HERSHEY GOLD KISSES

One of my favorite discoveries since starting this "junk food" blog a few years ago has been the Hershey Gold candy bar.  It isn't often that Hershey releases a full-sized bar under the Hershey name, and this was the first to not contain any chocolate at all. 

If you missed my review and haven't tried this candy yet, a Hershey Gold is a caramelized "creme" bar containing tiny bits of pretzels and peanuts.  Even though it took me a while to come around to the "salty and sweet" combination that arose over the past decade or so ("sea salt and caramel" in chocolate was not an option when I was a kid), I loved Hershey Gold immediately.  I was extremely relieved to learn that, unlike the last odd "gold" junk food I liked (7-Up Gold...look it up!), this one has lasted more than a few months and has clearly made it past the introductory stage.  So, apparently I, and my former office mates, are not the only ones eating them.

I must therefore apologize for being remiss in not reviewing the "Kisses" version of the candy when I first heard it had been released.  To be honest, I wasn't planning to write about them at all, figuring that (as with all the other "Kisses"), they were just smaller, "drop" versions of the same Hershey Gold candy bars I knew and loved.  But, unfortunately, I was wrong! (cue sinister music.)

The first clue I had that something was amiss came when I opened the bag and got a whiff of the smell of caramel popcorn.  Well, perhaps not quite caramel popcorn, but definitely a strong caramel smell, and certainly sweeter than the smell you would get from simply melting down Kraft caramel squares before dripping them onto an apple.

(Since I specifically called out the "first" clue, you are probably expecting a "second" clue.  But, to be honest, there wasn't really a second clue.  I just put one in my mouth and realized that it wasn't the same.  I suppose if I had read the bag more carefully, that could have been the second clue, but then again, it would have been more of the solution than a "clue."  If you can see the bag in the picture, you'll notice it says only "pretzel bites."  Yes, that's right, one essential ingredient was left out--the peanut bits!)

I'm not sure why Hershey omitted the peanuts.  Perhaps they couldn't get a consistent "drop" shape with both pretzel and peanut chunks in the mix?  But I definitely think using the Hershey Gold name in this case is misleading.  Hershey Gold bars have three ingredients--peanuts, pretzels, and caramelized creme.   The kisses have only two of these ingredients!  You wouldn't call chocolate and vanilla ice cream "Neapolitan" would you?  Would you?!?

In the end, I decided not to deduct a point from the review score to account for Hershey's treachery, although I was sorely tempted.  The candy is sweet and salty, but definitely more sweet than salty, and not what I was hoping for.  But it is a good candy, and a welcome variant of the kisses which are chocolate-based.  If you like them, you will probably like the full bar a little better.

RATING:    4 / 5 

POST DONETTES CEREAL

Long the red-headed stepchild to Kellogg's and General Mills...or, maybe more appropriately, the RC Cola to Coke and Pepsi...the Post cereal company is apparently trying to gain attention by teaming up with some extremely unlikely partners.

Aside from the Fruity Pebbles brand and the classic Honey Comb, most of the current Post Cereal products are of the more "healthy" variety (Grape Nuts, Great Grains, and Honey Bunches of Oats, for example).  Still, in recent years, Post has introduced a few cereals based upon cookies such as Chips Ahoy, Oreos, Nutter Butter, and 'Nilla Wafers.  But now they've gone "all-in" on the concept of junk food and cereal synergy.

Post recently released three new cereals which will certainly catch your eye: Hostess Honeybuns, Hostess Donettes, and Sour Patch Kids.  As much as I pride myself on sampling odd combinations, even I have to work myself up to eat a cereal based upon a sour candy, so I started with the most innocuous one I could find: Hostess Donettes.

Truth be told, I've eaten many a donette in my day, although I prefer the full-sized assorted pack of Hostess donuts.  You know the ones--where everyone eats the chocolate-covered and powdered ones first, leaving you to scrape the bottom of the box with the plain donut in an attempt to collect whatever powder or chocolate crumbs remain.  The mini-donettes are a guilty pleasure despite being so dry that they are almost inedible without a glass of water or milk nearby.  But a cereal based on a powdered processed donut?  Hmm...

From the picture on the box, I was expecting the taste of Frosted Cheerios.  Which, while not my preferred flavor of Cheerios (Honey Nut) are not bad at all.  But Post Donettes cereal didn't taste like Frosted Cheerios at all...for better or worse.  It definitely lacked the crunch of a Cheerio, and for good reason.  Where the first ingredient of a Cheerio is whole grain oats, Donettes cereal goes straight to the dextrose and sugar before getting around to the corn flour.   (That's not even a donette ingredient, by the way, as Hostess starts with wheat flour.)

The end result is something that doesn't have the taste or consistency of a crunchy frosted oat cereal, but more like a Froot Loop (which is a sugar and corn flour blend)--if you took out the imitation fruit flavor and substituted mild vanilla flavoring.  Surprisingly, it is somewhat better than it sounds, but ultimately not that great.  If the name piques your curiosity as it did mine, you would be better off grabbing a bag of the actual powdered donettes and dunking them in a glass of milk.

RATING:     2 / 5