Milka, It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

Wait, I think that's orange juice and I refuse to say "Got Milka?" No matter, have a candy bar instead.
Milka chocolate is as seductively smooth as Barry White on Whacking Day, and Milka's Strawberry Yoghurt bar is a fine balance of tangy creme filling (with dried strawberries) and thin layers of Swiss chocolate.
This chocolate is fun and delicious, not all serious and conceited like that *stuck up dark chocolate (please write me if you've ever spent $250.00 on a truffle). Maybe Milka is the people's chocolate, it even has a purple cow on the wrapper. (Oddly enough I think I saw a purple cow sometime in the late eighties near Prairie du Chien.)
Milka chocolate, created in Switzerland in 1901 (Wikepedia fact of the month), is now made in Germany and other European countries. This particular 3.52 oz Strawberry Yoghurt bar was made in Germany and eaten straight out of the fridge right here in Southern Wisconsin.
Kraft calls Milka their number one European brand, surpassing the mighty Toblerone.
*Knipschildt's La Madeline au Truffe, for those of you too lazy to follow the link, costs $250.00 for one stinkin' chocolate mushroom. Coincidentally, it looks like something we found along the river in Praire du Chien.
The Knipschildt's ("nipshits?") website says it's a rare French Perigord truffle in 70% Valrhona dark chocolate, heavy cream, sugar, truffle oil and vanilla for the ganache, rolled in cocoa powder on a bed of sugar pearls in a silver box.
Pass the Milka.

Boo Fudge

Boo, fudge you say?
Why drive through the summer insanity of the Dells to get your fudge fix when this brilliant Cranberry Nut fudge is waiting for you in historic downtown Baraboo. The ripened walnuts and rave of cranberries make this fudge a perky hunk of heaven. Cranberry Nut fudge rivals the Pierce's Door County Cherry Walnut.
That's Joan and Ralph Pierce, owners of Gem City Candy. Gem City, it's not just the place next to Fan Faire Costume & Dance.
One of the many things I love about fudge is how you can sneak slices with no one the wiser. Not that I'm systematically bleeding dry two bags of candy meant for someone's birthday, but I suggest a paring knife for this type of pilfering rather than the plastic knife provided with each colorful Gem City fudge box.
Recommended by Joan Pierce, we dived into the Mud.



Devil's Lake Mud is a mind altering combination of chocolate and vanilla fudge, pecans, and caramel. It's what fudge should taste like. Smooth enough to cut with a plastic knife (if you don't care about leaving marks), and more than enough reason to motor west.
So Elizabeth, I can't think of any place in Madison to get good fudge, but who cares when the alternative is a trip to Boo.

The Badger Claw Revisited

I sent the girls on a short errand to Baraboo yesterday before all this heat. They lollygagged to no end, but came back with the goods and the answer to my Badger Claw question. It is made by the Baraboo Candy Company. Mystery solved.


That sweet man Ralph Pierce answered our Cow Pie questions even though he does double duty between Boo Candy and his own store, Gem City Candy (along with his lovely wife Joan). He also fished out this pretty new Badger Claw box which will soon be available in the Madison area.
The Baraboo Town Square, where you'll find Gem City, is the loveliest of places, and of course the Pierces make their own fudge. (I believe they'll throw you in the pokey for not making your own fudge west of Sauk City.)
Apologies to BufaloGirl for the lack of posts. We were up a lazy river as often happens in the summer months. And thank you to Mar der hey for including us on her blog roll.
Please enjoy these scrolling lyrics.

MILLS BROTHERS lyrics

Cocoa Deli Popsicles

According to the Cocoa Deli website these killer lollies have been out and about in the UK for almost two years. I hadn't seen them until last month when I rescued one of each flavor from a Middleton Walgreens.


"What, Belgian chocolate truffles shaped like popsicles," I asked no one in particular.
Cocoa bean pieces in a lush chocolate truffle give the Milk Chocolate Fudge Popsicle a snap. Cocoa lingers warmly on your tongue long after you've sucked the final remnants of chocolate through small holes at the top of the plastic stick. Although filled with the same amount of truffle as the white chocolate raspberry, the wall of Belgian milk chocolate on this popsicle doesn't overwhelm.
The Caramel Crunch Truffle tastes even richer when eaten at room temperature. The whole thing was so sweet I had to drink a glass of water in order to forge on. I found the butter toffee and cocoa cookie pieces overkill—like lighting a shot of 151 on fire. The caramel truffle is flanked by milk chocolate and lacks the savory cocoa afterburn of the milk chocolate fudge flavor.


