Today, we have a guest review from Tanna Reynolds reviewing Mo’s Bacon Bar (remember, anyone can guest write for Candy Addict, drop us an email).
If you are fortunate enough to live some 892 steps away from a gourmet chocolate shop like I am, then you would be foolish not to trace that path at least once a week to sample the delicious and sometimes unique candies. I’m no fool, but I’m easily led into temptation by the chocolate’s siren songs. To date, I have sampled my way through 32 varieties of chocolates and returned at least 20 times for chocolate-covered honeycomb, a chocolate with which I am particularly smitten.
On my most recent visit to sample the candy man’s wares (trust me, chocolate is serious business to this shop owner/mad scientist), I found myself both intrigued and repulsed by the sight of a large chocolate bar whose wrapper, adorned with a huge bacon slice and a milk chocolate square, boasted of a most unusual blend of flavors. My search had ended, and $9.00 and some obligatory chocolate talk later, me and Mo’s Bacon Bar were headed for home.
Vosges Haute-Chocolate is the company behind Mo’s bacon Bar. Of course, Vosges doesn’t use just any old bacon; the bacon bar is made with applewood smoked bacon that has been flavored with alder wood smoked salt, and then blended with deep milk chocolate. I had some trepidation about trying this candy bar but it was too unusual to pass up and I paid $9.00 for it!
Although I can’t say it was chocolate-covered honeycomb love, I can state that I liked the combination and that it was a surprising taste. The first bite was delicious and tasted like a mix of chocolate and salty nuts. The texture and consistency likewise was that of a chocolate bar mixed with finely chopped pieces of nuts or toffee, whose flavor also came to mind. The second and third (and fourth and fifth….) bites were equally as delicious and even charming. Chocolate can indeed be charming. I could certainly taste the bacon, but it was just the perfect balance of the two seeming opposites.
If I was “Mo” and looking to shake things up with my Bacon Bar, I might add a darker chocolate. The heavy bacon flavor could easily be paired with a cocoa content higher than the 41% that Mo’s boasts. If I still wanted to make some changes, I might tackle the tiny threads of bacon that lingered just a bit too long in my molars in need of some dislodging assistance. To be fair, the residual bacon did not affect the taste; instead it came after the fact and worked its magic on my food psyche. Personally, I respect the power of the mind over food and so I would work on those fibers.
Mo’s Bacon Bar is the perfect treat for people who want a candy adventure or whose palates are fond of sweet and salty blends. It makes an unusual conversation piece and it might even be good for a gag. In the end, I suggest that anyone with an extra $10 to burn, have some candy guts and give Mo’s a try.
More bacon candy:
I was quite tempted to ask for this when Vosges shipped over a nice package of their chocolates for me, but decided to try a few of their more traditional bars and caramels instead. Sounds like I missed out. If you like this you might wanna try their Exotic Barcelona Bar, it also contained a great mix of sweet and savoury.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:50 amOooo, mind if I ask where you get the chocolate honeycomb? That sounds so good!
I agree with your thoughts on the chocolate needing to be darker. I tasted more bacon than chocolate when I tried this, it should be the other way around! :)
March 19th, 2008 at 12:18 pmI’ve gotta ask– what’s your very favorite find from the specialty chocolate store? I’m not sure if I’m jealous or relieved that I don’t live down the street from a candy store!
March 19th, 2008 at 12:58 pmI am a total freak for sweet/salty foods, but I thought that this bar was a bit too salty.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI totally agree that the bacon and chocolate flavors stayed separate, with the bacon coming in afterward. And it’s salty and chocolatey and those are good. But somehow I just did not like this bar when I tried it. I like bacon, I like chocolate, what’s the problem? I suppose it could be the milk chocolate; the bacon flavor seemed to me to drown it out. Like the punch of bacon erased the fainter memory of the milk chocolate. I need to blog about this myself sometime….
March 19th, 2008 at 3:29 pmIf you can’t find chocolate honeycomb, try an international store or Cost Plus World Market and get ahold of either the Aussie “Violet Crumble,” or the British “Crunchie,” both being chocolate-enrobed bars of golden honeycomb. I LOVE these two bars and am constantly on the lookout for them!
March 20th, 2008 at 2:46 amThis was such a yummy bar, if you like sweet n salty…its awesome!
March 26th, 2008 at 6:30 pmWhile I love chocolate, bacon, smoked foods, sweet and salty foods mixed, I did not like the combination at all. I smelled the smoked flavor coming from the chocolate and was immediately repulsed. I find this combination as repulsive as pickles and peanut butter or sliced tomatoes on waffles. The chocolate honeycomb sounds delicious though.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:52 pmSera: You can buy chocolate honeycomb at many candy stores, including the Sweet Factory. You can also get it at Henry’s Supermarket. Those are the only places I have seen it at, and oh is the stuff to die for! It isn’t really honeycomb….that’s what intrigued me at first. It is actually a toffee type of mixture, with corn starch (I think) mixed in, and it puffs up to form a deliciously edible solid substance, with a texture similar to that of solidified styrofoam..oh how I love them!!! :)
February 13th, 2009 at 1:23 amBut it’s expensive – over here in UK. at around six pounds for a 4 oz-bar. Amanda came up with a simple recipe to make it with BaconSalt and milk chocolate bars from ASDA (supermarket) – just melt the chocolate and add BaconSalt. (full details on http://crazy4flavour.blogspot.com/)
You can buy BaconSalt from http://www.baconsalt.com in USA, and it’s sold in UK and Europe by http://www.crazy4flavour.co.uk
“Bacon without the cooking mess”!
February 13th, 2009 at 9:12 am