Skip's Candy Corner Fudge: Assorted Flavors

I just returned home from a couple of weeks in New York, and while I wasn't able to get out as much as I would have liked -- 'cause, y'know, lupus is the gift that keeps on giving -- I did manage to see Net, my "Sister from Another Mother" in New Jersey.  And I can't thank her enough for taking me out to Peddler's Village, just over the New Jersey border in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  We had a fantastic day overall, but certainly one of the highlights was a visit to Skip's Candy Corner.





You know that expression "kid in a candy store?"  Yup, that was me.  Actually, think "overly hyper and caffeinated-up food blogger with a debit card" -- that would be more accurate.  But good grief, Skip's (and to be honest, Peddler's Village overall) has so much stuff that I'm lucky that I didn't see it all. As it was, I was debating whether or not I really had to pay the rent...and that's not because the prices were tourist-trap outrageous (which, by the way, they were not), but because I literally could have taken 90% of the store home.

So I decided to think about the things I had to have, and then come back before we returned to New Jersey (and sadly, we dawdled so long elsewhere that they closed before I got back).  Hmmmmm, hard decisions!  Just feast your eyes on the yumminess pictured below....













Drooling yet?  If you aren't, don't complain to me -- complain to a psychiatrist!

Once again I have Net to thank: she knew she had to take some fudge home and made her purchase in advance -- and we ended up talking to the fantastic woman who was manning the store at that time (I am so sorry I didn't get her name -- honestly, I was so overwhelmed by the all the sugary goodness surrounding me that I wasn't paying as close attention as I should have).  Well, as she explained to me, all of Skip's fudge is made in house.  And to make a long story only somewhat less long, she ended up sending me home with some fudge for review!



As you can see below, she gave me five different varieties to sample.




So, without further ado, I shall start the review with...

Salted Caramel Fudge:



This is the one I thought was going to be my favorite, as you all know about my current obsession with anything salted caramel. This one has a layer of caramel sandwiched between two layers of chocolate fudge, and is topped with large flakes of salt. And yes, I was right, it is my favorite.  The fudge is rich with just a little bit of grain to it. The caramel is of the more solid varity, and while it pulls apart easily with some some stringing, there certainly no oozing -- and I think thats really the only way it could be done in this instance. I don't imagine a caramel that was fluid would work well here. The caramel has a nice buttery note to it, and I would have happily eaten it all by itself.  Probably the best fudge I will ever have!  The only thing I would have changed is salt flakes on top.  Mind you, I liked them -- but I think a sprinkling on the caramel as well would have pushed this square to the point where its goodness would be outlawed.  Hell, it's pretty close to that point now!


Amaretto:



I always think of this flavor as being one of those classic fudge flavors. I don't care how many times I have had it before; I am having it again. This one has a thin layer of chocolate fudge atop a thicker layer of the amaretto flavored fudge. The chocolate is top notch...but it's the amaretto layer that's the star for me. It has a cool, smooth melt on the tongue, and it is easy to imagine it is this close (*holds thumb and index finger a hair's breath apart*) to being poured from a liquor bottle.



The only thing I didn't love about this square was that it is dusted with cinnamon. While it makes the fudge look pretty, I just do not care for the combination of the flavors.  No problems, though -- the cinnamon is only on the very top, so it was easy to work around.


Peanut Butter:



Okay, whenever I get fudge at Disneyland it is always the Tiger Butter (which is what they call peanut butter). Not surprisingly, Skip's has outdone this flavor as well. It has equal layers of chocolate and peanut butter fudge. The chocolate is fab, but it's the peanut butter that I loooooo-o-o-oove. It tastes as if the nuts are fresh and just roasted. It's perfectly smooth with just enough salty tang.  Fantastic!


Rocky Road:



Yes. it has marshmallows...which pretty much means Enough Said!  Well, all right, I have to say more than that.  The thing about Rocky Road that I always seem to forget until it's too late is that it also has nuts. I know that sounds stupid, but I usually just eat the marshmallows and work around the nuts. In this case, I forgot to ask which kind they used -- but I am pretty sure it's walnuts.  And once again Skip's used chocolate fudge, folded into which are mini marshmallows and huge chunks of nuts.



