Only the blueberry flavor is available at their online store right now, but both should be on store shelves alongside the original flavors within a couple of weeks.

Vosges doesn't leave you on your own to come up with recipes that the chocolate chips can be included in, either. With each of the three types of chocolate chips, they list several recipes that will work perfectly with them. For example the Red Fire Martini and Love Goddess Cake work well with the Red Fire Chips and the Black Pearl Chips are the star in Full Moon Brownies.

When it comes to candy corn, there are definitely two camps: the lovers and the haters. I find myself on the love side, which means that I get a lot of them all to myself around Halloween, since almost no one else I know enjoys them as much. The basic recipe is for a slightly honey-flavored candy made with sugar, corn syrup (not high fructose corn syrup, incidentally), honey and some gelatin. The ingredients list artificial flavors, but it is clear that the main added flavor is vanilla and, if you take the time to appreciate it for a moment, the overall flavor is a good one. The problem with candy corn is that you can tire of them quickly because of the amount of sugar and the lack of variety as you eat piece after piece. Fortunately for candy corn fans, there are some gourmet alternatives to the classic. Mentioned on both Candy Addict and Candy Blog this week were Galerie Gourmet Goodies Candy Corn. The slightly upscale corn comes in three new flavors: cherry, green apple and tangerine. Judging from the reviews, the flavors sound good, if not earth shattering. The colors, on the other hand, might just make you look twice, especially if you're expecting the classic orange, yellow and white combination.

I'm a big Jelly Belly fan, but aside from the usual 49-flavor blend, there aren't that many opportunities to try some of their other flavors. Every once in a while, though, I spot a more unusual bland and snap them up. This week, I saw the "Soda Pop Shoppe" and "Smoothie Blend" mixes.

I was particularly interested in trying the soda ones after reading a review on the Candyblog and they did not disappoint. The flavors included are the A&W Root Beer, Dr. Pepper and Cream Soda from the classic blend and three new flavors, Grape Crush, Orange Crush and 7-Up. All the flavors had a slight zing to them that did remind me of soda, and the three new flavors bear an uncanny resemblance to their namesakes. Orange Crush, in particular, is outstanding.

The Smoothie mix was released earlier this year and contains a number of unconventional flavors including Mandarin Orange Mango, Cherry Passion Fruit, Pineapple Pear, Strawberry Banana and Mixed Berry. The cherry and mixed berry flavors seemed common, much like cherry and grape flavors in other types of candy. Strawberry Banana jumps out as the most easy to recognize flavor and the Pineapple Pear was pleasant, but the Mandarin Orange Mango was my favorite from this batch - vibrant and fruity.

All in all, both mixes were good and worth buying again, although I'll have to replenish my supply of the Soda Pop Shoppe beans, since I have already run out.

Cookie dough ice cream is a favorite of ice cream lovers young and old, but Baskin Robbins is taking the popular flavor to the next level with some new fall flavors. Makin' Cookies ice cream has a base ice cream that blends of brown sugar and butter flavors ice with chunks of baked chocolate chip cookies, mini chocolate chips and swirled with a cookie dough ribbon. Oatmeal Cookie Crunch ice cream is vanilla ice cream packed with oatmeal spiced cookies and swirled with a crunchy cinnamon graham cracker ribbon.

On top of the straight ice cream offerings, they have the Cookie Overload Sundae, which pairs the two cookie ice creams with caramel, whipped cream, and crushed chocolate sandwich cookies.

Head over to a store to try the new flavors when you get a chance because they'll only be available to a limited time. Besides, how could you resist brown sugar and butter flavored ice creams? These cookie flavors may not be around for too long, but I don't think anyone would complain about those being added to the permanent menu.

In New Zealand, scientists have been able to determine precisely which genes are responsible for the individual flavors and scents of fruits and flowers. As a result of this breakthrough, it will now be possible to actually produce natural flavorings without having to resort to chemical extractions or other synthetic processes, not to mention that it will save time trying to match the flavors of new products to natural ones. The scientists inserted the newly-identified genes into bacteria and model plants, which then produced the same results. Using a process known as biofermentation, they will be able to harvest the flavors and smells from the cultures in which they are grown and then implant them into food products (or perfumes).

The upshot of all of this is that it opens the door to a nearly infinite number of flavors - all-natural flavors, at that. As consumer demand increasingly grows for "natural" products, it seems likely that novel, but natural, flavorings could catch on. Green apple potato chips, anyone?

