I often hear from British people that their candy is far superior to our American candy. The problem is that those British people often use the worst examples of American candy to prove their point. Like, I’ll give you Cadbury. Cadbury chocolate is amazing. But you don’t have to prove that British Cadbury is amazing by comparing it to, like, the worst seasonal Hershey’s chocolate. Anyway, it didn’t even occur to me that when Meghan Markle moves to England full time, she’s probably going to miss the best of American junk food. Granted, she seems to be a pretty healthy eater, and many have given her credit for improving Harry’s fitness and diet too. But everyone has a little guilty pleasure, whether it’s peanut-butter M&Ms (the food of the gods) or Reese’s peanut butter cups (one of the five basic food groups). Allegedly, Meghan has a thing for Reese’s Pieces. And Harry has found a shop that carries them? So Harry buys her little treats to ward off homesickness.
Prince Harry is such a doting boyfriend to US actress Meghan Markle he treats her to sweet shop surprises and silly toys when she’s in the UK. The loved-up Royal is a regular at his local corner shop near Kensington Palace and on a recent visit with Meghan bought her a Korean purple fuzzy toy.
I’m told his usual shopping list includes Reese’s Pieces sweets, coconut water and curry sauce to rustle up meals for cosy nights in. Reese’s Pieces, the iconic American peanut butter candy, are rare in the UK, but no doubt resourceful Harry is keen to help Meghan banish any homesickness.
If she’s anything like me (she’s not), it’s going to be rough for Meghan when she misses out on Christmas-tree-shaped Reese’s cup blobs, or all of the excellent American Easter candy. Still, Meghan will survive. She’ll be a bit homesick and there will be some culture shock, I’m sure, but I’m not expecting her to stand in the middle of Westminster, blinking out S-O-S S-E-N-D P-E-E-P-S. Sh-t, maybe we do have dumb junk food in America. Maybe Meghan will develop a real taste for the sugar high of British candy. What we do for love, eh?
Photos courtesy of WENN.
American candy has more sugar. And sorry but Europe is superior. Especially in chocolate department.
i always thought it was also different sugar, i.e. in Europe they use a lot of beet sugar and in the US cane sugar?
Even the same products taste different because of it, but I cannot say ‘sweeter’, just different. I.e. Nutella or Coke Light.
As an American, I would agree. Many American grocery stores have European aisles, where you can get some staples and candy. It’s funny to imagine European supermarkets having an American aisle.
Seriously – I lived for the American store in Taiwan. It was the only place to get taco chips, cheddar cheese, root beer, and KD (things I don’t normally eat at home, but was homesick for whilst abroad. Alas, there was no Canadian store for maple syrup, poutine, and Nanaimo bars 😉)
There was an American food aisle in Selfridge’s when I was there a few years ago. Some of the items were dead on, like Kraft mac n cheese and Fruit Loops…but the canned hot dogs were pretty funny.
Every Tescos I’ve been in lately has had an American food shelf (next to others like Caribbean and Polish). Marshmallow Fluff was front and centre, if I remember rightly.
I have an American friend who runs a pretty fun Instagram called @londonispink. She literally insta storied a whole aisle at a shop of American food for Thanksgiving today. The shelf labels had American flags!
Massed produced chocolate for American candy is awful. Apparently, the trees where we once got our chocolate from in South America were destroyed by some disease and so was replaced by a heartier variety. The massed produced chocolate today is literally not the same American chocolate from forty years ago. (I heard this on NPR.)
Having said that, there are some serious chocolatiers in the US now, like The Chocolate House in DC.
Thank you. I didn’t know that. Oh i love my celebitches. Virtual hugs 💜
I learned so much from you all. It’s eye opening website. I don’t even remember when i started posting here, but now this is my go to place. Not fb not Twitter. I can’t deal with those ppl.
Most cocoa is grown in West Africa, primarily Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. That is true for American and European manufacturers. Differences in flavor have more to do with how they are processed than with where they are grown.
Mexican chocolate is amazing. And you can get chocolate from small Mexican farms that grow heritage beans. I can’t believe I just typed that last sentence, I kind of hate myself.
No Aang, that’s interesting! 🙂
Selfridges, Harvey Nicks, Harrods AND Fortnum & Mason have American counters. And they deliver.
