My favorite part of going to Ikea is not the miles and miles of love seats, desks, beds and kitchen stuff, but their little food store. In addition to spreading Swedish culture through furniture items, Ikea’s food store is also sharing Swedish delicacies with the world – from those ubiquitous meatballs to crispbreads and more kinds of preserved fish than you can shake a stick at.
Just like there’s more to Swedish cuisine than meatballs, there’s also more to Swedish candy than the famous Swedish Fish, and Ikea’s food store has a fine selection to choose from. We’ve previously reviewed raspberry boats and daim from the big blue giant, but since Ikea has a rotating candy section, I figured it was time to give them another shot. I picked up two items: Godis Nuts and Bolts Mix and Aroma Konfektyrer Raspberry Drops.
Nuts and Bolts Mix
With a texture that felt – to put it charitably – rock-hard, and a name I associate more with salty snacks than sweet, I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into with these. But for only a buck a bag, I decided to take the plunge.
As the name would imply, they come in an assortment of shapes – long, thin “screws,†round “nuts,†and a big squiggly z-shaped piece – perhaps representing some assembly widget from a piece of Ikea furniture. Once removed from the bag, they did indeed feel very hard for gummies – on the outside, anyway.
The flavors are a very pleasant assortment of bright, tangy tastes, mainly on the citrus end of things. Even the black licorice ones are mild enough that I was almost – almost – able to enjoy eating them. But it turns out that these are really all about the texture. Not really “gummy†in the conventional sense, they start out very dry and hard, but it turns out that this is actually just a crust-like exterior over a much softer jelly inside. I found this texture contrast intriguing – it reminded me of a Haribo gummy fruit item that I’ve had once before but haven’t been able to locate again.
Raspberry Drops
I usually associate “drops†with not-very-exciting hard candies, so I was pleased to see that these are gummies too, but of a very different kind than the Nuts and Bolts. In appearance, they’re bright red gumdrop shapes coated in crunchy sugar crystals, and they’re more of a traditional gummy texture, though softer than a gummy worm or gummy bear.
These are sweet – very sweet. First you get hit with the sweetness of the sugar crystals, then you get the raspberry flavor, which is also very sweet – it’s only mildly raspberry-ish, but it’s got this odd little floral undertone I’m not really sure I enjoy.
I’ve been nursing a sore throat for a couple of days, and the sweetness of these is NOT helping. I think I’d like them better if they were a little more tangy – but then, I always enjoy sour gummies more than sweet ones anyway. They do seem to grow on you, though – I’ve been popping them like (better) candy all through writing this review. I’m still not sure I’ll eat the whole bag, though.
So next time you’re picking up a new sofa or just stopping in for a plate of Swedish meatballs, why not take some Swedish candy home with you? You might just discover something new and delicious.
