A few years ago I visited Disneyland and tried to document the candy available.

On Friday I took a little trip up to Universal CityWalk at Universal Studios to see what the state of candy is there.

This wasn’t the first time I was there, I visited with Sera from The Candy Enthusiast last summer, but this time it was during the day and I had more time to browse around and take notes (instead of just buying candy).

There are three main shops that have candy and each offers a bit of a different menu.

Mercado Chocolate Loco (Crazy Chocolate Market)
(Along the main promenade)
(818) 761-7213

This shop is quite bold and colorful. The inventory is also pretty wide. It includes many fine chocolate bars from local companies like Chuao to brands like Santander, Ritter Sport, Valor, Cadbury, Green & Blacks, Lindt & Ghirardelli and packaged chocolate candies from Turin & Marich plus some generic chocolate blocks.

But what is most interesting about this shop, especially for those who are travelers and want to experience something different, is the candy case.

On my first visit there I picked up some fun items like candied pumpkin and candied sweet potato. This time around all these seemed to have were tamarind balls (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) and only two varieties of a version of dulce de leche that’s like a Mexican style Penuche. Then there were the mango & chili items plus other traditional tamarind confections.

In the second case are also the typical house-made fudge, chocolate dipped pretzels, large candy cups and crazy huge chocolate dipped apples.

The prices were decent, especially for the fudge. For the prepackaged chocolate bars it’s quite a bit steeper. For the Ritter Bars they were $3, the Valor were $5 ... a stop a the Target or Cost Plus World Market within a stone’s through would be about a third off.

Then there’s the stuff in the barrels. Real Mexican candy like Pulparindo, Pelon Pelo Rico, de la Rosa Mazapan & ChiliBonchas. All for the low, low price of $11.90 per pound. Go to just about any grocery store in Los Angeles and the same stuff is about $2 or $3. But hey, that’s what vacation is all about - overpaying for most of the things you don’t allow yourself to buy at home.

The nice thing is that theming isn’t like everything else. It’s not sterile, it’s not overly precious ... it’s just a candy shop that acts like a candy shop. The counter help seemed rather knowledgeable about their candy offerings and seemed partial to the flavors of the Mexican & Latin American items. They also serve hot chocolate.

Sparky’s
(Right at the entrance to the Fountain Court)
(818) 622-2925

Sparky’s is more than a candy store, think of it as a gift store with a collector’s bent. They have Pez, lots and lots of Pez. Plus other little items in licensed lines Hello Kitty, Betty Boop and Hot Wheels.

They have the standard bulk candies like Jelly Belly and a rather large selection of specialty flavored taffy. But mostly they have packaged candy with the theme of classics & nostalgic offerings. Theater size boxes of all the standards (that are usually on sale for a dollar at the drug store are $3 here). Hard to find candy bars like Sky Bar, every flavor of Charleston Chew, all of the Annnabelle’s bars, Clark Bars, Idaho Spuds and Bottlecaps. Those felt a little more reasonable at $1.50 (my local 7-11 is charging $1.29 for candy bars now).

The staff here also seemed to really know their candy, I witnessed as they were able to direct a customer to a bar based only on the description of it (turned out to be a Sky Bar).

IT’SUGAR
(Between the Fountain Court and the Cinemas)
(818) 506-5184

This completely tricked out and themed candy store is the largest by far. The spartan white walls & displays include some amazing original art direction.

Instead of going for childish renditions of candy & rainbows, they’ve done some really nice work here to set themselves apart. It’s part Sephora and part Juicy Couture. (Definitely geared towards women.) Glam candy. Pre-sexualized for your fetish-ization.

I know it sounds like I’m critical of it, but I rather enjoyed the imaginative photos gracing the walls - women swimming with Swedish Fish. Gummi Worms eaten with chopsticks by a stylized Geisha. A full on 18th Century French pouf wig made of red licorice on a starkly powdered face with bright lips to match (image here).

The bulk bins go for $11.60 a pound and feature mostly sugar candy. They have a nice selection of dextrose candy like Cry Baby Tears and more generic items in different shapes & colors like Runts & bananas. There are plenty of gummis, from single flavor bears from Albanese to some of their more spectacular creations like the Gummy Butterflies. Gummi cherries & Peach Rings as well as the various sour belts. Then there are standards like Good n Plenty, licorice twists, Lemonheads, Cinnamon bears, Hot Tamales and so on. There is a small selection of chocolate items in bulk, just chocolate covered nuts, a few gourmet malt balls and mini Butterfinger type bars.

