Some of my favorite candy is available only at Easter, and I may even venture to say that Brach's Pastel Fiesta malted milk eggs is my favorite candy of all time. No other malted milk eggs compare. The ratio of crunchy shell to chocolate layer to malted milk interior is perfection. Surprisingly, this Brach's candy is difficult to find locally. Our primary grocery store, Lund's, carries it but has been known to run out of stock long before Easter. Also, I find that with every passing year, there are fewer and fewer candy pieces in each bag. Nonetheless, the speckled candy shells and pastel colors are emblematic of time and place. My boys love them, too.
Brach's Jelly Bird Eggs (read, jelly beans) run a close second. My mother always included these jelly beans in our Easter baskets as well as in the plastic eggs she hid around the yard. Plus, she often makes a white cake with lemon curd filling, frosted with seven-minute frosting, dusted with coconut, and crowned with a nest of jelly bird eggs. When jelly bird eggs are stale, the gel center is more stiff and tacky, and this is what I like best about these jelly beans. Recently I bought a bag of "fresh" beans, and the interior was so sticky and springy—all wrong. Thank goodness these jelly beans are available year round.
