I've always been a big fan of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...although I'm a little less enamored with the eggs, pumpkins and Christmas tree shapes, seeing as how they mess with the sacred ratio of peanut butter to chocolate. In related junk food, Reese's Pieces are awesome and I enjoy Reese's Peanut Butter Chip-Ahoy Cookies and Reese's Peanut Butter ice cream. In fact, had this product never existed, I would have rested secure in the knowledge that I love everything Reese's.
Then came this.
The first red flag should have been the company producing it--not Hostess, not even Little Debbie, but Mrs. Freshley's. They've apparently been around for awhile, but I've never heard of them before now. And, considering that their label is on pre-packed, preservative-laden snack cakes, the word "fresh" shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the packaging. Still, they make knock-off versions of Twinkies and Ho-Hos and Donettes, so how hard would it be to make a decent cupcake? Apparently, very!
The first thing I noticed is that it didn't hold together very well (the way a Hostess cupcake does) when I took my first bite. That first bite also managed to entirely fail to connect with any of the so-called peanut butter flavored filling. All I got was the chocolate cake which, frankly, tasted awful. But the peanut butter icing and filling should make up for that, right? Not at all. The icing on top was thin and lacked any satisfying texture or flavor. The filling, when I finally found it, tasted almost nothing like peanut butter. I wouldn't be surprised if there was someone in the Mrs. Freshley factory whose job is to siphon the oil off the top of open jars of Skippy and then stir it together with Hostess cupcake filling.
While not the most inedible junk food I have ever tasted (Swedish Fish Oreos still reign supreme), it's not a very good cupcake and certainly doesn't do Reese's reputation any favors. Save your money for a gourmet cupcake the next time that "Icing on The Cupcake" brings back their peanut butter flavor. You'll only be able to buy one for about the same price as six of these, but it is definitely a better value.
RATING: 1/5
