Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Peeps Marshmallow Pumpkins - video review

Hey all, Happy Halloween! I'm excited today, as I am every Halloween, for fun times and of course candy. I've got one more Halloween review for you today. Here's a look at Peeps Marshmallow Pumpkins.
 
Yes I know I should probably be calling them Marshmallow Pumpkin Peeps... its a long and convoluted story on why I'm calling it the other way around, just deal ok :)


Great stuff, honestly this score surprised even me!

For more on this, please check out the full written review, or all of our reviews on the reviews page. And look for a standard review coming this Friday, as we move into a look at some of the Canadian classics, before jumping headlong into Christmas candy! See you soon!

Peeps Marshmallow Pumpkins review

Its finally here! Happy Halloween everyone. Today I've got one more special Halloween review for you, its time to look at the oh so spooky Peeps Marshmallow Pumpkins.


There's something almost otherworldly ab out Peeps isn't there? I mean people seem to certainly regard them in high esteem. I for one have never fallen prey to the cult of Peeps. No its not because I hate them, I just don't get why people get so worked up over a few sugared marshmallow ducks. I'm looking forward to trying out these Pumpkins though. I can't remember the last time I actually had a Peep, so this should be exciting.


First off, Peeps all have some pretty nice design and packaging work. They're wholly original in presentation. From the font of the logo to packaging in the open, letting the candy talk for itself under clear cellophane. Its minimal and ingenious. I mean, look at how much you're getting for your money here! that's a lot of jack-o-lanterns smiling back at me.


The back of the box is pretty simple too. I like the note that they are "always in season" since its certainly true. Nowadays you can get peeps for almost any reason. They may not be on the shelf all year exactly, but anytime there is a candy holiday on the rise you'll find them in the Candy Aisle. Is that comforting to you? I'm not sure.... I guess if you're one of those die hard fans then it probably is.


Getting the actual Peep out requires a little ripping and minor disfigurements, but its all worth it. This is a squishy marshmallow candy coated generously in sugar. The sugar is very... granular, and a residue will come off on your fingers, but thats also just the nature of Peeps.
 
I'm on the record now with my complaints against candy marshmallow, and I usually stand by that claim. However Peeps may be the exception to the rule that marshmallow needs to be paired with a stronger flavor like caramel. Here its paired with simple sugar, and for the most part works very well.


There's something very viscerally satisfying about manhandling a Peep. They crush, crack, and tear so easily. Despite how adorable the face here, how kind of un-pumpkiny it actually looks (is this the Easter rabbit face design re-purposed into a pumpkin?) There's something very pleasing about pulling the cute smiling face apart. This is a happy pumpkin, and destroying it makes me happy too. Is tat weird?


And when you get down to actually eating the Peeps, you'll find its really pretty decent. The marshmallow isn't terrible quality, and the texture of the sugar adds a lot to the smooth, slightly melty mallow. This is a candy that lives, and is loved for a lot of reasons other than how it tastes, but for all that grandstanding, its really not all that bad. In fact its far better than it needs to be considering all the other stuff its got going for it.

I do like Peeps, and I do recommend the Marshmallow Pumpkins. I'm not quite ready to sign up for cult membership, but this is definitely worth your time.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates Peeps Marshmallow Pumpkins - 4 / 5

Peeps are a Just Born product, these are the same guys behind Mike & Ikes and have possibly the best company tagline ever, "A great candy isn't made... it's Just Born.". You can find them online at http://www.justborn.com/

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Russell Stover Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin - video review

Its almost here. One day left! check out this review for Russell Stover's Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin.


Nice work guys! Check back tomorrow for yet another Halloween review! For more on this little gem, please check out the written review, or all of our reviews over on the reviews page.

Russell Stover Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin review

Russell Stover just loves the holidays, and that's why we've got another review from them for you today. Its the Russell Stover Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin.


