Ferrero is in the clear

Ferrero found not guilty of accusations of hazelnut fraud (dun dun dun!!!) Good to know that the company capable of churning out the adorable Kinder Hippos isn’t also shuffling money and hazelnuts around. PS: Happy birthday, Mom!

Chocolaterie de Puyricard

The Provencal city of Avignon was stop number two in my recent jaunt through France. The Michelin guide in the Avignon tourist office recommended two places that piqued my candy-blogger interest: a confiserie and a chocolaterie. While we never managed to find the confiserie (despite the best efforts of the kind locals we asked for…

Taza Tour + Mexicanos review

Today’s post is super long, but hey, you’ve got the whole weekend to read it. I start with a mini wrap-up of my tour of Taza’s chocolate factory and finish with a review of their four Mexicano disks. Coincidentally enough, on the day that my written-weeks-ahead news post about a virtual tour of Taza posted,…

Don’t throw Jelly Babies at the Beatles

According to Serious Eats, the Beatles were not Jelly Baby fans. I bought some Marks & Spencer’s Jelly Babies last summer in England, but I don’t have a picture because I bought them for train ride sustenance and polished them off before I could photograph them. They were okay – interesting texture.

Nichols Candies

I recently spent several days visiting my boyfriend’s home in Boston. While I was there, his mother was kind enough to take me on an excursion to Nichols Candies, a homegrown chocolate store in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It reminded me a lot of See’s and Haven’s: solid and tasty, if not frou-frou fancy, treats made with…

Xoçai Chocolate

Via the NY Times, an article about a hyped-up chocolate called Xo?ai that’s being sold via network marketing. I’m more than dubious about the claim that three pieces of Xo?ai are the nutritional equivalent of a pound of spinach…

Albanese Krunchy Bears

Albanese Krunchy Bears [Review]

I’ve wanted to try Albanese Krunchy Bears ever since I read Cybele’s review of them. While they’re pretty cheap on the Albanese website, the shipping costs negate those savings (though now that I know they’re on Amazon, may add a bag or two to my next order, as they qualify for free shipping), so I…

Kinder Joy Eggs - Inside

Kinder Joy: The New Candy Egg! [Review]

Most people are pretty familiar with Ferrero’s Kinder Surprise eggs. They’re banned in the U.S. and some other countries because they mix edibles and toys with tiny parts, which is a no-no. Kinder Joy, which I came across for the first time in Europe, is a newer addition to the Kinder egg line. It too…

Behind the scenes at Taza

The Kitchn has a neat behind-the-scenes look at how Taza Chocolate (the 80% previously reviewed here) is made. Thanks to another Calhoun College chocolate tasting, I’ve now tried all three bars that they make, the 60%, the 70%, and the 80%, and I liked them all. The gritty texture isn’t for everyone (my college master…

Haribo Super Mini Frites

Europe had more varieties of Haribo than we get here in the states. There was a flier for a Haribo Factory in the tourism office of Avignon, but alas, you needed a car to get there, and we had none. Still, I managed to purchase/eat a variety of Haribo treats from grocery and convenience stores,…