The White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle was the only popsicle that melted at room temperature. The pink berry filling burst through a hole of melted chocolate, making it easier to lick off and separate from the nasty white chocolate. No reflection on Cocoa Deli, I'm just not a fan. The ambrosial raspberry truffle is made with dried and concentrated raspberries.
In Sum
The popsicle presentation might be whimsical enough for kids, but the taste may be too rich for some adults. Leave it to the Brits to make the 1.6 oz Belgian Chocolate Caramel Crunch Truffle Popsicle. It took three sittings and a Big Gulp full of water to knock off the Caramel Crunch.
Cocoa Deli Chocolate Truffle Popsicles, like the Big Gulp, should not be taken lightly.

Peanut Chews

I found these affable Chew-ets at the Stop-N-Go between Vitense and the Ice Arena. I was on my way to or from a Little League game when these huge chew hunks begged me to buy them. Baseball, I love it. I wish I was at a game right now. Yes, at 3:02 am I wish I was at a baseball game.
Go Sox.
So Peanut Chews, they come in king size 3.3 oz bars and are sectioned off in generous pieces kind of like a Bit-O-Honey.
They're "chocolate" covered "caramel" bites which reminded me of Snickers with a taste I couldn't identify because I was too lazy to turn over the wrapper and read the word "molasses." Then I found Cybele's far superior review (and photos) over at Candy Blog. She's done a ridiculously thorough job of reviewing Peanut Chews, and if I were you I'd just read hers.
What, still here, ok PCs are only a buck and also come in the Original Peanut Chew (dark "chocolate" in a red wrapper) which I gave to my sugar junky mother (yes, it runs in the family) along with this milk chocolate one.
The old lady loved them both (no surprise there). I thought the Milk Chocolately chew I ate not quite as addictive as a Snickers, but savory, unique, and lousy with peanuts. The larger than bite sized pieces made me feel less guilty about quickly chewing through the 230 calories. Twisted Pretzel Logic, no?
Mmmm, twisted pretzels.

Magic Box

Two weeks after my birthday, I'm flanked by candy wrappers and a bottomless gift box from the Old Time Candy Company. After eating my way through a layer of Jujubes, Kits, Mallow Cups, and candy bars I avoided as a kid, I feel a skooch unhealthy. Which is why I'm having a Charleston Chew for brunch. A little pick-me-up you understand. (The other day I had a Sky Bar with a side of Sixlets for breakfast—yeah, the diet's coming along fine.)
The magic 60s assortment box has taken on Lost-like overtones—if all there were to eat on the island were Zagnuts and Whoppers.
As with most nostalgic candy, memories shove themselves into your brain with each chomp. Like that time Terry Vilbrandt got an "A" on her science project just for putting some Red Hots in a test tube. C'mon! Or that pink Snaps tasted like soap and the white ones reminded us of Winkie's cage (something to do with living so close to the zoo). And why did we keep eating Caramel Creme Bulls-Eyes when they smacked of art paste?
MIA
The elusive Delfa Roll, Razzles, Lik-M-Aid, and both bubble gum and chocolate cigarettes.
(But the Chuckles, Pumpkin Seeds, Charms (both squared and suckered), were there. So were Necco Slap Stix, Black Jack Taffy, Walnettos, real candy cigs, and a cinnamon Hot Dog! two pack.)
Honorable Mention
•Brach's jelly nougat
•Neopolitan Coconut Sundae
•Chiclets 2-pack
•BB Bats
•Sugar Daddy (not too soft, not too brittle)
•Honeycombed Peanuts
•Bob's Sweet Stripes
•Butter Rum Life Savers
•Atkinson's Peanut Butter Bars and Chick-O-Sticks
Oy, I ate too much. Where is that fizzies packet, the one that looks like a condom?

