Easter Candy
A no-brainer topic for POETS day:
Of all the "candy" holidays (and they're all candy holidays now, aren't they?) I feel Easter has the best candy. Feel free to disagree.
I say this mostly because I am addicted to Hershey's chocolate-covered marshamallow eggs. While Russell-Stover's come in an array of flavors, I still think Hershey's are better. The marshmallow is wetter and fluffier and the chocolate coating is thinner and less plastic-y than on RS's eggs.
Oh, and my boss loves Peeps, but only if they're stale.
Any Easter indulgences you'd like to share with the class?
FYI - While 43% of Brits reported not knowing why Easter is celebrated 75% reported purchasing Easter Candy! (from a 2000 issue of Waitrose)
By Murrmaid
on Mar 19, 2004 10:06 AM
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Completely agree that Easter candy is the best! Love Robin's Eggs. Regular size, not the minis...addictive. Funny, my brother-in-law loves stale Peeps too. I thought he was the only weirdo.
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Stale Peeps are like stale Orange Circus Peanuts, a much more intense flavor with a more satisfying mouthfeel. They get that al dente feel when stale as opposed to a mushy feel when fresh.
I have to buy Peeps every year just to nuke them for my nieces and nephew.
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Do you mean Dueling Peeps? I have heard that if you put toothpicks in your Peeps and place them in the microwave, they will duel each other. It's something I've always meant to try in someone else's microwave.
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Just put them on a plate and nuke them. First I heard of dueling peeps. Have to try that.
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I've done dueling peeps with the toothpicks. It's hysterical and a good betting/drinking game. :-)
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Dueling peeps?!? How fun!
As someone who grew up dueling decorated Easter eggs (trust me, an analytical game of strength, endurance, and strategy), this dueling peeps idea seems to be a perfect way to add to the Easter tradition. Given the level of competitiveness of the family Easter egg duels, what are the rules of engagement?
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Rules for dueling peeps:
Each contender (2 at a time please) selects a Peep, then sticks a toothpick in what they consider to be an advantageous lance-like spot.
Put in microwave on a paper plate facing each other and microwave on High. They will start to balloon. The first Peep to be stabbed by the other Peep's toothpick is the loser. The winner faces the next challenger, depending on how you do your brackets. ;-)
Note that this game may play havoc with the inside of your microwave if the Peeps are allowed to completely explode.
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For those who enjoy the "microwaving peeps" phenomenon, here's a really funny link to the "Twinkie Project," in which the properties of a twinkie are "tested" in a variety of methods, from microwave to gravitational pull.
Link: http://www.twinkiesproject.com/
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I'm partial to the Dove truffle eggs myself. If they were available year round, I'd probably gain 10 lbs during the year.
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My fave is Cadbury mini eggs. I wish they would make these year round.
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Oooh, me too. I'm so glad they come in those little single-serving bags. Of course, the 100-gram single serving bags aren't bad either.
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Me too! I am thankful they are not around throughout the year. ;)
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But they are available most of the year. They have versions for Valentines, Easter, Halloween, Christmas. Pretty much the only time I can't get them is in the summer.
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Easter is the originator of the Reese's Peanut Butter Egg. Like a Peanut Butter Cup, only with more peanut butter. SOOOO good. Although they make them for every holiday now.
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Yes! One of the few candies I like and the eggs are the best with all that PB.
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I LOVE the new-ish mini Reese Eggs. We've consumed almost a whole bag in the past 3 days. They're wrapped in foil and the perfect bite size. I'd better go grab a couple more!
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Oooo, I love the PB Eggs. Like a PB cup on steroids. I have one in my desk drawer for later this afternoon. I also love the Oh Henry ones.
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I still have a fondness for Cadbury Creme Eggs because I never got them as a child and I thought it was SO COOL that they looked like eggs!
But Easter for me is always Sees Candy, which my grandmother gave me baskets of -- particularly their jelly bird eggs!
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We grew up with baskets made up of Sees candy too. So good.
We always each got an egg, usually rock-road, and then a few miniature peanut butter eggs, and of course the suckers!
I heart Sees to this day.
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I always think it is funny that candy companies make kosher Easter and Christmas candy. Sort of an oxymoron.
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Oh, that's funny! I'd never heard that.
