In Russia and the former soviet republics there is a special culture of confectionery nowadays. This post is not about why, i just point out some things which are unusual in Europe.

Firstly, small pieces of chocolate, packed one-by-one, sold usually in a package of 250 gramms, are very popular. And they have different types, and all brands use the same type names, so for example all brands have "Bear in the north" (Мишка на Севере), or "Meteorit" (метеорит). Our, my mother's and basically everybody's favourite is Belochka (белочка), which means squirrel. According to the site of the nowadays most popular producer, Babayevskiy, which owns now the world famous (more than 150 years old, but in soviet times grown huge) Krasni Oktobr factory in Moscow, Belochkas are: "domelike sweets with the body made of chocolate and nut praline with crushed hazelnuts, covered with dark chocolate". Belochka was "invented" in 1944, and other chocolates with long-lasting popularity also date back to this era. Obviously, in Soviet times there were no dozens of producers making "Belochka" and "Mishka na Severe", etc, just one huge factory.

Julia doesn't like it, but i also like Lastochka (Ласточка), which is usually yellow and a post-bird is on it. I don't know what is it made of, but it's different from Belochka, is has more like some fruity taste. 

In our shit shop (all shops are shit here compared to European standards except for Auchan which is far away), Babaevskaya Belochka is almost always sold out (empty shelfs generally are everyday sight here in most shops, just in Auchan never), and yesterday Lastochka was sold out as well. (and 3 other things what we wanted to buy, can u dear reader imagine?? ...) But we bought other belochka which is a bit more expensive and not as good as Babayevskaya. A 250 gramms package in a supermarket usually costs between 1 and 2.5 euros, Lastochka is usually around 1-1.20, and Belochka is always one of the most expensive (Babayevskaya is 2e, this other was 2.5). So these prices are ok, they allow poeple to buy such things every now and then, and sometimes eat one. Also their packaging is usually very nice, so it's a pleasure to open the pieces.

The other thing what i write about is cake. Here it is very common to buy cake without any special event (no birthday, no anything), just because they are delicious and cakes are one of the very few things which are cheaper here than in Europe (transport and energy are other ones, and that's it). One cake is usually 500-720 gramms, and costs 3-6 euros, but there is a wide range of them for 3-3.5-4 euros, and i honestly don't see the relation between price, quality and size, it seems to be quite random to me. There is a brand called Biskitni Dvor who has very good cakes, and some of them are 3 euros, some others are 6-7, and the 3 euro ones are often bigger...

Two more things about confectionery, the first is that there is a product which gained popularity during soviet times due to the limited availability of cakes and sweets. It is called Sgushenka (сгущенка) or Sgushenni moloko, it is made of milk and sugar basically, and it's sold in tins in order to make it harder to open (u still need to keep it in fridge). Sgushenka is quite cheap, and it's cool to put it on bread and eat it, although it contains a lot of sugar which makes it be unhealthy, so don't eat the whole tin up at once. Also, you won't manage to eat the whole tin up, because it's very heavy.

The other interesting fact is that buying different kind of colored sugar products like shown in the picture is also popular here, like in Finland, but useless to say that in Finland it's much cheaper.