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| Candy-Nirvana nymph says, "Take it, you won't find it anywhere else!" |
| New York Times News Service via the Taipei Times |
Mint and dark chocolate is one of those flavor combinations that is just so Christmas. At my grandmother's Christmas Eve dinner every year, a little bowl of foil-wrapped Andes mint chocolates would be on the sideboard, and I would shadily decimate them long before dinnertime.
Pursuit of mint-chocolate confections has since expanded into a year-round pastime for me. York Peppermint Patties, the mint stracciatella gelato at Capogiro and the new chocolate-peppermint cookies at Benna's Cafe have been satisfying the primal cool mint urge so far. But, like all good addicts, I'm always on the lookout for a new way to get my same old fix.
3 Musketeers has tapped into the "girls love chocolate and mint" zeitgeist with their latest hard-to-find candy bar, 3 Musketeers Mint. They have surpassed their normal too-sweet milk chocolate coating with a darker chocolate, and the bar is very pretty indeed, with the characteristic swirled top of shiny chocolate. Nougat is the fundamental filling of the 3 Musketeer — a pretty fake version of nougat, though. Real style nougat is either white or brown, comes in soft or hard versions, and generally incorporates honey and nuts. The only thing 3 Musketeers nougat has in common with the authentic stuff is egg whites, which are what give it the fluffy texture.
Moving on. Inside the thin dark chocolate shell is a white-as-a-Gossip-Girl's-teeth nougat filling, flavored with, you guessed it, mint. The chocolate snaps and gives as you bite into it, and the soft, chewy mint filling has a pleasant, not-too-sweet mint oil quality, which lingers in the back of your throat after swallowing. I could still feel a little mint tingle a few minutes after I had destroyed the candy bar.
Tasty as the new candy is, it's bloody hard to find. Mars, which produces 3 Musketeers, has provided a helpful product locator on their Web site. You can type in your zip code and the distance you are willing to travel for your sugar fix, and it spits out the closest chain drug store that carries the Mint. There are also seriously frightening (but probably delicious) recipes that incorporate the candy bar on the site, themed with the Kentucky Derby in mind.
Its a safe bet that 3 Musketeers Mint Julep Rice Pudding (with bourbon!) will not earn you any accolades from foodie friends, but that won't stop me from making it. Addicts are predictable like that. We take our junkie specialization seriously.
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