Happy Easter every bunny! Let us celebrate with this little wrapper from Greece!
This child-friendly portion of milk chocolate was bought in Cyprus by my holidaying parents in 2019.
Made by Greek confectioners Oscar (founded in Instanbul, Türkiye”, 1932), the company relocated to Athens, Greece, in the 1970’s and are a producer of confectionary items, including seasonal Easter eggs, chocolate eggs and chocolate bars like this one.
Today, my Easter treats will consist of Cadbury Creme Eggs, Haribo Jelly Bunnies, Cadbury Mini Eggs, a dinosaur-themed Easter egg and a traditional lamb roast!
If you’re celebrating Easter today, have a good one!
It’s Wrapper Wednesday! Here’s a wrapper of a sweet I’ve only ever had the pleasure of trying once (so far), a Nestlé ‘Pixie Caramel’, from New Zealand.
Enjoy a ‘longer lasting chew’ with this hefty 50g slab (which is pretty big for chocolate bars these days) of caramel enrobed in dark chocolate, although fans of this chocolate bar testify that the pleasant jaw-ache associated with eating a ‘Pixie Caramel’ has diminished in recent years.
It’s a rather dainty name for a confection that promotes itself as a more substantial treat. The yellow and dark brown packaging (representing the caramel and chocolate perhaps) is so contrasting and eye catching. The subtle swirls in the I’s and two-tone background to replicate the fluid movement of soft, sweet caramel is a nice graphic element to this wrapper design. I imagine this would stand out on the shelf!
Perhaps it’s time for me to revisit this beloved kiwi treat!
It’s Wrapper Wednesday, and spring is starting to…well, spring! So let’s take a look at this bright and bouncy ‘Nesquik‘ chocolate bar wrapper from Spain…
‘Nesquik’ milk chocolate
The Nestlé empire was founded in the 19th century with Henry Nestle, a German-born pharmacist who later moved to Vevey, Switzerland to pursue a medicinal career. Changing his name to Henri Nestlé in order to sound more ‘French‘, Nestlé began to develop a baby formula in an attempt to reduce the crippling infant mortality rates that plagued 1800’s Europe. In 1867 Nestlé was successful in creating a farine lactée (flour with milk), with additional sugar and flour to help nourish infants unable to breast feed. This life-saving baby product would also have a major impact on the development of solid milk chocolate…but that’s another story…
Since Nestlé began with milk-based products, flavoured powdered milk mixes (‘Nesquik’, 1948) and milk chocolate seems like a natural progression.
I stumbled across this at a local Farmfoods (a discount frozen-food retailer in the UK). Aside from how bright, bold and brand-strong this wrapper is (the design is almost identical to Nesquik chocolate cereal), the thing I found most appealing about this product were the designs printed onto the chocolate. Each section featured ‘Quicky‘ the bunny engaged in an activity such as roller blading or skateboarding.
The ‘Nesquik‘ branding may be virtually identical across all food and drink products, but little additions like the engraved chocolate comic strips add a little extra character to the brand.
You can check out my review of this chocolate in an earlier post from 2021!
Did you know that advent calendars originate from Germany?
Although the practice of celebrating the season of Advent dates back to the 4th century, the counting down of days to Christmas with the use of a visual identifier, or activity, is believed to have originated in Germany in the 1700’s.
Protestant families would count down to Christmas day, celebrating the ‘adventus‘ (which means ‘arrival‘ in Latin) of Jesus Christ, by creating a chalk tally and wiping away each day that draws near, or place a religious image on display, or even eat a tasty snack for every day in the month until the 25th. It wasn’t until the early 1900’s that printed advent calendars were invented – also in Germany!
The first wooden calendar was created in 1852, setting a precedent for the first printed version in 1900 titled ‘St. Nicholas the Santa Claus’. German publisher Gerhart Lang is often credited as the first manufacturer of the printed advent calendar, having launched his 24 day product around 1902. But it wasn’t until a half a century later that advent calendars began to feature chocolate.
Early printed German advent calendar
Popularized by returning soldiers from European battlefields following the Second World War, this Germanic festive tradition evolved further in the US and UK until calendars containing chocolate emerged in the mid 1950’s, although calendars containing traditional sugar candies had been in production for several decades.