This fudge is so fresh, and the marshmallows are still perfectly moist and gooey!  Marshmallow heaven!  And though I don't usually like them, I also tried the nuts (oh, what I will do for a review!).  They are quite crunchy and taste as fresh as the marshmallows -- if you like nuts in your fudge, you will surely love these.   So, my own personal nut caveat aside, this one is yet another winner.


Maple Nut:



Last but not least, I am once again digging into a nut fudge. I absolutely love pretty much any maple candy. Unfortunately (at least at the time of my visit) the only maple fudge they had with it was this one...and it also contains walnuts. But thats OK, because I know that a lot of people love nut candy, so here you guys go...



If you are looking for a chocolate-free fudge, look right here. The maple flavor is bright and sweet. It reminded me of the topping on maple doughnuts or those maple syrup candies you can get in New England (talk about things I love).  It was absolutely, incredibly good.  Even with the nuts, I didn't want to share this one with anybody else.  (The nuts by the way are huge and crisp. Walnuts lovers should go crazy over this.) 

All in all, there is no shortage of great things I could say about Skip's and their fudge.  But don't think I am just torturing you guys with things only locals can get hold of.  Skip's will ship their goodies to you anywhere in the U.S. -- and perhaps even outside the U.S. as well.  Check out Skip's website for more info.

I cannot wait to go back in few months!

Redstones's Jalapeño Bar

I was walking through the Continental Terminal E at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, and tucked in among all the little shops was a candy store called Coco Mako. (Which, it seems, is part of a chain of cafe/chocolate stores.) In any event, they had a pretty darn good assortment of interesting candy, and but for lack of carry-on space (I just didn't plan that one out at all), I could have done some damage.

Amidst all the bars was this one, sold by a local Texas company -- I would like to tell you it was my desire to support small business that inspired me to buy it -- but no, it was really only one word on the wrapper that it did it. And that word was "jalapeño." I didn't even bother to read the rest of the bar's info; the pepper alone did it for me. OK, yeah, it also has peanuts. (I need to start reading. I am one of those weird people who likes both chocolate and peanuts, but not together, other than in peanut butter form)

Without reading, I had been hoping that this bar would actually have bits of jalapeño embedded into the chocolate. When I actually read the ingredients, it turned out that the bar uses jalapeño pepper powder. Now, that could still make it good -- it's just that I'd wanted jalapeño chunks. The bar also has the aforementioned peanuts (salted, by the way), and it's milk chocolate.



The bar is the size and shape of the standard Hershey bar. As you can see from the pictures, my bar had started to bloom -- but I am a trooper, and I took one for the team.



The chocolate bar looks and smells a hell of a lot like the Astor Chocolate bar made for the gift shop in the Empire State Building. I have to wonder if Astor didn't make this bar as well, because damned if the chocolate didn't also taste the same.

The chocolate is a little too sweet. It's smooth enough and there are some nice deep cocoa notes, but the sugar is just too much. Fortunately, the salt from the nuts balances things a bit. The peanuts in the bar are in the form of small but plentiful chips. They are crunchy and salty -- and the salt is the best part of the bar.

As for the jalapeño powder: The bar does have a teeny-tiny bit of heat, but if I'd had to guess what it was without prior knowledge that it was jalapeño, I wouldn't have thought of it.

This bar had a lot of potential, and while it's not horrid, it doesn't even make it to the level of "average." I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to get another.


PURCHASED FROM:

Coco Mako (George Bush Intercontinental Airport: Houston, Texas)
Price: $3.99
Calories: 220 (serving size considered to be half a bar)

Fudge Covered Ritz Crackers (Limited Edition)

All right, I admit it. After reading Marvo's review of the new Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ritz Crackers, I had blogger envy and went on a trip to my local Wally World to try to find them for myself.

I didn't find the Brown Sugar Cinnamon variety...but I did find the limited edition Fudge Covered! Yes, people, this review is packing some fudge (oh, come on, you knew at some point in this review my inner twelve-year-old was going to come out).



If you think about it, a fudge covered Ritz cracker ought to be pretty darn good. Ritz crackers are buttery and salty -- both tastes that pair quite nicely with chocolate/fudge. I also happen to be a huge fan of chocolate covered matzo, so I thought this might be an extension of that love.



According to Marvo, the Brown Sugar Cinnamon version only has the cinnamon and sugar on one side. So that's what I was expecting with this version. As it turned out, the crackers are fully enrobed. The fudge layer is quite thin, granted, but it covers completely.

