Candy Review: Dickies Pecan Roll

Thursday, May 14, 2009 - by Robby

After my stint with the artisan Wiseman House Chocolate products, I thought it would be nice to distance myself from the upper echelon/expensive side of Texas confection and return to the classic stuff I can find in my local drug stores.

By the checkout register of Walgreens, I spotted an assortment of Texan candies that are from all over the state. There were fudges, brittles, and peanut patties, but my sights were set on a product I hadn’t consumed in a while.

I had never heard of Dickies candy, nor of their parent company Tyler Candy Co. (or even Tyler, TX for that matter), but I was drawn to their Pecan Roll – even if it was because of their mascot of an elephant draped with the flag of Texas… possibly the official candy of the Texan republican party?

I had never eaten a pecan roll, but it seemed similar to those Yule Logs I find around Christmas, just this time covered in pecans instead of walnuts and minus the candied fruit.

The piece smells of fresh pecans and honey. And for nut-haters out there, stay away from these. There are a lot of them! The roll is approximately 3 inches long and an inch high, but a good quarter of it is chopped pecans.

My first bite is easy, but I immediately detect that the pecans could be fresher. The nougat interior is soft, but a bit too sweet for my preferences. Though the nougat isn’t particularly rich in flavor, it is overwhelmed by the vanilla, which is more accurately described as the alcoholic residual flavor of vanilla extract.

The textures of the nut coat and the nougat center mesh nicely, with the nougat being quite airy. I think these would have tasted a lot better had I eaten one fresh off the line, as apparently they are all hand-rolled.

I don’t think you’ll spit these out, but there is something odd about them. They’re not exactly flavorful, yet they reek of excess sugar and vanilla, which aren’t as much flavors here as they are sensations on the tongue.

• Tyler Candy Co Website