Cadbury of Bournville, Birmingham, have been market leaders since the release of their first chocolate advent calendar in 1971. These, and their chocolate coins (discontinued in 2014 but now back in time for Christmas 2023) have now become a staple in many British households during the advent season.
Cadbury’s Dairy Milk advent calendars have been popular for generations; this year they brought back some vintage designs from the 1990’s!
Today, brands such as Cadbury, Kinder, Lindt, Nestle, Mars, Kinnerton (who usually make those cheap, nasty pound shop calendars), Haribo and Terry’s, to name a few, can be found on British shelves with a range of tasty and fun advent calendars. But, if you don’t have a sweet tooth, you can also get calendars that contain crisps, cheese, preserves, socks, beer, and event advent calendars to spoil your pets with!
It’s Christmas! Well, almost…so here’s a themed Wrapper Wednesday suited to the season – ‘Reese’s Peanut Butter Trees’.
The Reese’s empire was founded in the 1920’s by former Hershey employee, Harry Burnett Reese. Reese was a talented confectioner and saw an opportunity to create something for himself, and in 1928, created the first incarnation of his famous Peanut Butter Cups.
These quintessential American candies were bought out, along with the whole company, by Reese’s former employer in 1963, and the brand has since expanded into a plethora of peanut and chocolate-based treats: perhaps the most iconic, is the original peanut butter cup.
In the USA, these sweets are molded into seasonal shapes to reflect the holidays; hearts for Valentines, eggs at Easter, ghosts and pumpkins for Halloween, and of course, Christmas trees at Christmas!
Reese’s Peanut Butter tree
The Reese’s brand is instantly recognizable with the strong, punchy use of orange, yellow and brown, a colour combo that has been in use since the 1940’s. It’s an iconic combination and the ‘orange background’ is even trademarked! But this first wrapper is a little more subdued, with a primary focus on presenting a winter landscape. It’s cool, and calm, allowing that iconic orange to be lifted front and centre.
More Reese’s Peanut Butter trees
The second example features more of the famous colour scheme, and includes a rendering of the confection too…although they look more like wobbly poops more than trees…that clear cut shape is somewhat lacking! But, I believe people buy these primarily for the taste, not the shape.
I personally prefer the cool, crisp winter version. The product branding is so strong for Reese’s, that it doesn’t need to dominate the majority of the wrapper – just a simple, orange silhouette is enough to be recognizable.
Who would like to see more shapes for more holidays? Shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day? Peanut butter turkeys at Thanksgiving? Star shapes for Veteran’s Day perhaps? Maybe some of these have already been and gone – let me know if you have had other fun Reese’s shapes!
You may have heard that Portugal is famous for its canned sardines…but what about its gummy sardines?
Gifted to me this summer by a colleague, this ridiculously fun can of gummy sardines is one of the best confectionary-themed souvenirs I’ve received in a long time!
The Portuguese have turned canning sardines, and other small fish, into an artform; a wide range of delectable flavours, contained in compact, tactile tins adorned with beautiful artworks and designs, Portugal’s treatment of the sardine is simply unmatched, and has become an edible cultural icon.
Packed in a real ring-pull, metal can; the novelty of the packaging for these gummy fish is simply wonderful! Once you pull back on the ring, the brass container slowly reveals, not oily, nutrient-rich rows of little sardines, but crystalized, colourful (slightly floppy) fruity fish-shaped gummies!
Gummy sardines souvenir from Portugal
The paper label with brightly illustrated fish is rather Dr. Seuss-esque, which only adds to the childlike charm of this sweet alternative.
Unfortunately, as is the case with most mass-produced edible souvenirs, the actual taste of the gummy sardines falls short; the lemon, orange, strawberry/raspberry and cola notes are extremely subtle. The lemon is too reminiscent of lemon-scented cleaning products, instead of being a fresh and zesty treat. Had they been sour or fizzy, it would have made for a better eating experience.
That being said, the charm and inventiveness of the container is what makes these Portuguese gummy sardines so inviting and fun; a sugary, kid-friendly parallel to a famous Iberian food.
