Why Americans Don't Like Flakes

Today's post is a story I'm going to share about British chocolates, in this case the Cadbury Flake. Did you know that Cadbury and Nestle (and maybe other chocolatiers) sell completely different candy in other parts of the world? Whenever we travel internationally one of our favorite things to do is to go candy shopping for items that we can't find in the US. I guess some chocolates don't translate well to the American crowd and we may have figured out why.

We've discovered some awesome candy by doing this, but sadly Cadbury's Flake is not one of them and here's why. The Cadbury Flake is described as having "a delicate, crumbly texture." Picture a chocolate candy bar that's long and thin like a hot dog and made in such a way that when you bite into it, the whole thing collapses into tiny flakes of chocolate. Sounds exciting, right? Who wouldn't like a mouthful of tiny flakes of milky, creamy chocolate. Except that it doesn't quite work out that way.

On our summer vacation to Toronto this past year, I was so excited when I found a Cadbury Flake - a chocolate bar that I have never tried before. I watch a lot of British TV and there is always reference to this chocolate. As soon as we got back to the hotel room, I had to try my sweet treat.

I sat on the edge of the bed and opened up my Flake. As soon as I took the first bite, the entire thing broke apart sending tiny pieces of chocolate all over my lap, the floor, the bed, and my son who was sitting next to me on the floor. I scooped up as much as I could into a pouch I made out of my shirt and carried it into the bathroom where I proceeded to fling the flakes into the toilet.

Except that the Flake knows how to travel and not only did it end up in the toilet, but all over the floor and the tub too. I cleaned up what I could, but honestly I knew that the next time that someone flushed the toilet (with 5 year old twins -and a husband that drinks diet Coke by the gallons that would be in about 5 minutes) and took a shower that most of it would be cleaned up so I didn't really do a good job.

I washed my hands, shut the light off, and went back to the bedroom area to watch TV. In two minutes I had completely forgotten about the incident. About 15 minutes later, my husband walks into the bathroom, flicks on the light switch and SCREAMS "How did all this sh*t get everywhere in the bathroom?"

Well, it's true that anything is possible with twins, luckily that day all I needed to say in response was "no hon, it's not poop, it's chocolate!"