The fudge itself has a very light, milk chocolate color. It is very sweet and only vaguely cocoa flavored. And it's oily, too. (There is a lot of oil in them, so this is no surprise.) Based on the package illustration, I thought it would be a little darker. Actually, I wish it really had been a dark chocolate. I think dark chocolate or darker fudge pair better with savory items.

I had had high hopes for the cracker. I expected that the rich, buttery, salty crunch of the Ritz cracker would cut through the fudge. Sadly, that never came. And oddly enough, the crackers seemed neither buttery nor salty as one would expect. In fact, it tasted exactly like a Keebler Fudge Stripe cookie. It's not that this is a bad thing per se, particularly if you really love Keebler Fudge Stripes -- it's just that they sucked everything out of it that could have made it distinctive. The crackers aren't even that crunchy, for crying out loud! Makes you wonder what the point of this effort was.

Bland, boring, and completely forgettable.



PURCHASED FROM:
Wal*Mart

Lindt Excellence Dark: A Touch of Sea Salt

OK, I feel like I am totally riding Cybele's coat tails. She recently reviewed the same bar (don't miss her review here), and it just sounded so good that I had to go and track one down for myself.

I love salted chocolate -- but most of the time it's "salted" only because the salt is attached to caramel or nuts or even bacon. This bar is different, because it's simply dark chocolate and sea salt.



Keep in mind I am not a huge fan of Lindt. It's not that I find it bad or even substandard; it's just that I am just not usually wowed by it.

This bar, however, impressed me. It has a great aroma to it; a very rich cocoa. It's like the perfume of a million happy little Toll House morsels -- and I mean that in the best way possible. The chocolate itself is mild for a dark, probably because it's only 47% cocoa. Personally, it reminds me of a very deep milk chocolate. It's very creamy and has a fabulous melt.



The sea salt is the clear star here. As best I can tell, the salt seems to rest mainly on the top of the bar. There's not a lot of it...just enough to set off the chocolate beautifully. There is a savory element to it that I am not sure I can do justice to...about all I can say is it just makes the chocolate better. There are also little salt crystals mixed throughout the bar that add a nice, slightly crunchy texture. And I love the way they melt on the tongue.

This bar is so good mostly because it's so simple. There's no glitz, no excess, no edgy, super-trendy ingredient (yes, bacon, I mean you), but that's exactly the point. It's as basic yet elegant as the classic little black dress. It should not be missed.



PURCHASED FROM:

Walgreens

Doritos Collisions: Cheesy Enchilada & Sour Cream

There is just something wrong with the world when I am watching Anthony Bourdain and drooling over the all the great things he gets to eat, and the best thing I have in my house is a bag of Doritos.

Don't get me wrong. I looooove me some Doritos every now and then. It's just hard to go from watching Bourdain eating crab in garlic sauce, fresh oysters and freshly made Middle Eastern foods, and then I eat...well, Doritos.



Oh well, be that as it may...the Doritos "Collisions" line consists of two different flavors of chips mixed together in one handy bag. This bag was like Mexican food when you are too lazy or...um...relaxed to go get real Mexican food...

The Cheesy Enchilada chip, pictured below:



Yes, it features that alarming, kinda radioactive-looking orange color that reminds one of hunter's vests or Muppet skin (hunting for Muppets, perhaps?). I really tried to get deep into the flavor and figure out what -- if anything -- made it taste enchilada-like. Or at least less like the classic nacho flavor. And the best answer I could come up with is that it's the standard nacho chip with extra "cheese" powder and a bit of cumin. It was about as close to an actual enchilada as a Taco Bell Enchirito. But in much the same way that an Enchirito is so bad it's good, so is the Enchilada chip.

Next, the Sour Cream chip:



I am a sour cream lover. I'm one of those freaks who will put it on pretty much everything and anything.

But I can live without the crunchy version. Take everything good about sour cream (or, failing that, even other sour cream flavored chips) and all you're left with is a sort of sour corn chip. And it's a weird sour. Kinda like sour cream that was left in the sun rather than real sour cream. It's not horrible, not even all that bad...but I sure wouldn't buy an entire bag of them.

If you eat both chips together...well, about all I can say is that you've eaten them together at that point, and nothing much has changed. If you liked the "Tacos At Midnight" flavor then this one is probably right up your alley. I myself am sticking to the Spicy Nacho flavor (aww...dude...)



