Candy Art - Or Candy Architecture

 While I'm pretty sure you can't eat any part of this house, the colours of the glass are in fact made from baked sugar.

There are no dyes involved at all, it's just sugar cooked for different amounts of time, thus getting darker the longer it's cooked.

Click here to read more about this.

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This Week In Candy

This week we're starting a new feature on the blog.  Every Wednesday we'll be reviewing a new Asian treat graciously donated to us from our friends at oyatsucafe.com.  Some might say that our goal is to make sure we have the widest variety of treats reviewed on the site, but I'm pretty sure that the goal is to make sure I eat something really strange on a regular basis.  No matter what the reasons, not only will we have a new Asian review every week, but you (our loyal readers) are entitled to a discount from oyatsucafe.com and all you have to do is enter "candy critic" in the discount section of their online form.

Last week we also received a whole bunch of South African treats from our friend CJ, and we're going through it and setting up some awesome reviews.  I'm thinking a South African review-a-thon might be in our near future.

Finally, I've been thinking about classic treats that I have not yet reviewed.  I realized recently that I never reviewed original Mike and Ikes (as you can see from this weeks review that has changed), but if you see a classic treat that I've missed, make sure to let me know about it.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Pepsi-flavored Cheetos - FritoLay - I'm not 100% sure that these are real, but since it's Japan, I'm no 100% sure that it's not real either. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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What?!!! I Haven't Reviewed These Before?

There are a great deal of "famous" and well known candy in the world.  It's a group of candies that most people might call classic candies.  These are the staples of any candy fans collection of treats they've sampled.  In many ways these are the treats that I try to base my reviews upon.  The problem is, sometimes I don't actually get around to reviewing them.  Sometimes they slip through the cracks, I've tasted them, I've just never put pen to paper and actually written a review.  Mike and Ike's "Original Fruits" is just such a candy, but no more is it un-reviewed.

Click here to read this classic review.

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Candy News

Hershey's is opening a Chocolate World in Las Vegas, I hear Tom Jones has a sweet tooth.

For all of you Americans waiting for the Twinkie to come back, it's happening soon.

"World cocoa market will be in deficit for next two years"... This is not good news.

The worst part of having a cocoa deficit?  As it turns out cocoa might fight off diabetes.

This list of candies that are supposedly no longer available isn't completely accurate, but the parts that are make me a little sad.

Did you know that Tootsie just revamped their recipe page?  Did you know that you could cook with Tootsie Rolls?

Fruit infused cocoa beans, chocolate and fruit go together, so this seems like it might work.

Are hard candies coming back into style, or did they ever leave?

If a jelly donut is considered a wild choice for you, these might be a little out of your league.

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

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Friday Candy Video

I've been thinking a lot about Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwiches lately.  I'm not too sure if watching some lady eat one is really helping, in fact, I think it's making me a little jealous.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Yankees-Licensed Ring Pops - Bazooka -I'm not a huge Yankees fan, so I may wait till they make a Toronto Blue Jays Ring Pop. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

I love a good pun, I also don't mind strawberry ice cream.  On another note, I was watching an episode of Mad Men (season 3) and one of the characters was putting salt on his ice cream.  Does anybody do this?  Why would you do it?

I found this ad here.

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New Episode of Junk Fud Podcast

In this episode of Junk Fud, our friend Mark talks with us about American Junk Food.  We talk not just about treats that are made in the USA, but also treats that American's like from abroad.  The United States has some pretty fascinating treats and Junk Food of their own, but they also import a whole lot.

Right click here to download the podcast.

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Stuff I Want To Try

Ruffles 'Crispy Fries' - Ruffles - I'm not sure how revolutionary these are, but they might be tasty. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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This Week In Candy

I'm having an interesting dilemma right now.  It's about a review that I'm thinking of writing for Sour Patch Kids.  Sour Patch Kids is a classic candy that just hasn't made it onto my radar yet for review.  That was until my friend Catherine handed me a bag of them and told me that these Sour Patch Kids were something special.  As it turns out she handed me a bag of Sour Patch Kids from Ireland, and these Sour Patch Kids have 5 different flavours instead of just 4.  So, do you think I should review these Irish Sour Patch Kids?  What do I do when I go back home to the regular Sour Patch Kids, do I review them again?  Just so you know, the extra purple ones are really tasty.

You may have noticed the lack of "Old Candy Critic Articles" being posted on Wednesdays.  Well I've decided to stop posting these old articles because I've pretty much run out.  There are a few that I didn't re-post, but I don't think they're really relevant to the candy world anymore.  I may change my mind, but for now they'll stay in my archives.  I'm looking to fill this gap with something new, I'm just not sure what that new thing will be yet.  I'd like to continue to collect photos of people with candy, or maybe turn the Junk Fud podcast into a weekly thing.

Speaking of the Junk Fud podcast, this week you should keep your ears open this week for a new episode featuring our good friend Mark.  We talk about classic American candy and junk food, as well as look at what international candies Americans are eating.  I've also created a web page where you can find links to all of our past episodes, so if you've missed one you can always find it here.

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A Salty Lollipop?

