Wednesday, March 1, 2017

English Butter Fudge

If you have ever wondered if I am a Trader Joe’s employee, or are somehow getting compensated from Trader Joe’s for these reviews, you obviously haven’t read any of the “clunkers”.  Not all products we try get a rave review, that’s for sure.  And today’s happens to be one of those – let’s use “nice language” like our mothers taught us and just say, “It wasn’t one of our favorites…”.

My mom

David's mom - they taught us well :)

Here is what we thought of Trader Joe’s ENGLISH BUTTER FUDGE.

Let’s get David’s take first.  Remember, David is a man who loves him some desserts.  He eats cookies.  He eats cake.  He eats candy.  And he loves chocolate bars.  In fact, before trying the English Butter Fudge, he was eating a fancy candy bar I got him for Valentine’s Day from Harris Teeter (shhhh, it is another grocery store, a competitor of Trader Joe’s, and the fact that I went there is another dead giveaway that I am not on the TJ’s payroll!). 

It LOOKS tasty enough
David:  “I never thought I would say this, but it is TOOOOO SUGARY.  (Much laughter from me upon hearing this statement, as this may be the first time in my nearly 30 years of being with the man that I have heard these words come out of his mouth.)  This is probably what the English eat for FUDGE.  I think it needs more CREAM, rather than that glucose syrup condensed milk stuff.  I give this a 1.5 rating."

This is, of course, in the store BEFORE he tried this sugary fudge!  He looks happy, doesn't he??
Little does he know what he is in for....  
Susan:  The box says this is a product of England.  The first ingredient listed is, indeed, SUGAR.  However, the title of the product does not have the word SUGAR in it.  I expected more buttery-ness!  And some FUDGE-Y-NESS for heaven’s sake.  It is called English BUTTER FUDGE, is it not?  I think a more accurate title would be “Super Ass Sugar English Butter Fudge”!!

Other ingredients listed make your teeth hurt to read.  It is basically sugar, sugar, sugar with a little bit of butter.  It says a serving size is 4 pieces, but I defy anyone to stomach that.  David says, “You would have to be drinking a lot of unsweetened tea or coffee to eat 4 pieces of this...  I say no, no.  I think we should take it back.  I can’t imagine eating that!”.

This is what he looked like AFTER he tried this English Butter Fudge.
I like the packaging of this “fudge”, and I like that it was something we haven’t had before.  It looked interesting.  I also was probably also attracted to the fact that it was from another country.  David adds, “Of course, not remembering when we saw it was from ENGLAND that English people at the highest amount of sugar per capita of any people in the world!” (editor’s note: I did not fact check this statement J ). 

Susan:  I had one piece.  The best thing I can say about it is that the pieces are too small.  If the good thing you have to say about a product is “the pieces are small”, then this is probably not the product for you.  David suggests dropping one piece of this in a cup of hot tea and you will be fine.

If you really, really like sugary stuff, you might like these.  We, however, did not like them.  I agree with David on the rating of 1.5.  We returned this product to Trader Joe’s and they happily took it back.  They are great about returns.  Thanks Joe!

Price:  $2.99

Rating:  1.5

18 comments:

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    1. Grin. This might be a "yummm!" or "yuck..." product. Either you really like it, or you don't... A friend sent me a message that they like it! Interestingly, when we returned it there were 2 employees working the customer service area. One of them LIKE this product, the other agreed with us that it was too sweet.

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    2. Wow, I was shocked to see my favorite sweet at the top of your clunkers list. But I have a very sweet, sweet tooth. Yup, I would say in the realm of sweet you will find a lot of disagreement/ wide differences of taste.

      And you can tell David, when I first discovered these I was like an addict, I couldn't stop, probably ate 7 or 8 at a sitting. I knew the sugar rush/crash would be bad, but I couldn't stop. After a few weeks or months of over-indulging, the addictiveness calmed down. Now I can eat just one and not feel a need for another. But that took a while!
      - jemila

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  2. lol...use it to sweeten that tea or coffee :)

    seriously though, I'm not suppose to eat sugar. That doesn't mean I don't indulge. But, if the stuff is that super icky sweet thanks for the heads up.

    I'm glad you are over the flu bug.

    Sweet pictures of both of your momma's.

    I've never heard of Harris Teeter before. I wish we had more variety of shopping here in poor ol' Mississippi.

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  3. I don't agree with the name, because honestly this product is more akin to a dessert called "tablet", mainly "Scottish tablet". Shame you guys didn't end up appreciating the awesome TJ version. Did you happen to look at the ingredients before purchasing though? What did you expect lolol

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    1. With a log-in name like "Lovesugar", this is the PERFECT snack for you! We should have given you ours instead of taking it back to TJ's :) .

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  4. It's a British thing. You either get it, or you don't. It's not at all like smooth American fudge. I'm freaking out right now because it seems to be gone from my local TJ & I'm not sure it's coming back.

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    1. As much as I disliked this English Butter Fudge, I dislike even MORE that you love it and your store doesn't have it!! I HATE it when that happens at TJ's! Ask at the front desk - they can look things up and tell you if it is just out of stock orrrrr, well, I don't want to say the other option, cuz it is just too darn sad...

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  5. LOVE it. My mom used to make something very similar when I was a child..both her parents were from England so I am guessing it was an English recipe.

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    1. I think this one is a "love it or leave" product. :)

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  6. Bought some today and tried it before reading this. I honestly liked it, but only 2 pcs at a time, with either a glass of milk or a cup of hot coffee or tea to wash the sugar crystals down 😋

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  7. I'd actually like to find out where I could purchase this wholesale for my family's restaurant. It tastes like a candy called Jamoncillo that we used to hide in the baskets of tortilla chips for our customers years ago. Hard to find, no fun to make. I love it!

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    1. Oh oh oh! I would love to eat at a restaurant that hides treats in the chip basket! That sounds fun!

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  8. As a youngster, I spent time in Costa Rica. This TJ's fudge tastes very similar to what I remember. I'd love to know what Jamoncillo is. I wonder if it's like the fudge I had as a kid?

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  9. love love love this stuff. it's addictive and a struggle to stop myself from eating the entire bag (that comes in the box) in one sitting. i adore the texture. i'm also a fan of maple sugar candy, another item of which i struggle to moderate my intake. not a fan of chocolate but i bet you saw that coming....

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    1. Hey, I have such a great idea! YOU can buy all of the English Butter Fudge at TJ's, and DAVID can buy all of the chocolate! Win, win!!! :) It seems like people either reallllly like this, or, well, or they are like us. Grab the maple sugar candy, it is on the shelves for the holidays now!

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  10. This is Scottish Tablet (strange name for fudge), which I fell in love with when I was visiting Scotland one year. If you don't like it, more for me. Thanks!

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  11. I totally agree.....this is what we call tablet in Scotland....Usually comes in a bar, traditionally made with just sugar and cream in the 18th century...DEEEElicious.. Thank you for a wee taste of home!

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