Nov 13, 2011

Toffee: Creepy or Delicious?

This week I'm back to English soil and reviewing a Toffee Crisp. 


So, I’m coming from the American-centric view that toffee is one thing and one thing only – those Werther’s Original snacks that had the creepy Grandpa/Gransdson ads recycled from the early 80s. So when I was steeling myself for overly sweet gobs of candy that would get stuck to my teeth for the remainder of the day, imagine my surprise when I bit into the bar and found that 'toffee' was actually caramel – or something that tastes an awful lot like it!
The Toffee Crisp is a nice substantial candy bar with a reasonably thick layer of chocolate on the outside, surrounding a base of crispy rice coated in chocolate, all topped with nicely chewy caramel. The caramel is a great consistency - not too chewy as to make it impossible to eat, but gooey enough that it doesn't all just melt away into nothingness. In the grand tradition of Nestle bars, it’s generally lacking in chocolate flavor, but the caramel (excuse me - toffee) does a lot to sweeten up this bar. The bar is indeed crisp, unlike some disappointingly soggy bars of the past that delivered big promises for crunchiness and then disappointed.
The Toffee Crisp actually tastes an awful lot like an American 100 Grand bar, which, oddly enough, I was totally craving last week. In fact, I think you can’t really ever go wrong with a bit of crispy rice added to a candy bar. (At least, it hasn’t happened yet – I’m sure someone has done something unspeakable with chocolate and rice somewhere – a special Olympics bar, perhaps? – so stay tuned). 

YUM. This is a really tasty bar, perhaps only held back by the poor quality of the chocolate on the outside – the palm oil Nestle loves so well leaves a slightly oily aftertaste, as does the thought of all those poor dead sun bears. I'd like to consider myself a reasonably ethical person in most matters, but maybe in the pursuit of sugary calories (especially ones as satisfying as these), there needs to be some necessary collateral damage.

4 bars!

Bar-o-Meter


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