Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Project 7 Red Velvet Cupcake Gum - Target



Project 7 Red Velvet Cupcake Gum - Target
Do any of you watch Orange is The New Black? If you do, you might remember THIS scene where prison guard, and fad-dieter, O'Neill goes on a tirade about the popularity of Red Velvet Cake and how he personally feels like it's a scam.

You tell 'em O'Neill! I grew up watching cooking shows, so even though I know that Red Velvet Cake is indeed a real thing, and a Southern tradition, I can't help but agree with him. The sudden surge of products and popularity we are seeing is a total scam coasting on tons of food dye and all of the food companies out there are getting in on it. We have Oreos, yogurts, m&m's, and now? Chewing gum. Even Project 7 isn't immune to the trendiness of this red-hued wannabe. I love this company and their concept, but I hate the trendiness of all this red velvet cake nonsense, so let's see if trying this gum will make any difference in my velvet-y stance.


The packaging is just as nice as the Gingerbread version, but this time there is no little face there to garner sympathy or warm my heart. Instead, we have a cute, but trendy, gourmet cupcake. The food related image is nice and all, but looking at it reminds me of all the novelty red velvet cake products of reviews-past, and how disappointing they all were. From my experience, red velvet cake products are fun to photograph, and they look luxurious, but they never taste that great. Is this packaging pretty? Yes, but they always are. (That's the trendy trap!)
Once opened, the package has a chocolate scent, similar to a Tootsie Roll, but the pieces themselves are white. Thankfully the company didn't use a ton of food dye to make them red on the outside, but are they red on the inside? 


They're brown! So there's no red in this mix at all. Initially the flavoring tastes really artificial, chocolate-y, and a bit tangy, but as you chew it fades into a pleasant Tootsie Roll-like flavoring with a hint of vanilla. It starts out rough and off-putting, but the more I chew it, the more I like it. Does this taste like a red velvet cupcake? Not at all! Is it red? NOPE! So why go with red velvet cake at all? Project 7 could have stuck with a cocoa or chocolate brownie themed package and kept the gum exactly as-is. Was this just to cash in on the trend? I mean, I know actual red velvet cake has cocoa powder in it, but this gum is purely a chocolate flavored confection. 
Safe to say, this gum didn't bring me over to the velvet-side, but I did like it more than I thought I would. Once you get past the initial artificial flavoring, the Tootsie Roll chocolatey finish is really enjoyable, and it satisfies my chocolate cravings at work. Would I buy this again? You know what, I think I would! Not because of it's relation to red velvet, or any authentic cupcake flavoring, but because this really did satisfy my chocolate cravings and deter me from eating (more) candy at my work desk. I could see myself grabbing another bag to keep in my drawer, but if it disappears until next year, I'd be okay with that too.    
© Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net
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6 comments:

  1. Red velvet to me is overrated. It should be labeled as a chocolate fudge gum or even hot cocoa. The outer part should be the "marshmallow"

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  2. for someone who didn't grow up in the US: What is "Red Velvet"-Flavor? Red Velvet seems to be all over the internet and i always thought it's just a fancy pound/sponge cake with red food coloring... but it has to be more... i mean... there must be a destinctiv flavor that "red velvet" provides to put it in almost everything (i mean... gum.. that's almost everything... just urinal "cakes" with red velvet fragrance is missing right now ;))

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    1. Red Velvet is a cake that was made popular in the Southern area of the USA. It's a variation on a classic chocolate cake (like Devil's Food), but it uses vinegar and buttermilk in the recipe. The two ingredients react and give the cake a velvety moist texture. Long ago, when it was first made, beets were used as a sugar replacement, which is what originally made the cake red, but now-a-days we just use a TON of red food coloring.

      So the short answer is, it's a chocolate cake that is supposed to have a really moist and velvety texture, with the slight tang of buttermilk. But now-a-days any chocolate cake dyed red will pass as a Red Velvet cake.

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    2. Maria you're awesome! That's the beste answer i could ever get for this kinda "stupid" question. :)
      Thanks!

      Now i'm glad i was going with boston cream cake yogurt instead of red vevlet the time i had the chance to try one and i know now, that the cake itself is definitely worth trying out (though i'm not a big chocolate fan, but i love soft and moust cakes), but all the other stuff that is just "red velved" flavored isn't something i need to get my hands on :)

      Thanks again! :)

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  3. This is probably the most random comment I'll ever leave.. But I feel the most IMPORTANT part of red velvet cake (maybe even more than the red dye) is cream cheese frosting!

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    Replies
    1. That's not random at all! (Especially on this blog.)

      It's a good point to bring up, and as O'Neill says in his red velvet-y rant, "[cream cheese icing] should live on top of carrot cake, like god intended."

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