Founded in New Jersey, 1912, the Charms company took its name from its flagship product, ‘Charms‘ hard candies (a squares-shaped boiled sweet in fruity flavours*). After being sold to Tootsie Roll industries in 1988, the company became the largest producer of lollypops in the world!
‘Fluffy Stuff‘ is cotton candy (or ‘candy floss’ to us Brits) with the ‘snowballs‘ variation aimed at the Christmas/holiday market. Contained in this ‘state of the art’ foil bag is a big wedge of white, cotton-wool like sweet stuff, artificially flavoured as strawberry. Artificial flavours aside, this is really tasty!
Like snow, the cotton candy quickly melts in the mouth making it a rather moreish treat. I know the texture of cotton wool and candy floss/cotton candy/fairy floss/daddy’s beard (whatever you call it) is one that many people struggle with: it makes the teeth itch and toes curl with its soft scrumpling. But, I grew up in a seaside town, so bags of fresh pink candy floss from the pier-side, is something I have acquired a taste for.
White and fluffy, just like snow!
This snow-like treat makes a great snack for winter days like these!
*’Charms‘ are very similar to the long-discontinued UK ‘Spangles‘ sweets.
It’s Wrapper Wednesday! And this week features a somewhat humorous sounding wrapper…’Plopp‘ by Cloetta.
Swedish in origin, ‘Plopp‘ was created in 1949 by confectionery brand Cloetta (1862) and is a milk chocolate bar with a soft ‘swirling toffee filling‘.
‘Plopp’ miniature chocolate bar
I’m not sure what ‘Plopp‘ means in Swedish, if anything at all, or what is is a reference to, but to English-speaking snackers, ‘Plopp‘ definitely stands out and sticks in the mind! The wrapper is bold and simple which compliments the monosyllabic name of the bar…’Plopp‘. Done. Sorted. Just like that.
‘Plopp‘ has also been crossbred with other Swedish confectionery snacks such as ‘Gott & Blandat’* (a wine gum-type fruity mix), ‘Jungle Vrål’ (salted black liquorice) and ‘Kexchoklad‘* (a chocolate wafer bar) to create an assortment creamy chocolate tablet bars. ‘Plopp Fresh Mint’ and ‘Plopp Juleskum’ (which sounds very unpleasant, but actually is a reference to a Christmas-themed marshmallow-like sweet) are also available.
Above: Kex (Cloetta) from Sweden; and Godt & Blandet mix (Malaco) from Denmark
Perhaps not the most delicious sounding treat, ‘Plopp‘ is indeed a sweet, milky, tasty bite and is a cultural favourite in Scandinavia and a phonetic favourite amongst candy connoisseurs!
In honour of Remembrance Day, here is a review/spotlight that is somewhat innkeeping with the theme of the event – Gummi Army Guys by Albanese.
Also known as Armistice Day, and Veterans Day in the US, the 11th November marks a somber occasion where countries stop, and take time to reflect on all those that served, and were lost during the First World War, and subsequent conflicts through the decades.
In the UK we also wear red paper poppies, or poppy pin badges, as a symbol of our grief, reflection and support of the armed forces. The Poppy Appeal was founded by the Royal British Legion with the first campaign taking place in 1921. Poppies, and poppy memorabilia were produced by veterans and volunteers, and sold to raise funds for the charity, as it continues to do so today.
These are the poppies I will be wearing this weekend
The poppy was adopted as the symbol for memorial after it was observed that they were the only living flora to thrive amidst the devastated war-torn fields and lands across France and Europe. They offered a striking contrast of colour and life amongst the churned up fields, smoking craters and fallen soldiers on the battlefields.
I’d love to be reviewing a gummy poppy, but the symbol isn’t as wide-spread here in America. But Americans, and the culture in general, has an unwavering pride in their veterans, making the image of the soldier a prominent feature during this time of global remembrance.
These dark green Gummi Army Guys by Albanese [World’s Best] look like they’ve been created in the same mold as the classic toys! The size, scale, colour and detail is strikingly similar to the little Army soldiers we saw come to life in Toy Story, and have been a feature of little boy’s bedrooms for generations.
