Some funny bunny is dropping eggs all over our site!
Throughout the day today, eggs marked with Coupon Codes
can be found on our product pages.
The first 3 people to use each code will get $10 OFF $30.
Everyone else will get a 5% discount. Codes are good today only!
Here’s a clue to help you find an egg:
This peanut-buttery bar made a cameo appearance in the movie “Beetlejuice”.
Get more hints on our Facebook Page.
Mike and Ike Pursue Solo Careers
It’s summer in March, the Mayan calendar is ending, and the most famous duo in the history of candy is parting ways. Get ready for an interesting ride from the people who brought you Peeps. Just Born is about to take Mike and Ike (you know, the Mike & Ike) on an outrageous adventure. And you’ll get to learn a lot more about who they are and what they’re all about!
Enough with the chocolate mascots, already. Mike and Ike are real…well…we don’t know what they are. But we do know that they’re real characters — individuals with their own interests, passions, and personalities. While they’ve shared great success in the world of candy, there’s got to be more to life. After all, they’ve been working as a team since 1940. So they’re striking out on separate paths, one in the direction of rock ‘n roll glory, the other to pursue acclaim as an artist.
If upcoming product designs are any indication, we can expect some fun frenemy action from these comical chewy-candy circumstances. As for the specifics, your guess is as good as ours. What will happen to the #1 theater-candy duo in America? Will they ever get back together? Since they’re both Kosher and Gluten free (not to mention yummy), a lot of people would miss these classic candies if they were to disappear forever.
Hello to all you candy lovers out there! This weekend we hosted a giveaway featuring prizes from Trident and Stride. The entries, which now appear on product listings throughout our site, were entertaining and interesting as usual.
We’re happy to announce the winners of the $25 Visa gift cards and Trident & Stride gift packs. (Contest winners will also be notified by email.)
And the winners are:
Melanie (taunton…)
Marcy (marcyatro…)
Watch out for more contests on the way.
Perhaps a springtime scavenger hunt is in order…
When I was growing up, the one thing that outlasted anything else from my Easter basket was that one bunny. It was always the biggest, most solid bunny, and it always had round, sugary eyes. Most of the time, there was even an element of colored chocolate. Weeks after Easter, I’d finally start pulling that guy out of the freezer.
First I’d break off the ears (and the eyes, of course). Next time, I’d hit it on the counter or drop it on the floor, hoping the base would break off. Then the middle part would provide two or three more moments of chocolatey bliss. This ritual somehow managed to extend the Easter experience (an underdog of a holiday if there ever was one) beyond the duration of more candy-centric holidays like Halloween.
My chocolate Easter bunnies came from the 80′s, and I totally enjoyed them. But it turns out that history has brought us bunnies and peeps that were even more special — vintage ones. In the 50′s and 60′s, Easter centerpieces were veritable sculptures made from intricately detailed high-quality chocolate. These treats were enjoyed by the whole family. People made memories about and around them. And the natural ingredients were as beautiful as the final product. I’m willing to bet that some families even admired their chocolate bunnies for so long that their ears turned white (the bunnies’, not the families’).
This Spring, CandyFavorites.com brings you a line of Easter chocolates that has all the goodness of old-fashioned favorites. Great chocolates of the past had two things going for them in the quality department — form and formula. Our gourmet Easter treats deliver both of these.
They’re all created for us by a local chocolatier that uses only traditional methods for making chocolate. The finest natural ingredients are hand-poured into authentic vintage chocolate molds from the 1950′s. These incredible confections will give you the chance this Easter season to enjoy the simpler things in life.
Bring back memories or create new ones with our hand-crafted vintage chocolates. They’ll give everyone in your family a chance to savor a piece of that bunny…or hen…or rooster…or cowboy.
Who wouldn’t want to win free candy? We’ve heard that a lot over the last few days. We don’t have an answer to that one, but we did hear from some people who REALLY DO want to win.
