Did you know that white chocolate isn’t really ‘chocolate‘ at all?
In order for a product to be labelled as ‘chocolate‘ it must contain cocoa mass/solids (the brown stuff). The percentage of cocoa mass in a product also varies from country to country.
As a general rule American milk ‘chocolate‘ must contain at least 10% cocoa mass in order to be labelled as such. And in the UK milk ‘chocolate‘ must contain at least 20%, and in the EU it’s 25%.
There is no minimum or maximum percentage for dark chocolate products, but it is usually 55% or higher on average.
Globally, white chocolate contains no cocoa solids and is mostly composed of milk, sugar and cocoa butter which in turn gives it its white, creamy texture and colour.
No cocoa here!
Depending on where you’re eating this concoction, the term ‘white chocolate‘ also has a legal definition. In the UK ‘white chocolate‘ products must contain at least 20% cocoa butter. However, in the US products like this are often labelled as a ‘candy‘, and not ‘chocolate‘.
But don’t let the legal definitions and import laws affect what you like to eat! The various laws, rules and regulations of each country’s confectionery can be a puzzlesome one! Just because one nation doesn’t class something as chocolate, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the same for your home country. And what is defined as ‘cocoa mass‘ is also up for debate around the world! It is what it is. And so long as it’s tasty, does it matter?
If you like the waxy texture of Hershey’s milk chocolate (11%) over a decadent Lindt truffle (30%) then good for you…!
Did you know that the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania was originally going to be called ‘Hersheykoko‘?
Built as a factory town around the developing Hershey chocolate company, the town of Hershey was established in 1903 in an area near Derry Church – which was the founder’s (Milton Snavely Hershey) American hometown.
Hershey (the man) had been inspired by what the Cadbury brothers Richard and George had created at their Bournville Village site, a few miles outside of Birmingham, England, some twenty years prior. The new chocolate-producing Bournville factory had gained the title ‘factory in a garden‘, and the area around it had developed into a bright, green and clean village for the Cadbury workers, designed and built by the Cadbury family.
Bournville postcard
In 1904, the Hershey chocolate company held a competition to name the new town they had built (under Milton’s careful gaze). Suggestions from the workers and residents included; ‘Ideal‘, ‘Majestic‘, ‘Oasis‘, ‘Zenith’ and ‘St. Milton’s’.
The ‘Chocolate Town’ with its creator and namesake, Milton Hershey
The winner was submitted by a Mrs. TK Doyle, who had proposed the name ‘Hersheykoko‘.
However, the winning name was also much disliked, including by Milton Hershey’s wife Kitty. And it was eventually rejected by the Post Office for sounding ‘too commercial’.
The name of ‘Hershey‘ was by far the most popular submission and was accepted by the federal government.
Commemorative plaque in Hershey, Pennsylvania (note the Hershey Kisses’ shaped lamppost in the background)
The first US mail addressed to the town of ‘Hershey‘, Pennsylvania, arrived on 7th February 1906.
It’s Wrapper Wednesday! And it’s not all about looks, it’s about personality – as seen in this battered 1939 American ‘Snickers‘ box.
1939 Snickers box
Created nine years prior by Frank Mars, ‘Snickers‘ is supposedly named after one of the family’s favourite racehorses, which they bred on their ‘Milky Way Farm’ in Tennessee.
This box proudly displays the company’s custom-built factory in Chicago which boasted a clean, spacious and attentive workplace in which Mars confections, such as ‘Milky Way’ and ‘Three Musketeers‘ bars (also listed on the box), were produced by hand from 1928.
Due to the external Spanish-style architecture, green gardens and display of art, the Chicago plant was often dubbed the most beautiful candy factory in America – so you can see why Mars wanted to showcase this on their packaging.
‘When you crave good candy…’
The whole design of the box carries a great sense of honesty and pride. Instead of being slapped with a giant illustration of a Snickers bar, they chose to highlight the factory, the ingredients and the due process of producing the chocolate bar instead.
On the back of the box more photographs show the process of peanut roasting and inspecting in the factory. These images and lengthy descriptions explain to the consumer that they can trust the quality of the twenty four candy bars inside, and is worth a five cent spend.
Peanut department in Chicago
The limited colour and heavy text based approach means that this box isn’t the most eye-catching or vibrant, but it does something that we don’t give much thought to these days when picking out a treat – Mars goes out of its way to convince us that these Snickers are safe to eat, have been produced in a high-end factory, contains the best ingredients, and above all…is delicious.
Did you know that the American candy bar ‘Baby Ruth’ is named after a dead little girl?
Well, that’s what Otto Schnering – the inventor of the candy bar – would have you think!
Originally marketed as ‘Kandy Kake’ which contained a mixture of milk chocolate, peanuts and a pudding center, the bar was reformulated in 1921 by the Chicago-based Curtiss Candy Company, and was rebranded as the ‘Baby Ruth’.
The chunky, chewy chocolatey bar composed of peanuts, nougat, caramel and milk chocolate was a roaring success. Its 5 cents price tag meant that the all new ‘Baby Ruth’ was considerably cheaper than other competing countlines and the apparent link to famed baseball player Babe Ruth appeared to create a winning combination.
