Cracking the Easter candy code

"Better stock up," said the clerk at Walgreens, where we were buying our chocolate-marshmallow eggs. "This is the last candy holiday for a long time."

I hadn't thought of it that way before, but it does seem that candy holidays are the winter ones: Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter. Mother's Day could be a candy day, but it usually means brunch and flowers. Memorial Day, Father's Day, July 4 and Labor Day are cook-out holidays.

How do these things get decided?

Anyway, to get around to the point of this post.... Not having been brought up with Easter candy (for some reason, nobody makes kosher-for-Passover chocolate eggs), some things about it mystify me. I think it's odd, for example, that the packaging on the chocolate eggs never explicitly identifies whether they are dark or milk chocolate only by color.

I'm referring to the kind that come in egg cartons. This year's were made by Necco, though I have an idea that we've seen other brands before with the same thing. They're addictively delicious and bargain priced.

The carton says "real chocolate," but not dark or light. However, consistently, the yellow cartons contain dark chocolate eggs and the white cartons contain milk chocolate. There's never a mixture, either. Himself says everyone knows this code.

Do you remember the egg cartons that had three flavors? They were all milk, but had orange, strawberry, and original flavored marshmallow goo inside. I wish I could find those again. I think Pie Mother bought a box of the Fannie May dark chocolate marshmallow eggs this year, but I'll have to wait til my next visit to find out.

I'm also partial to the incredibly cheap, Russell Stover strawberry whip and coconut eggs. Now that Easter is over, I'll scan the clearance-priced goodies on today's grocery shopping trip. Jewel generally has a nice selection.

LAZ wrote:The carton says "real chocolate,"

Alas, not anymore. Necco has evidently decided to keep its price point rather than its quality. What's a good alternative in the cheap candy line?

Hi,

Could you be specific to what is not satisfactory anymore?

Regards,

LAZ wrote:

LAZ wrote:The carton says "real chocolate,"

Alas, not anymore.

Cathy2 wrote:Could you be specific to what is not satisfactory anymore?

They are no longer real chocolate.

LAZ wrote:What's a good alternative in the cheap candy line?

I'm a fan of Cadbury Creme Eggs at least once per Easter season. My SO snagged me a Cadbury Twisted, which is a creme egg in elongated candy bar form - sheer brilliance. The ratio of gooey sugar filling to crappy Cadbury chocolate is perfect from beginning to end.



-Dan

dansch wrote:My SO snagged me a Cadbury Twisted, which is a creme egg in elongated candy bar form - sheer brilliance. The ratio of gooey sugar filling to crappy Cadbury chocolate is perfect from beginning to end.

Do they come in a dark chocolate version?