Zingerman's: Zzang! Candy bars

Zingerman's Candy Manufactory is out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They make four different candy bars: Original, What the fudge?, Wowza, and Ca$hew Cow. I had previously seen these candy bars online, however I am hesitant to order chocolate online during the summer months so I had (until recently) yet to try them. Then I discovered my local Whole Foods was carrying them. I spent several minutes looking them over (and discussing which ones to buy with my friend), when an employee came over and asked us if we wanted to try some. (Do I ever?!?!)

He sliced up an Original, What the fudge?, and Ca$hew Cow for us to try. The Original involves caramel, nougat, and peanuts and tasted like a less-sweet Snickers bar. (pass.) What the fudge? has layers of fudge, caramel, and malted milk fondant. I was most excited about trying this bar, and the most disappointed after eating it. It tasted like very sweet chocolate and vanilla fudge covered in chocolate. No taste of malt to speak of. It actually reminded me somewhat of a GooGoo Cluster, but without the nuts. (sigh.)

Then, there was the Ca$hew Cow. I liked this one so much I bought a bar to take home with me. This bar has cashew butter gianduja, cashew brittle, and roasted cashews, all covered in chocolate. Now I love cashews, and nut butters of all kinds...so this bar was a clear winner for someone like me. Underneath the coating of dark chocolate was a mash of cashew butter, toasted cashews, and shards of crunchy brittle. It's sweet and salty and soft and crunchy. Delicious.

Since I didn't get to sample the Wowza bar I bought one to take home. This bar has a layer of raspberry-chocolate ganache, raspberry preserves, and raspberry nougat, and a coating of dark chocolate. This bar was very sweet, on account of the raspberry. In fact, there was a slight granular texture which I traced back to the raspberry preserves. I'm not sure why they would have grainy sugar in them (it certainly wasn't from seeds since there weren't any), but I didn't like it. The raspberry flavor is very nice and quite strong. The ganache is thick and fudgey. I couldn't find any nougat in the bar, but rather a generous layer of soft marshmallow fluff. This was my favorite part of the bar. The marshmallow was light, fluffy, and moist and not too sweet either. I actually think if they had written "marshmallow creme" on the box instead of "nougat" I'd have been more likely to buy it. However, they say nougat and I'm just not buying their story as is. I don't think I'll be having this one again.

In all I'd say these bars were a bust. However, the Ca$hew Cow definitely stands out for a nut lover like me, and I would certainly try this one again. I found these bars at my local Whole Foods, $3.99/2.6 and 3 oz bars.