Have you ever taken a bite out of a candy bar and thought “This is so wrong!” Do you feel that your love for all things candy is not adequately represented in any product on the market? Is there just a brilliant candy bar buried in your mind that your just waiting to see materialize one day?

If you, like me, answered yes to those questions, then you will understand why I am undergoing a process of creating my own candy bar. All too many times I have been disappointed by hollow promises of candy wrappers beguiling me into purchasing bad candy. No more excuses! I have decided to make my own bar so that way I control the quality of ingredients and make sure there is nothing in it that I don’t want.

Seeking inspiration for this bar, I turned to the month. August. Well… here in Austin, TX, it’s incredibly hot and humid, but that’s summer for you. And what says summer like going out into the woods and camping? And can you really camp anywhere without making s’mores? So in honor of all things woodsy and s’mores-related, I have concocted an inverted s’mores black forest bar that I call Lost in the Woods.

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In my recent review of Nama Kokuto Ame black sugar candies, I said that the best part of traveling to a new place was getting to try new candy. Well, it turns out that the best part of having friends and family travel to new places is also… getting to try new candy! So when my sister jaunted off to Italy for three months, I fully expected her to deliver on some very sweet souvenirs. Sure enough, upon her return, my sister presented me with a gorgeous tin of Pastiglie Leone mixed lozenges. (I love you, Angela!)

Pastiglie Leone’s website proclaims the company as “Since 1857 the king of sweetness.” This highly-regarded Italian confectioner produces a large selection of tempting-looking treats, from gummies to chocolates. However, Pastiglie Leone is best known for its tiny lozenges, or pastilles - tiny, crunchy candies that come in a dazzling array of fruit and “healthful” herbal flavors including mandarin, rhubarb, vanilla, myrrh mint and citron sage. The lozenges are also known for their beautiful tins and boxes, which can be viewed on the website.

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Julie’s Corner Store in Lacon, Illinois isn’t your typical candy shop. In fact, it’s not a candy shop at all. In addition to fudge, the store sells everything from antiques to reproduction tin toys to tools (I saw sandpaper for sale!). You can bet the fudge is just as interesting as the store.

Julie’s uses fresh ingredients and real butter and cream. I got a nice review pack from them with a variety of flavors: chocolate peanut butter, chocolate, vanilla praline, orange creme, and chocolate mint. The box reminded me of something you’d get at a beachfront candy store, the kind of place that has hand-pulled taffy and seafoam candy.

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Random new candy purchases can be dangerous. On one hand you could have found a new favorite, on the other you may have wasted money on some sub-par, run-of-the-mill candy that you wouldn’t mind never seeing again. The former was the case when I found these Lindt Fun Eggs.

I was prowling around shopping the other weekend and thought I’d check in my local Lindt retail store for some eye candy. I didn’t expect to buy anything, seriously, because Lindt is pretty reliable in regard to releasing the same old classic confections for the holidays from year to year. So you can expect my surprise when I saw these two new filled eggs on display. One with a passion fruit vanilla creme and the other strawberry. What struck me as so new and exotic about these was not only that these were new Easter items, but as far as I know I’ve never even seen these flavors attempted by Lindt before. Luck was surely shining on me.

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As we all know, Hershey’s Kisses celebrated its 100th birthday this past year, withstanding the test of confectionery time. Here at Candy Addict we’ve followed the recently limited editions that Hershey’s has rolled out in celebration of the Kisses centennial. With flavors like Strawberry Creme, Candy Corn, Malt, Coffee, etc., how could Hershey possible introduce something new to the Kisses line? I found the answer to that question toward the end of the year, in the form of larger-than-normal-sized Kisses that come in a pack at the checkout counter.

This is a bold marketing move on Hershey’s behalf. For years Hershey has tried to find a profitable way to sell Kisses in other forms than the large bags but with limited success. A few years ago Kissables made a debut and they partly solved the problem with the cute size and crunchy candy shell. Kissables still aren’t the Hershey Kisses we all know and love though, they’re really more like a step-sibling. With the induction of these new larger Kisses in the single pack however, I think Hershey has found a solution to their longtime dilemma. Prior to this year, I’ve only seen the Chocolate Truffle variety available in this new larger size and packaging. That all changed when I was in my local pharmacy the other day and I discovered not one, but three new flavors of this new breed of Kiss: Cherry Creme, New York Style Cheesecake and Vanilla Creme.

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The Japanese Kit Kat saga continues with no signs of slowing down. Those Candy Addicts who are new to the satisfying hobby of international candy eating may not know that Nestle, who makes KitKat in Asia (Hershey makes Kit Kat in the U.S.) seem to never tire of developing new, occasionally strange, varieties of the chocolate confection. I present to you three more additions to the ever-growing list of new members of the KitKat family:

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One of the many new products that were being displayed at the All Candy Expo was this new addition to the MARS family: Skittles Chocolate Mix. They were kind enough to give me a few samples and as I walked away from the booth I looked at the package with a strange sense of curiosity and confusion. I’m wondering how this all fits into “Tasting the Rainbow.” Is the new rainbow shades of brown?

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I’m dreaming of a white…Tootsie Roll? Whether your head hit the pillow and filled with thoughts of albino candy or not, 14oz bags of Vanilla Flavored Midgees are here for the holidays.

I’m a huge fan of Tootsie Roll products (love the Tootsie Roll Mini Chews) and I was worried that the Vanilla Midgees would disappoint me like the Inside Out Junior Mints did. This time, a variation on the original is a good thing. The candy has a very strong vanilla scent, almost like sniffing a bottle of pure vanilla extract, and the flavor matches the strong aroma. No vanilla is listed in the ingredients, so the taste is artificial, but it’s novel artificial, like a fiberoptic Christmas tree.

The vanilla Midgees are slightly larger than original Midgees, and left a little bit of a sticky, waxy, greasy feel on my fingers. The pleasant aftertaste was welcome, but the slightly waxy feeling in my mouth was not. Complaints noted, the candy really is tasty, and the vanilla Midgees are a nice complement to any holiday candy bowl. Plus, the package is festive but not holiday specific—it’s blue and white with snowflakes, and the individual candies are wrapped in blue and white and say Limited Edition.

I didn’t find any information about the holiday vanilla Midgees on the Tootsie website, but I did learn of Tootsie Fruit Rolls, which include the vanilla candy in their mix. The Tootsie site says the Tootsie Fruit Rolls come in 5 flavors: cherry, lemon, orange, vanilla, and lime. If you decide you really like the Vanilla Tootsie Rolls, check out this Vanilla Tootsie Roll Candy Wreath. Talk about festive!

Buy Tootsie Roll Holiday Edition Vanilla Flavored Midgees online:

• at Candy Crate
• at Candy Direct

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