KitKats have long been one of the top-selling candy bars in Britain since their inception in 1935 by Rowntree LTD. The brand has been owned by Nestle since 1988, and Nestle increased its global distribution, making it one of the most popular candies in the world. To appeal to different tastes in different markets, Nestle has been producing flavored KitKats for many years now. These have enjoyed great success, particularly in Asian and Australian markets. The Wikipedia entry lists more than 65 different flavors of KitKat.

After having success elsewhere, Nestle turned to these limited edition and exotic flavors in the UK, with releases that ranged from strawberries and cream to mango to "Christmas pudding" all over the course of one year. They flopped. And not only did the flavors not sell, but KitKat sales in general fell by almost 17%. Galaxy bars saw an 11% increase in the same time period, largely making up the deficit in the number of bars sold.

The problem was that the bars were "not what [people] expected" from KitKats and the novelty wasn't enough to sustain sales. People purchased the flavored bars and lost interest in them, as well as being slightly turned off the original because the market was so saturated with KitKats. The flavors have been discontinued and the company is going to refocus on making up lost ground.

Hershey's, which owns the rights to the candy bar in the US, has released very few limited edition flavors, sticking primarily to white chocolate and dark chocolate. The company is unlikely to try a wide variety of flavors in the US because candy bar sales are not nearly as strong as in the UK. The company is, however, planning a caramel KitKat towards the end of this year.

[via WSJ]

Last year, a product called Flavor Spray was picked as one of the top five food innovations of the year by Time magazine. At the time, I didn't realize it was going to catch on in such a big way, but now other companies are introducing flavored spray-on products in an astounding variety of flavors. Besides the  root beer or french fry sprays (yes, they're working on a french fry flavor at the moment) from Flavor Spray, there are butter sprays, salad dressing sprays, candy sprays and even pet food sprays. The company that makes the TooTarts Sour Blast candy spray is designing a candy spray, to be released next year, to help "trick" kids into eating their vegetables.

Some spray-able products seem useful, like the butter and salad sprays that would allow for even distribution of flavor over corn on the cob or a big plate of salad. But french fry flavor? Mochaccino flavor?

I can't see the trend for the more exotic and less practical flavors lasting for an extended period of time, unlike the dressings and sprays of olive or canola oil that can be used for cooking. But what do I know - I still uses spices to flavor my foods.

Compound butter is butter that has a flavor, or additional ingredient(s) added to it. For example, I can think of several restaurants that serve garlic butter with dinner rolls (often barbecue restaurants), which is a compound butter. They are also sometimes simply called "herb butter," though they can be sweet or savory.

Compound butters are very easy to make and can have any number of flavors blended into them. The first step is softening the butter to room temperature. Once it is soft, the desired ingredients can be added . Herbs and spices are the most common because they are the easiest things to use, but just about any ingredient can be added. Lemon zest and dill make a great compound butter to "finish" a fish dish. Grated parmesan cheese, garlic and a bit of parsley make a wonderful spread for dinner rolls. If you choose to use cooked additions, like roasted garlic, make sure it is entirely cooled before mixing in, or the butter will separate. Use savory butters to top steaks, corn on the cob or any other dish you think needs a bit of extra flavor.

For sweet butters, you can add in any combination of spices, too. Pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon butters bake wonderful spreads for toast or waffles. You can also stir in a little bit of jam to make a fruity butter or maple syrup for a deliciously sweet addition to oatmeal. My favorite compound butter is served by Bill Granger in his Sydney restaurants: honeycomb butter, which has bits of smashed honey candies stirred in.

To store, simply return the mixed butter to the fridge to firm it back up. If you prefer to be able to slice your butter, shape it into a log on a piece of wax paper before refrigerating.

While browsing the list of Coldstone's latest summer flavors, all of which are targeted at kids, I had so wonder why it is that kids like blue ice cream because one of the new flavors is "Beary Beary Blue," described as cotton candy ice cream with gummi bears . Blue ice cream is not a new phenomenon, not by a long shot, but it's just a bit of a mystery why kids like the stuff. The real question is whether kids actually want blue ice cream, creating a demand for it, or if they eat it because it is what is marketed to them.

I tend to believe it is the latter and that kids, who are perfectly satisfied with regular ice creams at home, go crazy over wacky flavors and colors because it is labeled as a "kids" ice cream. As far as I can tell, this is the reason that I ate some of that stuff as a kid. I was drawn in by the promise of gummi bears and bits of bubble gum and, though I hated the way that they turned rock hard and inedible in the ice cream, I often ordered them anyway.

I'd rather see kids' ice creams that come in less electric colors and with additions that kids want to eat, not just with ones that they want to order. I suspect that there are a few kids who would disagree with me over the blue ice cream part, but even they might change their minds when they get down to those rock hard gummi bears.