Mars M&M's Toffee Apple

Mars are continuing their fruit theme of late (M&M's Pineapple and Pods Raspberries and Cream) with another totally unexpected combination: M&M's Toffee Apple. Have they hit it out of the park?

Read on below!


Like any self-respecting child, I had a somewhat grudging like for toffee apples, but was far more enthusiastic about the artificial toffee apple flavour found across assorted confectionery (Nestle, if you're reading, please send me a box of Wonka Toffee Apple Bars, stat). These days, the real version is long gone from our supermarket fruit and veg section, but the flavour lives on in the lolly aisle. Mars have added M&M's Toffee Apple to their repertoire of interesting limited edition flavours as we say goodbye to the last LE, Pineapple.

(Before we go on, I must acknowledge the likely fact that this is an imported flavour recipe from our friends in the states. There, Mars releases seasonal flavours for the autumn/Halloween time, and last year they had Candy Apple making its debut. Candy apple is the north American phrase for what we would call a toffee apple, so although these M&M's are made in Australia, it's quite likely the flavour recipe is similar to the Candy Apple version in the states.  Now on with the review!)

The bag carries a distinctive green, pink and baby yellow colour theme, all colours that go with apples (sort of). The front features an illustration of Miss Green covering Red in toffee (doesn't that sound a bit dirty?) while he is dressed like an apple. The description on the reverse describes the contents as 'bitesize pieces of toffee apple flavoured chocolate covered in a thin crisp shell'. Not too inspiring.

The pieces themselves are coloured in light green, red and a dark coral pink. Opening the bag reveals a very strong, very sweet scent that isn't either very toffeeish or appleish. It's the typical sweet Mars chocolate and sugar shell scent with a very pink, floral note. As the description indicated, the shell is not flavoured; it's just sweet sugar.  The chocolate, of course, is where all the flavour lies. And what an interesting flavour it is.

First there's an insanely sweet note of mildly caramelised sugar, followed by an intense wallop of artificial apple. As the scent indicated, these are very strong in flavour; I'm eating them singly for writing this review. The artificial apple is interesting; beneath the sweetness there's a mild red apple tang, and it actually reminds me a lot of the Wonka Toffee Apple Bars I mentioned above (totally accidental). Some might find the flavour slightly medicinal. Sucking these little pieces is not recommended; chewing them crunches the sugar shell and provides a bit of a buffer against the strong flavour of the centre.

I wasn't totally sold on them at first, but I have to admit they are growing on me a little. The strength of the flavour has lessened with exposure, and who knows, I might actually finish the bag!

Score: 3 out of 5

Mars M&M's Toffee Apple are made in Australia. They contain milk and wheat, and may contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts and barley.