Hershey’s vs. Nestle’s. Godiva vs. Cadbury. Which is better? These famous candy makers are popular around the world along with many others, but the various chocolate bars and sweet treats they produce differ from place to place.
I found this out the hard way when a friend, recently back from London, offered me a dark chocolate Kit Kat, my first. I don’t eat a lot of candy but I like the crunchy texture of Kit Kats plus the dark chocolate isn’t as sweet as milk chocolate. I assumed this was something new that Hershey was making and that I could buy more at my local …insert favorite local market. I was wrong.
The Australians have their version of Kit Kat too, made with dark chocolate and Tasmanian mint. Finally, the Norwegians have a version of Kit Kat marketed as a quick lunch of 250 calories. Dubious marketing if you ask me.
Generally, UK candy is made with cane sugar and more milk fat than American candy which utilizes the dreaded high fructose corn syrup. Score one for the Brits but…it’s still sugar. In another big score for the Brits, they developed the first candy bar as we know it today. They are still made under the name of the man who invented the chocolate bar, Fry. However, the Italians are responsible for the machine that makes the chocolate bars so— who was really first?
We will probably never know the answer to that question but you can know which chocolate bars are the most popular both in the UK and the USA.
Flake chocolate and soft serve ice cream.
Contents
Flake
Made by Cadbury, Flake is an interesting one. It’s like compressed sheets of milk chocolate that become this long round bar. It’s designed to flake apart (hence the name) not melt. Flakes are best eaten with ice cream, usually vanilla, and you can even use the Flake as a sort of scoop. That sounds good to me.
Malteser
Malteser is made by Mars. They are light and crunchy with an airy malt center covered in milk chocolate. I think they compare to Whoppers. Maltesers are definitely a big seller. Whoppers were one of my favorites as a kid so I am looking forward to trying Maltesers. Malteseres were launched in the 1930s!
Curly Wurly
Curly Wurly are braided caramel covered in milk chocolate. Again, made by Cadbury, they used to be called Marathons. You’ll want to be careful not to pull your teeth out eating caramel! Curly Wurlys are similar in taste to Rolos which I love. They’ve been around since 1970.
Smarties
Smarties are milk chocolate coated in a flavored sugar shell. Each color is a different flavor. Who knew? Smarties are popular everywhere but not available in the USA except in import shops. They are made by Nestle and are similar to M & Ms.
Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar
Cadbury’s Dair Milk bar comes in a variety of sizes and flavors but the basic bar called simply Dairy Milk, is the best seller here in the US. or at least in Texas. These bars are so popular they’ve survived since 1905! They are made with whole milk gathered from around the British Isles and Ireland.
Cadbury Chocolate Buttons
These are sort of like a Cadbury Dairy Milk bar turned into morsels of rich, creamy milk chocolate. They also come in flavors.
Crunchie
Crunchies are milk chocolate-covered toffee with a honeycomb-like center. That means the center is light and airy like a honeycomb and it quickly dissolves in your mouth. Yum. Bonus: the bar is made with sustainably sourced cocoa. And, no surprise, it’s made by Cadbury. I think I’m going to buy some stock.
Fruit Pastilles
Made by Rowntree, fruit pastilles come in pretty colors, and if that doesn’t perk you up, the sugar content will. They come in flavors like black currant, lemon, strawberry, lime, and orange. They do contain real fruit juice but not enough to measure. I think the main attraction is the combination of fruity and chewy. You can also use these to decorate gingerbread houses at Christmas time.
Kit Kat
I wrote a lot about Kit Kat already but get this, you can get wasabi and sake-flavored Kit Kat. Hmmm, not sure about that one. Kit Kat (under the Nestle label) is also credited with being one of the first companies to use sustainably sourced cocoa. In the USA you can get different flavors but the milk chocolate wafer-covered bar is the most popular and easy to find. Hershey’s is not allowed to make dark chocolate bars so if you live in the USA you will need to make a quick trip over the pond, order them online, or find a British import shop in your area.
Aero
Aero is described as airy or bubbly milk chocolate. Light and crisp, they are well, full of air. Not sure if that’s a marketing trick to make more money but the bar is so popular capitalism wins. It was first marketed in 1935 as bubbly chocolate in the UK and Ireland. Today I think people might mistake that for a champagne (bubbles) and chocolate pairing.
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