Jun 21 2006
snickers vs. baby ruth
You may not be aware of this, but studying and understanding snack food is a favorite pastime of mine. In fact, it goes beyond being a mere pastime, it’s a passion. In fact (part 2), if there were an academic discipline called snackology, I would have a frickin’ Ph.D. So, today I was reading the wrapper of a Baby Ruth candy bar and it said that it contained peanuts, caramel and nougat. Now, being incredibly familiar with Snickers, as I am (being Dr. Jamelah, snackologist extraordinaire), I wondered what the difference was. Since Snickers also contains peanuts, caramel and nougat. So I decided to conduct an experiment. I would study both a Snickers and a Baby Ruth to decipher their differences and similarities and see if I could come up with an understanding of these two chocolate-coverend confections.
For this experiment, I studied the candy bars in shape and appearance, visually examined cross-sections of each, and conducted a taste-test. I realized after completing the experiment that I had actually conducted a similar experiment involving these two candy bars four years ago, but since I didn’t remember this beforehand and this time I have visual documentation of my research as well, I decided I would forge ahead. So, here goes.
Snickers vs. Baby Ruth: A Study
First of all, I’m sure that you’re totally wowed by my formica countertop and my ultra-classy paper plate, as well you should be. But let us not be distracted from the task at hand, and that task is to evaluate the aesthetics of the candy bars in their respective wrappers. As you will note, the Baby Ruth looks considerably larger than the Snickers, and also has a flashier wrapper. It’s silver! Contents must be tasty! But what happens when we view the candy bars in their vulnerable nakedness?
(Top: Snickers. Bottom: Baby Ruth.)
Ignoring the fact that the Snickers looks like it got into a fight, the Baby Ruth still looks larger. Also bumpier. Mmmm nuts. Peanuts.
(Left: Snickers. Right: Baby Ruth.)
From the beginning, it’s clear that the Snickers chocolate appears superior to that of the Baby Ruth. It appears to be poured on in ripply swirls whereas the Baby Ruth seems as though it might’ve been dipped in chocolate. Dipping is fine, I suppose, though pouring makes the candy bar a bit more aesthetically pleasing, at least for me, and let’s not forget that I AM AN EXPERT. Aesthetics are important in snacking. Nobody wants to eat food that looks horrible. At least not when chocolate is involved. I’m pretty sure that’s a rule. In fact, I’m going to say it is a rule, because I can.
Now for an internal comparison:
Here we see a cross-section of the Snickers, and below is a cross-section of the Baby Ruth.
In looking at the two, it’s apparent that the Snickers places a higher value on caramel in relation to other ingredients, whereas the Baby Ruth is all about the nougat. Nougat is fine and all, don’t get me wrong, but it ain’t caramel. I’m just saying. Visually, I’m still drawn to the Snickers. It just seems more harmonious, whereas the Baby Ruth (which was impossible to cut with any sort of true precision, by the way) is a little more disheveled. Also caramel isn’t so prominent, which I think is a shortcoming. But how do they taste? I’ll tell you.
Observations: Snickers
Snickers is good. It’s chewy but not too chewy, and all of its flavors — chocolate, peanuts, caramel, nougat — work together for a well-unified candy experience. Ah, Snickers. It really satisfies.
Interlude: Cleansing the Palate
With candy-tasting as well as other activities like, say, wine-tasting, it’s important to cleanse the palate so that the delicate flavors and subtle notes of the candy (or wine) are not confused into a crazy mishmash of, um, delicate flavors and subtle notes. However, since I didn’t have any of those palate-cleansing cracker things that are so readily available at wineries, I had to settle for water:
(Just ignore what’s going on between my eyebrows. I’m trying to. Damn pores.)
So yeah, secure in the fact that I had rinsed away all the delicious deliciousness of the Snickers, so that I could give the Baby Ruth a fair taste, I moved on.
Observations: Baby Ruth
Wow. The Baby Ruth is a bit crumbly. Also it tastes like peanuts. I didn’t really taste the chocolate or the caramel, but I sure could taste the peanuts. Because, wow, it’s peanutty. The nougat is a bit chewier than the nougat of the Snickers and so as I chewed on it for awhile, I had some time to think about what it tastes like. In my experiment of four years ago (linked above), I thought it might be a chocolate nougat, but today I thought it tasted like… peanuts. But I think that might’ve just been because the overwhelming taste of the Baby Ruth is of peanuts. Overall not as tasty as a Snickers, but not barf-inducing like, say, Almond Joy or Mounds (have I mentioned that I hate coconut? Because I hate coconut.)
