Thursday, February 27, 2014

Russell Stover Wedding Cake Egg




Place purchased: CVS

Price: $0.99 (on sale buy 2, get 1 free)

Number of reviewers: 5


Appearance - 7.0

The wedding cake egg is comprised of a white chocolate shell with a white cake filling. The filling has a multitude of small air bubbles, reminiscent of an actual cake. 


Flavor and Taste - 7.6


As a whole, the wedding cake egg is very sweet. The white cake flavor of the filling dominates at first, then the sweet, creamy flavor of the white chocolate overpowers the filling. 

C: Tastes like vanilla cake batter. Yummy. 
J: I love the flavor. It is exactly like cake batter, and the white chocolate is a nice combo. 
S: White chocolate with vanilla cake batter. 


Texture - 7.9


The filling is very soft and smooth, and the white chocolate also has a soft texture. 

C: I expected the inside to be like cake, but it is actually soft like cake batter. Nice and creamy. 
J: Silky and smooth. 
S: Creamy, like cake batter. 


Aftertaste - 7.6


There is a sweet white chocolate aftertaste. 

C: Sweet and vanilla.
S: Sweet. 


Overall - 7.7


Overall, Russell Stover Wedding Cake Eggs have a superb white cake flavor. I commend Russell Stover for using white cake mix in the filling rather than just cake flavor. The wedding cake egg tastes substantially more like cake than other cake flavored candies I have eaten in the past. 

J: I would buy like 1,000,000 of them. 

Friday, February 21, 2014

Candy Hunting - More Easter Candy

Russell Stover Wedding Cake Eggs

Place found: CVS 

Price: $0.99



White Cadbury Mini Eggs

Place found: Target (a Target exclusive)  

Price: $3.19



Royal Dark Chocolate Cadbury Mini Eggs

Place found: Target  

Price: $3.19



Vanilla Crème Peeps

Place found: Target 

Price: $1.99 

Review



Strawberry Crème Peeps

Place found: Target 

Price: $1.99 

Review



Orange Crème Peeps

Place found: Target 

Price: $1.99



Thursday, February 20, 2014

Snickers Rockin' Nut Road




Place found: Circle K

Price: $1.29 

Number of reviewers: 4


Appearance - 7.0


The Snickers Rockin' Nut Road bar has a layer of marshmallow flavored nougat topped with a layer of caramel and almonds, all encased in dark chocolate. 

L: The nut on the package looks like a football!


Flavor and Taste - 7.0


The combination of dark chocolate and marshmallow flavored nougat reminds me of Milky Way Midnight bars, which are comprised of dark chocolate and vanilla nougat. The almonds do not add much flavor. 

C: The marshmallow nougat is really good, and I like the flavor of the dark chocolate. The almonds are not too strong. 
L: Not a fan of the almond.


Texture - 7.5


The caramel is chewy, and the almonds provide some crunch. Though, tons of tiny almond pieces became stuck in my molars. 

C: Chewy, crunchy.
L: Lots of variety. 


Aftertaste - 6.3


There is a sweet caramel aftertaste. 

L: Stuff gets stuck in my teeth from the almond. 


Overall - 6.9

I really enjoyed this chocolate bar, mainly because it reminded me of a Milky Way Midnight. 

S: Original Snickers are way better. 

Candy Hunting - New Peeps Flavors

Sour Watermelon Peeps



Blue Raspberry Peeps


Also available: 


Sweet Lemonade Peeps


Party Cake Peeps


Bubble Gum Peeps


Place found: Walmart

Price: $1.08 each


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Candy Hunting - Walmart Easter Candy

Cold Stone Creamery Easter Eggs

Strawberry Banana Rendezvous, Cake Batter Cookie Bash (Review), and Cookies & Creamery



Russell Stover Cookie Dough Easter Bunny



Carrot Cake M&M's

Returning for the second year. 

Price: $2.88



Coconut Speck-tacular Eggs M&M's

Price: $2.88



3 Musketeers Marshmallow

Returning for the fourth year. 

Price: $2.88



York Peppermint Pattie Eggs

According to Hershey's website, the egg shape is new. 

Price: $2.88



Crest Mint Chocolate Trek Toothpaste

Okay, so this is not candy and it is not an Easter product, but it is mint chocolate flavor! 

Also available: Lime Spearmint Zest and Vanilla Mint Spark (Crest previously made Refreshing Vanilla Mint toothpaste as part of the Whitening Expressions range). 





Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Birthday Cake M&M's







Place purchased: CVS

Price: $3.99 

Number of reviewers: 9 

The Birthday Cake M&M's are also available in single serve size bags (1.40 oz/39.7g).


Appearance - 7.5


The Birthday Cake M&M's are larger than milk chocolate M&M's. They come in three colors: blue, yellow, and red. I think they should have used lighter colors; I have never seen a primary colored birthday cake. 