Here we are once again with a Russell Stover Pumpkin candy. I've generally been a fan of their marshmallow treats, and I'm hoping for something good here. Looking at the packaging I'll say I'm finding it pretty delightful. That is a very happy pumpkin. He's smiling, he's jovial, you can just tell he's glad to be there sharing all his pumpkin goodness with the world. It looks like it must be the magic hour in the pumpkin patch as well, with a yellow orange sky, and a few stars peeking out. This is a good time waiting to happen, and I am thrilled to dig in.


Getting the chocolate out of the wrapper you can see that while it doesn't have an actual jack-o-lantern carved into it, there is certainly some specific pumpkin-y qualities to be found. I really like how it actually has a round bulging shape, and the vertical lines are very reminiscent of an actual pumpkin. It also smells pretty decent, and despite a small flaw on the back (you can see that in the video review) the pumpkin gives a very good overall impression. 


Biting into the pumpkin the most important and immediate sensation is the caramel. This is excellent caramel. The marshmallow has little to do here, in fact it acts more as textural filler to support the caramel. While I have gone on the record that I'm not generally a fan of chocolate bar marshmallow, I think really the issue is that the marshmallow needs to be paired with something else to support it. In this case the caramel is really great, and ties this entire chocolate together. Oh there is a chocolate vibe as well here, but the chocolate isn't mixing too much into the caramel as it does with some higher quality bars, instead its just nice;y there adding an extra bit of separate flavor.

This pumpkin, is worth it for the caramel alone though, and I have to say I am looking forward to trying more of this moving forward. Hopefully I'll have a chance to grab one of the pure Russell Stover Caramel Pumpkins somewhere. For now this will definitely do though. This is a solid recommend.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates the Russell Stover Caramel & Marshmallow Pumpkin - 4 / 5

For more on all things Russell Stover, you can check them out online at http://www.russellstover.com/

Monday, October 29, 2012

Scary Eye - video review

A new Halloween review for you today. Its the super creepy Scary Eye!


Pretty greusome stuff :)

For more, please check out the full written review, or all of our reviews over on the Reviews Page. Expect another Halloween review tomorrow!

Scary Eye review

This is it kids, Halloween is just around the corner and I've got a few more reviews coming at you, every day from now until then. Today we're checking out another creme egg, the Scary Eye!


Holy moley, just looking at that thing gives me the creeps! When you're talking about Halloween products either going the cute, or the scary route on their marketing I'd say this one is pretty clearly on the side of scary. This is like some sort or beast who escaped, and all we managed to capture was his eyeball. Now of course we should eat it! There's an inherent gross out factor here that you can't avoid. Seriously this is asking us to eat a bloody animal eyeball! That entire proposition is creepy.

That said, I like the packaging a lot. Yes, my tastes lean much more towards cute than scary when it comes to these things, but I appreciate good work, and this is fantastic design work. Why hasn't anyone else done bloody eyeballs before?! And for that matter, creating another chocolate egg at all is a bold move that I heartily applaud. I'm almost certain that tis product is from a French company called CĂ©moi. I picked it up in the aisle at a Dollarama outside of Toronto. I say this because I have no idea if anyone else can even find this candy. If so let me know in the comments below.


I had the sense to take a quick photo of the box the Scary Eye came in at the store. But no where on it could I find the name of the actual manufacturer. I must've missed it somewhere... Anyhow, thats a pretty creepy box too.

This is "Strawberry Flavored Fondant". A white eye 'egg' with a red and bloody looking 'yolk' - whats not to love.  Lets have a look at this thing unwrapped.


Well it certainly doen't look much different than your typical Cadbury Egg when you get down to it. Its even got the same star pattern scoring across the surface. Could that be a product of the manufacturing process? Its a different patten than Cadbury, but I like it. One thing the Scary Eye doesn't have that the Cadbury Eggs do is the immediate an almost overpowering smell of high quality chocolate. This smells fine in the way that a good chocolate should, but I love the entire unwrapping process of the Cadbury Eggs and the smell is a part of that.

