Sted Foods - Caramel Crack - 50% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar) - Dec. 10, 2025

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Sted Foods 
Caramel Crack - 50% Dark Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) in total bar
Calories: 340 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Sted Foods, online order  

Welcome to Day #17 of Chocolate, Movies & Entertainment Theme Week. 

What might an elevated version of Hershey's Milk Duds look like? 

Many Milk Duds melted in my mouth in dark movie theaters as a child. These lumpy chocolate rounds filled with chewy caramel were a popular item at concession stands.

The chocolate below was an up-leveled version of this (chocolate + milk + caramel) favorite--in bar form.

Today's Sted Foods Caramel Crack - 50% Dark Milk Chocolate was manufactured by TC Foods, LLC (Fergus Falls, MN).

Aroma and flavor notes for this more-ish milk chocolate included: dark milk chocolate and caramel/toffee.

Smooth, almost velvety, sweet dark milk chocolate suffused with light and appealing caramel notes. The chocolate was punctuated with a tiny riot of crunchy toffee bits. 

Texture: The rich, creamy texture was attenuated a bit as this bar was also quite thin. Thinner means more surface to mass -- and more surface area means more area to access flavors when the chocolate is in your mouth, which is especially important when you have dark chocolates with nuanced flavors. 

This bar might have been even more hearty and delicious (maybe even more addicting) if it was a wee bit thicker. But, it warmed me up and made me happy on this cold December day. (Part of that warming feeling came from the addition of maple sugar and real butter in the toffee.)

I paired this bar with two Minnesota-related shows: a "Fargo" episode, and a few episodes of Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons set in the fictional Frostbite Falls--a take-off on International Falls, MN--that is indeed very cold in the winter.

I enjoyed this chocolate and these shows...and with a homemade, frosty Cherry & Elderberry beverage (an upgraded version of an icy, cherry/elderberry drug store fountain drink from many decades ago).

Sted chocolate makers's tasting notes: "Burnt + Sumptuous + Minnesota Sugar Shack"

Ingredients: organic cacao beans, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic whole milk powder, organic MN Maple Toffee (organic cane sugar, organic butter, organic maple syrup, sea salt)

Allergen-related information: "Contains milk. Made in a facility that uses coconut, almonds, pecans, and milk."

YumEarth - Choco Yums Chocolate Candies; Chocolove Almond Butter Dark 55% Cacao (bites) - Dec. 9, 2025

Chocolate(s) of the Day

YumEarth
Choco Yums Chocolate Candies
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 2.1 oz. (60 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99.2 g.) in 1 package of 5 snack packs
Calories: 300 calories in 3 snack packs
Cost: $6.49 for 1 package of 5 snack packs 
Purchased from: Vitacost, online order

Chocolove
Dark Chocolate 55% Cacao Almond Butter Bites
Good ++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 170 calories in 3 pieces
Cost: $4.49 for 1 package of 10 (estimate) bites
Purchased from: Vitacost, online order 

Welcome to Day #16 of Chocolate, Movies & Entertainment Theme Week(s), and to movie snacks and music videos that share a "Choco" reference/name in common.

Choco Yums Chocolate Candies

Choco Yums(TM) is a trademark of YummyEarth Inc. (Stamford, CT). I appreciated that the company provides snacks that are free from common allergens, and uses plant-based colors (like spirulina, carrot and turmeric), and uses Fair Trade certified and organic ingredients.

The minute I opened the package I could smell authentic dark chocolate. These round chocolate candies were inside individually-wrapped snack packs. 

These disc-shaped, candy-coated dark chocolate pieces were covered in thin, crispy-crunchy shells, and were similar to (plain) Mars M&Ms*, but they had beautiful, naturally colored shells, and more authentic (less processed) dark chocolate centers.

I "paired" these two "Choco" items with two other "Choco" related foods/experiences. (I ate the rest of the "Choco Cherry" ice cream that went into ice cream sandwiches earlier this week; and sampled Choco Musk perfume--a wearable, but not edible treat with cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon notes. 

Ingredients: Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Cane Sugar, Chocolate Liquor*, Cocoa Butter*, Sunflower Lecithin, and Vanilla Extract), Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter*, Organic Powdered Sugar, Organic Spirulina (Color), Organic Turmeric Extract (Color), Acacia Gum, Colored with Concentrate (Carrot, Radish, Blackcurrant, Sweet Potato), Corn Protein, Organic Carnuba Wax. (*Fair Trade Certified(tm) by Fair Trade USA, 46% Fair Trade Certified Ingredients"

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility free from peanuts and tree nuts." Allergen Friendly: free of egg, gluten, shellfish, fish, peanut, tree nut, soy, dairy, sesame. 

*Mars, Incorporated has owned the M&Ms trademark since 1940.

Chocolove Salted Almond Butter Bites

These Almond Butter bites were made in Boulder, CO, with Belgian chocolate. 

I enjoyed these Chocolove bites. The chocolate-y outer covering was filled with a satisfying, almond butter filling that wasn't ultra-sweet.

Ingredients: "Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Liquor**, Sugar, Cocoa Butter**, Soy Lecithin and/or Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla), Almond Butter (Dry Roasted Unblanched Almonds), Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter**, Milk, Cocoa Liquor**, Soy Lecithin and/or Sunflower Lecithin, Vanilla), Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Organic Butter Oil, Sea Salt, Sunflower Lecithin. (** Rainforest Alliance Certified. Find out more at RA.ORG.)"

Allergen-related information: "Contains Almonds, Milk, Soy. Made in a Facility That Also Processes Eggs, Peanuts, and Other Tree Nuts."

Sadly the "Choco Taco" (discontinued in 2022 by Klondike, but there are variations on this product out there)--and the Ritter Sport "Choco Cubes" I bought--were a no go, as they contained wheat.

Choco-related entertainment today included 2 music videos:

• Chocolate (Choco Choco) song - Does anyone else remember this ear worm from 2004, from German duo Soul Control? (It was a Eurodance pop hit in Europe and the Philippines.)
• Choco Choco Choco song - Gummibar (The Gummy Bear/Gummy Bear International Inc.) This song is an adaptation of the Chocolate song from 2004 (and it too became a hit). See their YouTube channel.