This weeks review was pretty special, it was something  I'd never tried before, it was kind of pretty, and best of all it was the creation of a small time candy maker.  These elements are often the case when it comes to candy, since small candy makers are willing to take risks in an attempt to make something unique.  The folks at A Secret Forest Patisserie made a lollipop that was original, but not crazy.  It just worked.  I could go on, but that's really what the review is all about.

Click here to read this lollipop review.

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Candy News

Breast milk lollipops, I was going to post this under "Stuff I Want To Try", but I don't really want to try it.

Would you drink a 20 year old can of cola?  I wouldn't, I once sampled a 10 year old can of root beer, and I couldn't drink the stuff for years afterwards.

This might be the best idea ever for Poptarts, why aren't they making them then?

Our friends at Madelaine chocolate in New York got hit pretty hard by hurricane Sandy, but it looks like they'll be back up and running in June.

Pez just announced that they're going to release special edition Harry Potter Pez dispensers, I'm thinking it's about 3 years too late.

Looking refresh yourself and cool off this summer, but you also love Italian food, well I have the perfect solution.

Healthy chocolate is really trendy right now, does that mean fine quality dark chocolate full of flavour, or chocolate filled with chemicals to make it "less fat" and "no sugar".

It appears that the glazed donut sandwich has officially gone mainstream in the USA.

Rock bands are notorious for demanding special foods backstage, although if I was famous, I'd ask for what Marilyn Manson wants.

Not sure what to do with the ice cream you left out all afternoon? Well don't throw it out, here's some ways you can transform your ice cream soup into other tasty treats.

Here's a great collection of stock photographs of people that "don't know how to eat popsicles".

Have you heard that the Canadian 100 dollar bill smells like maple syrup?  Can anyone confirm this?

Computer programmer takes some time off to work at a chocolate factory, so which job is better?

If you want to keep up with all of the daily candy news that we come across as it happens, follow us on Twitter.

Friday Candy Video

I've always enjoyed the music of Alicia Keys, and I've always enjoyed the antics of the 1980's TV series the Gummy Bears (for obvious reasons).  Is there any way I could enjoy both of these together?

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Stuff I Want To Try

Gravy Candy - Archie McPhee - I'd like to enjoy this with a bag of cheese potato chips so I can make a poutine like treat. - Click here to learn more about this treat.

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Classic/Creative Candy Advertising

Apparently at one point Kinder thought they would try to market to adults, instead of children.  So what's the best direction to go if you want to sell candy to adults?  Sex.

Click here to read more about his campaign and see a few more advertisements.

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People With Candy

Everybody likes to show off their awesome candy and sweet treats, right?  Well I'm asking anybody that has a great picture of themselves, or a loved one, eating a tasty treat to send it to us.  Once in a while I may have prizes, but for the most part you just get to share these photos and spread some sweet candy love around.

 Here's Gino (a regular on the Junk Fud podcast) enjoying a treat that I don't think is appropriate to show on this site.  Send Gino a message and I'm sure he'll get you a copy of this photo without the black bar.

 What's so awesome about these cookies sent in by Michelle?  Well the fact that they where made with an Easy Bake oven is pretty cool.  I've never actually used an Easy Bake oven in my life, but if they can put out results like these, that's pretty awesome.

Lia sent in this photo of her very tasty dessert from TGI Friday's, I could really go for a cool treat right now myself. To TGI Friday's!!!!

If you'd like to share a photo of your favorite treat, while you're eating it, making it, or about to eat it, send it to chris(at)candycritic.org.  Make sure that all of the photos are your own, and make sure to let us know how you came about this treat (if you bought it or made it) and how tasty it may have been.

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Candy Art - Sad Without Candy

Photographer Jill Greenberg took a series of portraits of children.  Each one of these children is really ticked off, do you know why?

Jill Greenberg decided that it would be interesting to take candy away from children and take a few snapshots of their rage. (keep in mind that she returned the candy quickly and as she says "no harm was done".)

I can relate to these kids, I've been known to flip over stolen candy myself.

Click here to see more.

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This Week In Candy

I've decided to bring back a fun little project that I started many years ago, it was called Chris Stuffing His Face.  I used to post pictures on the blog of me stuffing my face with various foods that I was eating that day.  Instead of posting these photos on the blog, I'm going to post these photos on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr instead.  I assume that the number of followers I have will most likely decline, but since I enjoy putting lots of food in my mouth, nothing's really going to stop me.

This week we're also posting our first of many Japanese candy reviews sponsored by the folks at oyatsucafe.com.  They've agreed to keep us in the loop about Japanese treats with a bunch of candies to sample, and I think it's only fair to share the love in return. They've also agreed to give any of our readers a discount with the discount code "candy critic".  So you can learn a little something about a new Japanese treat, and if you think you might like it, you can buy some for yourself at a discount price.

I have a few other small projects on the go as well that I hope to post this and next week, so stay tuned.

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A Non-Fishy Fish Review

This is to be the first of many special Japanese reviews, sponsored by our friends at oyatsucafe.com.  They're not only giving us a bunch of Japanese treats to sample on a regular basis, but they're also giving all of our readers a discount if you want to buy some for yourself.  Just visit their website, pick out what you like, and enter the code "candy critic".  This is a great way for you guys to sample some awesome Japanese treats that you may not find where you are.

Click here to read today's special Japanese review.

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