Fry’s Chocolate Cream

Posted by in Chocolate Reviews on September 15 2006 | Leave A Comment

After discovering Fry’s Turkish Delight‘s fall from grace, I picked up the 4-pack of Chocolate Cream’s with some reservation. Was this to be another nostalgic return only to be dashed by the bitter reality that things always taste better when you’re a small child? Was I better off leaving them enshrined in memory as the best bitter confectionary in the world?
Well, I’m glad I didn’t.

The Fry’s Chocolate Cream was the first chocolate confectionery ever to be made on a factory scale, so as such is the granddaddy of all chocolate bars. The tagline is “dark chocolate with fondant centre”, which to be honest, I’ve always considered to be fairly poor and unenticing description. Not that I could tell you a better one.

On unwrapping, you are confronted with a long D shaped bar of dark chocolate, about 12½cm long, 3½cm wide and just under 1cm at the thickest part of the D. The word FRY appears at intervals separated with an indented line on the surface, implying you could break it into chunks, but in practice is just decorative – far better just to chomp straight into it.

Biting into the bar, you get a decent mouthful of rich and bitter chocolate. The fondant centre is moist and I swear that it’s a mint taste, not an overpowering one, but mint all the same… yet according to the ingredients and the product description there is no mint. Perhaps a trick played on the mind with the contrasts of bitter and sweet?

All in all, this is still my favourite bitter chocolate by far; I wasn’t disappointed. One bar is enough though, it’s rich and leaves you feeling like you had a decent chocofix. The second bar does leave you feeling a bit sick (well, I had to try in the interests of a proper review after all). This is a classic chocolate bar that still holds its own well in a saturated market.

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Comments On This Post

  1. What a blast

    I cannot express enough, how much I really miss the
    fry’s chocs. Especially the five fruits. I am on a mission to hunt them down. So far, I’ve only been able to find the orange, peppermint and original. Sadly, and with deep regret can not for the life of me find the five flavours.

  2. BRING BACK FRYS 5 FRUIT CENTRE OR TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET IT

  3. Fiona

    I too am at a loss as to why the Fry’s five fruits are no longer available. I travelled to the UK from Australia as part of a culinary excursion on a “Best of UK” foodie trip. We have thus far managed to track down deep-fried pizza, pork scratchings and then like but I am inconsolable at the dearth of Fry’s Five Fruits. I’ve heard many and varied stories about these, fondly nicknamed Triple F’s, and was promised something bordering on a religious experience upon their milky chocolate coat giving way to a deliciously smooth fruity centre. I’ve sought counselling to try to get over this whole in my life which I doubt will ever be filled with any fruity fabulousness let alone five. Someone get me some!

  4. Margot

    I, also, would love to know where I can get Fry’s Five Fruits.
    I am in Adelaide. I used to buy then by the carton from my corner shop at North Adelaide; then hide them in the pantry.

    I visited a Fry’s exhibition, at The Castle,on a visit to York a few years ago – inundated with free chocolates! Heaven.

    Other than our wonderful Haigh’s chocs, the 5 Fruits are/were the BEST!

    Is there anywhere in the world that still has them???

  5. Margot

    BRING BACK THE FIVE FRUITS!!!!!

  6. Margot

    They were covered in DARK chocolate, not milk chocolate.

  7. Andy

    I know it is sad but think what about the dental bills?
    So be good!
    I miss them too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. Andy

    I know it is sad but think what about the dental bills?
    So be good!
    I miss them too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    it is worth it though

  9. Andy

    why not go to covent garden and cybercandy at 3 garrick street and have a feast!!!!!!!!!!!

    you can even buy tootsie roll..
    rememeber the superman comics with that advertised?

  10. maureen frew

    what is the history of fry’s coconut from late 1950’s early 1960’s no-one else seems to remenber

    • Aubrey Tricker

      I too have very fond memories of the delicious Fry’s Coconut from the early to mid sixties. I remember it as a rather firm and chewy pink, possibly raspberry flavoured coconut covered in luscious Fry’s dark chocolate.The whole was wrapped in a smart dark blue wrapper with white writing. I too am rather surprised that it is not more widely remembered.

  11. I have just finished eating my chocolate fix, frys cream it has to be simply the best chocolate in the world, there is nothing to compare with it. Many years ago I worked with a lady who used to squash a bar of frys cream on her roll(ugh. just been reading the comments and yes what happened to the frys five centre bar, I had forgotton about that one.

