Candy Experiment - Twix Copies Taste Test

 Taste testing some Twix alternatives from Tunisia to find out if you really need the real thing.

The Mango Bread Project

I had a thought recently, and it was all about baking. My theory was sound, but I had to find out if it would work in real life (spoilers, it did not really work this time). My theory was this; bananas are replaceable in banana bread recipes. I figured that that if you replace the banana with any soft (or pureed) fruit, it would have all the features of banana bread only with the flavour of the other fruit. I figured if you would change nothing except the fruit and it should work.

I should mention that I make a mean banana bread. I make it a lot and I love eating it. I have what I would consider a great banana bread recipe that works most of the time. I don’t want to brag, but people love my banana bread. So I figured, since it was mango season where I am and I have some ripe mangoes... why not?

I followed my banana bread recipe to a t. I pureed the mango so it would have the consistency of mushed up bananas. It seemed to be working out pretty well all the way through the mixing process. The batter was a little wetter than usual, but it didn’t seem too bad.

I put the batter in my favourite banana bread loaf pan and popped it in the oven. I was extra careful baking it as I thought this might be the moment when things might work differently. I thought one of two things might happen. I thought that the batter might be a little wetter and therefore might require a little more baking (it did). I was also worried about the amount of sugar in the mango and thought it might burn a little on the outside (it did not).

I carefully checked my mango bread several times, poking in with a toothpick until it came out clean. I would say that it took about 20 minutes longer than my banana bread, but that seemed okay.  I pulled it out of the over and was thrilled with the results. It had risen well, it was a gold brown and the outside seemed just right.

I decided to wait 30 minutes to let it cool before slicing into it. This is where things went a little sideways. Upon my return the mango bread had settled... a lot. It was only about one and a half inches tall, half the height that it was when I pulled it out of the oven. It was very sad looking.

I sliced into it and it was very gooey and felt almost raw. It’s weird because the toothpicks came out clean, but the centre was way too gooey. I had a slice and it tasted okay, but the texture was way off.

The problem is that I’m not sure if this is a failure or not. I mean this particular cake is most certainly failure, but I believe the problem is that I added too much mango puree. So I’m tempted to try again with less mango. I’m also tempted to try again with different fruit as well. I’m not saying my theory is proven, but I believe it also hasn’t been dis-proven either. Maybe any fruit might work in banana bread, you just have to figure out how much to add.

Gummy Bears VS Gummy Worms

 Today I take a deep dive and try and find out which is the superior gummy treat, the gummy bear or the gummy worm.

Make sure to pick up Snack Facts to learn the history of the gummy bear - candycritic.org/snackfacts

Candy Experiment - Coca-Cola VS Oreos VS Coca-Cola Flavoured Oreos VS Oreo Flavoured Coca-Cola

 When Coca-Cola and Oreo do a collaboration, it gets very confusing. Here's my attempt at sorting it all out, and maybe coming up with some kind of idea about how well this collaboration worked.

Googly Revolution

There’s a saying, or at the very least an idea that many people believe to be true, and that’s chocolate will improve any food. I will agree that chocolate can make many desserts, nuts and even some savoury foods pretty good, but I’m pretty sure it can’t improve everything. I’ve pointed out in the past that onions and chocolate seems to be a stumbling block that I’ve seen a few people attempt but never succeed. I’d also argue that there a few desserts that would not be better with chocolate, like strawberry shortcake, carrot cake and trifle. So that made me think, is there anything you can do to a dessert, snack or candy that will always improve it?

My next line of thinking was fruit or a fruit compote. Fruit is a great garnish on so many desserts so it seemed like it should work. I was mostly thinking of a berry coulis, maybe strawberry or raspberry. The problem with coolis is I’m not convinced it would improve any candies, and pretty sure it would wreck some savoury treats, I’m looking at you pretzels.

This basically lead me right back to the beginning, and had me once again sure that there was no unifying single thing one could add to snacks, desserts and candy that would always improve them. That was until I took a trip to my local bulk food store and came across some candy googly eyes.

