Peanut butter cup
Encyclopedia
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
candy with a peanut butter
Peanut butter
Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground dry roasted peanuts, popular in North America, Netherlands, United Kingdom, and parts of Asia, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia. It is mainly used as a sandwich spread, sometimes in combination as in the peanut butter and jelly...
filling inside. Peanut butter cups are one of the most popular kinds of candy bar
Candy bar
A chocolate bar is a confection in bar form comprising some or all of the following components: cocoa solids, cocoa butter, sugar, milk. The relative presence or absence of these components form the subclasses of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate. In addition to these main...
in America. They can be made at home, but like most candies, they are commonly mass-produced. They may also be available in candy shops, produced by local or regional candymakers.
The diameter, thickness, and the relative proportion of its two major components vary according to the desires of the maker. Any type of chocolate may be used for the shell, but milk chocolate is most common. Fillings are usually smooth, creamy peanut butter, but crunchy peanut butter, or peanut butter mixed with other flavors, is also used.
It is claimed that blending some of the peanut butter used in the filling into the chocolate used in the enrobement improves the flavor of a peanut butter cup, but it is unknown whether mass production-oriented confectioners employ this method for their products.
Brands
Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are a brand of candy filled with peanut butter and a chocolate cover, marketed by The Hershey Company. They were created in 1928 by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey. Reese was inspired by Hershey, so he left the dairy farm to...
(sold as Reese in Canada), now a Hershey
Hershey's
Hershey's may refer to:* Hershey's, a nickname for The Hershey Company* Hershey's Ice Cream produced by Hershey Creamery Company* Hershey's Chocolate World, a theme-park/visitor-center facility...
brand. The Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is considered the "finest creation" of Harry Burnett "H. B." Reese
H. B. Reese
Harry Burnett "H. B." Reese was an American inventor, and founder of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and of the H. B. Reese Candy Co., he was born in York County, Pennsylvania on a farm. Said to have worked odd jobs such as butcher or salesman in his youth, he eventually married around 1900 and went...
, a former employee of Hershey's, who set up his own candy-manufacturing business in the 1920s. The company was sold to Hershey's
Hershey's
Hershey's may refer to:* Hershey's, a nickname for The Hershey Company* Hershey's Ice Cream produced by Hershey Creamery Company* Hershey's Chocolate World, a theme-park/visitor-center facility...
in 1963, following Reese's death. The famous slogans, "Two great tastes that taste great together" and "How do you eat a Reese's?" originated in marketing campaigns for this candy.
In recent years Reese's has experimented with different types of peanut butter cups. Some variations have used white chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate-flavored peanut filling, and banana peanut butter in a chocolate cup sold as the Elvis Special Edition (all by Reese's).
Another brand is Palmer, which specializes in holiday peanut butter cups. There are various forms that the peanut butter cups take for the different seasons. Each holiday has a different color of foil for the season. They can also come in different shapes such as Christmas trees during holiday seasons.
Many regional candy companies also have versions of the peanut butter cup, including Boyer Candies in Altoona, Pennsylvania.