Saturday, October 6, 2012

M&M's White Chocolate Candy Corn

Halloween is a season all its own and an ideal time to introduce limited edition treats. While still on the hunt for the possibly mythical Candy Corn Oreos, I spotted these M&M's in the supermarket and was intrigued. Naturally, I had to think for a minute about how to describe the flavor of candy corn in order to get a fix on what I was hoping for from this product. While I used to inhale candy corn as a kid, their teeth-rattling sweetness now makes one or two perfectly satisfying. The best ones are made with real honey and at least imitation vanilla extract, giving them a warm, slightly nutty background to the overwhelming sugary foreground. If they're fresh, which is all too rare, they melt in the mouth in a pleasing fashion.

While the idea of candy corn is a fairly slender thread to hang another product from, it does set up certain expectations in the consumer. Part of our enjoyment of food is based on anticipation, after all, and when they are dashed it can be hard to sort out what's happening in our mouth. For example, bringing a juicy hamburger to your lips and having it taste like a peach, no matter how delicious, would be a disturbing experience. While the disconnect with the White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M's is not that great, it definitely exists and ruined my first sample. Their flavor has none of the candy corn notes I was hoping for so they just tasted off.

The ingredients tell the tale: while they list "artificial and natural flavors," there is no honey or vanilla called out specifically. Fortunately, since 2004, FDA regulations have required white chocolate to have at least 20% cocoa butter, which is listed as the second ingredient here. That led me to taste again and turned out that when I discarded any candy corn notions, I found that these were really good white chocolate treats.

Come to think of it, it's about time there were white chocolate M&M's, even if they had to arrive in a candy corn-shaped Trojan horse. So have no fear - pick up a couple of bags before the Halloween stuff disappears. Eat them plain or make a big hit by throwing them in trail mix or brownies.

Availabilty: Throughout the Halloween season, which means you will find them in the 50% off bin on November 1st - if you find them at all.

 

2 comments:

  1. saw online the candy corn oreos were only at target and they are not showing any sign of anymore. the review also stated they taste like a vanilla cupcake with butter cream frosting. good but not candy corn. fyi

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the tip - you can also find them on Amazon, but from what I've heard not worth paying $15+ for them!

    ReplyDelete