Creambo (also spelled Krembo) is one of those confections which, when I eat it, transports me back to the early 80′s. It still has the very retro foil wrapper that is did back then, and it still tastes as good. The only real difference is that when I was a kid it seemed a whole lot bigger. Two bites into a Creambo recently and I was thinking, “Where is the rest of it?” The basic Creambo construction is a thin wafer, a pile of marshmallowesque eggy fluff, and an impossibly thin coating of chocolate. It’s not the most beautiful candy you’ve ever seen. The US equivalent, ingredients-wise, would be a Moon Pie or a Mallomar.
Creambo is popular in various forms all over the world, but for this reviewer it is best known as a classic candy from Israel. Apparently there are 50 million of these consumed in Israel yearly, which is astonishing when you consider how small the place is! Manufactured by the Strauss-Elite company, Creambo is only produced during the cooler months of the year, given its somewhat ‘delicate’ nature. These days Creambo is exported to the US, Canada and Australia, although it tends to be found only in Kosher supermarkets and delis.
I bought two Creambos – one classic vanilla and its almost equally popular twin, the Mocha Creambo. Like in my childhood, the wrappers hardly covered the actual candy, and they were very cheap to buy. It’s nice to know some things never change!
The inside of the Creambo had clearly seen better days, as the entire first bite of the vanilla one was all air and no filling. Still, I loved every second of the minute it took to finish the soft, airy nothing-ness and relive days when I didn’t care how quickly the Creambo would make it to my hips.
Creambo, like a lot of retro candy, lives on not only because it’s nice to eat but because it’s a good basic idea. What’s not to like about chocolate, cookie, and sugar? I must admit a certain fondness for the classic vanilla – this whole mocha business is just a bit too New Age for me (although I’d be lying if I said it didn’t taste amazing).
I don’t know that I’ll be rushing out to buy another Creambo anytime soon, even though it was pretty tasty. If I happen to find myself buying something else, and they happen to be sitting on the check-out counter, and I happen to not be able to resist, I might happen to find one or two falling into my basket. Oh, wait, that already happened…
Buy Creambo online:
- at Amazon