  12. David Stagg

    The five centre was just mentioned on our local radio station which brought back happy memories and all of a sudden i want one now

  13. andy

    ok ok ok we all know there was a five flavour fry’s chocolate bar, but what were the 5 flavours in it ?

  14. Five Fruit Fetish-ish-ist

    Andy,

    I can’t have you out there in cyberspace wondering “what WERE the five flavours”. I’ve had sleepless nights myself and I don’t want to leave any other living soul in something which I can only compare to purgatory. From what I’ve heard. So I’m here to put you out of your unquestionable misery.

    The five flavours were: orange (the colour of Valencia’s national fruit, mmmm juicy), lemon (like the morning sun, peeking over dewy mountains), lime (fresh cut grass, smells soooo good), strawberry (pale pink, sweet goopiness) and raspberry (the most exciting flavour of all).

    Now back to work!

  15. paul miles

    yes indeed bring back this bar it was chocolate heaven. they dont make them like this any more. i would love to see this back out they dont make them like this any more please bring this back out out. lol but u no they wont cadbury will say its the future now we have to make modern bars but i like to be stuck in a timewarp when chocolate was chocolate please bring this back cadbury.

  16. Anita

    I have just learned that my dear sister (who i lost last Monday) had the same favourite taste in chocolate as me – the wonderful Fry’s Five Centre – yummy. As children, we also loved the Orange, Peppermint & Cream but not as much as the milk chocolate five flavours (lemon, Lime, Orange, Strawberry & Raspberry x 2). Lets get a petition up to Cadbury for the return of this much loved chocolate bar – I will write to them immediately…….

  17. babycakes=)

    i love the orange cream:)

  18. Conegirl

    I remember the 5 centre bar with a drooling desire…nothing quite makes the grade, so delicious, so lovely – why oh why can’t cadbury’s see the light and BRING BACK THE FRUITY CHOCOLATEY GORGEOUSNESS!!!!!!!!!!

  19. Jan

    I’ve found this Cadbury’s web site where you can ask them questions about chocolate bars.
    http://www.cadbury.co.uk/EN/CTB2003/talk_to_us/online_feedback.htm

    Maybe in we inundate them with requests for the Five Centre bar, they will bring it back!!!!

  20. Marshall

    Fry’s Five Centre as I recall was milk chocolate and the flavours were 2 x raspberry 2 x strawberry 1 x orange 1 x lime and 1 x pineapple as opposed to lemon.

    Yes Cadbury’s bring it back!!

    Marsh in Appleton

  21. xfiles

    I too have been searching for some time. I told my grandson about them and now he wants 1 too! – unfortunately I have just picked up on another blog that the machinery wore out and sales did not warrant replacement machinery…….that I cannot believe!

  22. Jan

    I had one of the orange bars yesterday. Yum-o! The shop had the peppermint and the vanilla cream as well. Now it seems to me that if they have the machinery to make one whole flavour per bar, then all they have to do is make all the original flavours in five different bars. You would of course have to buy all five and take a bit out of all of them. Problem solved.. It’s called thinking laterally.

  23. John Mullins

    I love frys . I love Frys.I am in Adelaide where do I buy them?

  24. Jan Carter

    We have a chocolate, nuts and coffee chain here in Victoria called “NUTSHACK” and they sell the three bars, peppermint, orange and original. I don’t know if this store is in other states, but that’s the only place I’ve seen them. Any supermarket has the Turkish delight.

  25. John Mullins

    Thank you MS Carter.

  26. doogal

    the flavours were definety orange, raspberry, lemon, lime and strawberry….please bring the premier of chocolate back…we all want it more than wispa.lol x

  27. Hannah Potter

    Oh my god, me and my mum used to love the 5 fruit cream Fry bar! I can’t believe they’ve stopped making it, and Doogal you’re right, definately want it more than Wispa (although they are lush as well!) Does anyone remember Poppet Fruit Creams as well?? Why do they always get rid/change the good stuff (raisins in Revels anyone??? Yack!) x

  28. Cherilyn

    I have just eaten a Fry’s peppermint bar, chocolate is same as the old Fry’s but I miss the white fondant centre. Peppermint Fry’s bar was purchased in Traralgon Victoria, imported from UK. Am going to ask if they can import the white and 5 flavours, will update.

