Tuesday 31st January, 2012 - Twix

THE CARAMEL IS BACK, YO!

The classic Twix is biscuit topped with caramel, coated with milk chocolate. The name comes from the words 'twin sticks', and these were first produced in the UK in 1967.

The amount of caramel in these is generous, and the chocolate is quite nice. However, it's the biscuit in these that lets the experience down. It's very bland and dry, I think. If there was something else other than biscuit in it it would be much nicer, but then it would be an entirely different chocolate bar. Also, I know a lot of people are fond of these, and I don't think they'd be too happy if these changed!

Twix used to be called Raider in many parts of Europe, though this was changed in 1991 to fit in with international branding. There's lots of different ways you can eat these (as laid out here), but the best way, in my opinion, is to chill it a little, then nibble off all the biscuit until you're left with just the sweet, sweet caramel.... mmmmm *Homer Simpson style drooling* ^_^

Monday 30th January, 2012 - Maltesers

Can't believe I've been at this nearly a month already! Thanks to everyone for their support so far! :D

Created in 1936 and first sold in 1937, Maltesers were originally known as 'Energy Balls'. The process in which they are made is pretty interesting... or at least, it seems to be from what I've gleaned from here. Have a look, because it's rather amusing, but it appears that once the insides (the malt balls, which are apparently made from the same stuff as Horlicks) are made, they are coated with chocolate in some kind of vortex type thing. The balls are kinda suspended in the air and the chocolate is sprayed at them, resulting in the perfect coating. I don't care if it's not true, this is now what I believe. It's a lot more plausible than some of the theories on there!

Maltesers are so very moreish. It's easy to consume a packet within minutes, and woe betide you if you've bought a box! They're really yummy if you suck all the chocolate off then chew the middle, but it's also very difficult. Sometimes you get one with a bit of a chewy centre, and that's really good!

These are also relatively healthy, with a standard packet only containing 187 calories. However, this won't do you any good if you bought a big box...! 

Sunday 29th January, 2012 - Löffel Ei

I've even got people on the lookout for chocolate when they go on holiday :) these little treats came all the way from Austria!

Löffel Ei - little chocolate eggs filled with kakaocrème... that's chocolate crème, in case you were wondering :)

The thing I liked best about these was the packaging! They come in a lovely purple (pics don't do the shade of purple justice) eggbox, then you open in up to find 4 eggs with 2 cute little spoons!!

Unwrapping the egg, you can see that it has designated line for you to crack it open. Of course, me being me it didn't quite work out like that!

The outer chocolate shell is lovely, that trademark creamy, slightly nutty Milka taste. However, I wasn't at all impressed with the stuff inside. It was a bit like a thick mousse, but it had a weird texture and the taste wasn't that good sadly! It's a shame, since I was very much looking forward to these! They smell amazing though, a lot like Nutella. Yum!

There's also a milk flavoured crème variety of these you can get. I'd really love to try those too. Milka chocolate is lovely, and it comes in a huge range of different flavours and styles, so I'm pretty sad that these cute lil eggs didn't live up to the standard for me! 

Saturday 28th January, 2012 - Oh Henry!

I'd never even heard of this one before... it's nice to know that my journey is being educational as well as fattening :)

I like the name of this chocolate bar. No one is 100% sure where the name comes from, but I like to think there's something sexual about it, if you get my drift ;)

This is 'peanutty caramel fudge bars in milk chocolate'. This one came in 2 halves, one for now and one for.... now :D Call it what you want, it tastes nearly identical to a Snickers to me, though not quite as good!

I had the pleasure of trying the US Oh Henry, which is produced by Nestle. However, in Canada, the bar is produced by Hershey's. Like I've mentioned before, Canada have a lot higher standards than other countries for chocolate, and as such it's labelled as a candy bar rather than a chocolate bar over there.

