Jan
York Pieces
I refer you to Candy Blog for Cybele’s usual excellent pictures. Man, I need to get new batteries for my camera.
Ooh, before I start, did you know there are York baking pieces now? Yes, they’re little tiny peppermint patties, smaller than a penny. I haven’t found them in area stores yet – Bloomington, IN is not your first tier marketing place. They’re intended for baking, just like the tiny Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. They’re adorable. I need to find them.
Until then, I’ll have to make do with the regular ones. Isn’t life tough, having to decide on those unnecessary, nutritionally bankrupt extra calories? All while living in a nice, warm house with an excess of material posessions… this is one of those “I have to quit whining” things.
These little blue and white candies look like they would be perfect Hannukah candies, if they were kosher. They’re not, or at least it doesn’t say so. The bag smells lovely when opened, a nice rush of chocolate and sweet peppermint. Each candy piece is about the size of an M&M. Although each piece is not completely uniform, they are close enough to not be important. Don’t fool yourself with the dark chocolate label – these things are as sweet as any milk chocolate. There is no center here – each piece is a candy covered bit of mint-flavored chocolate.
The taste is not significantly different than a mint patty. The chocolate is a bit stronger, perhaps. I thought the candy shell was too thick – with this kind of candy, my favorite way to eat it is to hold it in my mouth for a minute or two, so the chocolate melts, then crack it with my tongue and suck the chocolate out. I like the way the chocolate coats my tongue, plus eating them this way is a good way to slow my consumption, so I eat less. That’s the theory, anyway. With a thicker shell, I have to bite, which doesn’t result in the same sensory experience.
These don’t exactly knock my socks off. They’re okay, but they don’t make me want to sit and snack on them. Of course, the real patties don’t make me do that either – I’m usually happy having one or two mini patties a day when I have a bag. They would, however, make exquisite chocolate chip cookies, maybe even brownies. Just substitute these for the chocolate chips, and you’ll get a combination that is tasty and a little out of the norm. That extra crunchiness would be particularly well-suited to baking, since it will help hold the shape and add to texture contrasts.
SCORE: 6 out of 10, possibly more as baking bits
Purchased at: Kroger
Price: 2.50 (sale)