Jones Soda Carbonated Candy

Jones Soda added three new carbonated candy flavors this year—M.F. Grape, Orange & Cream, and Cream Soda. They taste like fizzy SweeTarts (or SweeTart Fizzies), and come in cool flip top tins that make you want to empty out the contents and put more stuff in. There are short customer non sequiturs written under each lid ("you are a skilled metal worker," --Jamie in Satsuma).
The Jones Soda website calls the lively little candies "flavor boosters," suggesting they be dropped in Jones sodas. I tried this with a warm Diet 7Up over ice, and don't recommend it. (It tasted like a piece of Orange & Cream candy dropped out of someone's mouth and into my drink.)
Let me add that along with tempting pure cane soda choices such as Crushed Melon, Jones is known for some disturbing holiday flavors: Broccoli Casserole, Turkey & Gravy, Corn on the Cob, and Wild Herb Stuffing, et—blehhh—cetera.
The Jones candies are as "tongue-tingling," as the tin claims, but I'd forget the whole flavor booster thing.
Not like the Pop Rocks I expected, they are instead crunchy and effervescent, with a quick pucker, and sweet aftertaste. They don't taste much like soda, but are almost as fun as Fizzies, without the fear of something bubbling on your tongue until it burns straight through.
The Orange & Cream is oddly softer than the other two, and reminds me of Children's Bayer Aspirin. Of the three, I'd choose M.F. Grape, if for no other reason than to wonder aloud what the M.F. stands for.

Sport Beans

If you believe what you read on the Web, bikers, runners, and skaters talk about Jelly Belly Sport Beans as if they're the second coming of Gatorade. The beans are meant as convenient energy boosters rather than candy, even though they were introduced at the 2005 All Candy Expo.
According to an article on Red Orbit, flavor is their "top priority." The Lemon Lime flavor we tried can best be described as "eh." They also come in Fruit Punch, Berry Blue, and Orange.
Maybe you have to be a marathon althlete to appreciate these bland beans, but guest reviewer and scorchin' little leaguer, Bug, wasn't impressed.
In all fairness, we only tried the Lemon Lime, but no beanstalk here. You'd think kids would be a natural market for the makers of Bernie Bott's.

Chocolate Cheese

Continuing with our series on health food...you know it, you've seen it next to the Black Truffle Sheep's Milk, yes boys and girls, it's chocolate cheese.
My first encounter with this touch of evil was at an Arena cheese shop on the way to the American Players Theatre. What better way to get cultured than with a hunk of chocolate cheese? Get it, cultured?
Chocolate cheese is in reality chocolate fudge made with cheese: cream cheese, cheddar, white stilon. The slab in question was made with cheddar.
Brennan's Chocolate Cheese Fudge is savory with an unmistakable bite of cheddar. It's not too sweet, and verges on a pleasant tartness nestled in creamy cocoa. I'd prefer larger pieces of walnut.
Brennan's always has incredible cheeses and whatnot awaiting the indulgent sampler. There aren't many places that will intice you with Maple Syrup Cheddar and cranberry mustard.
Have some chocolate cheese for breakfast, dunk a hunk in your midday mochachino. It also comes in loaf and brick form. The kind of brick you'd wrap in your cholesterol results and throw through your doctor's window.
Also of Interest: The post on Slashfood about chocolate cheese product slices.

Bo Ryan's Express

This so-called iced cream not only recalls a great basketball season, but is surprisingly subtle and expressive. At least for a tub of ice cream. What is it expressing? Ice cream so fresh you can hear it graze.
Simple Ingredients
The creamy vanilla ice cream is loaded with large chocolate flakes and sports a gentle raspberry swirl. You can hop on Bo's Express without staining your shirt, unless you move around like a an actual badger, in which case watch out for errant chocolate chips.
A Little History
Babcock Hall has been open for 57 years. It's named after Dr. Stephen M. Babcock, who started the country's first dairy school.
Can I get an A-Moo?
He's also known for inventing the first butterfat test—which meant no more waiting for cream to rise to the top to guess butterfat content.
Thank you, Dr. Steve!
Let's face it, Babcock could come out with Blue-Green Badger Nut Algae Bloom, and it would still taste better than anything you'd find in a store, drive-thru, drive-in, or drive-by.

