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The Twin Bing is a candy bar made by the Palmer Candy Company of
Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...
. It consists of two round, chewy, cherry-flavored
nougat Nougat ( , ; ; az, nuqa; fa, نوقا) is a family of confections made with sugar or honey, roasted nuts (almonds, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts, and macadamia nuts are common), whipped egg whites, and sometimes chopped candied fruit. ...
s coated with a mixture of chopped peanuts and chocolate. The company also produces individual Bings, as well as the King Bing, a package of three. The Twin Bing was introduced in the 1960s, possibly in 1969, according to Marty Palmer, the 5th-generation president of the Palmer Candy Company, and has been called "one of Sioux City's quintessential treats".


History

The original Bing was introduced in 1923. The Bing originally came in four flavors: cherry, pineapple, vanilla, and maple. It is still made by hand today. Sometime in the 1920s to 1930s, the candy bar was released in a "Crow Bar" package that included trading cards featuring film stars. Marty Palmer himself was only vaguely aware that trading cards had been packaged with one of Palmer's candy bars until someone sent him copies of the cards. Comprising more than 100 cards, the series included actors such as
Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...
and Charlie Chaplin. Bings were sold singly until the 1960s, when a second bar was added, likely in 1969, according to Marty Palmer. As the cost of ingredients rose, candy companies initially reduced the sizes of their candy bars, then later increased the price, formerly a nickel, to a dime. With the higher price, the Palmer Company decided to increase the size of Bing candy bars. However, a larger single Bing would have been problematic in
vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The ...
s, because of the candy bar's unusual shape. Palmer said of the name change and additional Bing, "Some clever person here, I don't know who, came up with the idea you could put two together and make it a twin", and that the name change was "natural". The altered name also had an effect of increasing interest. According to Marty Palmer, parents of newborn twins give out Twin Bings, and fans of the Minnesota Twins are known to request them often. Grocery store chain
Hy-Vee Hy-Vee, Inc. () is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets in the Midwestern and Southern United States, with more than 280 locations in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and soon Indiana, Kentucky, ...
built a display of over 15,000 Bing bars of all types in 2001 as a response to Palmer Candy Company's
March Madness The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...
promotion. The current owner showed his creation in the 2004
National Confectioners Association The National Confectioners Association is an American trade organization that promotes chocolate, candy, gum and mints, and the companies that make these treats. NCA lobbies the American government in favor of the confectionery industry, evaluate ...
's All Candy Expo. In 2014, a Twin Bing ice cream was created when the NAIA basketball tournament came to Sioux City, at the Tyson Events Center.


Description

The inside of a Twin Bing is a mixture of nougat and fondant, which combines into a
cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
. Author
Steve Almond Steve Almond (born October 27, 1966) is an American short-story writer, essayist and author of ten books, three of which are self-published. Life Almond was raised in Palo Alto, California, graduated from Henry M. Gunn High School and receive ...
described the candy as "two brown lumps, about the size of golf balls, roughly textured, and stuck to one another like Siamese twins". Almond also stated that his favorite candy bar is the Twin Bing. William Grimes, the author of ''Eating Your Words'', wrote that the Twin Bing "narrowly beats out the Idaho Spud as the strangest candy bar still in production". The Twin Bing was listed among ten candy bars in an article from
Chowhound Chowhound (or chowhound.com) was a food website owned by Red Ventures. It ceased operations on March 28, 2022. History Chowhound was a popular online food community founded by jazz trombonist and food writer Jim Leff and Bob Okumura in 1997, k ...
titled "Candy Bars Worth Crossing State Lines For". The article describes the Twin Bing as "Two brown-gold balls of sweet cherry cream covered with crushed peanuts and chocolate". The ''
Sioux City Journal The ''Sioux City Journal'' is the daily newspaper and website of Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1864, the publication now covers northwestern Iowa and portions of Nebraska and South Dakota. The Journal has won numerous state, regional and nation ...
'', which refers to the candy as "one of Sioux City's quintessential treats", noted in 2016 that a bar in a local hotel makes a signature drink with the Twin Bing: the "Twin Bing Martini" contains Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, cherry-flavored
Dr. McGillicuddy's Dr. McGillicuddy's is a line of liqueurs produced in Canada and the United States by the Sazerac Company (acquired from Seagram in 1989). It comes in various flavors including Apple Pie, Butterscotch, Cherry, Coffee, Lemon, Mentholmint, Peach, ...
,
Frangelico Frangelico () is a brand of (flavored with hazelnuts) and herb-flavored liqueur coloured with caramel coloring, which is produced in Canale, Italy. It is 20% alcohol by volume (ABV) or 40 proof. Formerly, it was 24% ABV or 48 proof. When pro ...
, and splashes of
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
and grenadine.


Ingredients

Sugar,
Peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small and ...
s, Corn Syrup,
Hydrogenated Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. The process is commonly employed to reduce or saturate organic ...
Palm Kernel Oil Palm kernel oil is an edible plant oil derived from the kernel of the oil palm tree ''Elaeis guineensis''. It is related to other two edible oils: ''palm oil'', extracted from the fruit pulp of the oil palm, and ''coconut oil'', extracted from ...
, Cocoa Powder,
Whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of har ...
, Invert Sugar,
Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...
,
Egg Whites Egg white is the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms aro ...
,
Soy Lecithin Lecithin (, from the Greek ''lekithos'' "yolk") is a generic term to designate any group of yellow-brownish fatty substances occurring in animal and plant tissues which are amphiphilic – they attract both water and fatty substances (and so a ...
, Artificial Flavors, FD&C Red 3, FD&C Red 40,
Citric Acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in ...
,
Invertase Invertase is an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis (breakdown) of sucrose (table sugar) into fructose and glucose. Alternative names for invertase include , saccharase, glucosucrase, beta-h-fructosidase, beta-fructosidase, invertin, sucrase, m ...
,
Cream of Tartar Potassium bitartrate, also known as potassium hydrogen tartrate, with formula K C4 H5 O6, is a byproduct of winemaking. In cooking, it is known as cream of tartar. It is processed from the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic ac ...
.


See also

*
Cherry Mash Cherry Mash is an American candy bar consisting of a soft, cherry-flavored center containing maraschino cherries, covered in a mixture of chopped roasted peanuts and chocolate. The Cherry Mash was formulated in 1918 by Ernest Chase, son of Dr. Ge ...
, a similar candy with cherries ground and mixed in the nougat * Big Cherry, a similar candy with a cherry inside the nougat *
Twix Twix is a caramel shortbread chocolate bar made by Mars, Inc., consisting of a biscuit applied with other confectionery toppings and coatings (most frequently caramel and milk chocolate).The biscuit is typically topped with caramel and then ...
, another brand of twinned confectionery


References

{{Reflist, 30em Chocolate bars American confectionery Products introduced in 1923