The Tronky bar is made by Ferrero, the same folks that make the delightfully decadent Nutella spread.

The exterior is a light, wafer-like material that honestly, lacks much taste–perhaps there’s a faint cocoa aroma. The inside of the bar is filled with a creamy hazelnut spread with extra chunks of hazelnuts. More like a light, chocolate snack than a candy bar.

I picked mine up in Providence at Venda Ravioli. They used to have a bigger candy selection. Now I only find a few imported treats near the registers.

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I was in the grocery store in search of 50% – off Halloween candy and found these: Brach’s Sundaes Neapolitan Coconut. They looked interesting and were certainly colorful.

Overall it’s just a sweet, almost taffy-like coconut candy. There’ really no chocolate, strawberry or vanilla flavor. All you taste is super-sweet coconut. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of coconut, but prefer a less sweet filling encased in a high-quality dark chocolate.

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I took the train into Boston on Saturday to attend Podcamp Boston and on the trip home picked up some chocolates from Serenade Chocolatier in S. Station. Their flagship store is in Brookline.

The truffles are quite large and very rich. The chunky, cocoa dusted chocolate was seemingly in two layers, the super-creamy ganache interior and a harder chocolate exterior. They were tasty, but not quite worth the $2.50/piece price tag. Don’t get me wrong, handmade chocolate is tastier and more labor intensive than the candy off the store shelf, but truffles are quite easy to make by hand–no tempering required.

Perhaps that’s what I’ll bring to a party I’m attending next weekend.

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Bill Buford was a guest on On Point yesterday. His New Yorker piece on Extreme Chocolate is in the October 29 issue.

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I was first introduced to the crunchy, caramel-filled Lion Bar while spending a semester in the Netherlands back in 1994. I had been living on fries with mayo, filled almond cookies and pounds of hazelnut chocolate. It was by accident that tasted my first Lion Bar. The cafeteria was out of Nutella so I couldn’t prepare my usual dessert of chocolate spread slathered on fresh bread. In desperation I purchased a Lion Bar in order to get my chocolate fix that evening. It was an affair that continues to this day.

Luckily you can find this candy at most larger grocery chains in the import aisle. Earlier this year there were reports that Nestle would stop making Lion bar due to poor sales, though there haven’t been any updates to that story…looks like the Lion Bar lives on.

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