We heard some seriously funny stories about candy, and learned that some candies are more “favorited” than others. Thanks to everyone who entered for submitting such great reviews.
The two reviewers who are each entitled to a $25 Sweet Certificate are:
Keep Trying!
To everyone else, the chances to win don’t end here. We’ll be giving away a $10 Sweet Certificate every week to someone who leaves a review of a candy on our site. Just leave a review on any of our 3,000 products and you’ll be entered in the drawing for that week. And bigger, better, more exciting contests are on their way.
This isn’t our own candy contest, but we feel it’s only right that we let you know when someone is having a serious candy-related giveaway.
Trident and Stride are teaming up to give a whole bunch of people a chance to grab a piece of a million bucks! Chew for the Loot is an instant-win game that will award $1 Million via $50 cash cards. Just grab some gum and make sure your pack includes a Chew for the Loot game piece. It’s important to note that gum packs ordered on our site won’t necessarily include game pieces.
The Specially Marked Packages look like this:
Since you can’t get a game piece online, you have to win in the real world. But they have created a way for you to put your money where your mouth is on Facebook. The Chew for the Loot Facebook tabs on the Stride and Trident pages let you “bling your mouth” using one of your Facebook photos. It’s a little wild — but so are Yetis and Rams.
Check out the Chew for the Loot Official Rules. Like Candy Favorites on Facebook or join our mailing list to find out about all our Candy Contests and money-saving deals!
This has been our best contest ever. Reading the reasons we should choose each of you to win had us laughing and crying. There were so many great responses that we eventually had to just narrow down the finalists and pick a name at random.
And so, without further ado, the winner is:
Mary Ann Wentzel
We’ve learned a lot about our customers over the past few days. Many of you feel really sentimental about Brach’s candy. Some are fueled by sweets every single day (and nobody’d better get between you and your candy). Those of you who are diabetic are not alone in your love of candy — but be careful! We have a whole section of sugar-free candies in every flavor — even Turtles!
The fact that Candy Favorites customers are the sweetest people on earth definitely shone through. So many people asked to receive the candy so they could pay it forward — to family, ailing friends, the military, or volunteer organizations. We will definitely be hosting more giveaways around here, and with more prizes. Because, after all, you definitely deserve it!
If you have a great idea for a contest, tell us in the comments!
Why should you win a $50 Sweet Certificate from CandyFavorites.com?
Are you our biggest fan? A candy fanatic? Does someone you love deserve a treat? Maybe you can tell the funniest candy story ever.
Just comment on this post telling us why you should be the one to win. One lucky winner will receive a $50 Sweet Certificate absolutely FREE! We’ll announce the winner on Monday, February 27th.
This week, it’s big news that Mars, Inc. will be limiting the portion size of its products to 250 calories or less. The world has begun mourning the death of the King Size Snickers. If you need to stock up before your favorites disappear forever, check out our King Size Candy Bar section.
Some candy bars will get smaller. But this doesn’t necessarily mean only small packs will be available. The word “portion” seems to be important here. Take a King Size Snickers. There are actually three portions in there, but eating them that way isn’t so realistic, especially since those three portions come in the form of two bars. You can expect to see more clearly portioned candies with better saving-for-later potential. Mars has already achieved this by introducing several 2toGo versions of classic candy bars. With modifications like this, the greatest difference could be a psychological one. Some studies have shown that we tend to eat less when our snacks are divided into smaller portions.
Across social media, this downsizing has been met with distrust. Some believe it’s a ploy to avoid proposed taxes on non-nutritional food items. Others insist it’s just another way to charge higher prices for less volume of product. Since we’re not exactly experiencing a Renaissance of corporate trust these days, plenty of theories have been raised as to why King Size candy bars are going away.
