Oh, fudge.

(Q; Why did the dumb guy get fired from the M&M's factory? Tell ya later.)

Every now and then it pays to peek into the candy aisle and see what the chocolate boffins have been up to. Here's the latest from the gang at Mars: 

Fudge Brownie flavored M&M's have landed: "These innovative treats have delightful notes of freshly baked brownies in a fudgy, chewy center, no baking necessary," says the company.

Now, to some people, this may be a curious development. Many people prefer the more cakey type of brownie. Martha Stewart was even called in to consult on this great controversy. Will this be the next big issue to divide our nation? Will Fudge Brownies Matters hold rallies? Will Cakey for America march through cities? Will Antifu (the Anti-Fudge terrorists) burn down buildings? Will the Brownshorts of the CLO (Cake Liberation Organization) shatter candy store windows on Chocolatnacht? In other words, do we have to fight over every damned thing that shoots down the pike?

Nah, probably not.

Here's the Fudge Brownie M&M's, au naturel:

Kind of lumpy, aren't they? And larger than most M&M's. So they're here, they're fudgey, they're not going shopping. Are they any good?

Yeah, sort of. They do taste like a fudge-type brownie. If you eat several at once, you can see that they even have a fudge-brownie consistency. So okay, I'll give it to Mars Wrigley on this; if a fudge brownie is what you crave, but you can't wait to break out the Betty Crocker mix, this is a good way to satisfy your hunger.

Now, before I leave this blog today, I want to use some chocolate to tell the Baked Goods Social Warriors to just cool it:

I was surprised to see some of these near the register at our local CVS. These of course are the famous Moritz Ice Cubes, delicious milk chocolate cubes from the Nappo & Moritz company in Germany. When I was a kid in the city, every candy store and indoor newsstand seemed to have a bucket of these on the counter, right near the bucket of Bazooka gum. The store had to have A/C, or these would melt all over the place in the summer. Despite the low melting point, the Ice Cube seemed to have something chill about it, as if it chemically cooled your mouth. Maybe it was the touch of hazelnut flavor; maybe it was the power of suggestion. Either way, approaching the counter with a quarter to buy gum could turn into an internal struggle, as the kid did math to figure how many of these he could get and still buy some Bazooka.

See? Not every idea out of Germany is bad!

(A: He kept throwing out all the W's.)