M&M double review! Birthday Cake & Carrot Cake M&Ms!

If there's one kind of candy we can always count on putting out some wild flavors each year, I'd say M&M's are a safe bet every time. Usually they are released in conjunction with a holiday and sometimes even more than one flavor. Well the Fatguyfoodblog crew got lucky here in early 2014 because we have two new M&M flavors to review. Let's see what Rich & Mike thought of these...

First up...BIRTHDAY CAKE M&M'S!

Easily six months ago I remember seeing a small press release about these. The only image that could be found online was a tiny, poor quality version of the package. No other information could be found except that they would be out "FIRST QUARTER 2014." So that meant every time I went in a store I had to make sure to check the candy section to see if they had them. Well it finally paid off, because one fateful trip to Walmart, I spotted them, and grabbed as many as I could carry. 

Great looking package! Irwin agrees! 

But let's get down to it. When I eat something like this, a well known candy standard, that is now boasting the great taste of birthday cake, I want to pop one in my mouth and have that taste hit me like a Shawn Micheals superkick, right in the mouth.

SWEET CHIN MUSIC!

But sadly, Birthday Cake M&M's do not do this. In fact, the first time I popped a handful in my mouth I thought, "is this a defective batch? These taste like plain M&M's..." But then as I was finishing that mouthful I detected a hint of a birthday cake taste. That's not what any of us wants. So I went back to the package and tried again. This time opting to just let one slowly melt in my mouth (Not in my hand. Not ever in my hand.).

Just three colors? Strange. 

This time around I got a bit more of the birthday cake flavor than before. But seriously? You have to slow walk them one at a time to get the flavor that is plastered all over the package? Not cool, M&M's, not cool at all. I would say aside from the strange three color choice of these , if you put them in a dish on your coffee table, visitors to your house might not even notice that they aren't regular M&M's. Some of the more observant ones might pick up on the fact that they are shaped a bit more like Peanut Butter M&M's, but if not, they definitely won't be jumping out of their seats thinking that they somehow just ate a slice of birthday cake without knowing it.

This looks like any other M&M. 

So, sadly, in closing I have to say that these are quite disappointing. These were one of the items I was most excited for in 2014 and they left me hanging. If you see one of the small packages and want to try them out, go for it, just to satisfy your curiosity.  But if they make a big bag, it's not worth the money. 

I give Birthday Cake M&M's a big ol' D, for "Deez thangs could use about 90% more Birthday Cake flavor!"

Let's hope Mike has better luck with his CARROT CAKE M&M'S!

-Rich

As the sole member of the FGFB crew who loves carrot cake, I was tasked with reviewing these M&Ms- they even showed up on my food shelf out of nowhere. Gotta love that. 

I liked the idea, as there aren't enough carrot cake-flavored items out there, but I was cautious. How could they make a chocolate candy taste like carrot cake? 

Although they slapped the sexiest candy ever on the bag (seriously, those bunny ears straight from the playboy mansion and that come-hither eyebrow raise? mmmmmmm), I had to split her head right open and spill her candy brains all over the table. I guess I could have ripped the bag somewhere else, and not poured the candy onto a blood red tablecloth, but don't blame me! M&Ms are the ones who choose to advertise their candy by having lovable characters be terrified they're gonna get eaten in every commercial! Plus, these are clearly Easter-based, and you know... Jesus. 

brainz

ANYWAY, I felt these deserved a fancy presentation for something as fancy as carrot cake (and yes, I'm pretty sure the only reason I consider carrot cake "fancy" is because it's cake with a vegetable in it. That also means it's good for you, right?).

These are the white chocolate version of M&Ms (like these and these), which is most likely solely to make things taste more like they should, since there's probably no way to make real chocolate taste like carrot cake. 

And you know what? These are gooooooood.

They give off quite the aroma, and the smell is exactly the same as the taste- carrot cake. Not so much the frosting part of carrot cake, just like a more sweet version of the cake part. It really captures that cinnamony sting and almost bitterness of carrot cake, while staying super sweet, smooth, and KIND OF frostingy. I wish they had more of the frosting flavor, but I'll take what I can get. I figured these would be just ok, and after initial product testing, I felt like they were good, but not great. Last night, I really wanted some sugar and suddenly remembered I had this bag. Then I really got it. These are awesome, and the bag is almost gone.

I have to give them an A. I'd only recommend them if you are a carrot cake fan, but if you are, you'll see right away why I give them an A. They taste like they're supposed to, and they're delicious past the gimmick. I may just buy a piece of carrot cake and jam these in the frosting. Oh wait, I just did.

And it was awesome. 

-Mike

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