And for the record, I don;t think you can possibly hope to review the Scary Eye without comparing it to the Cadbury Eggs. They are the gold standard that must be compared to by anyone entering this space.



Biting into the egg initially there are a number of things to address. The chocolate is smooth and delicious. The fondant is a bit firmer than I like, but perhaps that's just the temperature in the room. The flavor though is like a super blast of pure sugar. This is very sweet. Not too much, and the chocolate tempers it, but the Scary Eye borders on going too far. I am definitely a fan! Still though, despite the slightly pink-ish color I'm not tasting the strawberry. Better dig down to the yolk.


Ok, so here we are, I found the yolk, finally. It wasn't all together in a nice ball like you'd find in a Cadbury Creme Egg, or in the picture on the box above. Nope, this yolk was spread out, mostly dissolved and mixed into about 2/3s of the center postion of the egg. My guess as to why this happened is because the yolk part of the egg, the red blood center, is actually strawberry jam. It really tastes exactly like jam, and a thin syrupy kind of jam at that. The liquid density is totally different, the properties are different than the fondant white, and so it slowly just seeped into the rest of the egg. While on a design front I'd say that's too bad, on a taste front it actually worked out great, because this is really awesome!


I'm a fan of strawberry jam, I'm a fan of the super sugary fondant goo and I'm a fan of the chocolate. This is a great product. Its got some scary packaging, but a sweet interior. The texture is nice with a good blending of chocolate, to sugar goo, to jam. Overall, if theres a way to find it, you should definitely seek out the Scary Eye, and try it.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates the Scary Eye - 4 / 5

Like I said, I'm not 100% positive, but I believe this is a product from a company called CĂ©moi, you can find them here. Or I purchased this at the Dollarama, maybe you've got one near you. best of luck finding your own Scary Eye!

Friday, October 26, 2012

Marshmallow Brooms - video review

Its Friday, and the Friday before Halloween at that. So today I've got another fun Halloween review for you, please check out this look at Original Foods, Marshmallow Brooms.


Yeah, not so great... Anyhow, if you want more in depth analysis be sure to check out the full written review, or look at all of our reviews over on the Reviews page.


Marshmallow Brooms review

Another day closer to Halloween, and I've got another review for you. Today we're looking at Original Foods Marshmallow Brooms.


I'm not familiar with Original Foods, but I suspect I will be soon enough. They're a company out of Quebec who make a variety of confections. Since I've been living outside of Canada for some time now I haven't come across their stuff. From their website it seems like they specialize in caramels and seasonal candy. This seems as good a place as any to start.

This is kind of a unique idea. Putting a marshmallow treat on a stick is smart. One of the biggest problem with marshmallow candy is the mess, so I'm already liking this. The design is simple, although I'm not sure how much it looks like a broom but its Halloween, and you've got to give them a little leeway in creative marketing.

The packaging is really nice, I like the cartoonish design, the colors are all very Halloweeny, but not too dark.  The bats are a nice touch too, but I really like the zombie hand coming out of the ground to hold up the marshmallow broom. Its pretty adorable. Sure, I know zombies would have no need for a broom (they're not known for their cleanliness, or a marshmallow broom, since I'm pretty sure they like to eat brains instead of marshmallow, but I'm still going with it on the cute factor. Very nice job.


Getting the bar out of the packaging you can see that the chocolate has a nice dappled effect over the marshmallow. Its surprisingly small in comparison to the packaging. They probably could've shaved a half inch off the wrapper. I'm not a fan of the practice (also heavily employed with potato chips selling bigger bags half full of air. But looking at the bar, its not really all that bad. I like that the shape is at least somewhat tapered. That's at least sort of broom-ish...They could've added some broom touches to the outer design work, but for less than a dollar a pop, I can't blame them too much for keeping it simple. The important thing is how it tastes.


And the taste is not so great when it comes to it. This is cheap, and you can taste it. The marshmallow is cheap, the chocolate isn't very good, and too thin to really make any difference, and the overall effect is just unpleasant chewiness.