Curtiss’ Baby Ruth chocolate bar
By 1921 – the year that the chocolate bar ‘Baby Ruth’ hit stores – New York Yankees player ‘Babe’ George Herman Ruth Jr was at the height of his career and was a national sporting celebrity. So…is it mere coincidence that this best selling new candy bar had a very similar name to one of the biggest known figures in America at the time?
In 1926 baseball player Babe decided to enter the candy industry lending his image and name to a new bar ‘Babe Ruth’s Own Candy’, but came under attack by Curtiss Candy Co. for copyright infringement against their own bar the ‘Baby Ruth’. Many assumed that the chocolate bar had taken its name from the baseball player, riding on his coattails in order to sell their product.
Baby Ruth vs. Babe Ruth
In court Curtiss proclaimed that their best selling product had nothing to do with the sporting legend and was in fact named in tribute to President Cleveland’s daughter Ruth…who had been dead for seventeen years! Unlikely – yes…but the court agreed with the candy company and the original Babe Ruth lost his case and was found to be trying to cash in on the success of Curtiss’ product!
Many people believe that Otto Schnering and the Curtiss Candy Company managed to pull off an example of ‘ambush marketing’ – riding on the back of someone’s fame for financial gain without paying the original source.
So what do you think? Was the long-enduring ‘Baby Ruth’ bar really named after a dead little girl? Or did the Curtiss Candy Company steal the good name of baseball player Babe Ruth to sell their new chocolate bar?
Did you know that the ‘Milkybar Kid’ made his UK television debut in 1961?
The kid-cowboy inspired character was created for Nestle’s white chocolate bar ‘Milkybar‘ (launched in 1936). Often sporting round glasses, a big white hat and blonde hair, there were ten ‘Milkybar Kids’ that starred in over five decades of tv advertising.
Vintage Milkybar wrappers featuring the Kid
Terry Brook became the first Milkybar Kid and starred in the role for five years – but he was only paid £10 for his first commercial!
The chain of commercials were fictitiously set during the Wild West era of North America (with a brief stint in outer space) with a Bugsy Malone-type cast of child actors. The Milkybar Kid would often come in to save the day by dishing out plenty of the creamy, milky white chocolate bars to the locals with his catchphrase, ‘The Milkybars are on me!’
The accompanying jingle ‘The Milkybar Kid is strong and tough and the only the best is good enough’ , would become one of many candy-related childhood memories for children growing up in the UK.
A string of Milkybar Kid commercials – starting with the original shot in 1961
The Milkybar itself was invented pretty much by accident! In 1936 while creating a vitamin enriched children’s formula called ‘Nestrovit‘, developers at Nestle experimented by adding cocoa butter to create a solid eating tablet of the mixture. Realizing they had now created a form of ‘white chocolate’, the vitamins were removed and Milkybar was developed and launched later that year!
Milkybar production temporarily paused in 1940 due to wartime shortages of milk and sugar (confectioners such as Rowntree, Fry’s and Cadbury were also affected by these wartime restrictions), but appeared back on shelves in 1956 – two years after the end of rationing.
Did you know that the American chocolate bar ‘Snickers’ is named after a horse?
Invented in 1930 by Frank Mars, the founder of the Mars empire, the peanut, caramel and nougat confection was only the second chocolate bar to be produced by Mars Inc, following their debut with the ‘Milky Way’ in 1924. Before the company was able to invest in machinery, the countline Snickers was made by pouring, layering, dipping and cutting the shaped ingredients by hand.
1930’s/1940’s Snickers box
The bar was given the name ‘Snickers’ in the United States after one of the family’s favourite racehorses. Snickers, along with several other stable mates, lived on Fred and Ethel Mars’ Tennessee farm…called the ‘Milky Way Farm‘! Sadly Snickers the horse died two months before the chocolate bar’s launch, and was so named in his memory.
In Britain however the candy was marketed as ‘Marathon’ until 1990. Like many chocolate bars invented in the early 20th century, Snickers was advertised as a healthy and energising food stuff, and supposedly this is where the name ‘Marathon’ came from…urban rumors also say that the name ‘Snickers’ sounded too similar to the word ‘knickers‘, and the gentile men and women of the United Kingdom simply couldn’t tolerate such an idea…that all sounds a bit daft!
Twins – Marathon and Snickers
In recent years Mars has released a ‘retro edition’ of the Snickers, temporarily bringing us back a taste of nostalgia as the ‘Marathon’ once again can be bought in supermarkets (the recipe is all the same, it’s a marketing ploy first released to celebrate the bar’s 85th birthday).
The Grześki wafers from Poland are perhaps one of my favourite pieces of confectionery. I’ve always said, wafer candy from this country simply can not be beaten, and for me, the Grześki range is the peak of crispy perfection!
Plain chocolate, toffee and milk chocolate hazelnut wafers
The founding company Goplana was established in 1912 on the outskirts of Poznań, western Poland. And alongside E.Wedel, is one of the country’s oldest confectionery brands. The company’s name is derived from the traditional Polish name for a nymph – a type of mythical woodland creature.
