Food Obsession: Smarties

William — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:50:57 +0000

Smarties, the British chocolate candy.

These are the British M&M style candies, not those silly candy disks that go by the same name in the US. Why am I obsessed about these? Only because they are so much better than M&M’s.

It’s the subtle differences that make these the best candy coated chocolate candy out there.

M&M vs. Smartie

Right out of the box, you can tell there is a size difference. It’s not huge, but the Smarties outclass the M&Ms. This means that each candy delivers a larger payload of chocolate. Also, the shape of the Smarties is not perfectly smooth. I like this quasi-homemade feel to them, it makes them feel less industrial. Click the images for larger views.

M&M vs. Smartie

The next change is noticeable the moment you pop some into your mouth. The Smarties have a much better crunch!. If you take a look at the autopsy of the M&M and the Smartie, you can see that the candy shell of the Smartie is thicker than what Mars puts on their M&M’s.
But the best part is that the orange Smarties… taste like orange! How freaking awesome is that!

England may not be known for its gastronomy, but they certainly got this candy right.

Smarties chocolate candy

M&M Easter Eggs!

William — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:30:03 +0000

A few weeks ago I posted that I came across the Peanut M&M Bunny Mix and, after devouring a bag, I wondered if M&M’s made any different kinds of Easter themed mixes. I should have never doubted them, in another grocery store this weekend, I came across two more: regular M&M’s Bunny Mix, and Easter Eggs!

M&M Easter Speck-tackular Eggs

It’s pretty cute that they print sheep, rabbits, and ducks on the regular ones, but the Easter Eggs blow my mind on many levels. I’m going to stock up on the Easter Eggs while they are in season because they will be sorely missed until next Easter. Click though for a detailed analysis of the awesomeness hidden in the M&M Easter Eggs.

One thing I always thought that M&M’s could stand to improve on was the quality of the crunch you get out of the candy shell. It just seems so thin and easily breakable. The candy shell on the Easter M&M’s is nearly twice as thick as the regular M&M’s, giving me that satisfying crunch I was looking for.

Note the chocolate core and the thicker candy shell.

The other thing interesting about these is that despite their size, they are solid chocolate! You’d think that there would be a peanut or maybe an almond hidden under all that chocolate, but no, just chocolate. It looks like they likely molded these cores and ran them through the same process they use for the other nuts. This means that when you bite one of these in half, you can sometimes notice the different strata of chocolate.

In any case, these are now probably my favorite M&M’s. More crunch and more chocolate!

M&M Easter Speck-tackular Eggs

The Food Spot » M&M

Food Obsession: Smarties

M&M Easter Eggs!