You could easily argue that these candy googly eyes add nothing when it comes to taste and texture. I would argue back that they do add a little bit of crunch, but would kind of agree that flavour wise they’re just adding some sweet and nothing more. The thing they do add is endless entertainment, and maybe that’s just what desserts, snacks and candies could use. Even if your dessert is fancy or your candy is fun, these googly eyes just seem to add even more fun to them.

My plan is simple, I bought a handful of these googly eyes, and I’ve decided that over the next few weeks/months I’m going to take every opportunity to add them to many of my desserts, snacks and candies that I’m eating to see if it actually makes them better. I’m convinced that there will not be one failure for this experiment, and I challenge any treat to try and be less fun without some slightly wonky eyes attached to them.

Bake It Out

 I've put a lot of candy in the oven, and it's always fascinating to watch it bake. This video proves that almost anything in an oven is fun to watch, the weirder the better.

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Time To Mound On Some Science

 I'm not a huge fan of Mounds bars, but I thought that maybe I could improve them by adjusting their temperature. Turns out I was right.

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While you're at it, check out my book called Treats and Beasts, it'll make you happy I'm sure.

Kit Kat Done 5 Ways

In this experiment I taste a Kit Kat bar done 5 ways, room temperature, refrigerated, frozen, microwaved and baked. Find out which one tasted best, and which one changed entirely.

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Learn All You Can About Red Licorice

Most people don't think about what would happen to red licorice in extreme temperatures, well I'm not most people.

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It's an Easter Fun Experiment!

 For this very special candy experiment I decided to taste test 4 different mini eggs. One was very different, one was better than the rest, one was surprising.

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A Quick Experiment With Mini PopTarts.

Have you ever eaten Mini PopTarts? According to the instructions you are not supposed to toast them. So the first thing that went through my mind was, what happens when you toast them?

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I Make Marshmallows Awesome!

Marshmallows have always been on my list of treats that I don't always love. I think as an ingredient they can be good, but on their own I just don't get the appeal. Today I decided to try and figure out how I can change that and make marshmallows awesome. Spoilers, I figured it out.

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Brownie Mayhem... or an Experiment, I'm Not Sure.

So I decided to make brownies (recipe here), then I started looking over my options as to what I could put into these brownies. Then I couldn't decide what to put into these brownies. Then I decided to try every ingredient I could to see which was better. This is why everything I eat turns into a spectacle.

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Time To Find Out If The Real Thing Is Better

Have you ever thought about how much your potato chips actually taste like the flavour advertised on the package. I didn't, until now.

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Our Latest Experiment Is All About Cracker Jacks

In our latest experiment we tried to make homemade Cracker Jacks. Strangely enough it worked, fairly well. Below is a quick version of our recipe along with a few changes we think might make it a little better:

-  Heat your oven to 250 degrees.

-  Mix 8 cups of popcorn with 1 cup of roasted peanuts (maybe make it half a cup of peanuts if you'd like).

-  Take 1/4 of a cup of salted butter and melt it in a pot. Then add 3/8 cups of brown sugar, 1/4 cup corn syrup, 1 tablespoon molasses, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Whisk them together and heat them up till they reach 250 degrees (use a candy thermometer).

-  Take the sugar mixture off the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and whisk them all together.

-  Poor the sugar mixture into a large bowl over the popcorn and peanut mix.

-  Mix everything up until the popcorn and peanuts are covered (careful it gets hot).

-  After it's all mixed up lay it out on a baking sheet with a silicon baking liner (or you can grease it).

-  Put it in the  oven for 10 minutes, then toss the mixture. repeat this until the mixture has been in the oven for 30 minutes (my original recipe suggested 50 but my oven is small and very hot so I went for 30 instead).

- Take the mixture out of the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes.

-  Break the popcorn and peanuts apart and consume.

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I Made A Video About Putting Stuff In The Oven, And My House Didn't Burn Down

While my house didn't burn down, what I did was really stupid. Putting chocolate bars in the oven doesn't make much sense, and should ruin a perfectly good chocolate bar. The strange thing is that it didn't. It turns out putting strange flavours of Kit Kat bars in the oven actually turns them into a unique snack exspirience.

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Candy in the Media

If you've got yourself some molten copper and a giant jawbreaker, then why wouldn't you forge pennies and eat the jawbreaker?

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