Friday 27th January, 2012 - Milky Way

'Milk chocolate with a light whipped white centre'. What the hell? I can't help but think that chocolate manufacturers just like to keep their cards close to their chests. What is in this little wonder? Nobody knows!

Another kid-focused item, I guess Milky Way is probably actually some kind of nougat. Don't quote me on that, though. Whatever it is, it's a tasty little treat. The middle is so light that these bar actually float in water. I don't think any other chocolate bar can claim that, so of course this was used in a European advertising campaign! I like to bite off all the chocolate first then eat the middle! ^_^

The Australian version of Milky Way is quite similar to the ones you get over here, apart from the fact that the centre is kinda chocolate flavoured. They sound good, don't they! In the States, it's different again, and actually their Milky Way is the equivalent of our Mars. I've never understood why they have to call things different names in different places. It just makes me think you might experience some kind of chocolate based trauma if you tried to buy something abroad D:

Contrary to popular belief, the bar isn't named after the galaxy Milky Way, but a malted milk drink that was popular when the chocolate bar was invented back in the 30s.

Thursday 26th January, 2012 - Hershey's Milk Chocolate

Kinda feel sorry for this bar, if you can believe it. Having researched it, it appears it's almost unanimous - This bar tastes a little like sick...!

The good thing about this (can hardly believe I said that :S) is that there IS a reason for it. Hershey's chocolate contains butyric acid, which can be found in vomit, among other things. Nice!

To be honest, I really did try hard to like this chocolate. I like the simple packaging, and at one time I had a real affection for Hershey's kisses, which I believe are made from this stuff. However, it's very sweet, and I have to wonder if it's just because I was quite a bit younger and my tastebuds weren't quite as refined. I think saying it tastes like sick is going a little far. It's a bit like cooking chocolate, I think, or christmas tree chocolates. Americans think Brits are snobby for turning their noses up at this, but I think that if they tried Cadburys they'd realise why we don't like this! On the plus side, it is kosher though, in the most literal sense of the word!

I shall be taking the remainder of this giant bar into the office I think, so I can force it on share it with everyone else ;)

Wednesday 25th January, 2012 - Fry's Turkish Delight

Not really sure what I'm doing to myself this week; in the interest of science I appear to be eating lots of chocolate bars that I actually don't like. Fair's fair, though... I do have some things lined up that I'm totally looking forward too as well. Not limited to caramel either!

This isn't real Turkish Delight, I'm sorry. The real stuff has a wonderfully light texture, subtle yet delicious flavour, and is lightly powdered in icing sugar. It comes, for the most part, in 2 flavours; rose and lemon. The rose variety is made with rose water, which gives it that subtle taste, whereas this uses rose oil. The result is a sticky, flowery goo, covered in low quality milk chocolate. The jelly like inside is sugary and sticks to your teeth in a really unpleasant way. Sadly this bar has literally no redeeming features... Apart from maybe the old TV advert?

I like this ad. It's totally grown up and sexy, and does make you want to sample one. It's just a shame that the bar isn't a delight at all!

Tuesday 24th January, 2012 - Milkybar

OK I should point out right here and now... I'm not a fan of white chocolate. It shouldn't even be classed as chocolate, with a cocoa content that low...! Still, here we go!

I'm sure everyone knows about the Milkybar kid. What you may not know is that the newest Milkybar kid is a little girl. Hinetaapora Short won a competition, and is now the current face of the 'chocolate' bar. This surprised me; I'd heard they weren't allowed to have a real life Milkybar kid any more, since a black kid got denied the role. Unsurprisingly, I'm not actually able to find any evidence on this! There have been 9 Milkybar kids since the first advert in 1961, and 'he' turned 50 last year. I've got a friend who looks like the Milkybar kid :3 luckily, it's not this guy! He went out on Halloween as the Dairy Milk kid. He's controversial like that ;)

Milkybar's aren't that bad, and if I was going to have some white chocolate this is probably what I'd opt for. If nothing else, being aimed at kids they contain all natural ingredients. Very sweet, they'll also give you a good sugar fix, if that's what you're craving!

