I seem to be reviewing nothing but chocolate recently, thanks to my visiting a couple of great independent sweet shops over the last few months. The latest "new" chocolate bar to attract my attention was an American imported bar called "Baby Ruth". It is one I had previously seen listed on sweet selling websites, and I had always wanted to try it. Made from peanuts, rich caramel, and nougat, it contains some of my favourite ingredients.


I have always misread the title as "Babe Ruth", presuming it to be named after the famous baseball player of the same name. But "babe" is actually "baby". I presume the sportsman wouldn't give his consent to endorsing the product!Whatever the reasons for it's name, this is a bar that has been made in America since the 1920's at least, so it's evidently popular.


The bar looks good, as it is chunky and you can see the nut pieces under the top chocolate layer. I like a bar that is generous with it's filling. It also smells fantastic and nutty as soon as you open the packaging. Sadly for me, it's downhill from there..


The chocolate covering tastes like a lot of American milk chocolate that I have tried - relatively sweet and bland. I prefer my chocolate to taste more milky and less sugary so I don't rate this part highly. Underneath the chocolate, there is a peanut and caramel layer. The peanuts have a good flavour because they are are in nice big chunks, which adds a welcome amount of crunch. The caramel is soft but chewy to the point of being slightly difficult to eat unless you take small bites. I wouldn't mind that if the caramel tasted good but I don't agree it is richly flavoured at all. It's just sugary and virtually tastless. The nougat is O.K - there is plenty of it, and it has a good substantial texture. Overall though, I thought this chocolate was a big disappointment. I didn't like the individual elements and together they are worse because the sweetness is intensified. I found it sickly to eat. It satisfied my hunger in one sense, as I certainly didn't feel like eating anything afterwards!


As it is imported, the chocolate bar doesn't have our usual nutrition information tables on. It uses the American equivalents of our RDA, which gives the saturated fat levels at 40% of an adults recommended maximum amount. This is a lot, even for a sweet product, and another reason why I won't be buying it again. The wrapper has a slogan advertising the fact the bar contains 4g of protein. This is little consolation given the fat levels!


I wouldn't recommend a "Babe Ruth" bar unless you really like sweet things. It is too sickly for me. If you want to try it yourself, you will find it stocked in the Mr Timms Sweetshop chain, branches of Cybercandy, many independent sweetshops, as well as numerous places online. Amazon sell it in bulk quantities for the devotees! I paid £1.45 for my single packet.