See’s Candies Assorted Easter Eggs
In San Francisco on my first weekend, I ran around on one day and hit a couple of chocolate shops before rushing back and working 😉 One package I got was a set of these assorted eggs. Mainly because I knew what I was in for and so decided not to subject myself to too much sugar torture 😀
This pack of See’s Candies Assorted Easter Eggs included Chocolate Butter, Vanilla Chip and Bordeaux centres. I have to admit, walking into the shop was like walking into an oil and sugar factory and while there is nothing inherently wrong with that, lacking any fond childhood memories which could help to block those parts of my brain which were at that moment screaming and attempting to leave my skull through my ears, I was in some discomfort.
Drawn like a sugar moth to a candy flame, I went for the brightly coloured boxes filled with sugary chocolate covering a sugar centre topped with sugar decorations. Some part of my brain which was no longer attempting to leave through my ears but had instead begun to attempt to exit via my eye sockets, only to be driven back by the smell, reminded my brain that there was likely to be a lot of leftover chocolate and as such I should go small and these were perfect.
The thicker shell on these when compared to a Laura Secord Mini Secord Egg is clear and the option of milk over dark is interesting. The smell of the sugar and oil is evident from opening the packet and is guaranteed to light up the centres of addiction in the brain like a Christmas tree. These eggs have everything needed to become an addicts delight.
The Chocolate Butter Easter egg filling is a whipped smooth slightly peanut-y flavoured butter crème which melts in the mouth. I took a small piece and I still puckered from the sugar. It was like eating a sugar cube made with artificial chocolate flavouring. With each egg coming in at 100 calories, I took really small sample pieces.
The Vanilla Chip Easter egg was another confection which reeked of vanilla and had a slightly denser, stickier interior. The chocolate chips did seem to add something (more sugar and fat) to the mix and I think I enjoyed the small piece of this one a little more. Maybe at this point a little less artificial and chocolate and a little more sugar was just what I needed.
The Brodeaux Easter Egg (apparently “Bordeaux” is their trademark term…?) was like the vanilla chip but without the chips. Actually, it isn’t – I think it is like a sugary disgusting confection that every kid is going to love and crave and have fond childhood memories of for years to come. For me, lacking in those memories, it’s like I can feel my teeth and brain rotting as my liver screams for release from this mortal coil.
While these eggs are mainly sugar and fat, that is a mainstay of any Easter celebration and if that is the kind of thing that you look forward to, I’d go for it. Upgrade to Laura Secord if you can and if you don’t want to go for sugary fatty excess, Hotel Chocolat do operate in the US and you’re much better off with something yummy from them 😉
I’ve had most of this assortment before, and none of them are my favorite pieces that See’s makes – though I know they have their fans.
They’re quite affordable though and generally fresh (I’ve never gotten bad quality stuff from them, particularly items with nuts in them). But I think you recognize the nostalgia factor and perhaps a bit of the cultural one, too. Even if you didn’t grow up on these, many of us in the lower 48 had grandmoms who made this stuff at home and this is as close as you can get. (Both of my grandmothers made candy and Easter was the high point.)
These are some of the most beautiful litte things I’ve seen for a while, outside of artisan cupcakes (which always look pretty but often a bit tasteless imo)
While you may look down your snooty chocolate-judge nose at See’s candies, we native Californians wouldn’t dream of celebrating Easter without them. They are in our bones and if we are not in California at Easter, a small part of us dies.
I looked at the ingredients listed in my Chocolate Butter Egg, and the only artificial ingredient I found was vanillin, which I hardly consider a cardinal sin. The “fat” you refer to is cream, cocoa butter, and butter.
I have no idea who this Laura Secord to whom you refer might be, but See’s is rock-solid tradition in California. I suspect you’ll never get it. Enjoy your Valhrona, Hotel Chocolat, or whatever floats your boat.
I’m assuming you didn’t actually *read* the post but only took offense to the fact I didn’t like them. Since I pointed out it was “like” eating a sugar cube with artificial flavouring I didn’t say it was artificially flavoured.
I also said, if you liked this sort of thing to go for it. I don’t. I really, really don’t like them but if that’s what floats your boat, go for it.
I don’t look down my nose at them – they were awful to me, the shop experience was like walking into a wall of aerosolized sugar to me and it just was not for me.