Marshmallow is a temperamental thing in candy. It works best when paired heavily with something else. Since the chocolate here is so thin, and indistinct the marshmallow has to stand on its own, and it just doesn't have the muster to manage it. Actually I will say one more thing about the chocolate, its kind of chalky. And to be honest this marshmallow tastes about one small step above what you'd find in your average bowl of Lucky Charms. In other words, its crap. This isn't actually offensive, but you certainly shouldn't bother getting it.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates the Marshmallow Brooms - 1 / 5

Marshmallow Brooms are an Original Foods product, you can check them out online at http://www.originalfoods.com/

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Halloween Favorites

Halloween is almost upon us and I realized that I haven't really gotten into my favorites here on the Candy Aisle. Everyone has the candy that makes them happiest and Halloween was like a proving ground for all other times of year. The candy runs the gamut from the absolute best, to the total pits. And the best part about the game is that you have absolutely no control over what you'll end up with. This is a really special time of year, and it should be celebrated.  A few of my favorites are demanding their due, so let's have a look.

Of course I am a sucker for true candy bars. So anyone giving out fun sized chocolate was a winner in my book. I always heard about that mythical house that would give out full sized chocolate bars, but it wasn't in my neighborhood. Some of my friends lived in ritzier places though and I'm sure they saw the full sized Snickers and Mars bars. For me I was just happy to get something Fun Sized!


Snickers and Jersey Milk were the most common, but I was a sucker for anything real and fun sized. Butterfinger and Baby Ruth were always appreciated because for a long time you couldn't get Butterfinger here in Canada, and you still can't get Baby Ruth (except at this time of year). I really liked the mini Snickers as a kid, but thinking about it now I can't say if I'm actually sure they would work with full sized peanuts in such a small bar. Mars bars and 3 Musketeers we're really my favorite fun sized bars. Thankfully these were also both pretty common in my neighborhood of Toronto growing up.


What else struck my fancy? Well chips were always a change of pace. You could never count on getting them. In fact I'm sure there were a few years when I didn't get any chips, but a mini bag of Doritos Cool Ranch would always be appreciated as a break between candy bracelets, and mini chocolates.


Rockets. In the States these are called Smarties. I seriously LOVE these things. They have that sightly sweet and slightly tart taste that was around long before the actual SweetTart candies. They are small, and totally portable, even concealable, in your pocket as you went off the school. Making for a great mid-class snack. And you didn't have to even eat the whole pack at once! In terms of taste, form factor, portability, everything, Rockets are top notch.



Finally you get into the odd man out circumstances. Nowadays no one is going to get kids candy cigarettes (actually while they do still make them they are mostly marketed as candy 'sticks' instead of cigarettes). And Atomic Fireballs are such a hassle to get a hold of compared to other treats that these aren't too common anymore. But these are great examples of the weird and wonderful beauty of Halloween. As a kid you just never knew what you were going to get. It could be a candy, or a chocolate you'd never tried before. As a Canadian, it could excitingly be something that is only available in the States. Or it could just be an old favorite. The possibilities were endless.

There's a simple joy, and wonder in finding out what sort of candy you'll get on Halloween as a kid. Its so exciting, and such an adventure, aside from all the sugar and actually eating everything. For me a huge part of the magic of Halloween was just in the act of trick or treating. It's a great experience, and I definitely hope to continue the tradition with my kids.

Let me know what your favorites were and if you have any fond memories of Halloween nights past :)

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Pumpkin - video review

We've got another great review for you today. Its the Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Pumpkin. Enjoy.



So I guess its just kind of middle of the road.... look for more great Halloween reviews here on Walking the Candy Aisle as we get closer to the big day!

Also please check out the full written review, or all of our reviews over on the Reviews Page.

Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Pumpkin review

Here we are once again with a fun Halloween review for you, and today we're looking at the Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Pumpkin.