  29. Vidya

    Hey Guys, I liked Fry’s too. I am saddened to know the original fry’s store in Sommerdale is about to get closed by Cadburys and relocated to Poland!
    Odd to think the place that made the oldest choc in Britain will no longer BE in Britain. Due to that, I am going to stop eating Fry’s sadly. Goodluck with your search for the 5 flavours.

  30. lesley

    Cyber candy in covent garden still sell them but they imported from australia!!i wish cadburys uk made them!!

  31. Lynda Finn

    According to Wikipedia, the 5 flavour centre is no longer made. I always tasted lemon in the classic fondant, though obviously the peppermint version tastes of mint.

  32. Sandra Sannuto

    I just purchased 3 Fry’s Chocolate Cream bars….DISGUSTING is all I can say to describe them….

  33. john mullins

    why were they disgusting?

  34. E. Bowman

    did Frys have a mazipan flavour chocolate cream

  35. Alexander Hawkeswood

    As a vegan it’s great to know the longest running chocolate bar (it was launched in 1866) is cruelty free. No cows have to suffer for this delicious delight

  36. john mullins

    Why did they stop making them did they sell the frys business?

  37. Alexander Hawkeswood

    Fry’s Chocolate Cream is still being made. If you’re on about Fry’s Five Fruit Centres I read above that it was mentioned in a blog that the machinery wore out and sales figures made it nonviable to buy new equipment to continue its production. I think if Cadbury’s introduced something even better it would maybe be successful enough. Perhaps a bar called Fry’s Chocolate 7 Cream. Each segment could have a different flavour fondant centre. The original, peppermint, orange, strawberry, raspberry, lemon and lime are good options. It could even be the best selling product in the range

  38. Jan Carter

    Yes I’ve seen where they (Cadbury’s) reckon the sales didn’t justify fixing the machinery, but I can buy the orange, peppermint and plain white fondant varieties so I don’t know what the problem would be with making 5 separate bars, each with a different flavour. They could hold a competition for the favourite flavours and everybody could just buy the one they like best.
    Bring it on ! ! !

  39. Jo Hodgson

    Fry’s Chocolate Cream has been my favourite since childhood and you can get it in Canada but I tink that they are few and far between. Of late I have been lusting after the bar that had coffee flavoured cream or to be honest any coffee flavoured chocolate…am I hallucinating, did Fry’s have the coffee flavoured cream bar?

  40. Jo Hodgson

    I just saw on ebay an original tuppeny bar of Fry’s coffee cream that sold for 87 pounds, unbelievable, so I guess I have answered my own question…haha!!! I do remember the original Fry’s chocolate cream being so much larger and covered with a thin silver foil, so decadent.

  41. Jenna Albon

    Oh yeh frys 5 centre ……. hmmmmm was undoubtedly THE best choc bar around, was gutted when i couldnt find it anymore x

  42. Lesa

    I have been eating Fry’s chocolate cream since I was a child and it never dissapoints. I would like to see more of the mint and orange cream on the shelves of supermarkets, and more importantly they used to do a fruit cream – each segament could be either orange, pink or lime green – would be great to see that back in circulation again. The chocolate is still excellent; slightly spicy and I would highly recommend to all those virgin fry’s eaters!

  43. alan

    I too love Fry’s chocolate creams. I neevr got to try the 5 fruits (discontinued in 1992). the size of the bar was originally smaller but was increased sometime in the 1950’s or 60’s and has stayed the same since. They still use the original moulds apparently, which is cool! The chocolate is differnt to most mass produced dark chocolate today, very nice i think. I wish we saw more orange and peppermint ones too, theryre quite rare. The only similar thing about today is in Australia called Cadburys Snack, which does indeed have five centres. They should release it here! 😀

  44. Jan

    We have the orange and the peppermint here. A bit more expensive but oh so nice. Orange is my fav.

  45. Nev

    I loved the 5 fruits, as a child I had to endure piano lessons from an old nasty piano teacher and the only highlight was buying a Fry’s five fruits from a milk bar on the way there.I bet she hated the chocolate on my fingers, eating away at her piano keys! Please bring them back!

  46. Andrea Wilson

    At last I am not going mad.I even rang them up and they said they have never made a five centre bar before.I thought my childhood was just a dream and we never owned the sweet shop on County Road in Liverpool called county candy!!!Well thank God I was feeling like a five centres and I thought go on see again and check your not off your head,so I did and there are people like me too,who are mad and beleive that five centres made their childhood wonderful.PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BRING IT BACK,I WILL BUY IT FORVEVR AND MY CHILDRENS CHILDRENS CHILDREN.Let Me know soon as I am craving it soooooooo much.Andrea your customer for life.