Monday 23rd January, 2012 - Wispa Gold

OK, it's really not my fault that so many chocolate bars have caramel in!

Wispa Gold is, of course, like a regular Wispa, but with a ribbon of lovely golden caramel through it. I'm pretty sure that the one you can buy currently is an improvement on past incarnations; the bar is about half caramel, whereas before I'm sure it was only a thin sliver! The bar was re-launched in 2011 for good, after much to-ing and fro-ing, like the original Wispa. It's part of the new product range that Cadbury's have released as 'Keep Team GB Pumped', in support of the London Olympics and Paralympics this year.

Much like the regular Wispa, this isn't bad but there's many chocolate bars I would rather have. I think I just prefer sold chocolate to this bubbly variety.... but I guess it's all down to personal preference!

Sunday 22nd January, 2012 - Star Bar

'I can see a caramel theme going on here' one of my colleagues said to me the other day. Here's another one just for you, Jen!

Star Bar is described as 'A chewy cosmos of peanuts and caramel'. I actually think (this is going to sound mad on account of my caramel obsession) that there is too much caramel is this. It completely overshadows the taste of the peanuts and makes the whole experience far too chewy. This was really quite difficult to eat, and coming from me that's quite a statement!

As I previously mentioned in another post, Star Bar was originally the peanut version of Boost. It's also been called Nudge, and in Ireland it's known as Peanut Moro. In Canada and Germany it's called Wunderbar. I can't think of another chocolate bar that's had so many pseudonyms/aliases! This also means it has that same weird chocolate flavoured stuff in the middle. Anyone able to confirm what that is yet?!

According to Snack Check, Star Bar is one of the worst snacks, nutritionally, you can have, coming in at number 14 on their worst 20 snacks list. However, you will notice that it's not as bad for you as Diet Coke...!

Saturday 21st January, 2012 - Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

So as I've mentioned a couple of times, peanut butter in chocolate is pretty damned good. Reese's are, arguably, the kings of putting peanut butter in chocolate in a variety of ways.

Randomly, my local Morrison's stocks a couple of Reese's products, and the humble peanut butter cups are one of them. Not my favourite Reese's, but certainly a classic,  you get 3 cups in this pack. Mine were a bit warm when I consumed them, which meant the 'chocolate flavoured coating' (it's not real chocolate, you can tell by the taste) was a bit melty and the middle was gooey. This made for a delicious experience, however,  it was quite hard to eat. Peanut butter is thick and sticky at the best of times, so you can probably imagine how much stickier it was. I'm also very quick at eating (some might say greedy), so I finished them in about 2 mouthfuls each :D

There's a huge range of Reese's products available; I suggest you check them out here. Let the drooling commence! There have also been numerous special editions and variations, including honey roasted, peanut butter lovers and crunchy, as well as different sized ones, though I think the giant half pound cup is probably my favourite!

Friday 20th January, 2012 - Green and Black's with ginger

I'm quite grateful that some kind soul has come up with the idea of miniature chocolate bars. I'm certain my belly is too ;)

Came home from work this evening to find a present outside my room. Love love love it. 

Although I'm not the biggest fan of dark chocolate, I do know that this is the good stuff. 60% cocoa (not too bitter) and organic, this teeny chocolate bar is also generously studded with pieces of crystallised ginger. Ginger in chocolate is an acquired taste, but this works well. The taste of ginger isn't overpowering, but definitely there. I also had a little 'squee' moment when I unwrapped it. It was moulded like a full size chocolate bar, which I thought was adorable; I even had to take an additional picture to share it! 

As you probably know, there's a whole slew of different variations of Green and Black's. Which is handy... I've been advised I may have a hard time finding 366 different kinds of chocolate, but I'm sure that's not the case with ranges like this around!