So, what’s the deal with the nougat? Well:
As is perfectly obvious, the Baby Ruth nougat is browner than that of the Snickers. Do you like how I just made up a word? Me too. Anyway, upon doing some nougat research (Ph.D. in snackology, remember?), I discovered that this is because there are two different kinds of nougat. White nougat, which is obviously employed by the Snickers, is a little bit softer than the brown nougat favored by the Baby Ruth. Fascinating. I realize this all comes down to personal preference, but I like the white nougat better than the brown nougat. Perhaps this makes me a nougat bigot, I don’t know, but what I do know is that I want my nougat to work with the other items in the candy bar, not to have a primadonna complex and insist on remaining in my mouth long after the other ingredients have already had peristalsis help them work their way down my esophagus. Yes, in candy, as in life, I prefer harmony, not discord.*
So, if Snickers was to fight Baby Ruth in a steel cage, I’d have to say that I’d be rooting for Snickers because it is so wonderful that I don’t understand why the fuck it can’t be a health food, but then Baby Ruth would win, because good lord, that nougat is brutal.
-Fin-
*I’m pretty sure that was a lie, but whatever, work with me.
1) I hate coconut too. Well maybe not hate. But I don’t much care for it.
2) When did Baby Ruth get a new wrapper? (Here’s where you say, “three years ago,” and I realize once again that maybe I should come home.)
Ha! I KNEW the Snickers would win. In your face, Baby Ruth!
B — I don’t know when it happened. In fact, I thought it was always silver until you asked when it got a new wrapper and I realized that it used to be white. It used to be white, right?
Fraulein N — Exactly. But honestly, Baby Ruth never stood a chance.
White with the red, something like this I think?
Yeah, it’s exactly the same now, just silver.
I think you’ve omitted a critical part of this analysis. Baby Ruth will always be jaded by the “Doody” scene in Caddyshack. I think it subliminally factored into the decision.
Will you also do a review of Milky Way vs. Three Musketeers? That’s always been a tough call for me. Personally, the newer (relatively, circa 2000, I think) Milky Way Dark is a favorite.
Milky W- Three… shit, I just now realized those are two different candy bars. I mean, technically speaking, cause god knows they taste the same.
I think the Milky Way has caramel and the Three Musketeers is just chocolate-covered nougat, but I could be wrong. And if the Three Musketeers is just chocolate-covered nougat, then I think that really only counts as Two Musketeers.
So yes, I think I should conduct this experiment.
Although I’m no connoisseur as I don’t have a similar degree, I do believe the Three Musketeers contains something different than nougat. It’s lighter and fluffier. I mean I’ve known some nougats in my time and I don’t believe it’s nougat or at least any of the type with which I’m familiar. But I defer to your experimental proof.
I hope that you are up-to-date in the field and that your snackology research has extended to Pimp That Snack.
[…] Is there anything as comforting, reassuring or satisfying as the delete key? Oh sure, maybe a blankie, or your main squeeze or a Snickers bar, but other than that, there’s not much left in this cold, dark world that makes you feel like you have a fighting chance against the pain of idiocy, overload and pointlessness. In these uncertain times, it’s hard to feel like you have any power over your environment or the scourge of reply-all vermin that seem to never die. The delete key gives you a small dose of control each day that, in my opinion, is many times the only thing that keeps you from slipping into a scene from Falling Down. Incrementally, this may not be readily noticeable, but when your deleteodometer rolls over the 10K mark, you can feel like you’ve really accomplished something… you can feel that you are in charge of your daily destiny; that you are, in fact, da man. This becomes even more exciting (and by exciting I mean oddly amusing and mildly disturbing) when you put this number into context … in that this is only one portion of one of my many active email accounts. Adding them all up, the amount of delete power I have amassed is … staggering. The mere idea that I have so easily expunged this enormous amount of other people’s words (not to mention auto-vaporizing massive amounts of spam each day) elevates me to demi-god strength … and I feel giddy. In fact, I feel like singing … to paraphrase everyone’s favorite band, The Proclaimers: […]
Baby Ruth, for all that it is Nougatgentally Challenged , has by far the superior backstory. Should not a candy bar also speak to the intellect as well?
This was the most INFORMATIVE blog I’ve ever read. We had a debate in the office of what tasted better…and as a Canadian the few Baby Ruth bars I’ve been fortunate enough too eat left me with the idea that they were better than a Snickers. But..perhaps it was because we can’t get them in Canada. And as with most things, what you can’t have - you desire.
sup girl, feelin your experiment. some friends and i are were in our dorm room when we found ourselves wondering the very same thing that caused you to do your experiment. we think its awesome that you took the time to do this, you totally helped us out. (especially since we didn’t have access to a snickers). thanks baby boo!
love, the snicker enthusiasts in house 4.
I just blogged about how Baby Ruth changed from white nougat to brown nougat in 2001. The white was much chewier than the brown.
But the reason I’m writing is that the very same wiki article that you link to says, “The ‘nougat’ used as an ingredient in many modern candy bars is not similar to traditional recipes….” I kind of got the impression that the stuff we find in U.S. candy bars in neither the white nor the brown it discusses.
Great blog–very entertaining
I must say–I am definitely a Baby Ruth fan so I was a little disappointed in your analysis and the fact that most people seem to prefer Snickers.
I also agree with the comment before mine–the “tougher” nougat center of yesteryear made for a far tastier and enjoyable Baby Ruth…Why did they have to go and mess up a good thing?!
i think that if snickers put peanuts like how a baby ruth does than it would be the greatest candy bar ever!