Cadbury Marvellous Creations Jelly, Popping Candy & Beanies

Further to my comment on the Cadbury Marvellous Creations Peanut Toffee Cookie review post, I've since found out that all three of the large blocks are supermarket exclusive products. Only the smaller 50g bars will be available in stores other than supermarkets.

In fact, Cadbury is so determined that the 300g blocks remain supermarket exclusive that their reps are being instructed to report any stores that are found to be selling the blocks back to Cadbury, and they may even suffer fines. Wow! I haven't heard any solid facts as to why Cadbury is being quite vigilant with this particular product, but I'm sure we'll hear something sooner or later. Or, I'll twist the arm of my Cadbury rep when I see him next. ;)

Last up in the block range for review is the 'Jelly Popping Candy & Beanies' variety. I'm going to take a stretch and assume the jelly pieces will be the same as found in the 'Jelly Crunchie Bits' variety, and the Beanies will be the same as found in the Cadbury Mini Drops, a bite-size piece of Cadbury chocolate covered in candy, (which is also in my review basket).

 This isn't Cadbury's first foray into combining popping candy (also known as Pop Rocks) with their Dairy Milk chocolate.  In the past they have had a 'mini blocks' range, which included Dream with Sprinkles, Dairy Milk with Popping Candy, and Dairy Milk with Clinkers.  I believe these have been discontinued in Australia, but even while they were available here, they were very difficult to find, most likely due to their high price point (around $3 for an 85g block).

I've chosen a 50g bar to review instead of the 300g block. The moulded shape is similar to that of the block, like cobblestones and with varying textures moulded into the top.Interestingly, there is a little pattern - the two outermost pieces have a wave pattern, while the two in from that are pebbled, and the middle piece carries the Cadbury logo. The bar is lovely and thick, perhaps a touch thinner than the larger block, but it still has a satisfying crack to it when snapped. Unlike the block, the bar breaks neatly along the moulded lines, but watch out for flying beanie pieces! There are five pieces moulded into the bar, and each one is a perfect little mouthful.

On the back the bar is relatively smooth, marred only by little flecks of leftover chocolate from the moulding process. (Those will go flying too if you're not careful!) Inside we have what looks like a fairly even distribution of beanies, but I don't seem to be seeing many jelly pieces. I was wrong about the Beanie pieces being the same as the Mini Drops, though - these beanies are definitely, er, 'inspired' by Nestle Smarties. They are the same oval shape, and look to be the same dimensions too. At this point the popping candy isn't really visible, though when spread throughout a chocolate product, it is often hidden.

The popping candy really kicks in after the first couple of chews. There's quite a large amount, but it doesn't overpower the other texture war going on in your mouth. There is a lot going on, though - the smooth, creamy chocolate, the crunch from the candy coating on the beanies, the soft gummy of the jelly pieces, plus the popping candy going on in the background. It's pretty strange!

Usually when you eat Pop Rocks by themselves, you will have the crunch of the pop rocks contributing to the popping effect. In this product through, the popping effect is muted due to the creamy chocolate smothering everything else. It's still there, but for me it takes a bit of a back seat. It adds a little crunch, but nothing remarkable. The chocolate is definitely the dominating flavour here, despite the texture party.

I was quite surprised to discover the jelly pieces had a flavour in this bar. Despite everything else, I was able to get a few rose notes out of the jelly pieces when I encountered them (and I encountered about one in each piece). By themselves they are quite floral, like a firmer Turkish delight, which is an unexpected addition to the bar. It feels out of place. Like in the Jelly Pieces block, the jelly sticks to your teeth and remains even after the rest of the bar has been finished. It's an odd sensation and I don't think it adds anything to the bar.

Last up in the review basket for the Marvellous Creations line is the Mini Drops, which will be reviewed shortly.

The bar contains milk, wheat and soy, and may contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts and egg.