Wednesday 18th January, 2012 - Wonka's Scrumdiddlyumptious

No golden ticket, sadly, but a tasty treat nonetheless... :D

I really wish that I could take a photo that would do this packaging justice! Being a bit of a magpie, this was pretty much my favourite bit - it's shiny and holographic and pretty!

Wonka's Scrumdiddlyumptious is, of course, inspired by the 1964 novel by Roald Dahl... or, if you're not a reader, the 1971/2005 movies. Scrumdiddlyumptious is milk chocolate with pieces of cookie, peanut and toffee in. While they're not tight with these pieces, they are small, and it's hard to distinguish which is which. The overall effect, however, is quite nice- the milk chocolate is tasty and the bits give it a nice crunch and some added flavour. 

I'd like to try the rest of the Wonka bars. Apart from anything else, Wonka's are, as they state on their website, 'incomparably imaginative chocolate'. The Triple Dazzle Caramel sounds especially sexy. I remember having the Wonka bars with popping candy in when I was a kid... they were amazing, I'd love to have those again!  

Thursday 19th January, 2012 - Boost

Need some energy? Manufacturers would have you believe you need one of these...

Boost was launched in 1985, but it's come a long way since then. At the time of release, it was a coconut and caramel coated bar, in a red wrapper. What we know as Boost today wasn't released until later, along with a peanut version (which eventually evolved into Star Bar).

This is a chocolate flavoured centre with biscuit pieces, surrounded by caramel and coated in milk chocolate. What exactly the centre is, I've got no idea - answers on a postcard, please! But it is quite nice. I can't really think of anything to compare it to, but I guess it's a bit like a very thick and stodgy creme. However, for it's stodginess it's not heavy, and eating a Boost in a single sitting isn't difficult. The caramel is nice and chewy but just the right consistency, and the chocolate is nice and thick.

In 2002, a new edition of Boost with 'Guarana' was launched, which is a source of energy and caffeine. Boost has always been marketed as an energy-giving product (though I suspect trading standards and the like prevent them from labelling it as an actual energy bar), and previous incarnations of the wrapper boasted the fact that it contains glucose. I'm hoping most people would be sensible enough to realise that this is just another word for sugar....!!

Tuesday 17th January, 2012 - Curly Wurly

So, that Fudge bar you were thinking of buying? Put that down, and instead sample its cousin, the Curly Wurly!

An iconic chocolate bar of the 70s, Curly Wurly is chewy caramel covered in milk chocolate. Best consumed at room temperature so it's lovely and chewy, I would choose one of these over a fudge any day of the week!

As with most chocolate bars, this one does seem to have shrunk over the years. I can never work out if they have actually gotten smaller, or if I've just gotten bigger! However, it is still very long, approximately 20cm, and although I'm not a massive fan of long, thin chocolate bars, I'll let this one off. Because of its length you feel like you're getting a proper chocolate fix, even though it's only about half the calories of a regular bar!

In 2004, Curly Wurly was voted the most popular chocolate bar still in production. They may cost more than they did when they débuted in 1970, it may be smaller than in 1970, but it's still a favourite of many people, young and old, and somewhat of a British institution!

Monday 16th January, 2012 - My Purple Bar

Whilst I feel it would be considering cheating to write about every individual chocolate in a box of Roses/Quality Street etc, some manufacturers have kindly found a way round this for me :) 

So as you've probably already guessed, My Purple Bar is a bunch of the purple ones from Quality Street (aka hazelnut in caramel) stuck together. Nice!

These are, I always find, one of the first ones to go in the tins of sweets at Christmas, so to be able to buy a bar of them is pretty cool. Having said that, it would be preferable if it were a Roses product and not Quality Street. I can never understand why they were called Quality Street, since there's really nothing quality about the product at all. The Purple Bar is same old Nestle chocolate and the caramel ratio is not great.

For a time, there was a giant purple one available, called My Purple One, which had multiple nuts in. Wish I had tried one of those!