Mars is sticking with a more positive message of helping consumers be more healthy. You don’t have to believe them, but reducing portion size is just one of many seemingly well-meaning initiatives going on over at Mars. They have a wide array of goals in the interest of living up to their 5 principles of quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency, and freedom. Some changes have already been implemented, and others are on the way. Mars has committed not to advertise to kids younger than 12. They’ve also opted out of selling through elementary-school vending machines, which is pretty cool. And it’s scary to some consumers, but by 2015 Mars will cut the sodium content of all its foods by 25%.
To take this commitment even further, Mars has developed a three-tiered approach to promoting health and nutrition. Information goals include clear labeling and nutrition information. The company has also developed relationships with a number of nutrition-centric organizations, including some working to end the child obesity epidemic. Portion resizing is part of renovation, which also includes the reduction of trans and saturated fats. And innovation will bring us portion-friendly packaging and healthy new snack products.
Mars is leading the pack and making lots of changes in the name of nutrition. But it looks like other companies aren’t far behind them. Many manufacturers, including Hershey and Nestle, have agreed to cut calories and portion sizes by 2016. Whenever a company changes a time-tested product — especially a nostalgic one — they risk losing loyal customers. Sure, all this talk of nutrition could be sugar-coating cuts to counter rising chocolate prices and transportation costs. But with the nutrition challenges facing the U.S., does it matter? Are you cool with the change? Would you rather pay more to get the same products you know and love? Share your perspective in the comments.
When we think of cherry cordials now, we think of chocolate-covered cherries filled with a sweet syrup. However, the cordial reaches a bit farther back than the tasty treats we associate with the holiday season.
The word “cordial” contains the word “cor,” which means “heart” in Latin. As a noun, cordial can mean medicine or medicinal food or drink and the cordial was originally used as a type of medical tonic. Cordials were believed to stimulate the heart and therefore improve circulation.
The medicinal use of the cordial continued until the 1400’s when it arrived in England. They were “taken” after excessive eating to settle the stomach and aide digestion and became known as “surfeit waters.” Not only that but they were considered aphrodisiacs. By the 1700’s cordials were becoming known for their intoxicating effects as well, which probably helped with the aphrodisiac thing (fewer inhibitions, if ya know what I mean).
Around the same time, a confection called griottes popped up in the Franche-Comté. They were made by enclosing long stalked sour griotte cherries in chocolate with a little kirsch. Both the griottes and the cordial traveled to America where adding a bit of the sweet, aromatic, and alcoholic cordial to the chocolate covered fruit seemed like a great idea.
In America, the term cordial was used to describe a particular type of strong liqueur with a distinctive flavor made by crushing whole cherries (including the pits) and steeping them in a sugar syrup with a bit of alcohol. After the mixture was strained, one was left with a sweet, thick, syrupy alcohol with a strong fruity flavor. This type of cordial is intense and very sweet, so it was (and still is) added to something else to make a mixed drink (kind of like grenadine) or sipped in small amounts as a post-dinner beverage.
Liqueur chocolates, like those made in France, became a popular treat and Americans gravitated towards their own special cordial. Cordial candies could be made with other fruits, but cherries were the most popular and continue to be. While they were originally made with liqueur, they are more commonly made with a sugar syrup flavored with cherries, similar to what maraschino cherries are preserved in. The cherries used in the candy are made by pitting and heating the fruit for a short amount of time in the liqueur and storing it in cans or jars. For the alcohol free version, the pitted cherries are cooked in a sugar syrup instead and then jarred.
Cherry cordials are made in one of three ways. The first is shell molding – pouring liquid chocolate into molds to a form a shell. The shell is filled with cordial or sugar syrup and a cherry. Before the shell hardens completely it is plugged up with a small seal of chocolate, which becomes the bottom.
The second method of making chocolate cherries is called enrobing, meaning the centers of the chocolates are run under a curtain of liquid chocolate to form a shell. In order to accomplish this, the syrup is placed in trays made of starch dotted with small impressions. After a while, the syrup will “crust,” or form a layer of sugar crystals, all around its surface. They can be carefully lifted out of the mold and enrobed in chocolate.
