Hersheypark (Part Deux)

During this trip, we found out that Stella (our Mini Cooper S) is capable of 450 miles to a tank of gas. At one point, the onboard computer was telling us that we had a range of 502 miles, but I dunno if I would trust those last 52 miles, especially coming off a little more than a gallon of gas.

Anyways, on to the events of the day. We started the day riding Hersheypark's new rollercoaster, 97 Fahrenheit, which boasts a 97 degree drop (see picture). After roaming the park and making my annual visit to the Play Dome (see picture), we headed over to the Kit Kat Cafe to indulge in some refreshing ice cream. The temperature had climbed to almost 100 degrees and the humidity was almost unbearable.

The Kit Kat Cafe (located in the upper level of Chocolate World) is a place where one can rest and have a sandwich, salad, or bowl of pasta in a quiet, air conditioned environment. One can also create your own sundae of two scoops of ice cream, three chocolate candy toppings and two liquid toppings. For my sundae, I chose two scoops of vanilla, three helpings of Kit Kats (what else?) and caramel and hot fudge toppings. The sundae itself was nothing special, save for the delicious Kitters. What made the sundae was the wonderful bowl it came in. Mind you I had to pay an extra $1.99 to get the bowl, but it will make a great addition to my collection. Okay, it's nearing 1:15am, so I best be off to bed. I'll write more about the trip tomorrow...

nestle lion (England)

Here's another one from the foreign section of the supermarket. I've actually had this bar before while I was on a cruise several years ago. I remember it being quite tasty, but not so much that I was inclined to search for an online retailer. Naw mean?

The packaging is just okay from a graphic artist's point of view. I've definitely seen better from Nestle. It actually looks quite dated and lacks the flare of new packages. The bar itself was quite good, and was made with a mixture of caramel, filled wafers, crisp cereal and milk chocolate. It taste like a conglomeration of Milky Ways, Nestle Crunches and Kit Kats. One would think this would be heaven. However, there's just too much going on here and while there are a lot of good flavors, but none of them is distinct.

Nestle Lion (England)
Size: 55g Calories: 269 Fat: 12g Carbohydrates: 35g

Choxie Warm Spiced Caramels (USA)

Saturday, we were doing our weekly shopping at Target. As usual, I was scouring the candy aisles, looking for my weekly treat. I decided on a tin of Choxie Warm Spiced Caramels. I was quite intrigued by the the few words written on the lid. It read, "caramels infused with exotic signature spices, encased in milk chocolate". I couldn't help but buy it.

I didn't expect there to be many chocolates inside, after all the tin only held 1.5 oz of goodies. There seemed to be only about 30 pieces inside. And, true to Choxie's reputation, this was an expensive treat... $2.50 for 1.5 ounces? Ouch! Anyhow, I popped the first one into my mouth curiously excited. The chocolate was smooth, the caramel was soft and gooey (just the way I like it) and... Oh! What was this? Spices! It tasted like I was munching on a gingerbread cookie wrapped in caramel and chocolate... and I liked it! I went ahead and popped about five more in my mouth, one after another.

I had many compliments but only a few complaints. I wished the container and the chocolate itself was a bit bigger. Eating a piece left me yearning for more and feeling quite unsatisfied. I didn't quite like the fact that there were only 30 pieces in the tin and a normal person would need three pieces to feel even somewhat satisfied. Finally, the price. It always seems to be an issue when it comes to the price of Choxie. I can't ever argue the quality of the chocolate, but the price needs some serious re-evaluating. Until next time

Choxie Warm Spiced Caramels (USA)
Size: 43g Calories: 180 Fat: 9g Carbohydrates: 25g

williams-sonoma chocolate cooking class...

Today, Val and I went for a chocolate cooking class at Williams-Sonoma. The head chef was a former Procter & Gamble chemist. She was very informative and reminded me a lot of a female Alton Brown. On today's menu was a Chocolate Sorbet, a Mocha Cake with Spiced Caramel Sauce, a Warm Molten Cake and finally a Chocolate-Banana Croissant Panini, the latter being my favorite. Everything was quite delicious except for the mocha cake which I found to be quite salty.

The head chef (Maral Apelian Banks) explained to us the differences in the type of chocolates that you use for cooking and baking. Let me pass on a tip that she gave us. Try not to use domestic chocolates in baking because they are usually coated in wax and oil for shipping and the flavor is not usually as pure as European and other imported chocolates. Above, you see me holding a 10 pound bar of Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate. Wow. And I thought that the 5 pound Hershey bar was big!

This morning I picked up a few new chocolates that I'll be reviewing in the upcoming days, including a new brownie flavored Hershey bar. It should be interesting. Until tomorrow...

nestle caramel aero bar (Canada)

Hmm... Where to begin? For those of you who don't know me personally, I'm a graphic artist. I have always loved the packaging design of the Nestle Aero bars. It's not really the logo itself, as it is just skewed type with a "chocolate bubble" fill, but the good use of complimentary colors and playful fonts (VAG Rounded?).

If you've never had an Aero bar before, you're missing one of the best tasting commercially mass-produced chocolate bars out there. Its gimic are the hundreds of air bubbles trapped in each bar that turn a normal bar of chocolate into an extremely light one which almost melts in your mouth.

I'm quite anxious to try this flavor as I've only had the regular and mint ones so far. This Aero bar is shaped differently than normal ones as it's longer, skinnier and rounder. Unfortunately my first two bites into it were ones of disappointment. There was a lack of caramel in both bites (the "pocket" was empty!) and the chocolate was not as frothy as I had expected it to be. On the third bite, I finally reached the caramel filling and was met with a solid "Old Rolo" type caramel instead of the gooey goodness I thought would be inside.

Although it sounds like this review is one of dismay and complaint, I still give this a thumbs up for its combined taste of the caramel and faux Aero chocolate. Though not on the top of my list, I would still recommend this one to all chocolate lovers out there.

caramel fudge kit kat tempations (UK)

Hmm... How do I start? I've been very impressed with the Kit Kat Tempations series (though a bit dated now). The wafers live up to the standard level of goodness that Nestle produces in its Kit Kat products. I only wish there was more of it. Besides this, my only qualm about the entire Tempations line is that there a bit too much "filling" for its own good. The fillings, though rich and quite delicious, tend to overpower the rest of the chocolate and wafer. Biting into the bar started off as a nice surprise but ended up with my wincing at the sweetness of the stringy caramel. This might be one to try if you want to be among the few to try all the Kit Kat flavors in the world or if you have a major sweet tooth. If you aren't in one of these two categories, I would recommend you spend your hard earned cash on one of the many other flavors of Kit Kats.