The thing that upset me most about this was the fact that it has 104 calories per half bar. That's even how it's stated on the wrapper. Firstly, I think it's a really misleading way to display the information. I've started to notice a lot of chocolate bars doing this lately, and I don't think it's right. Secondly, that means that every Quality Street you eat is worth roughly 50 calories. No wonder everyone puts on so much weight over Xmas...!

Sunday 15th January, 2012 - Wispa

Somewhat of a cult chocolate bar, this one. But what's the big deal?

I'm sure you all know the story, but just in case - Wispa was discontinued in 2003, to be replaced with the Dairy Milk Bubbly, to fit in with the rest of the product range. However, people were sadly not clever enough to pick up on this subtle change, and rioted, until Cadbury brought the humble Wispa back for good in 2008 (following a limited edition run in 2007).

I really can't understand why so many people are so mad on this bar. Don't get me wrong, it's not terrible, but there's so many better chocolate bars out there... YouTube videos were made, internet forums and groups set up, and fans of the bar even stormed the stage at Glastonbury in 2007 in an attempt to have their voices heard. Seems a bit of an odd choice to me, but I guess it worked.

The chocolate is not bad, though not as good as Dairy Milk. The texture is quite nice though. The bubbles are much more subtle than those in an Aero, for example, and this gives it a certain smoothness.

In 2007, 41 million bars sold out in 18 weeks. This means that they were being sold at a rate of 4 bars per second. Quite impressive!

Saturday 14th January, 2012 - Milk Duds

People seem to really enjoy debating with me what should and shouldn't be written about on this blog. I think in the beginning it started off as chocolate 'bars'. However, that's kind of restrictive. I think a more adequate description would probably be something like 'chocolate confectionery'. Though I'm sure someone will have a problem with this too. End of the day? I make the rules. And no, neither Gold bars nor Caramacs count....! :P

The second item from my care package of American treats; Milk Duds. They're chocolate covered pieces of chewy caramel. The word milk in the title refers to the large amount of milk in the recipe, and the duds part is due to the shape. Originally, the makers wanted to make them perfectly round, but it proved to be impossible. I'm guessing that's due to the sticky consistency of the caramel.

Neither the caramel nor the chocolate in these is the best. The caramel tastes artificially sweet, and the chocolate is that kind that doesn't melt nicely in your mouth. It's a real shame, because they could be so good. Also, the caramel is very chewy, but the kind of chewy that gets stuck to your teeth really badly. I wouldn't suggest eating these if you have a loose tooth...!

Even if these are, apparently, the 'most apologetic of the boxed candies', I'd still prefer Toffets, the British equivalent... Whatever happened to those?!

Friday 13th January, 2012 - Drifter

So I think I've managed to get away with nothing bad happening to me. Saying that, I will of course be staying in this evening, because although I've been OK all day I am, by nature, an unlucky person, and don't fancy my chances!

I'd actually forgotten how good Drifters are :) for a start, you've got to love a 2 finger chocolate bar. They always feel like you're getting more for your money. Secondly, they have sweet, sweet caramel in. Thirdly, they are chewy but not too chewy, but not in the same way as the Lion bar, which kinda tastes stale I find. I'll even let it slide that I bit my cheek (ouch) while eating this. I still loved it. I wouldn't suggest keeping these in the fridge though. I think the caramel would harden and make it very hard to eat!

Drifter was first launched in the 1980s, then discontined in 2007. However, much like the Wispa, there was so much demand for it Drifter made a comeback the following year. I can't say that I recall this happening, if I'm honest, but since this is probably (in my opinion) one of the best kind of wafer-y chocolate bars you can get, I'm very happy about it!

Thursday 12th January, 2012 - Galaxy Ripple

I guess a good thing that will come out of this is that I'll try chocolate bars I might not have tried otherwise, because I didn't think I'd like them or whatever. Or maybe that's a bad thing. Oh well.