In the candy bar area, they are similarly stocked & priced as Sparky’s, though they carry a few more of the penny candy style items like paper dots and wax lips.

Then at the very back of the store is the M&Ms Color Wall. Every color of M&MS you could want, make your own custom mix. (Same with Jelly Belly.)

I found the Wazoo bars there (very hard to come by these days) so I picked up the Wild Berriez I hadn’t tried yet and some pretty looking dextrose candies, a crazy set of gumballs plus a few other munchables. I got out of there for less than $5 and my parking validated.

The biggest selling point, besides just a fun place to gawk at candy is the merchandising of candy brands. You can get ear buds branded with Sugar Babies, lip balm or gloss in a gajillion different candy flavors, coffee mugs, crazy tee shirts, a Twizzlers messenger bag, pillows shaped like your favorite candies ... there’s a lot of non-edible stuff in there.

IT’SUGAR is a small chain with stores in all the hot tourist spots: Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach plus smaller outposts in Miami, Long Island, San Diego, London, Manchester, New York City, Las Vegas and Ft. Lauderdale.

There’s definitely something to satisfy your sweet tooth if you’re at Universal CityWalk. (The insiders trick is to valet park for 2 hours for free with validation on weekday afternoons, see their current rules.)

Universal Sudios CityWalk (Hollywood)
100 Universal City Plaza
Universal City, CA 91608

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6. Candy Source: Candy Baron - Santa Monica

Hershey’s is promoting their tie-in with March Madness (some sort of college basketball championship) and I have two (2) prize packages to give away!

The prize is a ball & mini basketball hoop and net that hangs on a cubicle or trash can (enhancing America’s productivity in this economic downturn), and lots of Hershey’s product (Kit Kat, Reese’s, Pay Day).

To enter simply send me an email to candybloggiveaway @ gmail.com with Basketball and Chocolate somewhere in the subject line. (You’re creative, come up with the rest, flattery isn’t necessary but certainly welcome.) Winners must be 18 or older and must have a USA address. Winners will be drawn at random from eligible entries (one per person). Deadline for entry is Sunday, March 15 at 10 PM Pacific.

For everyone else, Hershey’s is running a huge promotional tie in with March Madness, look for info on marked packages of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate with Almonds Bars, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Joy Candy Bars, Kit Kat Wafer Bars and PayDay.  The game runs through July 31, 2009 (winners get to go to the 2010 Final 4 or win other prizes). More on their special website.

Fine print: Emails not directed to candybloggiveaway @ gmail.com will be rejected. I will only share winning email addresses with Hershey’s PR folks (who will be doing the shipping) and will not use them for any other purpose. Winners must respond via email within 48 hours of notification, otherwise a new winner will be drawn. Do not send me your physical address unless you’re notified of winning.

UPDATE: I drew two winners (Jessica & Sheila) and the packages are being shipped out today. Congratulations!

The fine folks at Candy Dish Blog (the National Confectioners Association) have too much candy! So they want to give it away to some candy lovers. They’ve got some tasty organic candy canes from Pure Fun and some Zachary gumdrops. I know, those sound so Christmas. But with a little imagination you can use those candy canes as swizzle sticks for some cocktails or warm two in the oven to form a heart.

(Image by Sally Rye under Creative Commons License via Flickr)

Here’s how you win:

Winners will be announced on shortly after. Shipping will be done by the National Confectioners Association (so you’ll have to be willing to tell them where you live!). Good luck!

UPDATE 2/6/2008: Due to a miscommunication the entry period closed about 36 hours early. Winners are announced at CandyDishBlog. It was awesome to read everyone’s list. (Really, no one wanted the Candy Blogger at their cocktail party?)

So what is the Candy Blogger’s house giving out for Halloween this year?

Kids get a handful of the following mix: 3 Musketeers Fun Size, Skittles, Peanut M&Ms, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Laffy Taffy, Nerds, SweeTarts, Peeps Spooky Friends, Frankford Marshmallow Pals & Twizzlers. (And anything else I might have lying around.)