  47. derek turner

    Talking of Fry’s five fruit cream bar can you tell me about the Fry’s five boys choc creme bar?
    My wife seems to remember these as they had five differing faces on the bar ending up with a look of satisfaction.

  48. alan

    @Derek – the Fry’s Five Boy’s bar was just chocolate, without the creme centre. It did indeed have the faces on, including looks such as anticipation, desperation etc lol I think it was discontinued in the 1970’s sadly.

  49. derek turner

    Thanks Alan you have just saved a marriage and unfortunatly proved me wrong and the wife right yet again. I’ve since found out that the five faces were Desperation, Pacification, Expectation, Anticipation and Realisation(it’s Frys).

    Thanks

  50. alan

    @Derek, youre welcome lol 🙂 interetingly the bar was actually originally just called Fry’s Milk Chocolate, but already had the five faces on! Then they renamed it, very cleverly it seems, Five Boys. Did you know they had to give the boy ammonia to smell to make him pull some of the faces lol. Frys chocolate is my fathers favourite chocolate, sadly now you can only buy the Turkish Delight and the cream bars, all of which he likes luckily lol

  51. Lindsay

    If the 5 fruits was discontinued in 1992 when do Cadbury claim the machine broke? Because when I was at uni our little campus sweet shop sold a version of the 5 fruits that was cocktail based – strawberry daiquiri etc. It was gorgeous!! That would have been 1999-2002. So the machine must have been working then as each bar had 5 different flavours in it. 

    And to the person who asked about poppets, yes I remember them too. They were another childhood favourite of mine! You can still get them but again the most interesting flavour is mint. Honestly, who decides these things!? Bring back the fruit flavours!

    • Alan

      Have you seen the newest flavour – Strawberry Milkshake? its very nice! they also have the cookie one but im not fussed with that one lol

      • Lindsay

        Ooh no I haven’t seen the strawberry milkshake one but it sounds lovely. I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled in the local newsagents and off licenses!

        • Alan

          They are very nice, its nice to see the Poppets brand being rejuvenated.. it had kinda been neglected for years, despite refreshed packaging, no new flavours other than the old four: mint, orange, toffee and raisin. Its nice to see a few new flavours, I have a an old 1960’s dummy box for Poppets (its huge, the size of a Maltesers box!) and the flavours then were fruit & nut, ginger, brazil, nut and assorted. I assume brazil and nut were one but they are all in separate cuircles on the box lol.
          I spotted these strawberry milkshake poppets in my local coner shop so your prob on the right track shop wise 🙂

  52. alan

    @Lindsay – I know the ones you mean, not through eating them but by seeing the ‘cocktail’ Fry’s Chocolate Cream wrappers online lol. I think they would have been a brief limited edition type of thing probably, I’ve never seen them make anything like it since, and were probably not all that successful. I don’t think they were really ‘related’ to the original Five Centres, but i see your point in the fact that they could still make them! 🙂

  53. Marie

    Frys Chocolate Cream are the best ever made. How dare someone say they are disgusting you have no taste. You can get them at the Hahndorf Sweets in South Australia. Please start making them again in Australia.

  54. I tried frys dark chocolate yesterday having seen it i’n local shop having tried bar when small remember enjoing soft centre i was so disappointed were was it look at packaging shows big soft centre it’s rubbish. Everything you make has changed including price you shouldn’t keep name cadburys you should change to contrys were not stupid your just to busy filling pockets of share holders and fat cats just do us all a favour stop telling us your craft but rearly all you do is shaft .

    • Alan

      The centres are still soft, Its partly the temperature theyre stored at, when theyre cold the centre solidifies somewhat. The orange centre tends to be softer for some reason though. I wouldnt say it was ruibbish though, I think youre exagerating somewhat lol

  55. Jackie Ennels

    I absolutely love the Frys Chocolate cream and to my horror have just lost a £10 bet. My friend said you could now buy this bar orange flavour and I said there is no way I would have known. Do you know what he delivered me a bar today. it was delicious (even though it cost me £10). Does anyone know where and if the four flavour bar is available please?