It's not that I have anything against Galaxy Ripples, as a rule. However, while I was in college I lived on Galaxy Caramels and coffee, and because of this I went off chocolate for a long time, and these days I try and avoid Galaxy chocolate whenever possible.

A Galaxy Ripple is basically a Twirl, but made out of different chocolate. Galaxy is a lot creamier, and therefore quite a bit more sickly than other milk chocolates. I'd kinda hoped that since it has lots of air in, the Ripple would be less sickly. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

The shape of this bar displeases me somewhat. Is that a weird thing to say? It's too long and thin. I much prefer the more traditional shape of, say, a Mars.

This bar has, believe it or not, just 6 less calories than Tuesday's Lion bar. I think given the option, I'd go for the Lion every time. Much more interesting!

Wednesday 11th January, 2012 - Butterfinger

I'm astounded at the amount of my friends who are more than happy to help me get fat. You know who you are!! Monday morning I got a nice surprise, a friend of mine ordered some treats from American Soda (http://www.americansoda.co.uk) and had them delivered to me at work. They're all amazing looking, big, chunky American chocolate bars. I'll be interspersing them with the British chocolate I've already stockpiled, with the aim of making them last a while :)

Yeah, I can't work out how to rotate that. Sorry. 

I'd never had a Butterfinger before, and had no idea what to expect. I bit into it, and the only way I can describe it is... Confusing! These taste like a bizarre mix of peanut butter and caramel, but are kind of crispy, almost like very crispy wafer. Absolutely delicious though! It kind of crumbles in your mouth... I guess it's like peanut brittle, but not as brittle. All coated in chocolate. Mmmmm! 

I've literally no idea what's actually in this. The packaging uses words like 'crispety' and 'crunchety', but never gives an actual description like British chocolate bars do. However, the ingredients include peanuts (duh) and corn flakes. Weird! 

The bar I was bought was a double one, but to be honest even I could only manage half of this in one sitting! Delicious as it was, it was also very sickly. That does mean I get to have the other half another day, though :D

There's a few other products in the Butterfinger range. I'd really like to try them all... Maybe not all at the same time, though!

Tuesday 10th January, 2012 - Lion

I asked someone the other day what their favourite chocolate bar is, and they told me it was a Lion. Not because of the way it tastes, but because of the lion himself. Rawr!!

He -is- pretty cool, isn't he? 

Lion bars are full of caramel, wafer and krispies, coated in chocolate. The good thing about them is that the chocolate is nice and thick. However, like the KitKat which is made by the same company, the chocolate doesn't appear to be the best quality. They're also kinda chewy, which (I think at least) gives the impression of them having gone off a bit :S They are quite substantial though, so if you're hungry it's worth a go.

There were, for a time, white chocolate (blergh!) and peanut versions of Lion. The peanut variety was delicious, with a filling of peanut butter, and we all know how I feel about peanut butter in chocolate bars!

There's not a lot of info to be found on the Lion bar, so instead check out something cool I found the other day while researching:

Do want!!! ^_^

Monday 9th January, 2012 - Bueno

Ahh, Monday. The first day of the week, often filled with back to work blues. To combat these, I've got a special treat today!

Mmmmm Bueno. These. Are. Awesome. I know I say that about a lot of chocolate bars, but let's face it, would I be blogging about chocolate if I didn't like it that much!?

'Kinder' is German for 'children', and 'bueno' is Spanish for 'good' or 'tasty'. I don't think that children would be as tasty as these!

My favourite way to eat these is break off a chunk, bite the bottom off and eat the hazelnut flavoured cream in the middle first. Mmmmmmmmm. There are 2 bars in a pack, so, in theory, you can save one for later or give one to a friend. Go on. I dare you. They also have milk in. That practically makes them healthy, right?

