Junk Fud and You - What I look for in a Candy - Novelty

 Ever wonder why I give a particular score to some candies? How does novelty affect my reviews? I decided to break down my criteria for novelty when I review treats.

Blue Orchid Fun!

Did you know I’m currently writing and drawing my own comic series?

Blue Orchid is a fun adventure about a teenage South East Asian girl who battles incredible monsters and faces the challenges of a world unlike anything she has ever known.

You can pick up every issue now at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon.

Purple Is Awesome

 

I don't think I've ever been disappointed with a purple coloured treat. It's not to say that I've loved every single purple snack I've ever eaten, I just find that most purple snacks either taste great, or at the very least are very interesting. I'm not sure I've ever had an amazing flavoured, really interesting purple treat, but generally you're likely to get one or the other. Maybe one day I will get the perfect purple treat, but for now I'm just happy when they're either interesting or really tasty.

Check out my latest interesting purple review.

Snack Facts Is Here!

Ever wondered where your favourite snacks came from?

Snack Facts is a fun comic that follows Barbara and Sir Francis Sweetums as they uncover the surprising history behind some of the world's most popular treats.

Grab your copy at candycritic.org/snackfacts/ or on Amazon.

Purple Isn't Always Grape

When I was kid, if you handed me a purple potato chip I would have assumed that it was grape. I don't think there were many purple coloured treats in the world that weren't grape. I'm not sure if times have changed, or if I've just seen more of the world, but I'm seeing more and more purple in the snacking and treat world all the time. Probably the most popular purple flavour that's out right now is ube, a popular flavour that I believe came from the Philippines. But Japan also has some pretty impressive purple potato treats too.

Check out my latest purple potato treat review, this one's from Japan.

Candy Technology We Never Think About

 

Recently while enjoying a bag of peanut M&Ms I realized that stamping the “M” on each and every of these oddly shaped candies must be an incredible challenge. The peanut M&Ms are the most challenging of all M&Ms to print on because each and every peanut M&M is shaped differently. This is the nature of the peanut inside, it cannot be controlled (or so I imagine). So while chomping on my peanut M&Ms I stared in amazement at how many of these treats actually had the famous stamp on them. I will note that there are a few with no stamp at all, and also a few with partial stamps too.

This got me thinking about how difficult it is to do certain tasks while making candy and snacks. It made me think about the dedication some candy scientists and engineers must be for small detailed aspects of making treats. The stamps on the M&Ms are completely not necessary, but yet it seems like they put a great effort into putting them on, even when the natural shape of a candy and chocolate coated peanut wants to make it extremely difficult.

I’ll be honest, I have no idea how the M&Ms peanut stamp machine works. If given the opportunity I’d love to see it in action in person. I’m also going to eat the rest of these M&Ms with a little more care, inspecting each and every stamp on each and every M&M. I’ll feel a little sad when it doesn’t have a stamp, but feel great pride for the candy makes with every stamp I see. Each time I see a stamp that’s only partially on, I’ll wish them better luck next time.

It’s also a good time to think a little more about the treats we eat. From what I understand puffed corn snacks like cheesies are super challenging to make. I also can’t imagine how one layers wafers and chocolate so thinly as you find inside a Kit Kat bar. Even getting the well sliced potato chip or perfectly formed gummy can’t be easy. I may not know how they do it, but I think I’m going to stop a slow down when I’m snacking and pay a little tribute to the brilliant scientists and designers of the candy world.

Candy Experiment - Twix Copies Taste Test

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

Treats and Beasts!

 What do you get when you mix amazing animals with delicious treats?

Treats and Beasts!

This colourful alphabet book takes readers on a journey from A to Z, introducing a new beast and treat combination on every page.

Whether you’re learning your ABCs or just love fun animal adventures, this book is sure to bring a smile.

Pick up your copy today: 

bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/

Also available on Amazon 

Toasted Marshmallow Flavour?

I've said it before on this site a few times, but I'm not a huge marshmallow fan. There are a few exceptions to this rule, I often enjoy them when their an ingredient in a dessert, I've tasted a few handmade marshmallows that are pretty good, and I love them toasted. In the last few years I've seen a trend where toasted marshmallow has become a flavour, rather than a way to eat a marshmallow. I've sampled treats and ice cream that claims to taste like a slightly roasted marshmallow and weirdly enough, it works. I'm not really sure what gives these treats a toasty flavour, but it often actually tastes like a toasted marshmallow. It's not often that this kind of flavour trickery works for me, but toasted marshmallow seems to work almost all of the time.

Check out my latest toasted marshmallow review, with s'more added flavours as well.

10 Second Kitchen - Ribfest Ottawa

 Slathering on some barbecue sauce and showing off their ribs at the Ottawa Ribfest in Canada.

Blue Orchid!

 A teenage girl. A strange new world. Countless monsters standing in her way.

Blue Orchid is my manga-inspired comic series about a young South East Asian girl who must face incredible creatures, dangerous challenges, and the adventures that come with discovering her own path.

You can read every issue now at bewarethecheese.com/blueorchid/ or on Amazon.

What Is Mint?

This is not the first time I've ever mentioned this, but I have a real fascination with the difference between mint flavoured candies and real mint. It's probably one of the most perplexing of fake flavours because it's actually not that far off from the original. I would even bet that many fake mint flavoured treats contain some real mint. The main difference I find between fake and real mint is an earthy flavour, which makes sense since it's actually an herb. Are there any people out there who like fake mint over the real thing, or the other way around?

Check out my latest minty review that caused me to think about this problem again.

KD Ramen

This is a quick meal that at first glance seems like it might be weird or at the very least unique, but if you dig down a bit it's actually kind of logical. Don't get me wrong, that's not my review of this treat, I'll put that at the end, but don't expect super high praise.

