Chocolate for Fun

You know I had to see if Trader Joe's had any Easter Candy and sure enough:



They even give us some history on the carton:





Yep - definitely egg shaped. Coated in chocolate with no outer candy coating or coloring. These are delicious and the chocolate is very, very good.

You KNOW Whoppers is going to do something! They have both regular size



and mini Robin Eggs:



Nice bright colors as advertised:





The autopsy of the Mighty Malts eggs from Necco reveals something very horrifying:






NO CHOCOLATE!!! AAAIIIEEE!!! They have two types of malted eggs - one is Ice Cream Shoppe with the flavors strawberry, orange, chocolate, and cookie dough - this refers to the malted milk part - the coating doesn't seem to have much flavor. These remind me of cereal flavors - the strawberry tastes just like the Crunchberries in Captain Crunch cereal. The orange is really strong and sugary - heck these are all strong and sugary and fake tasting - kids would probably LOVE them! Me - not so much.

These are just regular old malt balls:





coated in a weird candy coating. Remember - no chocolate. Boo!!! I say. Boo!!!

Necco also makes the PAAS eggs. Interesting - the others are under the Mighty Malts brand and the Necco logo is nowhere to be seen - until you flip the bag over and look at the fine print.



These have a thin layer of chocolate:



and are the best of the three Necco offerings. I can't decide if I like them better than the Whoppers or not - they are larger and don't have the hard candy shell. Both are pretty good.

These are offered by Williams-Sonoma and Jelly Belly (I told you we'd get to those that were in the Deluxe Easter Mix!):



I think they are both made by Jelly Belly although the Williams-Sonoma bag says theirs are made exclusively for them. They taste the same, have the same ingredients, and the same autopsy results:



Get the Jelly Belly ones - I found them at Hallmark - they are $3.00 cheaper than the Williams- Sonoma ones. As pretty as these are, they were hard as rocks compared to some of the competition. The taste was okay - not impressive since these are the most expensive.

I swear these two are identical (same colors, same ingredients, same taste and autopsy results). One I found in Cracker Barrel:





And the other I found in Target:





These are good too! The candy shell is thinner than the Whoppers shell, which I actually like a little better. I'm not at all sure who makes these babies - each package just lists a distributor, not the actual maker. Another Easter mystery.

This is a Spring offering from Harry and David:





Now, I should like these! The candy coating is nice, they have a thick layer of chocolate, but for some reason - these were a no go. It was like the malted part didn't have any taste. All I had to do was eat one and then eat a Traders Joe's egg - the difference was clear. If it's going to be a malt ball it has to have that crazy crunch in the middle - it was kind of lacking here. Disappointing.

These have nothing to do with Easter, but since we're on a malted milk ball roll, check out these by World Market:

I'd never seen anything like these before:



They are made in Holland and are coconut and coco - very light:




This is it - Easter is finally gone! These coconut nests are made by Long Grove Confectionery:










These are by the Crown Candy Company based in my hometown of Macon, GA:



They are chocolate and caramel coconut tips:





Abdallah offers this Haystack:





The chocolate is good, but it really overpowers the coconut. And in a haystack, it just ain't supposed to be that way. Not bad, but too heavy on the chocolate.



I've reviewed Sanders products before:



And they are always pretty awful.. Their coconut "delights" are no exception. They not only have coconut, but also crisped rice - which I didn't think added anything. Not good.



This is peanut brittle covered with dark chocolate and coconut:







If you MUST combine peanut butter with coconut, then there is really only one place to go:



Oh yes, the much maligned Chick-O-Stick - crunchy peanut butter and toasted coconut candy:

World Market has a pretty good rewards program (you all know what a sucker I am for those!). You get a $10 credit for your birthday and $10 for every $100 you make in food purchases. I had $20 in credit burning a hole in my pocket, so I tried some stuff I've been eyeing. I like to try the seemingly improbable. Cake on a shelf for some indeterminate amount of time seems improbable.

The picture on the top is the outer package, inside are six individually wrapped cakes:



Now this doesn't look a dang thing like the cake in the picture:








I was certain this would be terrible. I mean - these cakes are just sitting on the shelf! How can they be any good at all? This is decorated sponge cake with strawberry jam and custard filling:







I got this one from A Southern Season - a peanut butter torte - holy smokes!!!! But it's in a box, so I had my doubts:



But look at this - it looks great, right?





And you can't have a party without cookies! These are new by Oreo:



I was surprised when I opened the box and there were so few inside - Oreos are usually packed!





These are a new limited edition flavor - Oreo Blizzard:





Sprinkles seems so festive and springy to me!! Whee!! So let's look at some nonpareils with colored sprinkles. These are by Choclatique:



And these are by a German company - Horst Schluckwerder: