Candy Review: Cadbury Chocolate Bars

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - by RachelR

While on a mission at my local Ralph’s, ostensibly for drinks and cleaning supplies, I decided to make a detour into the candy aisle. I didn’t expect to buy anything, as I’m fond of spending as little as possible, and only tend to indulge in my sweeter passions when they come at a decidedly inexorbitant fee. As it turned out, deviance from my intended path proved unwise. The store was holding a major chocolate sale – and Hershey’s bars weren’t the only discounted items.

Indeed, sweets from all over the world were marked down! Hazelnut-studded Ritter squares from Germany touted their half-priced goodness alongside super-dark French varietals which, even after their markdown, sold for $4.50 apiece. While all of these were tempting, my eyes were drawn to the Cadbury selections. At 4/$3.00, the British candy maker’s offerings were competitively priced with the offerings from Hershey’s and Nestle. How could I resist? Four scrumptious-looking Cadbury bars were on display, and one of each found its way into my basket. Three extraneous dollars later, I was out the door with my British booty.

Arriving home, I arranged the bars before me on the kitchen table and took inventory. My collection, swathed in a wrap of regal purple, included Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, Royal Dark, Fruit & Nut, and Caramello bars. I eagerly opened my first 99-gram (3.5 oz.) bar and bit in.

Fruit and Nut

The first bar sampled reminds me of a Chunky Bar. A Chunky Bar set in some of the creamiest, most dairy-rich milk chocolate I’d ever tasted, that is! Oh, and for this bar, peanuts are passe. Full-flavored chunks of almond are the preferred nut here. The raisins are plump in this context, and taste better than I can remember raisins ever tasting. If Cadbury’s milk chocolate weren’t so terribly rich and sweet, I may not have been able to pull myself away from this bar. Then again, if the chocolate were any different, it wouldn’t be nearly as sweet and addictive. I’d buy this again, not only on its current sale, but at its full $1.99 price. Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut may just be a contender for my favorite chocolate bar.

Caramello

First, the Chunky Bar had its turn. Next, it was time for another British version of an American classic – in this case, Rolos. In my opinion, the flavor-resemblance between the caramel-toffee filling in the Cadbury Caramello bar and that which we know and love from the sticky, chocolate-coated discs is uncanny. The Caramello’s filling, though, is quite a bit softer and less sticky, so those with braces should find it less annoying. Between the ultra-rich milk chocolate and the burnt-sugar interior, this bar is almost too rich for my taste. I managed to finish a few squares. The rest is waiting in my freezer. Good, but best nibbled a bit at a time.

Royal Dark

As an obsessive chocoholic, I have my favorite styles of milk, dark and white chocolate. That being said, I prefer milk to dark. I know dark chocolate is trendy, filled with antioxidants, and a sign of culinary sophistication – yet when given the choice, I prefer the unadulterated sweet dairy delight of the milky varieties. I suppose, in some ways, I never matured fully. That being said, I can appreciate dark chocolate, especially when it’s paired with fruits, spices or other flavorings for maximum effect.

Cadbury’s Royal Dark, a solid bar of dark chocolate, didn’t boast its cacao percentage, nor did it boast of any bizarre, cutting-edge spices. Yet from my taste, I’d place it somewhere around the 55% range. It’s slightly bitter, but not overwhelmingly so. I detect light dairy notes, which seems odd in a dark chocolate bar. Most interestingly, there’s an undeniable cinnamon flavor to the Royal Dark bar. It reminds me of highly-sweetened Mexican drinking chocolate. It was all right, although there are dark chocolates I like better. I’m guessing Cadbury’s strong suit (aside from bunnies and Easter eggs) is milk chocolate.

Dairy Milk

A taste of my final chocolate bar, a pure milk chocolate block, proved my theory yet again. It was sublime. Smooth, sweet, and oh-so-delightfully RICH. Aside from its sugar level, this reminds me of the best German and Swiss milk chocolates. Like the others, I could only manage a few blocks, but I’m sure the frozen remainder will be gone before too too long.

As that annoying earworm of a Disney World song hastens to point out, “It’s a small world after all” – and it’s only growing smaller. Thankfully, that’s a good thing if you’re a Candy Addict. Hey, we may grouse about our clothing being made in China, but we have to remember there are positive trade offs – like being able to eat European chocolate!

• Cadbury Website

Buy Cadbury Chocolate Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Candy Direct