KD (Kraft Dinner for Americans) is a brand that's well known for their macaroni and cheese. Most people know about it because of the sheer bright colour of the orange powder that you use to make this mac and cheese. It has a certain reputation as being for kids, or for people who don't eat healthy foods. I can't really say anything about that since I'm not a dietitian, or any kind of health expert. I can tell you that I do enjoy a boxed mac and cheese now and again, and I also enjoy the fact that there's been a trend over the last few years of making strange versions of this popular meal.

This is where the KD Ramen comes in. If you're to judge the social media and marketing around this product, one would assume that this is just a gimmick, a weird food for the sake of being a weird food (I'm looking at you cotton candy KD). My argument however is that this actually isn't that weird at all, in fact I would argue that it's not even original. A quick Google search lead me to at least 3 different Thai (I believe) brands of ramen that have cheese flavouring.

Also, if you think about it, ramen is a noodle based dish, so just adding cheese to different noodles isn't that strange... kind of. The difference here is that they didn't just add their classic KD cheese sauce to ramen noodles. Instead what you have is a cheese flavoured ramen soup with noodles. It even offers two flavour packets, one with classic ramen flavouring, and one with the bright orange cheese sauce. So this is a little different than just KD with ramen noodles.

The real question is, does it work. The answer is that it works well enough, but I don't think I have to try it again. The big problem is the lack of creamy texture or flavour. What you end up with is a watery soup that kind of tastes like cheese. The ramen flavour package could have also been a little more complimentary to the cheese sauce. It just felt like they repackage a ramen soup and added their cheese powder. It wasn't horrible, but my guess is it isn't going to turn into a staple either.

Quick List - Best Looking Gummy Treats

 Here's a quick list featuring the best looking gummy treats I've ever seen... or eaten.

Snack Facts!

 Love treats? Love learning random facts?

Snack Facts combines both in a fun, illustrated adventure! Join Barbara and Sir Francis Sweetums as they explore the stories behind your favourite snacks and treats.

Available now at candycritic.org/snackfacts/ or on Amazon.

Tropical Fruit and Chocolate

 

There are a few tropical fruit and chocolate treats out there in the world, but not as many as you'd think. I feel like most fruit and chocolate combinations are about raisins, but maybe there are a few other berry and definitely cherry and chocolate treats out there too. The thing about tropical fruits might be the fact that they're often very sweet already. When you dry them out they get even sweeter, so adding some sweet milk chocolate might just be too much. It could also be that most places that grow tropical fruit are already warm, and chocolate doesn't last very long on a warm store shelf.

Check out my latest tropical fruit covered in chocolate review.

Junk Fud and You - What I look for in a Candy - Texture

 Ever wonder why I give a particular score to some candies? How does texture affect my reviews? I decided to break down my criteria for texture when I review treats.

Treats And Beasts!

 

Can you imagine an alphabet where every letter brings together a wild beast and a tasty treat?

That’s exactly what you’ll find in Treats and Beasts, a fun A–Z adventure full of animals, sweets, and silly surprises.

A perfect book for young readers, animal lovers, candy fans, and anyone who enjoys a creative twist on the alphabet.

Get your copy here:bewarethecheese.com/treatsnbeasts/

Or on Amazon.

So Weird, But In A Good Way

There are two kinds of unique candy out there. There's candy that's weird by design, constructed to make you wonder what's going on. Then there's candy that's unique because it's culturally different than what you might expect. I like both, but I find that few candy makers can construct weird or unique candies well. It takes years to perfect a candy, and trying to make it very different and good takes a lot of time. Unique because I'm not familiar with it culturally is different because it's very possible that it's been around for longer than I (or even my grandparents) have been alive. This means that it'll be new to me, but perfected over time.

Check out my latest unique candy review.

When a Cookie is a Candy Bar

I think I might have found the missing link. The cookie/candy bar that’s both a cookie and a candy bar at the same time. The candy world has had a great debate for many years now, it’s even become a legal matter in a few places. It’s a question that gets put to me many times, sometimes aggressively. It’s all about trying to define candy and treats. In this case it’s a look at what’s a cookie and what’s a candy bar with a cookie in it. Legally this question is asked when countries are trying to define what should or shouldn’t be sold in the candy isle. A Twix bar is a great example of this kind of treat, most people would call it a chocolate or candy bar, but in reality it’s actually mostly cookie. Even a Kit Kat bar is debatable in this context.

The reason I bring all of this up is this “cookie” I recently discovered in a store in France. It’s called the Petit Ecolier and it really balances the line perfectly between being a cookie and being a candy bar. It’s not even subtle about it either. A Twix and a Kit Kat bar hide the fact that there’s a lot of cookie in them by covering everything in chocolate. This bar on the other hand keeps the cookie and the chocolate entirely visible. There are a few cookies out there that are stuffed with all kinds of things you might find in a candy bar too. This treat does not do that, the chocolate bar is totally visible on top of the cookie.

I can’t tell if the makers of this treat are lazy, or are trying to troll people. They really just took a cookie and smushed it together with a chocolate bar. There’s nothing really creative, but the fact that no one has done this before kind of makes it creative. The ratio of chocolate to cookie is almost perfectly split as well. I’ve never been so perplexed with a treat in my life. People often get mad at me if I review cookies or cakes on this site (claiming they’re not “candy”), but I’m tempted to give this a try just to see if anyone would react.

The only thing that gives this treat a category for me is the fact that I bought it in the cookie section of a grocery store. This brand also makes other cookie treat, but I’ve never seen any candy from them. It’s truly the treat that balances the line, it’s both a cookie and a candy bar.

P.S. I just wanted to note that these Petit Ecolier taste great too.