Sweet Treats: Screw KitKat, I´ll Take Tunnock´s Anytime

Dear Kitkat lovers, 
This a biased  opinion. I do not hate Kitkat.  In fact I do enjoy a Kitkat moment once in a while.  Milk Chocolate, wafers, chocolate creme? Who wouldn´t enjoy that?  But  it´s like this.  Sometimes you get a glimpse, a taste of something better and you know that´s it, you´re ruined for anything else.  You can never go back.  That´s how it was for me.  Kitkat was good, comforting, delicious in a boy-next-door kind of way.  But then I discovered Tunnock´s Caramel Wafers.  And by God this was the bombshell, the ingenue of chocolate wafers! Like the goddess of all chocolate wafer bars.  And so now, although I wouldn never say no to an offer of Kitkats,  it is Tunnock´s Caramel Wafers that has captured my idea of a blissful break.



I  first tasted Tunnock´s when I lived in London seven years ago.  To most, British chocolates are synonymous to the more commercially famous Cadbury, Thornton´s and Aero bars. But for me, Tunnock´s Caramel Wafers was and is still the embodiment of  all that´s great and delicious  in British chocolates.  But alas, like Prince Charming or the Lady in Red,  these  bars are so hard to find outside of UK and the commonwealth states.

But then last week, I espied a newly opened Dealz Store  here in Madrid.  The store, an overseas branch of a big UK retail chain, offers all sorts of  British goods.  And lo and behold,  I saw shelves of Tunnock´s goodies on offer!

                                                         My Tunnock´s  Caramel 6-pack

                               A Tunnock´s Caramel bar. Still the same size and packaging
                               as when it was  first introduced in the 1950s!

Tunnock´s is a family-owned bakery in Uddingston, Scotland and they have been churning out some of the Brits´ favorite treats since 1890.

                                                     Tunnock´s Treats  (Image from tunnocks.co.uk)

Among their offerings, it is my favorite Caramel Wafers that´s their  No. 1 bestseller. Why?  Let´s do a show-and-tell.

   Caramel Wafer Unwrapped

The size:  It´s a hefty bar. Thick but not too big.  Just the perfect size for my ten bites of bliss.  It is slightly smaller than the usual Snickers bar.

The cross section

Five layers of vanilla wafers, four layers of caramel, real milk chocolate. The surprise?  It´s not that sweet! Huh? A caramel filled bar and I am telling you that it´s not that sweet?  Yes, it has that perfect balance of sweetness and burnt sugar flavor.  This is not one of those sickly sweet treats that make your throat burn.

See those wispy, honey colored caramel layers?

Ah Tunnock´s.  I have finished my six pack of wafers in less than a week.  Not to be a total glutton, but I did share a bar to my workmate for her to try.  After eating her bar, she remarks, Wow it´s delicious!  And she asks,  Where is this store again? What metro station?  And so I knew it.  It´s not just me. Have Tunnock, Take a Break.  :-)