British Sweets vs. American Candy
by Laura Lollipop
Everyone knows that we British folk have some amazingly tasty sweets but lately there has been a huge rise in popularity of imported American candy. So, what’s all the fuss about? I’m going to explore this phenomenon sweeping the country. I’ll be giving my view on some of the different American Candy and I’m going to have the help of a guest blogger today to review our British sweets! My husband, Wes, is American and he’s going to be giving you lucky Heavenly Sweets’ blog readers an American’s view so that we’re not too biased!
A British View on American Candy
American candy has a very wide and varied range but this tends to be of the same product. For example, there are lots of flavours of M&M’s, Skittles and in the Wonka brand but these tend to dominate the market. Whereas in the UK there is a huge assortment of sweets but not as many different flavours. We have all the varieties of traditional sweets from bonbons to liquorice to all sorts of boiled sweets. There are retro sweets such as sherbet fountains, fizz wiz and candy necklaces. Then of course there are the endless types of pick ‘n’ mix sweets. Not to forget all of the chocolate bars!
It is common to find people who don’t think American chocolate quite lives up to a good Dairy Milk bar and, I have to admit, I am one of those people. The cocoa taste is not that strong but it is not creamy like a Galaxy bar either. This could be due to the fact that in America chocolate can only be called chocolate if it has a minimum of 10% cocoa solids whereas in the UK the minimum is 20%. However, when it comes to M&M’s, America wins hands down. In the UK we have milk chocolate, peanut and crispy. In America, they have nine different flavours… nine! In the shop, we have mint, raspberry, pretzel, almond and peanut butter. Peanut butter is the most popular flavour in the shop for sure but I’ll come back to peanut butter related goodness later. The mint M&M’s are my favourite American candy by a longshot. I recommend these to anyone who comes into the shop!
On to the peanut butter! We have various different kinds of peanut butter chocolate here at Heavenly Sweets from M&M’s to Twix. The brand ‘Reese’s’ only makes chocolate with peanut butter inside and this is done with their own signature brand of peanut butter which can be bought by itself too. It would seem that Americans really love their Peanut Butter! It is very popular in the shop too. Not a day goes by when we’re not asked where to find the Peanut Butter M&M’s! I don’t think it will be long before English sweet companies are jumping on the peanut butter bandwagon.
An American View on British Sweets
Before moving to England I was never much of a sweet or chocolate eater. Growing up in a very warm region of America caused them to melt too quickly for me to be able to really enjoy them. When I first moved here I was amazed at the variety of sweets and chocolates available. Originally, I did not like the chocolate very much. In contrast to American chocolate, which is sweetened, English chocolate tends to have more cocoa giving it a very different taste. After trying several different kinds of chocolate I eventually became very fond of Cadbury.
I also became a big fan of pick ‘n’ mix sweets. We have pick ‘n’ mix’s in America but they are nowhere near as popular where I come from as they are here. I couldn’t believe the variety of sweets that I had never even heard of and, over the course of the past year, I have made it my mission to try as many as possible. My wife was kind enough to buy me a bag containing one of every sweet from the pick ‘n’ mix at Heavenly Sweets. Out of all these I have three favorites. I always indulge in the Haribo Terrific Turtles, the Haribo Fried Eggs (mainly because I think it is cool to see a sweet in the shape of a fried egg!) and the Fizzy Bubble Bottle sweets when I’m buying sweets.
One thing that I really miss from America is peanut butter in chocolate. As cliché as it sounds, Americans do love peanut butter and chocolate. I still have not found a substitute for it over here. I was really glad when Heavenly Sweets expanded their American selection after moving into the bigger shop. Thankfully I can now get my fill of Reese’s, Take 5 and Peanut Butter M&M’s. This is why I like the shop so much. It has loads of traditional English sweets that are new to me along with lots of stuff that I grew up with from back home. While I have enjoyed trying out all the new sweets, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (American) remain my favourite! I would encourage everyone to give them a try.
Overall
It would seem that, while we may like American candy and Americans may like British sweets, there is never going to be a conclusion on which ones are the best. We’re always going to prefer our own country’s sweets but occasionally it’s good to have something a bit different too. Luckily, here at Heavenly Sweets, you can buy them both in the same shop and get the best from both sides of the Atlantic!