The Grześki (pronounced zesh-ki) are a multi-layered, thin wafer bar, sandwiched with chocolate creme and enrobed in a coat of chocolate. They are available in a variety of flavours; the ones featured here are plain chocolate, toffee and milk chocolate hazelnut. But they can also be found in a few different formats too – such as bite-sized wafer balls, a solid chocolate bar with wafer bits, and a ‘nude’ bar without the chocolate coating.
The combination of feather light wafers, flavourful fillings and a rich chocolate coat means I will pick these over a KitKat any day! They’re such a satisfying eat, especially if you’re after something to tame your sweet tooth, but don’t want to be weighed down by having too much chocolate.
I also like how strong the branding is across these bars – even if you are not familiar with the brand, or speak Polish (I do not), you can quite easily tell that they belong to the same brand, and the imagery makes it clear what flavour you’re picking up, and what exactly you’ll be eating – sometimes it can be a bit of a mystery when you take a foreign chocolate bar home!
I know I may have struck a confectionery nerve with some of you, picking these over Nestle’s KitKat…but you tell me, which one do you prefer? Or is there another contender for the wafer crown?
To kick off the first Wrapper Wednesday of 2021, here are a couple of wrappers of one of my favourite American mainstream chocolate bars, the crunchy, salty, chocolaty ‘Take 5’.
So called because it contains five elements to the bar; milk chocolate, pretzels, peanut butter, caramel and peanuts, the Take 5 was released by the Hershey Company in 2004 and comes in two square pieces.
Both of these wrappers predate the recent re-branding undertaken in June 2019, when it was re-christened the ‘Reeses Take 5’ and the colour scheme changed to the Reese’s family colours of orange and black.
This change in marketing suddenly lead to buyers asking the question, was the peanut butter always made with the Reese’s recipe, or is this a new addition? I certainly asked myself this when I was in the states during the new launch! Turns out the Take 5 had always been made with Reese’s peanut butter, but now it was a real selling point. Why I don’t have a wrapper of this new update I do not know!
For me a Take 5 is an all-in-one chocolate bar – in just one bite you get a hit of salty, sweet, chewy, crunchy and creamy tastes and textures! Aside from the fact that it is Hershey chocolate, it sure makes a tasty mouthful.
Phew! Despite the rather warm weather we’ve had over the past week, it’s never too warm for trying new chocolates right? And what could be more perfect than trying out some chocolate treats that were designed to take the heat? I give you Cadbury Dairy Milk bars Moro and Crispy Mint Creme, and the Cadbury Caramilk Twirl all the way from Australia.
Delights from down-under; Caramilk Twirl, Moro and Crispy Mint Creme
First of all I should point out that even though these are Cadbury Dairy Milk products, there is a distinct difference in taste between Dairy Milk that is produced here, and in Australia, and throughout the rest of the world. Not only is Aussie chocolate designed to have a higher melting point to cope with the heat, it also uses milk from Tasmanian cows, which ultimately alters the taste, and will taste different to what we are accustom to here in the UK.
Different cows = different milk = different taste! However, each 200g bar of Dairy Milk worldwide still contains the famous ‘glass and a half’ of full cream milk.
I have always found Aussie and New Zealand chocolate to have a slightly strange taste, it lingers in the back of your throat (like goat’s milk does for me), although I’m still not sure how to describe it! It’s not overly unpleasant, just different. And these three bars are no different. All three still melt in the mouth nicely, just a little slower compared to similar UK products, and the milk chocolate is smooth and creamy, as Dairy Milk should be.
The Moro bar contains smooth malt flavoured chocolate creme and rich caramel, and is based on the best selling Moro bar which was introduced to the Australian and New Zealand market by Cadbury in 1967. I thoroughly enjoyed the soft chocolaty malt centre, and it marries very well with the gooey caramel we know and love from the chocolate firm. However, the slightly strange taste of the Dairy Milk distracts me when eating this bar, and as tasty as its components are, the Crispy Mint Creme was the better of the two big bars for me.
The Crispy Mint Creme delivers exactly what it says on the wrapper – a soft green filling full of fresh peppermint flavour which is enhanced by crunchy minty sugar crystals. I adore mint and chocolate, and the varying textures in this bar made it a very enjoyable eat! The mint was just strong enough to distract me from the Dairy Milk recipe, but not enough that I couldn’t appreciate the richness of the milk chocolate.
The soft centres of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Moro and Crispy Mint Creme bars
Last up it’s the very popular Caramilk Twirl – with ‘swirls and curls’ of caramelized white chocolate (think like Caramac) enrobed with Dairy milk chocolate. Compared to the ‘original’ Twirl (first launched in the 1970’s as a way of making a Flake a less messy task to eat), I found the consistency of this bar to be a little more dense and less flaky. The caramilk centre however was creamy and rich, almost reminding me of Milky Bar white chocolate rather than Caramac.
The Caramilk Twirl’s swirls and curls
Tasmanian cows milk might not be for me personally, but this chocolate trio certainly delivers with its creative combinations. I picked these up recently in B&M stores, so if you too end up treating yourself, let me know what you think of Aussie Dairy Milk!
The British Candy Connoisseur 