Lemon-Head

Well, I was going to blog about Lemon-Heads today but upon reading the ingredients list, beeswax popped up. For some of us, this might not be an issue. But staying true to the purpose of this blog (which is vegan candy), I find this unfit. My apologies.

Atomic Fire Ball

Atomic Fire Balls are made by Ferrara Pan, also maker of Lemon-heads (and friends). These are basically spicy cinnamon flavored jawbreakers. By spicy I mean these are hot, almost unbearable. When we were younger, my sister could eat these no problem while I took hours to finish one. I couldn't hold one on my tongue for very long so I am curious as to how I will handle these now.

Well, for the first few seconds it is bland, but almost immediately becomes a "ball of fire." I have to move it around in my mouth a lot to avoid a burning feeling. Maybe I am just a baby but I don't think I am exaggerating the extent of the spiciness. I am determined to keep it in my mouth though. For a while I tuck it into the side of my cheek. When I move it back onto my tongue it is quite sweet. I think these have layers of spicy and then layers of sweet because after about 30 seconds it goes back to that spicy flavor. Steering away from flavor for a second, the texture is very smooth and dissolves very evenly. When the jawbreaker is maybe half of its original size, it tastes purely of sugar. I eventually crush it with my molars.

Ingredients: Sucrose, Corn starch, Artificial flavor, Gum acacia, Carnauba wax, Red 40 lake.

Nutrition: A serving is one piece. 40 calories per serving, 0 calories from fat, Total carbs 11g, Sugars 8g.

I really unexpectedly enjoyed this. It woke up my taste buds, almost made me sweat, and rewarded me with a sweet and mellow center. These are fun for kids (or any candy lover) and just one is very satisfying. I rate them an 8 out of 10.