I'm a marshmallow egg fan, too. Although the Hershey's are good (they make marshmallow bells at Xmas, too), I'm a sucker for the ones that come in the egg carton. Perfect size, and they come in dark chocolate, which I prefer. They're cheap to being with, and sometimes they even go on sale (69 cents!), so I stock up. You don't want to know how many of those I can scarf! And yes, there's something to be said for the al dente mouthfeel of stale marshmallow.
But with Caitlin, I'm also a See's fan. Their jelly beans are really good, and this year they're making Scotchmallow (marshmallow and caramel in dark chocolate) eggs. YUM!
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Marshmellow Easter products are most likely not Kosher. But check out the Mars and Hershy products for Christmas and Easter. I've seen other companies make limited release candies for Easter (egg, bunny and other shapes) and Christmas (Santa, Elves, Xmas trees, etc.) that are kosher. As a Jew, I have no problem eating those.
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Today a friend gave me a milk chocolate Maccabbe (sp?). Don't know if it's kocher, but it's cute!
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My favorite is (was) candy/chocolate coated malted milk ball eggs, aka Robin Eggs, purchased by the 1/4 pound (or more!) in some candy stores. These were much better than Leaf, etc. brands. They had superbly smooth candy shell, fine chocolate layer under the shell, melt-in-your-mouth malted milk interiors. I can't find them anymore. Does anyone know where to get them or who makes them?
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do you mean the ones that were speckled? I loved those!
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Yes, speckled. Tiny flecks of color on a white shell. The candy stores I've checked do not have them, tho' I used to see them at some mall chain stores. These eggs are to the drugstore bagged eggs as real French Dragee are to Jordan almonds. Any clues where to find the candy eggs -- or real Dragee for that matter?
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I can relate. I love those malt ball speckled eggs. I did a search on the web since my husband could not find them at Bristol Farms in Newport Beach, CA - I got really desperate. I went to candy4u.com and ordered a pound. I'll let you know how they are. The Christmas Mix looks good too. Happy Easter...
p.s the worst are Brecco or something like that, they're always mushy and taste stale.
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Cadbury caramel eggs. The creme eggs are too sweet. To me, Cadbury just plain tastes like milk chocolate should. I prefer it over french, belgian, etc. Must be a childhood fixation.
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Amen to your thoughts on Cadbury!
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But only the Cadbury actually made in the UK (or perhaps Canada). Anything with the Cadbury label made in the US is a pale imitation.
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Of course!
But even those US made is far better than a Harsh Hershey.
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I recall seeing a TV show (Biography maybe?) that said Cadbury sold in the US is actually made by Hershey's, which owns the US operations. UK Cadbury tastes different. And, I think, much MUCH better.
Still have to eat my annual creme egg though. Sickeningly sweet, but it has to be done.
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I too love peeps. What happens if you microwave them? I've thought about it, but thought the outcome would be really messy. I too like them stale.
Another favorite is the candy eyes that are on the chocolate bunnies, I'd rather eat the decorations then the chocolate.
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Nuking them makes them grow and get all warm n soft. Nuking them too much makes them grow and grow and grow... and then they get all weird and strange. Very entertaining when you are very young or on your fifth beer.
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Toasting them with a creme brulee torch makes them brown on the outside and gooey on the inside. Just becareful not to burn yourself!
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Cheap jelly beans are the best. No gourmet pectins, no mod flavors, and most definitely no Jelly Bellys, please. Brach's Jelly Bird Eggs are a reliable source for good, old-fashioned jelly-bean flavor (and that's a great name). Fortunately, in my house, I like red, green, purple, and pink, and my mother likes black, white, yellow, and orange. That's family harmony.
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Grew up loving Fanny Farmer stores' large dark chocolate covered Easter eggs filled with something like a white buttercream outer layer & a bright yellow/orange center. Loved the tri-color of each slice. There also was a yummy milk chocolate version with a maple buttercream filling. Anyone remember these? Wish I could still find them.
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Fanny Farmer is out of business. It was bought out by another company, which then went bankrupt late last year. The purchasing company is looking to sell the brand name (and, presumably, the recipes), but until then, you're out of luck. Sorry.
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Yes, my parents bought us the dark chocolate with yoke inside vanilla buttercream eggs each year for our baskets, from Fanny Farmer. I've searched the web. Alpine Candy in Salt Lake City bought out Fannie May and Fanny Farmer and shut down the plant in Chicago in Feb. 2004. They are reopening some Fannie Mae stores soon in Chicago. I'm in Minneapolis so we are bummed. We want those eggs! They were the highlight of our Easter baskets!