Gummi Army Guys by Albanese
Albanese are one of the few American-made gummi-producing companies whose products I thoroughly enjoy. Their sweets are plump and juicy, with strong recognizable flavours and a pleasing texture (it’s what they’re famous for) – and these little Army Guys are no exception.
They have a subtle, but identifiable, green apple taste and are semi-chewy. The Army Guys come in four figures; a shooter, a grenade thrower, and two bazooka-bearing soldiers that lie down and kneel. These candies are made to be played with!
I’ll be sharing these fun and tasty treats with my husband and father-in-law (both US veterans), and will send some to my own parents (both British Army veterans) via care package this winter.
Did you know that the first ‘toffee apple’ was made over a hundred years ago?
Attributed to American confectioner William W. Kolb, the first batch of candy apples (known as ‘toffee apples‘ in the UK), were created in 1908.
With their distinctive red, hardened sweet glaze, toffee apples have become an autumnal food favourite. But this signature look and taste came about by accident! Kolb was experimenting with a red cinnamon sugar syrup while attempting to create a new line of candies for the Christmas period, when he dipped (or dropped) an apple into the mixture and set it aside. The result was a glossy, crimson, sugar-encrusted bauble that captured the attention of his sweet toothed patrons. Kolb sold his first batch for five cents, and their popularity quickly grew as a fall treat.
Vintage American advert for candy apples by Planters
The abundance of apples during the autumn harvest meant that the toffee [candy] apple quickly became a fall food favourite.
Despite their English name, there is no dairy to be found in these ‘toffee apples‘. Toffee traditionally refers to the process of boiling sugar. The first reference to a ‘toffee apple‘ in print was in 1917, when it appeared in a Christmas edition of the B.E.F Times – a newspaper for British soldiers deployed to the trenches of WWI. But the term ‘toffee apple’ was most likely in verbal circulation long before then.
Whether you eat them for Halloween, Bonfire Night, or all autumn-round; or call them a ‘candy‘ apple, or a ‘toffee‘ apple…I think we can all agree that they make one tasty treat…and will inevitably will rip fillings from your teeth, or get stuck in your hair!
Who thinks we can market these as ‘toffee apple baubles‘ and have them during Christmas too?
It’s the 1st October! The countdown to Halloween begins! And Ferrero have made the arrival of the spooktacular holiday even sweeter with their ‘31 Days of Halloween’ confectionary countdown calendar!
Ferrero’s 31 Days of Halloween 2023
Available in limited numbers, and for those living in the US only, for a one-off $31 donation to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, you too can receive a giant Halloween advent calendar filled with miniature and full-sized Ferrero family treats! 2023 sees these huge countdown calendars return for a fourth year in collaboration with the charitable trust.
Behind each door, sweet snacks such as mini Butterfinger, Crunch, 100 Grand, Mother’s Animal Cookies, Keebler cookies and Kinder Joy await!
This year’s design features a haunted house. Embossed with gold type and gates the initial impact is striking, and one of expectant quality. Once the custom-cut façade is pulled back, the house is illustrated with sweet Ferrero characters such as the Keebler elves and anthropomorphized Tic Tacs.
Can you guess which Ferrero-branded treats lie behind each window?
I love these little details on the box, it’s almost like trying to decode a treasure map that leads to sweets; the Kinder Joy-shaped clock face, the Kinder branded globe, Tic Tac chandelier and animal cookie bats in the corner all point to bite-sized deliciousness behind each window…everything designed to get you pumped up for the spooky season!
The concept of a Halloween advent calendar alone thrills me! But the fact that the Ferrero 31 Days of Halloween contributes to something bigger, charitable, and more important that candy, warms my bones.
It’s Wrapper Wednesday! And today I have not a wrapper, but a tin! And not just any tin, this tin has it all – fine art, and cats!
‘The Cats Gallery‘ was a series of 1990’s fruit drop bearing tins produced by Bentley’s Confectionary Ltd (London, England), which featured classic works of art…but with cats.
‘Laughing Cavalier’, or should that be, ‘Catalier’?
