Mars Bar

A year of Chocablogging, and we’ve somehow managed to avoid reviewing the granddaddy of all chocolate bars – Mars. Well, today I’m going to rectify that.

First off, I do need to explain to our American readers that what you know as a Mars Bar and what the rest of the world knows as a Mars Bar. This (proper!) Mars Bar is similar to – but not exactly the same as – what you know as Milky Way in the U.S. And what the rest of the world knows as a Milky Way is more like your 3 Musketeers bar… which in turn, is quite like our Mars Flyte.

And now my head hurts. It’s all just too complicated for me – but luckily (!) someone has made a web site devoted to showing the differences: The Visible Mars Bar Project

With that out of the way, we should talk a little about the history of the Mars Bar. According to Wikipedia, the Mars Bar was invented in Britain (Slough, of all places) by an American – Forrest Mars – in 1932. Historical documents show that it is the only interesting thing ever to have happened in Slough.

For the first few years of production, Mars apparently bought in chocolate from Cadbury for the Mars Bar because they weren’t able to produce mass produce enough chocolate. Personally, I think it would be fun if this partnership had continued… just think of the possibilities… Mars Bar with Creme Egg filling anyone?

Anyway, the basic design of the Mars Bar hasn’t changed much over the years: Malt nougat, topped with caramel and coated in milk chocolate. And there really isn’t any need to change it, because frankly, it’s perfect for what it is.

A Mars Bar is what you buy when you want a quick snack on the move or an energy boost for those long afternoons in the office. Sure, there are hundreds of similar chocolate bars in the shops, but none do the trick quite like a Mars Bar. It’s chewy, filling and very sweet.

Which brings me on to the advertising… or more precisely, the old advertising slogan: “A Mars a day helps you work, rest and play”. Genius. That’s exactly what Mars does, and you have to wonder why they changed it for a series of wishy-washy meaningless slogans. I couldn’t even tell you what the current slogan-du-jour is. And I don’t really care.

1986 Mars commercial

You see, “Work, rest and play” perfectly describes a Mars Bar for me. It’s a quick, tasty unpretentious snack. It’s most definitely not the kind of chocolate you’d buy your girlfriend for her birthday (unless you enjoy being slapped in the face and having a Mars Bar inserted somewhere painful).

But the Mars Bar along with Cadbury Dairy Milk are the very essence of every day British chocolate. Even if it was invented by an American. In Slough.

Happy Birthday Chocablog!

Chocablog is 1 year old today! Yay us!

In our first year, we posted 114 articles, received 304 comments, built 1 rather awesome Dalek Cake and consumed approximately 3.4 tons of chocolate. And we still don’t feel sick.

We have big plans for the next year on Chocablog – mostly revolving around eating a lot more chocolate. But we will try to find time to keep writing about it too.

So, happy birthday to us. We’re off to eat our cake. Chocolate Dalek Cake, of course!

Goplana Klasyczna Gorzka Karmelowa

No, I haven’t just banged my head on the keyboard or typed random letters in no particular order. That’s what this chocolate is called.

It’s a well-known fact that 97% of all Polish people live in London these days. It’s also a well-known fact that 97% of statistics (including the previous one) are made up on the spot. But whatever the real statistic, suffice to say lots of Polish people live here.

One of the benefits of this is that you can buy Polish food just about anywhere. This little bar came from my local sweet shop, and although I had no idea what it was when I bought it, I swear it jumped up and down saying “Buy Me!” when it saw me looking.

Little did I know I was buying one of the nicest chocolates I’ve tasted all year.

As far as I can make out, a rough translation of the name is “Classic Bitter Caramel”. And that’s exactly what this is. A wonderful dark chocolate with a heavenly filling.

According to the ingredients on the label (helpfully available in English), the cocoa content is 60%, although it tastes a little stronger to me. But it’s smooth and creamy with just the right bitterness to sweetness ratio.

But the real surprise is the filling. It’s a soft creamy caramel made with condensed milk and it’s absolutely packed with flavour. It has a slightly smokey, slightly custardy flavour – the closest taste comparison I can think of is to something like a crème caramel. It’s smooth to the point of being silky, and it’s utterly, utterly divine. Nothing like the “slightly heated corn syrup” that often passes for caramel these days.

Being imported from Eastern Europe, the price was great too. At 65p for a 90g bar, this is absolutely something I’ll be buying again.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned after a year of Chocablogging it’s that people’s tastes in chocolate vary considerably. But for me, this is one of the nicest chocolates I’ve tasted in a long time, and will certainly be on my shortlist for next year’s Chocster Awards.

Sanders Milk Chocolate Caramels

This is another offering from Sanders Candy – makers of the quite yummy Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties I reviewed recently.

Milk Chocolate Caramels are large milk chocolates (obviously) with a thick, chewy caramel centre and decorated with thin lines of dark chocolate.

As with the Peppermint Patties, these are substantial chocolates. Sanders obviously like to make ’em big.

But I find myself in two minds about these. On one level, they’re quite tasty, filling chocs. But on another level, I’m not convinced they belong is a box with ‘Premiere Chocolatier’ written on it.

You see, when I bite into them, I can’t help but think of (European) Mars Bars. The chocolate is similar and the caramel is similar if a little chewier. If they had a soft nougat layer, they’d be almost indistinguishable from ‘fun size’ Mars Bars.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing – I buy Mars Bars out of choice quite regularly. And it certainly didn’t stop me polishing off the whole box in a few days… but this isn’t really aimed at the every-day-candy-bar market.

I think maybe you’d get these to share with the family or casual visitors, rather than buy them as a gift. They’re nice enough… just a touch… ordinary.

Interestingly, Wisconsin Candy Dish has a slightly different opinion, so maybe it’s all down to differences in American and European tastes.