TREATS MADE IN THE US

Buying industrial cakes or cookies and sweets is not really my thing as I believe that what is homemade (with love) not only tastes better, but is also a lot healthier (since you choose what you use). Well, I must confess that there are times when I bend the law in order to test a few of the popular and most-advertized typical American treats...

That's how, I lately found myself queueing at my local supermarket with a box of "Oreo" biscuits and a pack of "Jelly Belly" jelly beans! I bought them, mainly to make my own opinion on those products, out of curiosity, although a part of me (my childish side) took them by pure and unashamed gourmandise.

JELLY BEAN is a naturally flavored gourmet confectionary made in California with real fruit juice and puree. This small-sized bean was invented at the very beginning of the 20th century. It has a soft gummy center (tracing it's origins back to Turkish Delights) and a hard shell. Back in the 1930's it became an Easter candy as it resembles an egg. "Jelly Beans" come in various flavors such as juicy pear, watermelon, coconut milk, chocolate, lemon, cherry, apple, orange, lime, raspberry, strawberry, grape, banana, manderine, peach, pink grapefruit, plum, etc...

Those sugary delights taste good because they are not chemically flavored. Of course, they are sugar-based, but at least, contrarily to many other sweets, they are relatively additive-free (colorings and glucose only). So, if you want to experience a strong and fruity taste explosion that makes your tastebuds go wild and leaves a pleasant lingering sweetness in your mouth, then the "Jelly Belly Beans" are for you!

OREO BISCUIT is popular chocolate sandwich cookie which consists of a sweet, white filling (commonly referred to as 'cream' or 'creme'), sandwiched between two circular chocolate wafers. This biscuit was first produced in 1912 and is now the best selling cookies of the 20th century. Like most industrial baked goods, "Oreo Biscuits" may contain a certain quantity of non-natural ingredients such as additives, glucose and flavors, but at least, they now contain no hydrogenated oils (trans fat)...

Although this cookie is labelled as being "the world's n°1 biscuit" or "milk's favorite biscuit", they are nonetheless very common/classic in flavor. While they might not taste bad, I would either not say that they really kick ass (as I expected they would after reading a lot of bragging about them). In fact, I consider them more like a "guilty and dirty pleasure/treat" rather than an item you'd die for, especially if you are a daring homebaker who knows what a real, good and natural cookie is. But I must point out that they are far from being the worst industrial biscuits I've tasted so far. In fact, they are quite better than the average ones I've had the opportunity (or unluck) to test...