Not to mention the wholefoods situated outside KP’s gates.
…but you know keen!!!
There also several of them along Oxford Street, they are popping up everywhere.
I prefer European chocolate – can’t get past the taste of sugar in American candy. Reese’s chocolate tastes like puke.
I quite agree. I feel sugar poisoned by American candy. I can understand when American celebs say they are cutting sugar from their diets because the levels added to food, or in this case candy, are quite obscene.
What is the gazillion flavour brand of American jellybeans? I like them.
Jelly Belly – so good!
That’s the one! That’s an American candy brand definitely superior to any Britisher equivalent.
Flavors are so good. I just wish they were bigger in size.
They sell Reeses all over in the UK – probably because they are the only American chocolate that doesn’t taste like vomit. Right now they are definitely in my local Poundland and in Sainsburys.
You can also buy them on Amazon. Lots of good American candy on Amazon!
It is so nice just to read a fluff piece, instead of the usual sexual predator story, day after day after day. He buys her candy, how “sweet!” A love story. This story makes me almost feel as good as when I read about satan running as fast as he could to get away from Manson in hell. Keep the good stories coming Harry, don’t mess up.
Lol! Satan running away, that’s is a good one……
I completely agree Nancy!!
I’m sure that if she really ever does move , she’ll be able to afford to have the American candy she can’t find in England, sent to her
Yes. If not from a friend or family then from Amazon.
WHY THOUGH!?
Cadbury chocolate is where it’s at. I do like Reese’s Pieces more than a regular Reese’s Peanutbutter Cup though. But still.
YES, the vanilla creme-filled chocolate Cadbury Easter eggs are my heart’s delight! Gives me a candy boner just thinking about them.
I like Reese’s (we can get them here) but really, the chocolate bit is crapola! As is all American chocolate I’ve ever tasted, sorry-not-sorry!
I live for chocolate.
When I have to choose between the bog standard Britisher options, I’m a Galaxy (Rowntree) not Cadbury girl. But I mostly buy Lindt so am a bit of a Britisher traitor. And when I’m splashing out, I go with Montezuma. This bar right here is the chocolate to end all chocolate (and I will brook no disagreement):
https://www.montezumas.co.uk/bars-c1/100-cocoa-chocolate-bar-absolute-black-p249
(I probably shouldn’t be allowed to talk about chocolate in public.)
(Also, I make a bloody lovely venison chocolate chilli. See? Never let me start talking about chocolate.)
(I’m here all week.)
Mmm, chocolate. I would correct you to say that not all American chocolate is crapola, just the mass produced cheap stuff. You can find good quality chocolate here in the US if you know where to look.
I live for chocolate too, the darker the better!
Reeses is definitely NOT about the sucky chocolate, but the salty-sweet peanut-butter inside. Yum.
You would love that bar I linked to, Esmom. Dark, smooth, bitter.
I like dark chocolate, I like milk chocolate, I like white chocolate, I like truffles, I like filled bars, I like flavoured bars. Oh, and I also like chocolate covered Turkish delight. A lot.
(Can’t help myself. Will try to shut up,)
Thank you-Galaxy over Cadbury any day! I don’t mind Cadbury but there’s just something about the taste that always feels a bit off. All this Reese’s talk is wasted on me though-I’m allergic to peanuts and even before I realised I could never stand the smell of them.
Oh my god, that bar looks amazing, Sixer. My mouth is actually watering.
When I want a milk chocolate, I’ll grab cadbury which – thank god – is widely available in NS. I’ve always had a soft spot for the sponge toffee crunch bars and the easter eggs. But just a simple dairy milk bar is fantastic. My husband is a sucker for Reese’s cups though – he adores them. I’ll grab one at the gas station on the way home from work when I’ve annoyed him, ahha.
I’ve had a few bars from Divine Chocolate as well – also very tasty, and Fair Trade certified. There’s a dark chocolate with toffee and sea salt that’s great. Very good in milk chocolate as well – but I’m finding I have much less of a sweet tooth in the last year or so, ahha. Hitting 27 was a downhill tumble for me apparently. I’ve been drinking black coffee most of the time, and reaching for darker chocolate.
As for a more garbagey chocolate – I like putting Charleston Chew bars in the freezer. And then breaking them into pieces and letting them melt in my mouth. WAY better frozen.
