A Death in the Family

Say it ain't so.  But, oh my friends, it is.  Anyone who knows me much, knows my favorite candy of all time is the Brach's Fiesta Malted Milk Egg.  I have had a lifelong love affair with those little nuggets of malted milk chocolate crunchy goodness.  My hips will testify.

Yes, that's me in college - drunken with malted milk fiesta egg intoxication.

I have long been devoted to the Brach's Candy Company... afterall, they are the ones who gave me 50 grand for a cookie house...  

My sister first noticed something was "up" last summer and reported to me that the Brach's malted milk balls were completely different and not so good anymore.  I could not, I would not believe it until I bought a bag and tasted for myself.  Oooh... not nearly as good as usual.  Even my husband who was raised on cheap chocolate could taste the difference.  WHAT?  Next it was confirmed again with the purchase of chocolate covered raisins... not as good... waxy... oh no.  I waited with mounting dread for the Fiesta Eggs to come out around Valentine's day.  Would they be the same?  I shuddered to think that they, too would be tampered with. 

Friends, I am so sad to report that it's true --  the Brach's egg recipe that's been around as long as I have, has been compromised.  It seems to be the quality of the chocolate... very sadly lacking.  How could this happen?  Brach's, how could you let us down?  Dear blog reader, have you noticed a difference in Brach's chocolate lately?

From what I can gather on the history of Brach's, the company was sold to Farley's & Sathers in 2007.  I'd bet a million dollars they changed to an inferior chocolate since last Easter.  Emil Brach, the founder of Brach's, would turn over in his grave.

Why bother?

One less temptation in the world.

Update Easter 2018:  Thankfully, Brach's did not keep producing these inferior eggs!  After a couple years, they went back to the best ever malted milk egg to be found world wide!  Yipee!  The only trouble is how hard they are to find.  Every year I start looking after Valentine's Day and there only ever seems to be one grocery store that sells them -- and always a different one year to year.  What the heck?  Last year I hit the jackpot and found them at Target where I could order them online and my husband could just go pick them up!  (Much better than being seen with 10 bags in your cart!  Har har!) How much easier can that be?  This year looks like another Target jackpot.

Happy munching!

Kathy

Flipped Out

Merry Christmas everyone!  So now it's the day after and we are wading through wrapping paper, integrating gifts into the household inventory and still eating terribly.

Everyone has their favorite Christmas treats.  You know, those goodies that just mean it's holiday time.  My family has way too many and my hips are here to testify.  One of our favorite Christmas treats are simple to make and have a 29 year history in our family... we call them "Flips."

I discovered Flips during my BYU years.  I lived with a bunch of girlfriends from home - we called ourselves the "DQs" - the Dairy Queens of Wisconsin.  We even had blinking Christmas lights in the outline of DQ in our front picture window.  Anyway, one of us discovered a "dietetic" (Remember when things were labeled dietetic instead of "low fat" or "low sugar"?) candy at the Varsity Theater candy counter called "Flips."  They were delicious!  Coconut, chocolate and marshmallow... at least we thought they tasted like coconut, chocolate and marshmallow.  Upon further investigation and inquiry at the candy counter, we found out they were really made of whipped egg white, carob and toasted almond slivers - hence dietetic designation.  None of it mattered because they were so yummy!  What a fantastic deal!  We stuffed ourselves with Flips every chance we got... guilt free.  They were dietetic!  Ha ha - I guess the concept of volume didn't occur to us.  After we left BYU we got someone to pick them up for us every chance we got.  Finally, they were no longer sold at the Varsity Theater.  What became of our beloved Flips?  We didn't know so we had to duplicate them.  I wasn't sure where to get the special "dietetic" ingredients, but I did know where to find coconut, chocolate and marshmallows.

Start with a 14 oz. bag of flaked coconut and spread it out in a jelly roll pan.  Use a jelly roll pan so you can easily stir it without spilling all over.

Put it into a 300 degree oven for ten minutes.  Remove and stir.  Repeat this three or four times until the coconut is toasted to a nice golden color.  The Santa salt shakers approve.

 

This time of year, Kraft puts out 10 oz. bags of tree and star marshmallows - the perfect size for Flips - plus there's the festive pink and green when you bite into them. 

If the pink stars and green tree marshmallows aren't available, I usually cut regular marshmallows in half.

Chop up your chocolate (about one and a quarter lbs.) and melt it in the microwave.  Toss some of the marshmallows in and coat.

Roll them in the toasted coconut.

Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Put the pan in the fridge or a cool place - like my unheated front porch.  I call it the walk-in cooler.

Your Flips are now ready for happy consumption, but just remember, these are not dietetic so don't over do it like a DQ would!