If you’re not coming to my door tonight, your best bet is to enter my current giveaway for a Limited Edition Package. I just added some M&Ms Pirate Pearls (freshness not guaranteed) and Retro Flavor Starbursts to the box!

There are a lot of great articles out there today with folks listing the great hierarchy of candy. People extolling the virtues of this candy, that other candies are made by the devil himself and are being dispensed by his minions at otherwise nice looking houses around the country. My candy preference list may be vastly different from yours. It’s candy! There is no single candy that everyone loves. (But yeah, it’s fun to rant about the stuff that you don’t like.) Some people like full-sized bars, I actually prefer the smaller ones because of the assortment.

The truth is that most people give out what they like at Halloween. So if you’re getting Mary Janes or Popcorn Balls, it’s probably because the giver likes them. This is pretty much true with ALL gifting, but especially with blind gifting. Consider that anyone who gives you something you don’t like is following the Golden Rule. They’re doing unto others as they’d like done to them. They’re giving you Smarties or Starlight Mints because they would want to get them. Smile and say thank you.

Then trade!

If they candy is being made it means that someone likes it ... it has value somewhere in the great candy barter world. It may not have as much value as other candies, but that’s the risk you take when you beg from door to door.

Name: Tootsie Pop Drops
Brand: Tootsie
Description: Fruit flavored hard candies with a Tootsie Roll center
Release Date: Early 2008
Notes: Tootsie Pop Drops will return next year after a long absence from store shelves. This is good news, because it was especially sad that the Blow Pop Minis were on the market (blech) and the obviously superior Tootsie Pop Drops were nowhere to be found.

UPDATE 3/22/2008: They are pretty much like the original, a little smaller but a very good return. Here’s the review with photos.

Name: Reese’s Select Clusters Candy
Brand: Hershey’s
Description: Peanut clusters made with premium ingredients
Release Date: August 2008
Notes: I have no idea how these will be different from regular Reese’s products ... except maybe they’ll improve the quality.

Name: Werther’s Original Caramel Chocolate (Milk & Dark)
Brand: Storck
Description: Rich milk chocolate marbled with smooth, creamy caramel in fine European tradition
Release Date: November 2007
Notes: I actually tried these ... I was hoping for something as rich and satisfying as Storck Chocolate Riesen. Until I can get a hold of the real packaging so I can read the label, I’m not able to do a full review. 

(Images courtesy of the respective manufacturers.)

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Since Monday will be the Ides of October, I thought I’d better get in gear for Halloween. I’m declaring the week starting Monday, October 15th to be All Halloween Candy Week at Candy Blog! So far I don’t have many items to review, just the new Peeps Spooky Friends and some Frankford Marshmallow Pals and maybe some items that can be considered quasi-Halloween like Reese’s Pieces (I’ve never reviewed them!). I’m also going to have some new Peeps Monster Mash-Ups (see the Easter version) ... just in time for your next Halloween party.

Technically for me Candy Season does not start until November 1st, when all the Halloween candy goes on sale (which is what the countdown is set for over there on the right). I certainly don’t claim to have coined the phrase, but I hope I’ve popularized the idea that there is a Candy Season and it starts with Halloween and ends with Easter. The candy companies are trying to add other holidays to the candy season, like Independence Day in the United States, but red, white and blue foiled Kisses or colored M&Ms do not make a candy holiday make.

Patti at Candy YumYum has a great new feature ... your candy horoscope. First, before you click on that link, decide what your favorite candy bar is. (Well maybe top three, in case it’s not on her list of 12.) Then go see what the month ahead will be like. (The feature is on the right column.) November will bring us Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups:

Organization is the name of the game, Reese’s. Keep an eye on things and that project you’re working on will come out A-OK.

The problem is that I love just about all those candies and without an immutable assignment by my date of birth, any one of those could be speaking to me.

I saw this article which pretty much echoes my sentiments on the new 100 calorie/twice the price trend by candy makers. The smaller portion candy packs already exist, and if you’re trying to limit calories, by all means take advantage of them. But don’t fall for the pre-portion hype as a substitute for good judgment. Read the labels. Just because something has 0g of trans fat does not make it healthy (and fat isn’t bad, just higher in calories by weight than carbohydrates or protein). I don’t really believe that “fake food” like low-fat cheese are necessarily better for us, just eat less. You’ll feel better and have more money in your wallet. Learn to indulge in what you really want in moderation ... craving satisfied.