Godiva chocolate is also pretty good, esp the Salted Caramel bar. YUM!!!
M&S have started to sell an eye wateringly expensive artisan dark chocolate with prunes from an American company. It’s heavenly although I agree the American chocolate is killed by the sugar. My specialty is Christmas truffles made with proper Belgian chocolate ( Waitrose is the best), I do a nice Black Forest one with dark chocolate ganache, a Kirch soaked cherry in the middle and white chocolate topping with sprinkles. Baileys truffles are lovely too, or add a bit of orange liqueur. Trust me make your own truffles and you’ll never bother with Lindt again.
I bought passion fruit salted caramel truffles in Waitrose recently. They were rather odd tasting.
Lindt has a good salted caramel filled bar – for these, I think the caramel has to be runny and not thick (also another win for Galaxy Caramel which is runny, over Cadbury Caramel which is chewy).
Anyone ever made chocolate caramel vodka? Decant half a bottle of vodka somewhere else. Fill up the remaining half bottle with chunks of Galaxy (or Cadbury if you do chocolate wrongthink) Caramel. Screw lid on tightly. Shove in dishwasher for a cycle. Hey presto! Chocolate caramel vodka!
I am sending Mr Sixer to M&S for prune chocolate at the weekend!
Sixer, I’m going to have to treat myself to a bar if possible. And the price even looks right compared to some good American chocolate bars.
Your chocolate caramel vodka idea is genius, thank you! I don’t drink but I think it would make a great holiday gift for friends.
Erinn, My mom used to do that with Charleston Chews, lol! I didn’t think they were still around, haven’t see one in decades, I think.
None of you are helping with my early New Years Resolutions.
p.s. Equal Exchange Organic Dark Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Sea Salt. Yum.
I read about dishwasher vodka before, but with hard sweets. I’ll have to try it with chocolate now I have a dishwasher.
Love Cadbury’s. Hate Reese’s. If I want chocolate/peanut butter mixed, it’s Butterfingers for me. I hate S’Mores, also.
I can’t stand s’mores, never liked them. I love frozen Charleston Chews though. I have been looking for about 4 months now for a Malted Milk chocolate bar. I can’t seem to find them in any store.
As long as she doesn’t have to give up ranch dressing or peanut butter in a jar…
And hell yeah, buying her candy?? HELL YESSSS. That’s the biggest sign so far he’s in lurve.
Hahahahaha!
Something tells me she finds European candy superior too. Just cuz you know. Dating a prince.
If peanut butter isn’t sold in a jar what is it sold in?
A box? A bag? Cellophane wrapped slices? A loaf?
Details like this fascinate me!
You can get single serve packets of peanut butter from various manufacturers now.
It lasts long enough for me in a jar without spoiling. I like peanut butter made with just peanuts and salt, though, and that’s harder to find (I could make my own in a pinch from just roasted peanuts). Algood is the best and was also cheap, but it became an endangered species and I had to go searching for something else not too expensive. Smuckers has always been good. So is Teddy’s.
I had a craving for Reese’s peanut butter cups that wouldn’t quit one Halloween season but I really should avoid dairy and it was 3am…. So I checked the web for recipes to figure proportions and just tossed together peanut butter, coconut oil, cocoa powder, and a sweetener (actually used xylitol because I didn’t have anything else). Didn’t even bother making powdered sugar, so it was a little grainy but really really good just eaten with a spoon.
OOO, how sweet love story. They both are so sweet, and so in love . My favourite couple with hamburgers and fried onion rings.
Reese’s Pieces really aren’t that rare in the UK anymore. You can get them in most major supermarkets.
Imagine Reese’s Cups with Cadbury’s chocolate on them. Now, I’d get homesick for them!
Meghan and I suffer from the same affliction and all I did was move south of the border from Canada, not across an ocean!
We went on an Alaskan cruise and our ship went by one of my childhood haunts of visiting my grandparents and even though it was beyond dark, I stayed up and felt their presence.
But that’s beside the point. Here’s what Canada has above the US in the junk food department: Cheezies! They’re way, way better than cheeto’s. My first trip to Canada after moving here I spent far too much on Cheezies (there’s no such thing) at the airport and gave my husband a taste. He pretended that there’ s no difference between cheeto’s and cheezies but then when we were travelling back from our cruise we loaded up on cheezies at the airport and take out a bag on special occasions. He even tried doing a blind taste test but that was a no go because you can tell the difference immediately.