Created by painter Susan Herbert (1945-2014), Herbert established a style that would replicate classic pieces of art, theatre and literature with anthropomorphic cats. Feline adaptations include a portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, Vermeer’s ‘Girl With A Pearl Earring’, scenes from Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet‘ and ‘Cleopatra‘ and Herbert’s own take on Botticelli’s ‘The Birth of Venus’, titled, ‘The Purr of Venus‘, to name a few.
Delightfully kitsch and surreal, in 1990, shortly after publishing ‘The Cats Gallery of Art’, several of her creations were featured on Bentley’s of London’s travel sweets tins.
This one features Herbert’s rendition of the ‘Laughing Cavalier‘ (1624) by Dutch Golden Age master painter Frans Hals. I for one, love how this orange tabby has his stripy tale draped through the arm resting on his hip – it gives this character a personality all of its own, while still channeling the charisma of the original sitter.
The original ‘Laughing Cavalier’ (1614) just incase you couldn’t spot the difference)
Whether you think it’s tacky, or just a bit of quirky fun, having one of these in the car during a long summer holiday road trip certainly would have made me smile (with the fruit drops being a bonus)! As an adult, I’m out to collect the whole set!
My copy of ‘The Cats Gallery of Art’, Susan Herbert
It’s Wrapper Wednesday! And in a few weeks I’ll be going back home to the UK for the first time in two years after emigrating to the USA; and naturally my mind turns towards English food…but, what do the American’s think ‘English toffee‘ is? Let’s take a look at this themed peanut M&M’s wrapper and mull it over…
American ‘English Toffee’ limited edition peanut M&Ms
M&M’s (1941) are well known for their wide range of varying, limited edition flavours. Whether they be chocolate, crispy, peanut or pretzel, these candy-coated chocolate beans that ‘melt in your mouth, not in your hand’ are always creating new ways to bring new tastes to [American] snackers.
In 2019 Mexican Jalapeño Peanut, Thai Coconut Peanut and English Toffee Peanut M&M’s hit the shelves in a competition that would see the consumer’s favourite added to the M&M’s roster – the latter being dubbed the winner, as you can see from this wrapper.
But what is ‘English toffee‘? As an English woman I would describe our toffee as rich, buttery like caramel with a dense, sticky chew. Broken apart by miniature hammers, specifically created to smash tablets of toffee, English dairy toffee is both indulgent and down-to-earth. Whether you prefer to unwrap coins or chunks of it out of wax paper wrappers, and nibble off the remaining sticky bits, or prefer to chill it and give it a satisfying whack with a toffee hammer or on the side of the kitchen counter; it’s nothing like what the American’s have dubbed ‘English toffee‘.
Every example of American ‘English toffee’ that I have sampled has resembled more of a ‘Daim‘ bar than a chunk of chewy, milky delight. Also called ‘buttercrunch‘, it is sweet, nutty and brittle. It is dry and shatters, eventually getting stuck in between your teeth after several sharp chomps. Albeit tasty, there’s nothing ‘English‘ about this confection, but it appears that this particular name has stuck on this side of the pond and reflects an Americanized version of this traditionally hand-made confection.
This, along with how Americans seem to constantly misidentify cottage pie with shepherd’s pie (shepherd’s pie has lamb in it, lamb), is just something I’ll just have to mentally correct in my mind whenever I see it.
But! This wrapper is just a little bit of fun international flavour fun; with a bowler hat and a miniature union flag, it rather suits the Peanut M&M mascot! M&M’s branding is so strong and uniform; their wrappers and endless seasonal flavours will always be appealing.
It’s Wrapper Wednesday! And the world has turned pink amongst all the ‘Barbie‘ hype…and it’s no different here! Today, I give you a rather flirtatious looking peach on a pack of ‘Saekom Dalkom‘ from South Korea!
Peach flavoured sweet and sour chews from South Korea
Translated to ‘Sweet Sour‘, packs of ‘Saekom Dalkom’ consist of pre-wrapped fruity, juicy chewy sweets which come in a variety of flavours; strawberry, grape, lemonade, kiwi, blueberry soda, watermelon, and in this case, peach. As the name suggests, these little tablets of chewy candy are a mix of sweet and sour sensations.
