Purpose: Chocolate goes well with many flavors, both sweet and savory. As well as the traditional sweet ingredients, sea salt, curry powder and even bacon can also be found in chocolate bars these days. In the spirit of these unusual creations, the purpose of this experiment is to pair chocolate with new and unexpected flavors in an attempt to discover which ones will provide inspiration to the chocolatiers of tomorrow.

Hypothesis: Some items will taste good coated in chocolate, while others will not.

The following ingredients will be tested in today’s experiment:

Gummy Bears: Will coating this fruity favorite in chocolate create a treat that’s twice as nice? Or will this portion of the experiment “bear”-ly make the cut? (This researcher apologizes profusely and promises to avoid attempting to make puns in the future.) This combination is the same as Muddy Bears, which Heather decided weren’t great but weren’t terrible.

Skittles (Original fruit flavor): Will “tasting the rainbow” still be as delightful an experience when that rainbow is smothered in sweet, sweet chocolate?

Cheetos Puffs: The researcher’s sister swears that in elementary school, Cheetos dipped in chocolate pudding were “like, the best lunch ever.” Will the experimental data support or refute these claims?

Broccoli: A nutritious vegetable, but, to some people, not a delicious one. By combining this healthy foodstuff with chocolate, can science create a treat that will convince kids (and maybe even former US presidents) to eat their greens?

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I am not going to lie to you: I am not a big gummi person. Unless gummi bears or their squirmy gummi worm cousins are coated in a thick layer of sour sugar, I’m usually not interested. So when I heard about Loud Truck Energy Gummies at the All Candy Expo, I was hesitant to try one, until someone on the floor said the magic words: “It’s like eating a bag of Red Bull.”

To some people, that statement would be terrifying. To me, it was a starter pistol that sent me racing over to the Loud Truck Energy booth to sample these mystical bears of energy and goodness. I love Red Bull, and most energy-fueled treats, so I was hoping that Loud Truck gummies would provide a new (and possibly cheaper) alternative to my beloved Red Bull fix. I instantly fell in love with them at the All Candy Expo, and couldn’t wait to review them once I returned home.

This morning at 8:00 am, I ripped open a new pack of Loud Truck Energy Gummies to start the day. Taste-wise, the gummies are quite good. The bears are firm but soft, with a nice chewy texture that doesn’t stick to the teeth. They have a subtle citrus flavor that gets stronger as the bear is chewed – a nice bite toward the end of the chewing process brings to mind a sip of Red Bull – a fizzy citrus taste that lingers after the bear is gone.

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As part of my job I have to travel to Florida several times a year. For someone who hates sun, sand, and heat, it isn’t exactly a dream come true. One of the few things that make the trips bearable are my mandatory excursions to Fresh Market and their gourmet candy section. On my last trip, I picked up a bag of Albanese Gummi Bunnies, intending to review them when I got back home to New York. They didn’t make it home; in fact, they didn’t even make it to the airport. They were that good.

So, to make up for it, I bought some Albanese Beeps on Amazon. They have served to reinforce my belief that Albanese makes some of the best gummies I’ve ever had.

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What better way to express your love of candy than with candy-themed furniture? Our friends at Jellio are at it again, busy working on a candy button bench (see below) – which looks suspiciously like a strip of candy buttons. Previously we wrote about their GummiLights range of lamps – they look like giant gummy bears but light up at night via small LEDs “in their butts.” Now available in seven colors, you can buy them individually or as a set of five.

The candy dork in me totally loves the things these guys come up with. All their furniture is based on images or items from childhood pursuits – from the Cupcake Seat to the Lite Table. They’ve also got a Candy Table – which unfortunately isn’t filled with candy (break glass for emergencies?) but instead with loads of plastic squirt guns.

Given that they make custom furniture, maybe we’ll have to convince them to fill those tables with some real candy – imagine it filled with Jelly Belly jellybeans! Better yet would be filling it with a whole selection of candy and then inserting a trap door whereby one could take out pieces to eat… uh-oh. Me thinks the IKEA el cheapo coffee table might be better for my waistline and my pocketbook (although certainly not as fun!)

• Jellio.com

Recently I called my husband at work and asked him the usual, “So, whatcha’ doing?” To which he replied, “Sorting gummy bears, actually.” Hmmm. On the one hand, not exactly being a productive employee. On the other, it was clear he had caught my candy-sorting disease! (CSD for short.) I’ve “suffered” from CSD for as long as I can remember. As long as the candy in question is small, has more than two colors, and is “sortable” by some means, it’s fair game. Skittles, M&Ms, gummi bears…you name it, I’ll sort it.

Pouring out the bag of treats, I first sort them into colour groups and then follow quite a complex eating method. Suffice it to say that it takes quite a while to get to the end of a bag! Over time I’ve met many people who have the same habit of eating candy in some sort of defined procedure.

Some are very obsessive about it while others just have small habits or rituals which they follow. My own case of CSD means that when I go to a party, the bowl of unsorted candy drives me slowly insane. I find myself literally itching to pour the bowl out and start sorting! It’s a killer for one’s social life, let me tell you.
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