April Is The Mooest Month

What a great day. It started out in traffic court, a place I find wildly entertaining, and ended up at the Babcock Dairy Store.
If you're able to hoof it on down there, check out all the bass and crappie in the stream by the Nat, you won't believe it. It's like Oktoberfest for shiny, shiny fish.
And remember, student employees may not get your order right, but they give you plenty of the wrong thing. Such as:

•Chocolate Caramel Crackle
Rich chocolate ice cream with what tastes like Nestlé Crunch and caramel
•Bo's Express
I picked up a quart and will be reviewing it soon. I thought the label said something about coconut, but the website says raspberry swirl and chocolate flakes. Can't wait to find out what it is
•Irish Cream
Just like it sounds
•Maple Nut
Maple ice cream with cashews
•Butterscoth Marble
Yum
•Caramel Creek
Vanilla ice cream and caramel—this is what I ordered when given a leaning tower of Chocolate Caramel Crackle instead
•Chocolate Turtle
Chocolate ice cream, caramel, chocolate chips, and pecans
•Badger Blast
More chocolate ice cream with a vein of fudge and chocolate flakes. They are really pushing the chocolate
•Berries Jubilee
Strawberry and raspberry ice cream
And all the rest.
Some guy wanted Berry Alvarez and couldn't figure out it was the Berries Jubilee without the blueberries. Or the football season.

Sugar Buzz: Bunny Apples

Yeah, I know Easter was a week ago, but when I saw these Bunny Apples on flickr, I had to share.
Elizabeth, aka flickrer rocketcandy, says the apples were coated with white frosting and marshmallows. Note the caramel topping with dark chocolate bunnies on the right.
I think they were made somewhere on Robson Street in Vancouver.

Easter Apple photo by rocketcandy

Shrinkage

Ignore my sister's disapproving looks and buy your discounted Easter candy before it's all gone. Gone like the green grass of spring. Gone like José Reyes, gone like Juan Pierre.
But before you load up on Cadbury Creme Eggs, I refer you to Chocoblogger Dom Ramsey, bats right, throws right.
Chocoblog came across the shrinking Cadbury Creme Egg story on The Consumerist, and it isn't pretty.
Apparently much smaller Cadbury Eggs had been hatching under the radar until The Office's Ryan the Intern uncovered the truth.
B.J. Novak, who stocks up on the seasonal Cadbury eggs every year, found one stashed away to compare to this year's egg, and voilà, irrefutable proof of chocolate covered shrinkage. On Conan no less.
What happened to the gluttony of supersizing?

Dubble Bubbles

Gum. It's a candy, it's a toy, and unless you're at a ballgame, it's annoying.
Gumballs, like Big Barf candy, also make great filler. And April means you can choose fancy schmancy Easter gum, or simply revisit the classics.
OUR TEST: Bug, Vincenzo, and I inspected a pound of Grape and Blue Raspberry Dubble Bubble for flavor, texture, color, and blowing power.
OUR FINDINGS: I didn't like the fake grape taste which seemed to lose all flavor more quickly than the blue raspberry. I expected something with a sour grape kick, and was clearly thinking of another gum.
The boys were a little put off by the bumpy texture of the blue raspberry, but seemed to enjoy the rich blue color more than the violet.
Mixing colors created the pinkish blue bubble you see to your right. It took about five pieces to get a bubble this size.
CONCLUSION: Nothing loses flavor more quickly than Dubble Bubble. The grape practically lost it's taste before it was chewed. The blue raspberry retained flavor longer, but impeded the bubble blowing process.
In all fairness, we thought the fake grape blew a decent, initially smoother bubble, but found the blue raspberry more alluring.

Big Barf Candy

If you're bored with luscious chocolate spun into Easter eggs and birds nests, here's something to break up the monotony.
Big Barf Candy. It won't spoil anyone's appetite, despite round chunks rolling from a green mouth onto a red tongue.
Let's call it filler candy. It's of the pellet variety which usually comes in a tube, commonly found in toy doctor and makeup kits back in the sixties.
"10ccs of little colored balls, stat."
Big Barf is a fraternal twin of Big Burp, also from the twisted minds at the Kandy Kastle. Surely you're familiar with the Candy Hose Nose and the Mallow Burger with Fries.
Big Barf comes with barfing noises which seem to say, "If you care what I taste like, you've missed the point."
My cousin Vinnie, guest tester, demonstrates.

