So…the All Candy Expo.

I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t one of the best times I’ve had on the job in recent memory. However the truth of the matter is that there wasn’t a whole heck of a lot there that would have been of interest to pastry makers or bakers (except maybe those folks who like to put M&M’s and/or chopped up candy bars in their cookies and ice creams). Still, if I could do it all over again, I would. Imagine this if you will: one of the biggest rooms on Earth, and it’s filled with nothing but booths representing all your favorite candy and chocolate bar manufacturers…

…and all of them giving out virtually unlimited quantities of their products. Yes friends, attending this show is a tough job, but somebody has to man up and do it. The things I go through to keep my readership happy! I sampled all sorts of things, from new high-end Lindt and Lindor chocolates to Ritter Sports, new “Crazy Cores” Skittles, Hershey’s Special Dark pieces (like Reese’s Pieces), Snickers Fudge bars, new Dove peanut butter chocolate, York peppermint pieces…oh my. The only thing this show needs is a free Alka Seltzer dispenser by the door. Unfortunately, there was nary a product in sight geared toward pastry makers, save for this innovative product:

All-natural (yet completely shelf-stable and shippable) ganache from Pastry Chef Suzy. Pretty cool stuff for restaurants or bakeries who might want top-quality ganache but don’t feel like making it every day. It seems like such a brilliantly simple idea, it makes you wonder why no one’s thought of it before.

Aside from that, I don’t have a whole lot else to show you, save from many, many shots of me stuffing my face. Those pretty much capture what went on today. Oh, but there was one other thing that was super-cool, this amazing chopper over at the Jelly Belly booth. Too bad nobody was standing out there giving these bad boys away…

Call it “man candy”.