I've reviewed Russell Stover products here before, and generally they do a good job of it, but this is my first time just reviewing their straight milk chocolate. Does this constitute a review of the base Russell Stover chocolate? I don't know. They might use cheaper or different chocolate in their pumpkins than they do in say their boxed fancy milk chocolates. I just can't say. I think for now though we should just treat this as a one off look at this specific confection.

The design is nice. I like the pumpkin on the package. He's pretty creepy, and the colors are all muted. Especially with the leaves and grass around him it looks like he's still in the pumpkin patch at nighttime. Definitely creepy stuff. Although who would carve and light a pumpkin while still leaving it in the patch is beyond me.



Moving onto the inside of the package we find the chocolate pumpkin itself. This is a rather thin chunk of chocolate, but I suppose it was pretty cheap. And if its rich you probably don't want too much. I  like the pumpkin design, and despite a few flaws in the manufacturing it definitely looks like a jack-o-lantern.

The weird thing though is that the pumpkin on the inside doesn't look anything like the pumpkin on the outside. Somewhere along the lines there were some conflicting messages here. Do they want their pumpkin to be scary? or friendly? This guy on the inside is decidedly goofy looking. Frankly I like silly pumpkins like this, but its not at all what sells you on buying the chocolate on the package. Definitely a disconnect.


Getting into the chocolate itself this is pretty much right down the middle of the road alright.. well, maybe its a bit on the better side of alright but its nothing too special. The chocolate has a slight creaminess to it, and its not too sweet which is good. I also like the texture, it melts in your mouth but not too fast. Basically it tastes like ok chocolate. This isn't anything too fancy but its not bad.

Well I'm sorry this one was so anti-climactic but that's just what you get sometimes. I don't think I'll be rushing out to get more of these but I wouldn't say no if one was offered to me again.

Walking the Candy Aisle rates the Russell Stover Milk Chocolate Pumpkin - 3 / 5

For more from Russell Stover please check out their website http://www.russellstover.com/

Monday, October 22, 2012

Cadbury Screme Egg Snack Cakes - video review

Good news, at least temporarily I've managed to get back on track for the video reviews. Please enjoy, after the slight delay, this review for Cadbury Screme Egg Snack Cakes.



Definitely an interesting endeavor. Something worth checking out if its the kind of thing you think you might like.

In case you missed it on Friday, here's a link through to the written review, as well as all of my reviews over on the reviews page. Later gators.

More Halloween Candy!

We  I know I posted pics about a lot of the Halloween candy in my previous posts on A Very Licensed Halloween, and The Mulitpack, but as we've gotten closer to Halloween I've found a bunch more candy to share. Honestly I was a bit disappointed before with the state of Halloween candy here in Canada compared to the States, and although I don't think the single bars and treats are exactly up to the American standard there does seem to be a decent selection in the larger grab bag packs.  Check out some more of great Halloween Candy below and for pics of everything Halloween 2012 you can always head over to The Candy Aisle Facebook page!


Body parts and eyeballs are always a favorite.


Finally found the Palmer chocolate and candy! I was wondering if it was here in Canada.


I call this mix pack, the lame candy.




A Halloween classic, here in Canada these are Rockets, in the States they are Smarties.


Scary picture.


Cute picture.


More eyeballs.


Did you have that family that gave out full chocolate bars on Halloween to? that family rocked!


Neilson Jersey Milk. This is another one that was super prevalent when I was a kid.


Yum.



Is it warty gum?


Bleeding eyes, yuck :(


Her are the actual body parts. Even as a kid I hated these. Just gross.


Ferrara Pan represent!


Did these guys just have leftovers from their Oscar themed mix bag of candy?! Look at a calendar!


Chips are always a great change up for Halloween, but almost no one ever gave them out.


Nice Halloween themed packaging here.


Not so Halloweeny but its definitely... something.


Man I remember these one. Very crunchy.



Looks juicy.


A classic with the Smarties.

Anyhow, that's A LOT of photos, So I'll leave you there. Looks like there are a whole heap of choices for candy this Halloween. What are you excited to try?