Flavor and Taste - 6.5


The M&M's have a faint chocolate cake and frosting flavor. The flavor starts out as cake, then is dominated by the milk chocolate, and returns to the cake flavor. Also, the more M&M's I eat, the more the cake flavor becomes apparent. 

C: At the end tastes like powdered sugar or baking soda. It has a weird artificial flavor. 
E: Tastes like normal M&M's. 
J: Hardly tastes like anything. The flavor is so faint, I would almost miss it. Otherwise, the flavor is fine, but basically a plain M&M. 
L2: Intensity of cake is good. 
P: It tastes like cake and cookies and cream ice cream. 
S: Weird off-note. Fruity?
S2: A little too sweet for me. 


Texture - 7.3


These have the same texture as milk chocolate M&M's.

C: Kind of gritty. 


Aftertaste - 6.5


There is a chocolate cake flavor aftertaste.

C: Has that weird baking soda/grit taste. 
J: All chocolate. 
P: Sweet. 
S: Burnt caramel aftertaste.


Overall - 6.7

While the cake flavor is subtle, it is enough to taste different than milk chocolate M&M's. 

J: I'm disappointed the cake flavor is so weak. 

Monday, February 17, 2014

Hammond's Bee Pollen

Bee pollen is a mixture of pollen and nectar collected by honey bees. It is stored in cells within bee hives as food for larva or mature bees (Pitts-Singer, 2004). Bee pollen used for human consumption is collected by setting a trap that removes pollen from bees' legs before they enter the hive (Almeida-Muradian et. al., 2005).

The consumption of bee pollen is due to its presumed health benefits. Bee pollen is regarded as a 'superfood' and contains a number of antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals (Leja et. al., 2007). Additionally, research has shown that the polysaccharide LBPP in bee pollen may have anti-tumor activity (Yang et. al., 2007). 

On the back of the wrapper is a warning for people with bee and bee pollen allergies. Since bee pollen is pollen that bees have picked up from plants, an allergy to bee pollen can be caused by allergies to different types of plant pollen (Greenberger and Flais, 2001). Essentially, if you have seasonal allergies, you should be cautious about consuming bee pollen. 






Place purchased: The Peanut Store, Holland, MI

Number of reviewers: 4

Price: $4.00 


Appearance - 6.3


The dark chocolate is somewhat crumbly; there were small chocolate fragments coating the bar when I opened the wrapper. The chocolate is studded with plenty of bee pollen balls. 


Flavor and Taste - 6.9


The bar is made from good quality dark chocolate. The honey adds a slight sweetness to the bar, while the bee pollen does not contribute much to the overall flavor. 

C: Bitter and sweet at the front. Honey flavor towards the end. 
L: Honey flavor really stands out against the chocolate. 
S: I didn't really taste anything besides dark chocolate. 


Texture - 5.0


The chocolate had a good bite. However, the bee pollen balls were initially powdery and dry, and then became more sticky the longer they were chewed. The texture of the bee pollen reminded me of compressed dextrose candies like Smarties. 

C: The chocolate was creamy with crunchy parts. 
L: Pollen sticks to teeth. 
S: Interesting. Different than anything I've had before. The pollen pieces are crunchy but kind of soft at the same time. 


Aftertaste - 6.5


I did not notice much of an aftertaste. 

C: Honey and dark chocolate taste. 
S: Slightly metallic. 


Overall - 6.0

Overall, I thought the good dark chocolate was ruined by the addition of bee pollen granules. The bee pollen adds no flavor and has a strange powdery and chewy texture. Though, Hammond's Bee Pollen chocolate bar could be suitable for someone interested in consuming bee pollen for its health benefits. However, anyone with bee or pollen allergies should stay clear of this chocolate bar.

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Almeida-Muradian LB, Pamplona LC, Coimbra S, and Barth OM. 2005. Chemical composition and botanical evaluation of dried bee pollen pellets. J Food Compos Anal 18(1): 105-11. 

Greenberger PA and Flais MJ. 2001. Bee pollen-induced anaphylactic reaction in an unknowingly sensitized subject. Ann Allerg Asthma Im 86(2): 239-42. 

Leja M, Mareczek A, Wyzgolik G, Klepacz-Baniak J, and Czekonska K. 2007. Antioxidative properties of bee pollen in selected plant species. Food Chem 100(1): 237-40. 

Pitts-Singer TL. 2004. Examination of ‘pollen balls’ in nests of the alfalfa leafcutting bee, Megachile rotundata. J Apicult Res 43(2): 40-6. 

Yang X, Guo D, Zhang J, and Wu M. 2007. Characterization and anti-tumor activity of pollen polysaccharide. Int Immunopharmacol 7(3): 401-8.