It looks like The Onion’s AV Club has started doing candy reviews. In this edition they cover the Razzberry M&Ms and Creme d’Orange M&Ms (I haven’t seen them yet, though I think commenters make reference to my review on the Cherry Almondine).

And last of all, Joanna posted her experience at Littlejohn’s Candies a few weeks ago when she was in Los Angeles and we grabbed some lunch (and some fantabulous Pecan Pralines ... which she liked, and I trust her because she’s a connoisseur of Penuche and Pecan Pralines). In her honor I will review Zachary Candy Corn, as she gave it the highest rating in her roundup last year.

The reviews in review:

Gimbal’s Lavaballs (8 out of 10)

Concord Candies (8 out of 10)

Dove Promises (Caramel & Almonds) (4 out of 10, 5 out of 10, 7 out of 10, 8 out of 10)

Daffin’s Candies Factory & World’s Largest Candy Store

Mori Ex Cacao Gift Set

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Right after All Candy Expo closed, I scrambled off for a much-anticipated visit with family in the Pittsburgh area. My mother came and got me at my brother’s and we went off to Farrell, PA to see Daffin’s Candies factory and then to Sharon, PA and the “World’s Largest Candy Store.”

The Daffin family has been making boxed chocolates for over 100 years and at their factory in Farrell, Pennsylvania since the late 40s.

Daffin’s offers free tours of their factory (usually only for groups of 12 or more, but they made an exception for me & my mom). We were graced with Johanna as our guide, she’s been with Daffin’s for over 30 years, starting part time as seasonal help in packing orders and now works full time on the floor. I’ve had quite a few tours over the past few years and this was the first time I’d had one from someone who’d paid their dues at just about every station in the factory (instead of the person running the company or hired just to lead tours).

The tour started with the chocolate. A huge, closed vat (kind of like a large double boiler but looks like a humongo hot water heater that holds 300 gallons) keeps the chocolate at a consistent temperature day and night. (On that day it was filled with milk chocolate, other periods they fill it with dark chocolate when they’re running that product line.) The milk chocolate is made to their specifications by Peter’s Chocolate.

The candy is made pretty much just like you’d do at home, only on a larger scale. Since Daffin’s makes mostly cream centered candies (and some barks), they have large copper kettles for creating nougats, buttercreams and meltaways. The centers are spread on cooling tables, then cut into pieces and are then fed into an enrober on the line. They were prepping several tables of stuff, it looked like fudge and an almond nougatine while we were there.

The main highlight of the tour was watching as they made their Milk Chocolate Covered Cherries from start to finish. The cherries are tumbled in a small panning machine (it looks like a cement mixer) to cover them with a syrup and then sugar coating. The little cherry blobs are then placed on a conveyor on top of little bases of chocolate. They go through two curtains of chocolate then a cooling tunnel. Then they’re boxed up and set for shipping.

The other specialty of the house is molded chocolates. Daffin’s is known for their huge variety of pops and chocolate creatures for every holiday. We saw them making chocolate witches, pumpkins and even starting on the Thanksgiving turkeys already.

They had some other lines as well as the enrober. The other was a depositor, which as the name suggests, deposits chocolate into a small mold (or bars, I’m guessing). In this case it was a little daisy shaped mold that got a peanut butter meltaway center. Just like the cherries, once the piece was formed the tray of chocolates went into a cooling tunnel. The tunnel then flipped over and the chocolates came out of their molds. (If they didn’t there was a helpful fellow on the line who gave them a good smack.) Another set of workers pulled the individual candies off the conveyor and put them into boxes (and checked them as well, tossing aside the mal-formed pieces).

The factory has a special tour before Easter each year called Swizzle Stick Day. It’s very popular with families in the area. The free tour is capped off with a Swizzle Stick - the visitor gets to pick any “center” such as raspberry cream, nougatine, etc. Then it’s put on a stick and fresh dipped in chocolate right there!

The real attraction to Daffin’s however, is not their factory tour. It’s their store in nearby Sharon, Pennsylvania. While they’re proud to talk about their “Chocolate Kingdom”, I find their strangely scaled statues of animals, castles and little towns to be kind of creepy and not the slightest bit engaging. Sure, they’re covered in chocolate ... but since I can’t eat that (who knows how old they are?) what’s the point? I wanna buy something!

