Willy Wonka Series; Nutty Crunch Surprise Chocolate Bar
‘Have you got it?’ whispered Grandpa
Joe, his eyes shining with excitement.Charlie nodded and held out the bar
of chocolate. WONKA’S NUTTY CRUNCH SURPRISE, it said on the wrapper.– Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
In our kitchen, we have a nuts drawer. In-between the stove
and oven, where cooking utensils would be kept (at least in any other family),
sits bags of nuts. Half a metre by half a metre, I’m not talking some piddly
small side drawer.
Cashews, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, peanuts,
macadamia nuts. If there’s a nut, it’s in there.
Which made experimenting to make Wonka’s Nutty Crunch
Surprise Chocolate Bar much easier. Well, kind of. Suddenly I had all these
nuts and combinations to choose from. Eeep!
So I dove in.
To be a nutty crunch ‘surprise’, a nut had to be teamed with
something complimentary and impressive. Something like a spice or a fruit.
My first combo was a pinch of dill with roasted peanuts. The result was a bit ‘meh’. Fresh dill would’ve made it more tangier.
With almonds and cardamom, somehow the almond overtook the usually strong aroma of the spice. Maybe I didn’t put enough cardamom in?
Almonds with cinnamon? So in love with them. But so done.
Almonds with smoked paprika. Um. I may have eaten them.
I quickly concluded that the humble almond worked best with many flavours. It’s a sharing flavour,
not a nut that knocks the seasoning on the head and takes centre stage.
Almonds were roasted with raspberry jam and cinnamon (much
more interesting and delicious) until it bubbled and oozed to the texture of a
sticky fruit rollup. It was delicious. It was messy. Would’ve been smarter to
fill in a chocolate mould with chocolate first, let cool than fill with the jam
as a centre. Instead I mushed it together and found myself prying goop from the
mould when it wouldn’t set.
There were crushed walnuts drizzled in truffle oil with
melted dark chocolate poured over. The end result was a mossy, woodsy
intoxicating aroma and flavour.
My favourite trial was almonds roasted with saffron, with a
few more saffron threads ground up and thrown into the melted white chocolate
for good measure.
However after getting quite carried away with all this
mixing and trialling, I had to bring it back and remember a kid should want to
eat this. This is, afterall, a chocolate bar Charlie chooses.
I finally settled on a sweet n salty flavour. I’ll confess,
I’m addicted to sweet n salty popcorn. Actually, try obsessed with popcorn,
full stop. I’ve had fazes of eating 4 to 5 bags a day. Yes, visits to
the cinemas mean two containers. One for you, one for me.
When I do, on occasion, share my sweet n salty popcorn to
someone who hasn’t tried that flavour before, they’re surprised. About the
flavour. Not my sharing abilities. The sweet comes first followed by a light smack of
saltiness. So really, a perfect nutty ‘surprise’ flavour.
I didn’t jot down as I went, so no recipe per se. However the ratio I used was about 6:1 sugar to salt.
Crush roasted almonds and mix it all together with melted chocolate, before
pouring it into the chocolate mould. Chill in fridge to set.
Disclaimer:
Wonka, Nestlé, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl, etc, their
product names, logos, brands and other trademarks are the property of their
respective trademark holders. They are not affiliated, and do not endorse, or
sponsor this blog, BrytonTaylor.com.
Please note
the packaging offered for download is for private use only and cannot be sold.
