Wonka Exceptionals: Scrumdiddlyumptious Chocolate Bar

What pulled me to this bar was the use of the word (well, I guess it's sort of a word) "Scrumdiddlyumptious." A co-worker and I have actually had conversations about how the word "scrumptious" is not being used enough, and...well this was pretty close.

The Wonka Scrumdiddlyumptious bar is part of the Wonka line, and is a milk chocolate bar with toffee pieces, crispy cookie, and peanut bits.



First, regardless of taste, I liked how they molded this bar. As you can see, it's got a really whimsical mold. The pieces come in a variety of sizes to break off, and there is the standout W in the center. It looks good -- but how does it taste?



The chocolate is very smooth and very sweet. There are strong dairy notes; you can definitely taste the milk in the bar. But the chocolate is still very, very sweet. My throat was burning after only a couple of squares.

While the mix-ins are plentiful, they're not uniform. So some squares have oodles of "crunches" and some have next to none. The toffee bits were my favorite because they added a little buttery, salty hint. The cookies in question just seemed plain and blah. There's nothing really wrong with them, but they're certainly nothing exciting. The peanuts were crunchy and added a nice nut flavor.



I gotta give Wonka points for the cool name, and for having an interesting ingredients list. Tastewise, it was decent but it didn't really rock my world. I won't be pulling on an Oompa Loompa suit and trying to sneak into the factory for free bars just yet, but it was a nice enough option.

Check out both Cybele's review here, and Jim's review here.



PURCHASED FROM:
WalMart

PRICE:
$2.18

CALORIES:
170 per 1/3 bar.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains peanuts. Made on equipment shared with tree nuts and wheat.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
wonka.com

Too Haute Cowgirls: Fistful of Fleur de Sel

If long time readers know anything about me, it's that three of my favorite words in the world are Fleur de Sel. How do you not love salt, and how do you not love salt even more when it's paired with caramel, chocolate, and popcorn? It's probably impossible. So when Too Haute Cowgirls mosied off the range to ask me if I wanted to try some of their popcorn creations, I struck faster than an angry rattlesnake at a cowboy caught wearing his cousin as boots (or something like that). Anyway...

The popcorn is stuck together with caramel in nicely sized clusters, which are then covered in dark chocolate along with large chunks of toffee sprinkled with fleur de sel.

OMG! If life in the Wild West were more like this and less like about a dozen bad Kevin Costner movies, maybe I would regret not living there.

The popcorn is fluffy and manages to not pick up that oily taste and spongy texture that packaged popcorn tends to get. The caramel is buttery and you know it's there -- but it's not so strong that it overrides any of the other flavors.



The toffee pieces were crunchy and sweet, and complimented the caramel perfectly.

But it's really the salt that brings the whole thing together. It makes the cocoa in the dark chocolate stand out. It balances the caramel and the toffee, and it reminds you of the best part of really good freshly popped corn.



This stuff is truly addicting. And we actually blew through the entire bag while writing the review. So grab old Trigger and go get some...of course, if you're riding a horse to get to your internet connection, you may have bigger issues.



PURCHASED FROM:
Sample from company.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Made in facilities along with dairy, soy, peanuts, wheat, and tree nuts are used.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
toohautecowgirls.com

Harry & David Dark Chocolate Moose Munch Bar

A few weeks ago I tried the Milk Chocolate Moose Munch (read all about it HERE) and I liked it so much I wanted to try the dark chocolate version.
Just likes it's milk chocolate brother the dark chocolate Moose Munch is made up of a fudgy center, popcorn, caramel and nuts.

Just like with the first bar the popcorn was my favorite part. Why is there not more popcorn candy? there also seemed to be more nuts and filling in this version compared to the milk chocolate. The nuts were crunch and fresh. The caramel was less noticable in this bar then it was in the milk chocolate version. Sadly, the toffee bits were almost none existent in this bar.

The dark chocolate is just dark enough that it is not a milk. But even that said I prefered it to the milk. While I liked the milk chocolate in the other version it was on the sweet side, the dark chocolate takes the edge off of that.

Did I mention that there really needs to be more candy bars with popcorn in them?


PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreens

Vosges Caramel Marshmallows

Ok let's just read the ingredient list shall we?
Marshmallows made with bourbon vanilla beans, sweet sugar caramel, French guerande grey sea salt, dark chocolate and pecan & walnut toffee. Yeah, as if there is any chance that this is going to be anything less then amazing?

Let's put it this way. If some things are so good they are like "Clive Owen naked good" and other products are even better so they are like "Stephen Colbert accepting my marriage proposal" good what do you call something that tops even that?

How about "A naked Stephen Colbert accepts my proposal while laying on a bearskin rug in front of a fire" good:

Yeah, these are THAT good.