We’re going back for Christmas and you better believe the suitcase will be full of cheezies and coffee crisp chocolate bars.
I’m intrigued. This reminds me of when I was in Europe last summer and discovered Forest Mushroom Lay’s potato chips. Not a flavor available in the US. I stuffed a few bags in my luggage to bring home. They were crushed to bits but still tasted so much better than any American chips!
You can buy them on Amazon but they’re not cheap and there’s no guarantee they’ll be fresh. We bought some there and the quality didn’t seem right. Like it was sitting on a shelf for 5 years before we bought them. When Mom comes to visit she knows on top of the halibut and fresh salmon she has to bring cheezies too.
Cheetos has nothing on Cheezies! With my husband at work, I might grab a bag for breakfast!
Okay so everyone says Lays are just Walkers under a different name, and I disagree. I find Lays way tastier. I always stock up whenever I go to France. Though M+S (sorry I lost the ampersand button on my keyboard) spring onion or beef and onion are insanely moreish.
Wow, coffee crisp chocolate bars were my absolute favourite but I haven’t been able to find them here in years 🙁
That is so sweet of Harry. He is a keeper.
If it were me, he’d have to start aggressively stocking up on ALL the chips.
What is it about the Christmas tree or other holiday Reese’s peanut butter cups that makes them that much better? Yum
Superior ratio of peanut butter to crappy chocolate.
It’s not hard to get North American sweets in the UK but they are expensive. When I was pregnant with my first I was living in Scotland and craved root beer and Gobstoppers like no other. I paid like £1.40 a can for root beer and £4 for the Gobstoppers but it as super easy to find them at the American Candy store.
Funny – I’ve never been pregnant, and don’t drink it much at home, but any time I’ve moved away (Taiwan and Argentina) I’ve craved root beer like it’s nobody’s business!
No root beer?? When I can’t get something, I always end up craving it more. There’s so much of my favorite regular Massachusetts food that’s tough to find in Florida. I’m dying for some good lobster and fried clams with bellies
Never date a man that won’t surprise you with your favorite snacks.
Somehow, I think the jewels would help me get over the lack of American chocolate.
Really? I just can’t understand people who get excited by and swoon over jewellery. My husband presented me with a necklace once and I asked if it was made of gold, he looked at me in horror and he took it back and I have never seen it since. Through my husband I was gifted a set of jewellery from the Middle East and my husband just opened the box so I could glance at it and then snapped the box and then kept it away. Maybe he is just keeping all this jewellery to give to our daughters one day. I do however get very excited by books and bookshops, I am always researching and buying new book, very exciting waiting for the delivery of new books! Can anyone explain the excitement of jewellery?
It’s pretty and sparkly and fun to wear, but I guess we vary in how much we like it and wear it.
Tower of London. State jewels in a sunlight case. If their sparkliness doesn’t get you, nothing will.
I don’t wear jewelry, can’t stand any weight against my skin. But when I finally got a color tv (had stuck with b&w long past cultural appropriateness), I became fascinated by some shopping channel that was peddling a lot of sparkly jewelry. I used to fall asleep to it for a while. The images were really very pleasing. I would still balk at the prices, though, even if I could physically stand to wear them.
I’m not a big jewelry girl. I do have pieces I like that are fun to wear, but I’m not all that interested in gems. Give me my simple beaded boho looking pieces and I’m fine.
I think jewels can be nice, but I think you have to wear them sparingly if you’re not the Queen. If was actually allowed to wear them in all their gaudy glory, I’d probably be more excited by them.
“Can anyone explain the excitement of jewellery? ”
Of wearing it? Not me. I have a box or two of really top-notch jewellery (mostly emeralds) that I’ve been given over the years, ever since I was fifteen or so, but I’ve never worn any of it. Ever. I don’t notice it on others either.
I do LOVE watching jewellery as pieces of craftmanship (like in a museum or on Tiffany’s website). But wearing it (or noticing it on others)… No.
I live in a teeny village in Sussex (south coast of England) and we have Reeces here. Not rare. We have those weird twinkies too 🤦♀️
Cadbury is far more superior than Hersheys. Even our local brand chocolate is better than Hersheys. I also say nope to Reese peanut butter cup. America is great in almost everything except candy, cheese and snack in general.