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Nothing compares to these Fanny Farmer eggs. Cadburry doesn't even come close to touching them. Wish they would reappear.
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My all time favorite as well. I would give anything to be able to find these eggs again. If you ever hear of them being made please let me know.
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The closest thing I know of is the Laura Secord (Canadian chocolate-maker similar to what Fanny Farmer was) Easter egg. If you're nowhere near the border you can get them from CanadianFavourites.com.
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My favorite: See's chocolate butter egg with walnuts!!!! Nothing better!
And those tacky brightly-colored candy coated marshmallow eggs. MMMMMM, sugar flavored. Love 'em!
And peeps, of course, peeps.
What I don't like are all the popular candy brands that are jumping on the bandwagon, e.g. Snickers eggs. That's just everyday candy in Easter wrappings.
I also look askance at non-Easter peeps such as Halloween ghost peeps or Christmas tree peeps. Just doesn't seem right.
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Cadbury chocolate eggs and my annual Peeps fix.
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It's not candy, but Easter oriented - have to have a few hot cross buns!
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I got this very cute box of Easter Godiva candy as a gift yesterday: it's a small rectangular metal box, like a pencil box, with bunnies on it. Inside, there are small wrapped very-thin squares of milk chocolate, two flavors: milk hazelnut and milk nougatine. Delicious.
PS: I also like stale marshmallows -- too soft when they're fresh unless of course they're on hot chocolate :).
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See's Scotchmallow Eggs -- dark chocolate covered marshmallow and caramel layers!
Link: http://www.sees.com/Prod.cfm?CatGroup=00090125
Image: http://www.sees.com/ProdImg/0202scotc...
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It's been fifteen years since I made it to the upper east to Elk Candy, but their Easter Egg Chocolate truffles were outstanding back when I worked in the neighborhood. I imagine they are just as good now.
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Anything Cadbury makes. Well, okay. Mostly Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs. I don't even bother with the imitations. Waxy chocolate, cheap coatings, greasy fondant. Yech. Cadbury's got it right... nothing beats the way the shell of a Mini Egg shatters when you first crunch into it, right before it gives way to the melt-in-your-mouth goodness within.
Mmm. Not a fan of the variations, though (dark and "popping")... don't mess with a classic.
Also Peeps, when no one's looking.
When I was a kid we got these peanut-butter filled eggs; not Reese's, or even trying to imitate Reese's, but just really cheap ones, the kind of thing you get a pound of for $1.00 at the discount store, wrapped in gold foil and looking like all the other cheap, not-worth-it chocolate out there.
But somehow these ones were different. The chocolate was GOOD, and the peanut butter was perfectly salty, perfectly sweet, and the texture was... godly.
I want to be six years old again!
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While I agree Easter has the best candy, I have to disagree about Hershey's being better than Russell Stover! Russell Stover is the the best out there!
Except for peanut butter. I'll give you Reese's eggs.
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My great-uncle used to make chocolate covered peanut butter fudge eggs decorated with royal icing flowers. One for each kid in the family, with his/her name in royal icing. He had egg-shaped molds for the fudge and hand dipped each one. Commercially available versions pale in comparison.
For a few brief years Nestle made butterfinger cream eggs, which were like Cadbury eggs, but filled with peanut butter flavored butter cream. I loved those, but they only lasted a few years :(
Now, it's all about Cadbury mini-eggs and cream eggs. I secretly dream of going to the UK during Easter season just so I can get a mini-egg McFlurry from McDonalds... I also prefer my peeps stale.
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Cadbury Cream Eggs - the absolute best!!!! Closely followed by Brachs Jelly Bird Eggs (the old basic jelly beans - nothing fancy), Reese's PB Eggs, Cadbury Mini Eggs and the rectangular box off Russel Stover assorted chocolates dressed up for Easter (again...nothing fancy!).
Funny - I poked around on the internet and found a recipe for muffins with mini Cadbury Cream eggs in the middle of them. That just sounds kind of wrong, but I might have to try making them!
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I feel like the mini cream eggs would be better suited to a chocolate cupcake...sounds delicious to me!
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I love the real eggshells filled with chocolate and praline! I couldn't find any last year, so I ended up ordering the brown butter ganache eggs from Woodhouse chocolate. Also very tasty!
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