They say that it’s the “World’s Largest Candy Store” and though I’m not certain what the criteria would be ... I’m impressed. They not only sell their own chocolates from the factory, they also have a huge selection of candy from all over the world. It’s not about the ordinary candy bar here, but pre-packed 8 ounce bags of everything. Gummis, jellies, jelly beans, Jordan almonds, mints, licorice and sours. Most were $2 to $3 a bag. They also had large pick-a-mix areas with individually wrapped hard candies (maybe 100 different bins?) for $3.49 a pound and some salt water taffy bins, too.

The store is quite different from Dylan’s Candy Bar, which has a lot more candy bars and focuses on hip design and of course the bulk items aren’t prepacked. But everything here is about 1/3 the price. It’s not quite Economy Candy either, which has far more packaged international items like mints from Italy, bars from England and of course all the regional American specialties. It’s also, well, in Sharon, PA ... so it’s not like either of those two stores are within spitting distance.

From their candy counter my mother and I picked out some of their barks. We got the Potato Chip Bark and Pretzel Bark (and something else I can’t remember that had marshmallow in it). I also got some Sugar Mints.

I’d been looking for these since I ran across a thread on RoadFood.com over a year ago. They go by a lot of different names (MerriMints, Sherbet Mints, Melty Mints, French Cremes), but they’re basically just sugar (some recipes call for a little butter) with a little flavoring and color that are dolloped out (usually with a ridged side) and dried. Think of them as frosting disks!

I selected one of every flavor - Peppermint, Lemon, Orange, Cinnamon, Wintergreen and Root Beer. The melt easily on the tongue and were lightly flavored. All were great, except for the cinnamon, which was a maroon-red and tasted so bitter (food coloring!) that I couldn’t eat it. They were really reasonably priced. I think they were $8 a pound and I requested four of each flavor ... which came to $1.75!

The other barks were merely interesting. I’ve decided that Daffin special milk chocolate mix is far too sweet for me. Even with the mixed in items of the salty chips or pretzels, a little piece was all I could handle. I’m rather sad I didn’t try any of their dark chocolate items. (But I might return there sometime before Christmas or something because they have such a great selection.)

I really enjoyed their store, everyone was wonderfully friendly. I would definitely shop there again, but the chocolates are just not my style. Too old-school sweet for me.

Ratings:
Tour: 6 out of 10 (hey, it’s free!)
Sugar Mints: 6 out of 10
Milk Chocolate Barks: 5 out of 10
Daffin Store in Sharon: 8 out of 10 - it’s definitely worth it if you’re in the area. (Don’t miss Reyer’s ... the World’s Largest Shoe Store and their Outlet as long as you’re in town.)

You can see more photos of the trip here. You can visit Daffin’s website here. The lovely mosaic images above were created using a swell tool from Big Huge Labs.

Daffin’s Factory & Chocolate Shoppe
7 Spearman Ave.
Farrell, PA
724-983-8336

Daffin’s Chocolate Kingdom & World’s Largest Candy Store
496 East State Street
Sharon, PA
724-342-2892

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Every once in a while I go through the search logs either on this site or the ones that refer people here from the search engines.

Sometimes I know that their questions aren’t actually answered when they arrive, so I’ll take a stab at it here!

Question: Why is my tongue is irritated from sour foods?

Answer: Sour foods are acidic. Many very sour candies contain high levels of acids such as malic acid and citric acid. At higher levels this can irritate the tongue and tender mouth parts. Luckily the irritation is temporary for most people.

Malic acid is naturally occurring and usually found in apples, more highly concentrated in green (unripe) apples.

Citric acid is also occurs naturally and is found in citrus fruits such as lemons and limes and in lower concentrations in oranges.

Question: What flavor is the red Skittle?

Answer: Red Skittles are strawberry flavored when found in the classic Fruits mix.

Question: What’s the difference between Hershey’s Mounds and Almond Joy candy bar?

Answer: I think the jingle for the candy bars answers that best:

Sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don’t
Almond Joy’s got nuts
Mounds don’t

Almond Joy’s got real milk chocolate
Coconut and munchy nuts too.
Mound’s got deep dark chocolate
and chewy coconut .... oooh

Sometimes you feel like a nut
Sometimes you don’t

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