Candy corn is one of those seasonal items that appears well before the holiday to which it's attached. We wanted to sample candy corn weeks ahead of Halloween -- before it had time to age on grocery store shelves.
Today's battle of the dishes pits two new candy corn alternatives against one another. In one corner, we have Brach's Milk Maid Candy Apple Candy Corn. In the other, Hershey Kisses' Candy Corn. Acting as a palate cleanser and baseline will be traditional Brach's Autumn Mix -- which includes candy pumpkins, candy corn and Indian corn.
(We picked the autumn mix for multiple points of sugary comparison; it beat out the generic store brand because it's "America's #1 Brand," made "with real honey." Well, that and it has the classic overly sweet taste of candy corn without the chalky powder taste of some generics.)
Brach's Milk Maid Candy Apple Candy Corn
It smells like real caramel combined with the fake apple scent I would most associate with Jolly Rancher's. The candy is two-toned: brown on the bottom and red on top.
If you bite into the top, the apple is overpowering. A nice caramel finish is ruined by an apple aftertaste like that of Runts. It's too bad that apple is the dominant flavor because the caramel by itself is quite good -- slightly similar to the chocolate base in Indian corn. But this bears little resemblance to candy corn beyond the shape and the fact that it's achingly sweet.
Hershey's Kiss Candy Corn
When you peel off the foil, it reeks of white chocolate and that is all you taste to start. But the flavor slowly develops into something resembling candy corn. The second Kiss is also better than the first and the taste (assuming you like or are willing to eat white chocolate) is fairly mild.
There's something almost buttery about the Hershey's Kiss and the aftertaste is reminiscent of candy corn, which is quite an accomplishment for products from two different candy worlds (non-chocolate and chocolate). I would have suspected this to be too far a stretch, but Hershey's has managed to bring together bitter candy rivals.
The white chocolate Hershey's Kiss Candy Corn is the best choice in the alternative candy corn category. You'll pay a premium -- $3.29 as opposed to $1.19 for a bag -- but it's worth it.
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