The marshmallow it's self is soft and fluffy. You can see the specks of vanilla bean in there. The sharp tang of the sea salt mixing into the the smooth creamy caramel- must I tell you again how much I love salt and caramel together? The crunch of the sweet toffee against the slightly bitter, woodsy chocolate. Seriously, this is one of the best things ever to be put in my mouth.

The kind folks over at Vosges would like to give you a chance to taste them as well.
Just in time for the holidays they are offering my dear readers 10% off of all purchases made on they're website Vosges Chocolates.Com simply add in code 2810WB1 and you are on your way to some amazing treats (check out that site, you could have all of your holiday shopping done before Thanksgiving!)

Now, if you will excuse me Stephen and I have a few more marshmallows to finish (ok by "Stephen and I" I really mean ME!- I love him but I AM NOT SHARING!)

PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Harry & David Milk Chocolate Moose Munch Bar

Again I have to credit Jim for inspiring me to want to try something
Jim reviewed this bar back in September (check out his review HERE) and I thought it sounded pretty darn good.

Wandering around Walgreen's last night I found they have started to carry the bars so you know... I had to get one (what you thought I could pass it up?)

The bar has popcorn, caramel, nuts, toffee bits and a fudgy center wrapped in milk chocolate (they have a dark chocolate version as well but the ones on the shelf looked crushed)

I love the idea of popcorn in a candy bar. Off the top of my head I can't think of another bar that has popcorn in it. The bar smells great. Sweet and milky- almost marshmellow like.

Biting into the bar I think because of the smell I had been expecting a soft, chewy texture. What I actually got both smooth and crunchy from the nuts and the popcorn. It was actually a pleasent surprise.

The popcorn was just like I hoped it would be. Crunchy, salty and the pieces were big fluffy kernals. The nuts when I could find them were slightly salty and crispy. As far as I could tell from the label there are supposed to be cashews and almonds. My bar seemed to have mostly cashews. As for the caramel while I can tell from the flavor that it is in there I didn't see any visable traces of it. The toffee bits were crisp and buttery. The chocolate was cool on the tongue, sweet and has an instantly creamy melt. I think without the fillings it may be too sweet but as is it balanced everything out.

My only complaint with the bar really isn't a complaint so much as I wish- I wish there had been more popcorn!

I have got to try the dark chocolate version!

PURCHASED FROM:
Walgreens

If you have never had one of these bar's they are a must try.

Hotel Chocolat Caramellow

First I must express my thanks to the very kind Nicki with Hotel Chocolat.
Getting this bar to me was no easy task and her patience, humor and persistence were greatly appreciated.

I also need to give a shout out to Jim of Jim's Chocolate Mission back in August he did a review of this bar (which you can read HERE) I knew then that I had to try it for myself.

The Caramellow slab is made up of milk chocolate, caramel, caramel drops, cinder toffee and Florentine squares. Let me tell you the photo's do not do the bar justice.

Food porn aside let's talk about taste.
OMG! first, the milk chocolate is very creamy, with strong dairy notes. It's not too sweet. The melt was smooth and rich.

The baby caramel drops not only make the bar look great but they bring a deep buttery sweetness to the bar- without being sticky or taking away from the creamy texture. The toffee bits add a nice crunch and the Florentine squares brought with them the warm hazelnut tones that only add's to the overall greatness of the bar- I had been worried that they might bring a stronger Nutella type flavor that would overwhelm the rest of the bar but that was not the case.

I have on occasion compared things I really loved to being "Clive Owen naked good" I liked this bar so much that I don't think that goes far enough. No, this is more like "Stephen Colbert has finally excepted my proposal" good

(hm... wonder if I could get Stephen and the Caramellow bar in the same room?...)

I could go on but I need to stop before both Stephen and Hotel Chocolat get restraining orders. In any case this slab get's the elusive 11!

PURCHASED FROM:
Sample From Company

Hershey Kisses with Toffee Crunch

Toffee!
How could an idea as good as Toffee Kisses turn out so badly?!
The first hint that something is wrong is the smell. Have you ever smelt one of those butterscotch Yankee Candles? well these smell a lot like that. Since candles tend to not to be high on my list of candy flavors this was not a point in the kisses flavor.

Taste wise. We're back to candles. Since the kisses are molded they seem to be a bit waxy. The normal sweetness of the chocolate coupled with the "toffee"- which seems more like lumps of sugar then a true toffee are multiplied. I felt like calling a dentist to make a confession that I had committed a sugary sin.

The only thing about them that I really liked was the addition of the non-perils for texture. But even that was done better in the Candy Cane Kisses.
Just skip these and get a Score or a Heath bar.

PURCHASED FROM:
Target