These are a great snack, since they're delicious but also light and don't fill you up too much. There's nothing else quite like the Bueno on the market, and I love it! :)

Sunday 8th January, 2012 - KitKat

OK so after I had checked the dates of the previous posts, I got the year wrong on Friday and Saturday's posts! Doh! Thanks for letting me know, guys!

So today, I shall be talking about KitKat.

I find KitKats quite dull, to be completely honest, and I'm kinda having a hard time thinking of much to say about them. I do know a joke about KitKats and Essex girls, but I'm not sure that this is the time or the place for it...!

KitKat consists of 4 fingers of wafer, covered in milk chocolate. The chocolate isn't the best quality, in my opinion. The best bit thing you could do with these is probably to dip them in a hot drink. You can also buy them in different flavours (2 finger variety), and I'm partial to the cappuccino ones :D

In Japan, they LOVE KitKats. They're considered a lucky food, since the name, when pronounced in Japanese (kittu katsu) means 'I surely win'.

It weighed in at 80kg, and was 100cm long. I wonder how long it took them to eat that bad boy?!

Saturday 7th January, 2012 - Fudge

Last of the Cadburys today sadly :( but that does mean I get to go chocolate shopping :D

Fudge was advertised in the 80s and early 90s with a peculiar little jingle:

`A finger o` Fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat,

A finger o` Fudge is just enough until it`s time to eat,

It`s full of Cadbury`s goodness, and very small and neat,

A finger o` Fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat`

If I'm honest, I  don't actually remember this. I also think they must have stopped advertising it, because I actually can't recall ever seeing an ad for Fudge bars!

Fudge bars, in my opinion, are probably one of the weakest products in the Cadbury range. The fudge is very sweet, but not particularly creamy, and the encasing chocolate is so thin that it's hardly even worth it. 

Back in my day (I do love to say that), these cost 15p. I guess if nothing else this made them  a bargain. However, the price has now risen to 20p! The fudge bar was first launched in 1948. I wonder how much it cost then?! 

I've now read the word fudge enough that it's started to look ridiculous. Though to be fair, I guess it was a ridiculous looking word to start with :)

Friday 6th January, 2012 - Caramel

Sex sells, they say. It's true of more or less anything. Name me one product that you couldn't advertise with sex, and I'll be impressed.

The caramel bunny was voted the third sexiest cartoon character of all time, losing out only to Jessica Rabbit and Betty Boop. Apparently there's not many things sexier than a cartoon rabbit :S

Finding it difficult getting a photo that does her justice. Hopefully people will just remember :)

In any case, if you hadn't already guessed, today's treat is, of course, Dairy Milk Caramel.

I love these. Amazing. I'm really fond of caramel in general, and when you team that up with Dairy Milk chocolate? Well, that's more or less my idea of heaven. 

Recently, the new Caramel Nibbles made an appearance on the market. They're a bit like giant Buttons with caramel injected into them. They're also amazing (even though the caramel to chocolate ratio isn't as good) but dangerous, since they are so very moreish!  

Thursday 5th January, 2012 - Crunchie

Even though it's not quite Friday (hate how weekdays go so much slower than weekends!), I've totally got that Friday feeling....

Writing this blog has taught me one thing so far, and that's how very old I am. Most of the slogans and ads I can remember for chocolate bars are no longer in use. However, Crunchie has been using the 'Get that Friday feeling' slogan since the 1980s; at least in the UK. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Remember that one? :)

I'm really fond of honeycomb, and the very best is the stuff you buy from the seaside. Chocolate coated or not, it has an amazing flavour and texture. However, if you can't get hold of this, Crunchie proves to be a (just about) adequate surrogate.

Wednesday 4th January, 2012 - Snickers

Just now, I had to go back and check the title of my previous posts, to make sure I had the dates right. I thought I'd put 2011! Turns out I'm safe :) Don't you just hate getting used to writing a new date, though?

I decided today I'd have a break from the Cadbury run and sample a Snickers. Hah, do you like how I said that like I'd never had one before?!

