Jelly isn’t really my thing. Faced with a decision between anything else and chocolate, I will always, always choose chocolate. That said, Irish jellies are downright fascinating. Here’s a little selection: jelly babies, wine gums and fruit pastilles. I mean, come on, we eat the babies? And wine-flavored sweets? And what the heck is a pastille?!
Turns out they’re all a lot more innocent than you’d think. Well, except for the babies. I’m still not sure how I feel about biting off a crying baby’s head.
Wine gums don’t taste like wine. They’re just chewy, generically fruit flavored jellies. The jelly babies are similar in flavor but have a cornstarch coating and the insides are a little more gooey. And the fruit pastilles are little disks with a crystallized sugar coating – again, similar generic fruit flavor.
One major difference for Americans? Dark purple won’t taste like grape. They’re blackcurrant flavored, which is hard to describe but very Irish! It’s kind of sweet and purple-y tasting, if that makes any sense!
Do you have a favorite Irish jelly? How do you feel about eating baby candy?
Welcome! I'm Emily, the face behind From China Village. This is where I get to share my adventures in Dublin, in my {teensy} kitchen and around my home. And I share all my clever, cosy and creative finds from around the web. Thanks for visiting!
I don’t really like candy (I’m a cake kind of gal), but I confess to kind of liking Jelly Babies!
Sour Patch Kids are one of my favourite candies so it would appear I don’t have a problem eating babies
Favorite candy store in Dublin? I recently saw Mr. Simms Sweet Shoppe. Any others to stop at?
When you run races in the UK and Ireland, spectators and race organizers hand out jelly babies along the route for energy – all that glucose! And I have a friend in the US who is obsessed with wine gums; I have to import them for her every time I go home. It’s such a random request!
Had no idea! That’s hilarious!
No picture of Jelly Babies? From what I remember they come in a yellow little packet.
They really have it figured out in the USA. My wife buys these vitamin laced jelly sweets that she tricks the kids with
Have they made it across the pond?
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