Finally, there is a method, which uses a solid filling enrobed in chocolate. An enzyme called invertase is added which acts on solid sugar centers and reverts them to liquid. Adding invertase can be done after the center has been covered in chocolate, simplifying the whole process. Here’s an example of how it’s done. (For the purposes of this example we’re going to use maraschino cherries and the syrup they’re packed in.)
Add invertase to the cherry syrup. Coat each cherry in several layers of powdered sugar and the enriched cherry syrup. Dip each cherry into a chocolate coating making sure it is thick enough that it will not crack and leak any filling. The invertase starts to break down the sugar immediately and continues even after it’s been enrobed in chocolate. It can take several weeks for the sugar to completely dissolve (up to a month).
There are plenty of confectioners that make cherry cordials, but the three most popular are Cella’s, Queen Anne’s, and Brach’s. Cella’s is the oldest brand. They began making cherries in 1864, but didn’t begin large-scale production until 1929. Queen Anne’s began making their chocolate cherries in 1948.
The Brock Candy Company began making cherry cordials in the 1930’s and the tiny treat helped keep the company afloat during the Depression. The cherries remained popular for the next 60 years when a majority stake in the company was bought by E.J. Brach Corporation in 1994. The name of the company was changed to Brach’s and the cherries became one of the largest selling lines of chocolate cherries.
There are other “knock-offs” of cherry cordials from companies like Hershey’s and Mars. Hershey’s produces Hershey’s Kisses Cherry Cordial, which is filled with thick cherry flavored goo. Mars has M&M’s Cherry Cordials, which are just flavored like a cherry cordial.
Let’s be honest, nothing can beat a real chocolate cherry cordial.
Cherry cordials are available in stores mainly during the holiday season and you’ll be hard pressed to find them after the holidays end. Luckily, Candy Favorites stocks them year round, so if you have that craving you know where to go! But you can worry about that later. It’s almost Valentine’s Day and we’ve got Brach’s Cherries all ready to be shipped to you to give to pretty much everyone you know. It’s the perfect Valentine’s Day gift and we want to share it with you.
~ Created by our special guest blogger, Esther of Why’d You Eat That?
Bibliography:
Davidson, Alan, and Tom Jaine. “Cherry; Chocolate; Cordial.” The Oxford Companion to Food. 2. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 165; 180; 216. Print.
Day, Ivan. “Rosa Solis.” Historic Food Welcome. Ivan Day, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. <http://www.historicfood.com/rosolio.htm>.
Dobie, Mark. “Making History Monday: Chocolate Covered Cherries – Sugar Pressure.” Sugar Pressure. sugarpressure dot com, 28 Dec. 2009. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.sugarpressure.com/2009/12/making-history-monday-chocolate-covered-cherries.html>.
Kirk, Bryn. “Invertase | Chocolate University Online Blog.” Chocolate University Online has chocolate education for everyone!. Chocolate University Online, 19 Sept. 2010. Web. 6 Feb. 2012. <http://www.chocolateuniversityonline.com/blog/tag/invertase>.
“My Mother’s Chocolate Covered Cherries .” Squidoo : Welcome to Squidoo. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. <http://www.squidoo.com/mothers-chocolate-covered-cherries-recipe>.
Larousse Gastronomique: The World’s Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia. New York: Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2009. 231; 301. Print.
Tabler, Dave. “Appalachian History » Chocolate covered cherries for Valentine’s Day? Classic!.” Appalachian History » Stories, quotes and anecdotes.. Dave Tabler, 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. <http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2010/02/chocolate-covered-cherries-for.html>.
“What is a Cherry Cordial?.” wiseGEEK: clear answers for common questions. Conjecture Corporation, n.d. Web. 7 Feb. 2012. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-cherry-cordial.htm>.
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