Most of the chocolate candy I encountered in Finland wasn’t exactly stuff that I wanted to drag home and write about. I tried a few, but I’ll be covering two. One which I liked and was unusual and one which was the worst thing I think I have ever put in my mouth. Read on, I bet you can figure out which one pretty quick.
Karl Fazer or Fazer Chocolate, established in 1891, has an interesting history. The chocolate candy recipe came to the Fazer family through a business acquaintance in exchange for medical care of their son in law. The distinctive blue wrapper has been their trademark ever since, which is symbolic of the many lakes and the country of Finland’s independence. So important is this color, that in 2001, “Fazer Blue” became the country’s first registered trademark color.
Produced in Vantaa, Finland and holding 65% of the chocolate candy market share there, you’d be hard pressed to find a chocolate bar not enrobed in the trademark blue.
First up:
Karl Fazer Milk Chocolate with Raspberry Yogurt
Packaging
Of course I selected at least one sample with the “Fazer Blue” wrapper! While most of the package is in Finnish (or Suomi- which is the real name) there was one important line in English that told me what the chocolate candy was filled with.
Appearance
Nice little solid blocks of chocolate with pillows of the raspberry yogurt filling. When bitten into, the filling stayed intact and was almost crumbly in texture, but did not actually crumble. Very solid.
Taste
Good! Admittedly the yogurt part was a little odd at first, but what I liked the most was that it wasn’t overly sweet or a sugar punch to the taste buds the way a lot of chocolate-raspberry combinations can be. The yogurt tempered it nicely and the milk chocolate was smooth. Because of the higher standards for foods (particularly chocolate) in the European Union, most milk chocolates are going to be better than the standard American grocery store milk chocolate offering.
Next up:
Fazer Salmiakki
Salmiakki is actually Finnish for “salty licorice” and can refer to other candies as well, so it’s like they named this chocolate bar “salty licorice.” There’s actually no reference to chocolate or candy in this product name.
Packaging
The fun harlequin pattern and bold red, black and white colors was a nice contrast to the traditional Fazer Blue. Clearly the center of the chocolate candy is going to be liquid and knowing that “mjolkchoklad” meant “milk chocolate” I was assured that it wasn’t made from sour milk. Which I accidentally bought earlier.
Appearance
Very generous pillows of chocolate that broke apart, but with difficulty, thus releasing the dark grey-black like liquid filling. The filling didn’t pour out immediately, but it did require some maneuvering not to get it everywhere.
Taste
This is the worst chocolate candy I have ever eaten. I’m not a huge fan of licorice, but I do like it. Salted licorice though…that’s a whole other game. I tried really hard to taste the milk chocolate and the combination of the flavors, but after one square, I was done.
All in all though?
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