Look out Willy Wonka...Madame B has some thoughts.

Somehow Eric and I began discussing our favorite and least favorite candies tonight. The conversation got so involved that we ended up making a list. We even rode our bikes to the grocery store to do a little research. No sampling was done in our continuing efforts to fit into pants, but after a lot of soul searching, I bring you Madame B's top 12 favorite Candies.

1) Those really decadent buttery French truffles dusted in cocoa powder-you know the ones. You can get them at Trader Joe's and they are velvety and decadent and incredible if what you are looking for is a rush of pure chocolate joy. This is clearly one of my main desires in the candy department.
2) Ferraro Rocher Hazelnut Truffles-
I've often said these are my favorite inexpensive
chocolates, and it is absolutely true. You get three truffles for 99 cents. Each one is has a crunchy chocolate shell dusted with hazelnuts and then filled with hazelnut cream with a delightfully crisp hazelnut in the center. They arrive wrapped in pretty gold foil, each in its own paper cup. It is like the chocolates are dressed up for a fancy party...in your mouth.
3) Almond Joy-Because I am a big supporter of coconut. I feel it is chronically underutilized in today's candy making endeavors.
4) Cadbury Mini Eggs-the tiny ones you can only get at Easter time, not the ones with creme filling. They are more like milk chocolate M&M's and look like little speckled robin's eggs. I wait for them each year and then have a few too many and have to wait until next year to be excited about them again. Best seasonal candy.
5) Sour Patch Kids-don't you get a Pavlovian response just seeing the name of this candy? I'm totally salivating right now...these are only occasional treats however, and they are really meant to be shared. Just half of one box will rough up the inside of your mouth like a sandblaster from hell.
6) Peeps-only at Easter time and they must be yellow and they have to be in chick form or they loose a great deal of their charm. I once tried chocolate bats at Halloween and they had none of the magic. I'd like to say for the record that I am vehemently opposed to all Peep merchandising efforts. It is a candy, people! Not a brand of clothing.
7) Junior Mints-best at the movies sprinkled over popcorn so they turn all melty and you get the alternating sweet and gooey with salty and crunchy. I think movie theaters are the only place I really get excited about Junior Mints.
8) Jelly Belly's- Eric likes to say that the fact that I like the buttered popcorn flavored Jelly Belly is grounds for divorce, but I don't think he'll act on it. Someone in the relationship has to eat those. The consequences of not doing so are dire. You end up with a pile of buttered popcorn and licorice flavored jelly beans that nobody wants. This way, we only have the licorice ones left. Far better system.
9) Nerds- best sentimental favorite/novelty candy. I used to eat Nerd Blizzards as a kid, which was pretty revolting actually, because they used rainbow Nerds, which of course made the soft serve turn that awful purplish grey color. Some things just weren't meant to be combined with Dairy products. But, the weird shape and consistency of Nerds is just sort of silly, childish, fun. As candy ought to be.
10) Sweet Tarts/ Chewy Spree/Peachy O's- these are all interchangeable in my opinion. If they don't have one, may as well get the other. Best on a long car ride when you don't want anything to over the top, just a little taste bud titillation. I especially like sticking my tongue through the Peachy O's and unrolling the tarts/spree. Lots of fun to share with driver/passengers.
11) Altoids-not so much a candy as a so-strong-its-almost-painful-bad-breath-banisher, but I love the little tins they come in and it is the only candy one would carry around in one's handbag. It gives the humble mint a real sense of occasion, they seem like the sort of mints the Queen mother would fancy.
12) Godiva Raspberry Creme Truffle-I think in a lot of ways Godiva has become sort of overrated and Americanized (read: gigantisized) but I still do love this truffle with its liquid center. I think the exploding sensation of this candy is one of the things that makes it so wonderful.