Chocolate Memories

When I started my professional chocolatier program several years ago, there was a great deal of discussion about fine chocolate in contrast to commercial chocolate, as well as the development of taste and preferences. As I planned to host a chocolate tasting, I remember posting on Facebook and inviting my friends to tell me their favourite chocolate of all time. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of posts were about commercial chocolate. Interestingly, though, many were memories of discontinued candy bars from childhood. It was a fascinating discussion. 

While I recognized some of the candy bars referenced, there were several that were new to me, so I searched for pictures and descriptions of many of them online. One that stood out was a comment about a 4 Flavours bar. 

My research revealed that it was a Neilson creation, sort of like a Caramilk bar, but with four different fillings -- vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and bordeaux. Having no idea what "bordeaux" referred to, I researched that as well and discovered it was a butterscotch flavour. Fascinated by this, I ordered a chocolate bar mold and began planning how to recreate the experience for my friend for Christmas. I was thrilled with the results (but it will probably be a very long time before I do it again, given the work associated with making all of those fillings and keeping them at the right working temperature). 

More recently I've had discussions about a particular chocolate-coated graham cracker candy bar -- first with a friend at work and then again with a cousin on Facebook (completely unrelated and in a time span of about 2 months). 

What was this mysterious treat? Described as two graham squares with a mocha-coloured, cream-type filling in the centre, covered in chocolate, and sold two pieces in one package, it was reportedly delicious. But try as I might, my googling didn't lead to any images of such a bar. And, frankly, this seemed strange to me. Until we figured out the actual name of the bar.

Graham Bar? Graham Square? Graham Sandwich? Graham Sandwich!

Malted Graham Sandwich Bar to be exact. They were manufactured at the Moirs chocolate factory in Dartmouth, which closed in 2007. I found the full product name in the appendix of a master's thesis on Moirs advertising (Thank you Holly Hanes!). Sadly, the thesis didn't have any images associated with this bar and, given that it seems to have been a regional product, it isn't all that surprising that none of us have yet found photographs of one or its packaging online. 

Now, as someone who never saw or tasted a Graham Sandwich, there are a lot of unknowns. I don't have a good sense of how big they were or how thick the cream between the two graham crackers was.  I'm not sure if they were perfect squares or rectangles. And I certainly don't know how malty the malted filling was or what sort of texture and consistency it had (beyond the description that it was a cream). Nevertheless, the flavour combination sounds divine and my interest has been piqued! 

The truth is, I can't help but wonder if this should be my next retro candy bar re-creation.

What do you think? Should I make a modern, hand-crafted version of the Malted Graham Sandwich Bar? 

Leave a comment below! And if you remember this sweet treat, then please share your memories of it.