Now that I’ve worked through my backlog of Christmas chocolate reviews, I thought I’d do something I haven’t done for awhile – review some Japanese candy from T&T. (Though Christmas chocolate is great too – don’t get me wrong.) I picked up a couple of items, the first of which is this Senjaku Four Seas Ice Cream Candy.

But to start with, let’s get something out of the way. Yup, I’m reviewing Asian candy. Asian candy that contains milk and was, in all likelihood, made before the whole melamine scare. Would I chug melamine-contaminated milk by the glass? No. But the tiny amount of milk in one or two hard candies isn’t going to contain any more than a truly infinitesimal amount of melamine – if it contains any at all. I’d call that an acceptable risk, but if it bothers you, no one’s making you eat them.

If you’re not phobic about that sort of thing, there are a lot of really tasty milk-flavored Japanese candies around. There’s even a type that’s actually called “milk candy,” a condensed milk-based chew that comes plain and in various flavors, from caramel to corn (for serious!). These Ice Cream Candies aren’t milk candy, though really, it doesn’t get much milkier than ice cream. However, Senjuku one-ups American offerings like the Baskin-Robbins candies by making these not just ice-cream flavored, but also ice-cream shaped.

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I have many a fond memory of Baskin-Robbins from childhood: the free birthday cones, the baseball helmet sundaes, the hard, hard scoops that could be shot clear off your sugar cone and onto the lawn with one overzealous lick. Not to mention the choices – oh, the choices! All 31-plus of them! And I reveled in my flavor selection: Rocky Road, Rainbow Sherbet, Cookies ‘N Cream… the world was my hot fudge-covered oyster (notably not one of the aforementioned 31-plus). But I have to admit, in all my ice cream eating moments, never (ever) did I think to myself, “Mmmm, this ice cream is good, but it would be really good if only I could chew it.” So it is with a bit of skepticism that I opened up my box of Baskin-Robbins Soft Candy.

These candies come in two flavors: Mint Chocolate Chip and Very Berry Strawberry, and in both regular and sugar free varieties. They’re quite small – smaller than a Tootsie Roll – and rectangular. And they’re individually wrapped in foil reminiscent of my Viactiv Multi-Vitamin Chew (highly recommended as a vitamin supplement, less so as a sugary treat).

And soft they are. If nothing else, these things deliver in that department. Softer than both a Tootsie Roll and a Starburst chew, it took me a number of squeezes before I finally landed on Play-Doh. That’s about how soft these are, if you can imagine. (The sugar free ones actually were not quite as soft, falling somewhere between Play-Doh and Starburst on the hard/soft continuum.) But this is where the uniformity ends, so here’s how the individual flavors played out for me:

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I’ve long contemplated how, exactly, Freeze Dried Astronaut Ice Cream should be categorized. Is it candy? Or perhaps it’s simply a general-purpose dessert? Is it dairy or not?

Well, I still don’t have an answer to these age-old questions, but my investigations have certainly been tasty. Turns out, I’m one of the few people in the world who likes the stuff. Just as with my licorice adoration, my Freeze Dried Ice Cream addiction is often maligned and only rarely shared with any other member of the human race.

So, what about it? Anyone else like the stuff? Is it candy or not? Leave a comment and tell us what you think!

Buy Freeze Dried Ice Cream online:

• at Amazon.com

I tried out Sanders Milk Chocolate Caramels and loved them, so I had really high hopes for their dessert toppings. Sanders sent over two jars for sampling: Cinnamon Pear Caramel and Milk Chocolate Hot Fudge. I finally picked up some vanilla ice cream, and to keep the tasting simple, I didn’t add any other toppings. No nuts, no cherries, no sprinkles.

I tried out the Cinnamon Pear Caramel first, dipping a small spoon into the jar and drizzling the topping over my ice cream. Not being a professional, my attempt at drizzling wasn’t very neat, but it did show off how pourable the topping is. I was expecting a harder battle to get the stuff out of the jar. My first spoonful of ice cream and caramel tasted almost like pumpkin pie. I could definitely make out the cinnamon, but the pear flavor isn’t strong at all, just something subtly fruity and sweet underlying everything else. I really loved this on ice cream, and I’m glad I tried it out “plain” first.

Then I sampled the Milk Chocolate Hot Fudge topping on ice cream for dessert the next night. This time I made a hot fudge sundae, with crushed mixed nuts and cherries. Wow! I thought the Cinnamon Pear Caramel was good, but the hot fudge was fantastic. It’s easily the best hot fudge I’ve ever tasted, very chocolatey and smooth. Plus, the hot fudge is very versatile. I drizzled it over my blueberry muffin one morning for a new kind of treat. Sanders is apparently really famous in Michigan for their sundaes (as well as their candies), and now I know why. These dessert toppings are amazing, and at $3.59 per jar, they’re affordable too.

It might be a bit too cold for ice cream now, but spring is just around the corner, and if you’re looking for the perfect topping for your sundae, look no further than Sanders.

Editor’s note: I just tried the Sander’s Milk Chocolate Hot Fudge and it truly is delicious. It tastes like a melted candy bar – so rich and smooth. Highly recommended!

• Sanders website

Buy Sanders Dessert Toppings online:

• at Amazon.com

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While browsing the ice cream freezer in my local grocery store today I spied Life Savers Real Fruit Sherbet. Combining the two foods I love most, ice cream and candy, they are probably the brightest edible products I have ever seen in the freezer section. The sherbet is made by a dairy company called Kemps and according to the website and press release, each comes with five flavors and they come in four different varieties:

• 5 Flavor: cherry, pineapple, watermelon, raspberry, and orange
• Rainbow Sherbet: lemon, lime, orange, raspberry, and strawberry-kiwi
• Wild Berries: blackberry, strawberry, cherry berry, red raspberry, and black raspberry
• Tropical Fruits: banana, tangerine, fruit punch, pina colada, and mango melon

They sound like they might be good for making punches for parties, and I bet kids will love them, but I’m not huge on sherbets in general (except orange) and I wanted to make sundaes, so I went with a Cookies N Cream ice cream instead, thus no review.

• Life Savers Sherbet
• Life Savers Sherbet press release

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