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

Archer Farms Chocolate Drizzle Snack Mix

Something about cereal snack mixes make me think about parties my parents may (or may not) have thrown back in the 70's, where the adults stayed upstairs, and the kids were banished to the basement, where all they had to entertain themselves with was a TV that only got four (yes, four!) channels, some old toys, games missing pieces, and snacks consisting of bad frozen pizza and a big bowl of stale cereal with whatever Mom felt like tossing into it...

It's OK, we worked through most of the bad memories in therapy. Really, we did. Anyway...



The Chocolate Drizzle mix features roasted peanuts, pretzels, and Chex-like cereal covered in a chocolate drizzle with sprinkles of cayenne pepper.

I think for me it's the mix of cereal and spice that is what I really don't like about snack mixes. Archer Farms was pretty easy-handed when it came to the pepper. You can definitely tell that it's there, but it doesn't overwhelm. There are other spices including garlic, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and lots of salt. But yeyond the salt and the cayenne, I couldn't pick any particular flavor out--it's just sort of a generic spice.



The chocolate drizzle was very liberal mix of white and milk chocolate. It was heavier on the white. Not the greatest chocolate ever, but surprisingly good for a non-candy product.



All of the individual components were fresh and crisp. If you are a fan of snack mixes, I can see where you would really love this one. I, however, am still not a fan. I guess it's just one of those things that no matter how good the product, is I am still not going to like it. With that in mind, I am going to rate it based on the quality of the ingredients and how I think someone who likes snack mix would feel, rather than based on the ingredients and my thoughts on the taste.



PURCHASED FROM:
Target

Meiji Caramel Pucca

When I saw these on the shelf at Kam Man in New York City, the first thing I thought of was classic Pepperidge Farm Goldfish snacks.

Since the entire box written in Japanese, the best I could tell is that it was a pretzel type cracker filled with caramel.



Seeing my little school of Pucca fish, that was a pretty good guess on my part (yes, yes, I AM a genius, thank you). Each fish is like a giant puffy Goldfish. The baked surface is studded with large grains of salt. The cracker itself is not exactly a pretzel--although it sure looks like it--but it's not exactly like a Pocky biscuit either. It's kinda like what would pop out of the oven nine months after a Goldfish cracker had a drunken three-way with a Pocky Biscuit and a Rold Gold Pretzel. (Is it inappropriate to speculate on the DNA possibilities of snack foods?) Anyway, no one's really sure which the baby daddy is because it could easily be either, and the appearance on Morrie isn't scheduled for another month...



Tastewise, the first thing you notice is the salt, then the cracker. The cracker is kindasorta of like a Pocky biscuit that was cooked extra long. It's a little saltier, a little yeastier.

The caramel filling is in the form of a creme rather then a hard or fluid caramel. It's cool on the tongue and smooth-- sort of like the filling in a sandwich cookie. It's on the sweet side, which the salt cuts perfectly. There's a very milky taste to the caramel.

I had only tried the Pucca because it looked interesting but didn't think I would end up caring for them one way or the other. But let me tell you, this snack was insanely addictive. Meiji makes several flavors, so you know I will have to go fishing for some!




PURCHASED FROM:
Kam Man Market, New York City

I purchased these at Kam Man, but my friends at J-List carry this flavor along with others, so be sure to check them out!

Trader Joe's Pumpernickel Pretzel Sticks

I haven't seen pumpernickel sticks in years. I swear, they have everything at Trader Joe's!



My Dad used to like them. I remember he had what I still regard as a gross habit of "dipping" them in liverwurst or braunschweiger (another type of liverwurst). Actually, until I saw these rods at Trader Joe's, I had managed to suppress that memory fairly successfully for about 15 years... hmmmm,thanks, Trader Joe's!



Anyway... The TJ's Versions are roughly 4 inches long and half an inch thick. The slightly glossy outer shells are studded with rock salt. The rods are very crunchy and have a coarse texture.



In case you didn't know, Pumpernickel is a type of very dark rye bread. These pretzels, while seed free, do have a very strong rye flavor. They pretzels also have a really noticeable onion flavor (although since onion is listed on the ingredient list, it's not like we need Scooby Doo to solve the mystery). Looking at the rods you may worry they would be too salty because there are A LOT of salt crystals--but it balances out really well.

These would also be great dipped in onion dip or used as croutons. My Dad can keep the liver.



PURCHASED FROM:
Trader Joe's