What I like about Snickers is that due to the peanuts, they have an almost savoury vibe going on, and because of this if ever I'm hungry (rather than simply craving chocolate) I'll always go for a Snickers.

Snickers, of course, used to be known as Marathon. I know everyone knows this, but I simply couldn't write about Snickers without mentioning this!

In the states, they have peanut butter Snickers. Don't they sound amazing? But then any chocolate bar with peanut butter in is a bit of a win, amirite?

Snickers are made by the Mars company, who also make (you've guessed it) Mars. However, the nougat in the 2 bars is not the same. I'm more or less sure of this.

Tuesday 3rd January, 2012 - Dairy Milk

The aim of this blog was to do 366 different kinds of chocolate. With this in mind, today I shall be covering plain old Dairy Milk, in it's different forms. For example...

Buttons and those kid sized bars....

Through to big, man sized bars :D

Whatever form it comes in, Dairy Milk really is, at least in my opinion, a good quality, well loved bar. It's delicious and creamy, sweet but not too sweet. I can eat quite a lot of this without feeling sick (lots of practice!!). Whenever I think of chocolate, this is the first kind that comes to mind. Sometimes you just want plain old chocolate, you know? 

Look at that. It's almost sensual, right?!

In the USA, Dairy Milk is actually manufactured by Hersheys. If anyone's going over to the States any time soon, could you please bring me some back? I'd be really interested to know what kind of taste it has. As a rule, I'm not that fond of Hersheys, but if it tastes the same as our Dairy Milk... mmmmmm!

There are currently 23 different varieties of Dairy Milk. But let's save those for another day ;)

Monday 2nd January, 2012 - Flake

I kinda thought after Christmas that I was supposed to be sick of chocolate. Though to be fair, I didn't get an awful lot of it this year. I picked up a selection box today in Asda for £1, so the next few days are going to be Cadburys themed... Never a bad thing of course! I'm a big fan of Cadburys. I'm going to (when I can be bothered) put up a poll about the different chocolate brands. Be interesting to see how many people are in agreement :) Today's offering is a Flake.

Flake used to claim to be the 'crumbliest, flakiest milk chocolate in the world', but now only says 'crumbliest, flakiest milk chocolate'. Because of advertising standards maybe? Or is there an even flakier chocolate out there?! I don't know. In any case, it was very crumbly. However, on this occasion I was lucky and managed to not drop any down myself. Don't you hate it when that happens?  I always find it's not till a few hours later that you notice you have melted chocolate on your trousers :S 

According to the Cadbury website, the target audience for the Flake is 30-50 year old women. If that's the case, why did they always have a sexy lady on the ads? Are women supposed to look/feel like that when they eat a Flake? And how many people do you think have tried to imitate those adverts? ;)

Sunday 1st January, 2012 - Mars

So... welcome to my blog. I've never done anything like this before, but what started off as a 365 project for me to eat a different bar of chocolate every day for a year has taken on a life of it's own and turned into this.

The rules are simple. For every day this year, I shall eat a different kind of chocolate and then blog about it (my other new year's resolution is to get more exercise, so hopefully this will balance things out). Since it's a leap year, this will be 366 different kinds. 366! Are there even 366 different kinds of chocolate? I guess we'll find out. It's a tough job but someone has to do it... right?

I thought I'd start with a classic... the Mars bar.

Since Mars is a favourite of mine, I of course already knew it would be delicious. Unfortunately, this one was a bit cold and not gooey as I like them. Still good, though. These are described as 'milk chocolate with soft nougat and caramel centre'. Has anyone ever noticed that the 'nougat' in these isn't quite the same as any other 'nougat' ever? Feel free to prove me wrong if you think this is incorrect!

A fact about Mars... Because Canada has higher chocolate standards, Mars are labelled as candy bars and not chocolate bars, and the packaging makes no mention of chocolate at all.

Really must try a deep fried Mars at some point... anyone ever had one? :)