New Flavors for Easter Candy

In case you missed it, Peeps released several new flavors for this year’s Easter candy selection. Personally, I tried Party Cake and Fruit Punch, but they also released Hot Tamales and Blue Raspberry. I heard plenty about the Hot Tamales flavor as it is such an off-the-wall choice for Peeps, but I was more interested to know about the Fruit Punch because it is such a cool flavor. Turns out, Fruit Punch is a very red flavor. As Peeps are essentially marshmallow birds covered in tinted sugar, a bright red Peep means that bright red sugar will go everywhere.

My hands, tongue, and part of my face got turned red. Interestingly, the marshmallow portion was also a reddish-pink. I should have just gotten the original yellow Peeps, though, because it tasted like Hawaiian Punch and had the disconcerting texture of a marshmallow and it was just too much of a sensory shock. In my head, I don’t know what I expected, but a sour marshmallow was not it. However, Party Cake was fine. That’s probably because any variation of “Birthday Cake” flavor is just Vanilla with extra vanilla flavor. The cool thing about this one was that the marshmallow wasn’t white; it was the color of a cake. My mom was horrified about my choices in Peep. She has always favored traditional yellow Peeps. I’m almost thinking she was right. Speaking of Easter candy, Ferrero Rocher released chocolate eggs and they are amazing. Of course, Ferrero Rocher is always good, but their Easter edition candies are so much fun. They’re on the pricier side, though, and not quite worth the price I paid in Walmart ($3.50). When it comes to Easter candy, a lot of people consider the “classics” to be the best choices: Russell Stover chocolate bunnies, Reese’s pieces carrots, Hershey’s chocolate eggs, Cadbury Crème Eggs, yellow and pink Peeps, and Robin’s Eggs. When I was a kid, these are the things I usually found in my Easter basket. However, new varieties on the same thing break up the monotony. Finding something new to try is a good way to have some more fun in the Easter season, especially with everything going on right now.

“Peeps are everything that’s wrong with the world. They are too soft AND too crunchy. Pick a lane and stay in it,” says Allison Meyers, a senior here at Monmouth. Peeps are a candy that many people either love or hate. Shyanne Sheehan, a senior, says, “Although I do not like Peeps, seeing the new lineup of flavors, I might be more tempted to try them out. Party cake all the way. I would maybe even make an ice cream sandwich, and put the Peep in the ice cream sandwich.” That sounds like a vast improvement on the Peep candy itself already. Did you try the new Peeps? Let us know on Twitter.

Carrie King - Features Editor