Lemon Duck With Carrot

These attractive Mark Avenue Chocolates stood out among a multitude of bright and fun candy at Debbies Sweets 'n Treats.
The new store had just been handed down to Deb's daughter, Erica, a few weeks before, and looked fuller and more energized than ever.
While my sister submerged herself in Easter candy, I stocked up on Space Food Sticks and gumballs. And I don't chew gum. Well now I do, having recently purchased a pound of blue raspberry and Dubble Bubble gumballs.
Back to Mark Avenue; they make a decent duck.
The lemon in the Lemon Flavored Yellow Duck was subtle and lingering, the chocolate thick and not too sweet. Weighing in at 1.5 oz., it was thick enough to provide a soft crunch. The light lemon flavor cut the sweetness.
The Orange Carrot had a heavier, artificial taste and smell. It scored high on looks, low on taste.
I'd spend the buck thirty on as many Yellow Ducks as I could stuff in an Easter Basket, but would rather grow, then harvest, my own Chocolate Bunny than eat another Orange Carrot.

Candy Grubbers

A few Now and Laters thrown out of a car decorated in shamrocks by a parade of strangers―Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Driving the Dempsey car in the Madison St. Patrick's Day Parade is all about Celts, candy, and not having to scrape small children out of your wheel well.
Most of the Parade photos are up now. And they're fun to view as a slideshow.
A special thanks to the Flynn's for that much needed Guinness.

Peeps Cocoa Bunnies

Peeps. You know 'em, you love 'em, you want some more of 'em.
I like the Peeps Cocoa Bunnies because their marshmallow innards contrast nicely with the chocolate coating.
Whether you eat one ear at a time or shove the whole thing in your mouth, how cute are those chocolate dotted faces. One of mine had an unsightly mole.
These might be too good for stoners, no offense, and best eaten fresh. That way they're light and airy the way a marshmallow should be. And sugar seeking pets have an easier time of it when one falls their way.
Is it because I rarely have Peeps fresh from the package, or does the dusting of cocoa powder make the Cocoa Bunnies so delectable? I could hardly pose them for a photo without:
A. Wondering what they'd taste like grilled between two graham crackers and a slab of Hershey's chocolate
B. Hoping it got cold enough to dunk them into steaming cups of Chocolate Malt Ovaltine
C. Tearing into the row of four like a wild dog
I've never had Peeps Cocoa Bats, or Peeps Cocao Cats (lovingly mutilated by William at Chocolate Obesession), but I can't imagine they're much different. Peeps Cocoa Bunnies aren't overwhemingly chocolate―can you be overwhelmingly Peep?
Enough of those silly lollipops, I want my Peeps room temp and ready to slide down my throat like a sugar coated oyster.
Mmmm, oyster Peeps.

Hot Tamales Ice

Boy, boy, crazy boy.
If you like jelly spearmint leaves, you'll like Hot Tamales Ice Chewy Mint Flavored Candies.
HTICMFC have been around since January, and just below the surface at least, taste like cinnamon Hot Tamales.
Run-ins with both Peppermint Schnapps and Crème de Menthe have put me off most things mint—with the exception of the US Mint and Mint Juleps on Derby Day (this year on Cinco de Mayo).

Hot Tamales Ice have the same crunchy outside, same jelly inside, same Hot Tamales syrupy finish as the originals. You can still bite one down to its nub and get a sugar crust with a bit of chew. HT Ice leaves you with a breezy mint aftertaste after sucking down the spotted coating.
Not as bad as I thought, kind of fun, but cinnamon still rules, especially for dumping into popcorn.

Peeps Pop Sliders

These weren't what I expected.
I expected Peeps dispensers twisting out marshmallow concentrate glazed in fine sugar. Maybe if I'd read the label.
These pop sliders measure smaller than a Pez dispenser, and harbor lipstick type hard candy.
The Peeps Marshmallow Lollipop initially smacked of toasted marshmallow, then quickly lost its taste, picking up a whiff of plastic from the container. It didn't help that invisible bits of plastic clung to the yellow sucker. Don't bite into it, because the Marshmallow Pop Slider is downright nasty.
TIP: Using the purple slider button lifts the wrapper up and off.
If you have the mind of a small child (as I do), watch out for rough surfaces when using them as a lipstick. Peeps sliders don't leave a color, but coat your lips with enough gloss to attract bees.
The two other flavors, Strawberry Cream and Blue Raspberry, fare better. The Strawberry also whiffed of plastic while retaining a slight berry flavor. The Blue Raspberry tasted like a Popsicle to the teeth cracking end. Too sweet for me though.
On the Peeps side, they're basket friendly and pass muster as a novelty candy.