here are the rankings as far as I'm concerned:

Peanut butter was the best, but it's not really an Easter Treat, so after that - I'd have to go with Trader Joe's.

Next up I'd go with Necco's Paas, closely followed by the Whoppers Robin Eggs.

The mystery brand is really, really close to those two. I had no idea how challenging ranking malted milk eggs could be! Who knew?

The prettiest (and most expensive) were last. (Williams-Sonoma and Jelly Belly)

The spring H & D ones weren't officially Easter treats, but if they were, they would be the worst.

Well, now I've eaten enough malted milks balls to last me the rest of my life.

The lesson - all things in moderation, all things in moderation.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Ah wintertime down south! The weather people said it might snow today and by noon YESTERDAY we had already salted the roads and cleaned the milk and bread out of the grocery stores. Snow freaks us out. And, hey, I'm all for the freak out - I can't drive in the ice and snow. And judging by all the wrecks we have, neither can anyone else.

But I love the look of snow - so pretty!! And I love the idea of chocolate snow!! So here's our chocolate winter wonderland:

Look at these adorable chocolate snowmen from Lindt!

Not sure why he has a broom. If there were two brooms they could be arms. But one broom? I dunno - maybe it's a Swiss yuletide story. I don't even care enough to Google it. I prefer to think it's random and weird. There's just not enough random weirdness in the world.

These are good - Lindt chocolate is always good. They are hollow, so there's not much to them. Cute, though. Would be great decorations/party favors.

Check these out from Cadbury:

These are, quite frankly, addictive. They are like really, really good M & M's (good because there is more and better chocolate) coated in powdered sugar. Or maybe it's cocaine.

I got them at World Market and they are fantastic.

More snowballs:

These are malted milk balls covered with chocolate, then white chocolate, then white powdered sugar. They are good, but not as good as the Cadbury Snow Bites. Not enough chocolate.

There's a problem with all of this powdered sugar, however:

This was just after taking the pictures! Give these messy things to children at your own risk. Good God! At least real snow melts.

A less messier snowball:

Whoppers Sno-Balls! I reviewed these last year. They're good (they ain't no Snow Bites, mind you) but they are a helluva lot less messy - candy coating, no powdered sugar. The red and green dots get a little out of control sometimes (see the green blob sn0-ball) but overall they are pretty good. It's a malt-ball thing. If you like 'em, you'll like these (and they are WAY cheaper than the Harry & David ones).

But look at these:

After the way cool tin, this is a bit of a let down, but it gets better:

These are "a truffle-like fudge center, enrobed in a creamy white coating, and a snowfall of coconut on top" according to Harry & David. My description - "Holy smokes! Get me a glass of milk!" These are VERY rich. Fudge-like? I don't think so - I think they ARE fudge. And you know how rich fudge is! And I don't know what the "creamy white coating" actually is, but it's pretty rich too. These are very good and it would be great to have one. Only one. Ever.

Snow is an amazing thing, isn't it? Every flake different. And I have to admit, I like my people like that - yep - a little flaky and different. The kind of people who might read a candy blog. The kind of people who laugh out loud and don't care who hears them. The kind of people who are real - and everyone of you I've come to know is real - authentic - a gift. So I say again, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!!