All of the packets have a slightly anthropomorphized fruity character. Many of them are grinning and baring teeth, looking up slyly from a pair of sunglasses. The whole design of these feels very early 2000’s when everything was marketed with this ‘cool’ or ‘rad’ edge. It feels very nostalgic for me!
The popular Peach is surrounded by a bushel of outlined cartoon peaches (all with their tongues out for some reason), yelling ‘Hello Go!Go!‘ and ‘YEAH! Gimmie five!!’ (although with what arms, I don’t know). The Peach knows she’s ‘Miss Thang’, and her expression with the raised eyebrow says it all…
Even the typeface is edgy! Literally! Fruit chews with attitude. Who is Go!Go! And who is EJ? There is still much to decode about this wrapper!
Crown was founded in 1947 in Seoul, South Korea. The company quickly became well known for their quality of biscuit/snack confections, and by the 1980’s ushered in a ‘Golden Age of Biscuits‘ across the country with their popular and varied range.
Today the company produces a range of treats from fruity chews, such as ‘Saekom Dalkom‘ and ‘Mychew‘, savory corn snacks and crisps, to the coated and un-coated cookie biscuit. What can’t they do!
Thaaaaat’s right! It’s time for another round of ‘who does it best’? This week I have American and British Harbio ‘Goldbears‘ to compare!
Harbio ‘Goldbears’, American (left) European/British (right)
Haribo ‘Goldbears‘ were created in 1922, albeit in a slightly different form to today’s ‘Goldbears‘. Originally conceived as ‘Dancing Bears‘, the final incarnation of the gummy ‘Goldbears’ arrived in 1978.
Haribo today produce countless lines of gummy, chewy, gelatin-based goodies in all manner of shapes, themes and flavours; ‘Berries‘, ‘Sweet Mice‘, ‘Salted Liquorice Pretzels‘, ‘Gummy Frogs‘, ‘Fried Eggs‘, ‘Chamallows‘, ‘Tangfastic‘ sour mix, ‘Supermix‘ and ‘Starmix‘, foam ‘Strawberries‘ and chewy ‘Strawbs‘…but none are quite as enduring, or as recognizable, as the ‘Goldbears‘.
Now even though the American bag was made in Germany it was produced specifically for the American market; the British bag was made in Pontefract. This means there is one big key difference in ingredients…the British bag contains no artificial colours or flavours, where as the American bag does.
The US ‘Goldbears‘ do state that it too contains ‘natural flavours‘, but it doesn’t go ahead and list them clearly. In comparison, the European gummies are made with fruit juice from concentrate; apple, strawberry, elderberry, orange, blackcurrant, lemon, mango, grape, passion fruit and raspberry. Now doesn’t all that sound much nicer than ‘artificial flavours‘ and ‘Yellow 5‘ and ‘Red 40‘?
‘Goldbears’ flavours – British (left) American (right)
It has a big impact on taste, but a smaller difference in their appearance. Most notably the green ‘Goldbears‘ have the most differentiating colours. The EU bear is a suble, muted lime green, whereas the US bear is bright emerald green.
The EU green bear tastes like apple juice, like the stuff you would sip from a wax carton. Whereas the big, bold American green bear tastes like…strawberry…because strawberry things are synonymous with the colour green?
Spot the strawberry bears!
Despite the colour differences, they taste very different. The British ‘Goldbears‘ generally taste more like fresh fruit juice and more ‘realistic’ than the American ones.
The British ‘Goldbears‘ also get an extra flavour in the mix – apple! Pineapple, orange, lemon, raspberry and strawberry are shared between the countries.
The American ‘Goldbears‘ are also a little firmer in texture, but they both provide a great chewy, gummy experience. I don’t mind either texture.
Despite the Americans also being known for their large food portions, it’s actually the European bag that contains the most gummy for your money. At a whopping 175g it dwarfs the US bag (both marketed as ‘share size’ by the way’) at 113g.
In summary, the British version of Harbio ‘Goldbears‘ will give you more chew for your moolah, and will provide a ‘cleaner’ eating experience due to the lack of artifical anything. But if you enjoy a ‘stronger’ and sweeter flavour, and a bit more bite, then choose American ‘Goldbears‘!
The British Candy Connoisseur 