I do not like Hershey. I’m kind of a sucker for Cadbury Mini Eggs.
You can find Reeses PB cups in every British shop now. Reeses Pieces in most larger branches of most supermarkets. I’m addicted to them and for years had to buy them from inport shops like Cyber Candy, but now my local Sainsburys stocks them. PB 4 Life.
I will always hold British chocolate as superior to American (sorry) but I have to say, since Cadbury’s started shoving lots of palm oil into their products I have stopped buying it. Palm oil tastes like trash and kills orangutans. (#boycottpalmoil). Divine are my favourite brand for ethical chocolate and tastes amazing. Waitrose own brand tastes a lot like Cadbury’s chocolate used to taste.
British candy far exceeds American… by a massive margin! That’s including packaged cookies! My favourite are Jelly Babies. Gummy type candy in North America is horrid. High fructose corn syrup that sticks to your teeth and makes you wonder if you just ate glue. Jelly Babies are made from proper gelatin… so. darn. addictive!
In the US, but am too fond of Walker’s shortbread cookies…. Can’t trust myself with a big package, but discovered I can manage with a box of 2-cookie packs from Amazon. They actually last a long time. Can’t tell myself that they’ll go stale if I don’t eat them right away. Yes, I’ve really used that excuse many times.
she’s so skinny; i’m jealous ; (
I had a medical issue and went to Hershey, Pennsylvania. after checking out of the medical center, i went to their claim to fame and the stuff from their direct factory is amazing! it’s so weird that just the stuff from the factory actually tastes like chocolate, but not the other stuff. I don’t purchase Hershey products bc it’s poor quality, but I have fond memories of dancing and singing cows. it was a splurge that didn’t make me sick, do whatever they do there is what they should do with all candies. too bad they’re too greedy…
most of the stuff you see in stores or for holidays are made in Mexico and taste bad. it comes up from mexico and is distributed from Hershey, Pennsyvania. knew a truck driver that picked up loads from there.
Cadbury is really good!!! mmm fruit n nut bar!!
I don’t know what you mean by being “too greedy”. Hershey’s also runs a free boarding school for lower income kids. I had a friend who used to work there. She was impressed by the quality of care she was required to provide.
I love Reese’s peanut butter cups since I love everything PB but do not have them often. They’re kind of expensive here in my side of Europe. And prices in duty free shops in airports are mind blowing! Currently my fav chocolate is hand made fair trade no GMO organic – all the good stuff you know – made by a very small company in the Netherlands. It’s a raw chocolate with cocoa nibs. AMAZING!!!! Can’t remember the name though but it says “with love” in the title and the packaging describes the story of the company and their philosophy. And the paper and film that protect the choco bar can be put in the compost! I buy it in a specialty organic shop. The packaging has info in English, French, Scandinavian languages and Spanish as far as I remember so it must be available in more countries! Do try if you can find it!
British-produced Cadbury tastes better than American-produced Cadbury, imo. There does seem to be a difference in the recipes.
Meghan Markle has a slim figure and she’s an actress. I can’t really picture her having the desire to eat American or British chocolate, to be honest.
Why? Thin people don’t eat chocolate or sweets? No junk food at all? Due to a lack of desire?
I’m 120 lbs at 5’6 and I work hard to stay that way but if you think Friday and Saturday nights don’t include crisps, chocolates and candy you crazy girlfriend! 🙂
It’s not so much of a lack of desire on the part of thin people. I’m sure the craving is there. I probably mis-spoke. It’s more the desire to be photographed in a flattering way because she’s an actress/royal girlfriend. Whenever famous actresses describe their diets, I rarely see chocolate on there (unless it’s a small piece of bland tasting dark chocolate that would probably make me go “meh.”).
I’ll concede that most likely not every famous person eats like Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen though. I suspect Gwyneth Paltrow sneaks in Reese’s Pieces when nobody is looking.
She should replace those Reese’s Piece’s with Minstrels, the only chocolate item I genuinely miss from the UK.
Has the arsehole got a job yet? Or is he still dole budging off the the publics purse?
I think he has a full time job dodging unwanted attention from Keen Kate
Scarlett, you win the internet today.