    • Alan

      The orange flavour has been around for many decades, theres also a peppermint one aswell which too has been around many decades.. im, amazed youve not come across them before, although you see them less than the original flavour to be fair.. The other bar you refer too was the Five Centres, unfortunately it was discontinued in 1992, but you can get a similar bar (sadly you’ll have to get it all the way from Australia) called Cadbury Snack (not to be confused with our own Cadbury Snack!). Their version has sx blocks of Dairy Milk each with a different filling and the relevant pattern etched onto each segment. They include, caramel, coconut ice, turkish delight, ornage and pineapple. Well worth seeking out!

  56. Steven Rhodes

    I adore this slim, elegant, little bar. I agree with the reviewer that the plain version does have a distinctive scent that seems (almost) minty – but I think that it is testament to the quality of the bitter chocolate and its contrast with the sweet fondant.

    I have, in fact, just this minute finished a Fry’s mint chocolate bar. Delicious, too, but not quite as grown up as the chocolate cream simpler.

  57. OMG! Those were my nanny’s favorite chocolate bar! I’d love it if they made a Fry’s Double Chocolate Cream! And NOW I also want a Dime bar (was it a Rowntree’s brand bar?) that my dad mentioned! He used to LOVE those, along with Caramac bars. Maybe Dimes suffered a demise when Rowntree’s were brought out by Nestlé (Was it Kraft that brought them back as Daim bars? Kraft and Nestlé are EVIL!).

  58. Jane

    Saw a link to a page that says if 10,000 people like their page they gonna make my favourite again – Frys 5 fruits – pineapple, lime, strawberry, orange, and raspberry mmmmmmmm nice to know I’m not the only one!

  59. Jan Carter

    Post a link to the page =o)

  60. DikCook

    If you hanker after a chocolate bar in a similar format and taste flavours as the old Fry’s bars, you could try Chocolate Cookie here in the UK, as I know they are testing a range of similar confectionery. I’ve even tasted some samples!

    • Alan

      do you have a weblink for them, i tried a search but came up with nothing 🙁

      • DikCook

        I know they’ve been selling their own fondant filled bars at the Food Fairs they attend in South East England & they’ve got more flavours available now, along with other similar treats like chocolate covered Turkish Delight & Honeycomb. Their bars are very similar to the old Frys ones, but they use a better quality chocolate, real flavours & a lot less sugar. You should be able to find them on Free Index or try @chocycooky on Twitter or Chocolate Cookie on Facebook. I know they do export as I’ve friends in Seattle who buy regularly from them.

  61. JO

    We live in small town Nova Scotia, Canada and there is a Bulk Barn here where they are trying to get quite a few British products…candies, cookies etc…I was chatting with the manager as she was looking at her list of things to come, they are definitely trying to bring in more British foods…their latest being Rowntrees Pastilles, well on her list she said out loud Fry’s Chocolate Cream and I did a happy dance right there and then. The last time I had a bar was 6 years ago when hubby went back to the UK and brought home my favourite stuff…Walnut Whirl (not the same as original) Battenburg cake, Bakewell Tarts and of course my Fry’s bars. I know that they will be small and overpriced but I will just have the savour it one bite at a time.

  62. Please please bring back this very yummy bar of fruit flavour 5 cream fondant chocolate l don’t enjoy any other bar of chocolate so do us all a favour and get this back on the sweet shop shelves thanks

  63. Geoff Lidster

    Frys Cream Bar and the Peppermint version were two of my childhood favourites. I’m watching what I eat these days and I had resisted buying them until this weekend. I bought an orange one and a peppermint one. They always used to have a really rich dark chocolate which was quite bitter. The orange one was incredibly sweet and the fondant was slightly grainy. The chocolate was nothing like the original Frys confection, but what can you expect when Cadbury’s get their hands on it 🙁 It’s not even MADE by Cadbury’s but ‘made under licence for Cadbury’ so you’ve no idea who’s making it and where. I mentioned the sweetness, there are 32.2g of sugar in a bar weighing only 49g so the damn thing is nearly ALL sugar. Yuk 🙁 I’ll stick to my memories of the real thing and I doubt I’ll even open the mint one.

    • alan

      While you make some interesting points, I must point out Cadbury’s and Fry’s merged in 1919 – nearly a 100 years ago! Also by then Fry’s had become known for producing poor quality chocolate and being financially poor (hence the merger) so the chocolates you remember eating as a youngster (unless you’re exceptionally elderly) were produced by Cadbury’s 🙂 Also, it’s a fondant bar – of course it’s mostly sugar, that’s what fondant is lol

  64. Jane

    I want to know what flavourings they put in the plain white fondant one. I taste a hint of nutmeg. Anyone else get that?

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