Where are the crunchy hard centre chocolates?

[Binky Profile]

I used to love the hard centres in chocolate boxes such as Spartan. Lots of lovely crunchy nut clusters, chocolate nougats, chewy fudges, chocolate brazils, and creamy caramels.

All I can find these days are slimy creams, truffles, sugary pralines and other soft-centre horrors.

Where can I find a simple chewy selection of boxed chocs?

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I wouldn't describe either fudge or caramel as hard centres myself but I suspect your best bet is to go to a chocolate shop such as Hoteldu Chocolat, or the counter in a department store, or an independent choclatier where you can pick your own selection
Probably not the budget option though, Terry's would have been a good optionbut seem to have died

[Alexandria Profile]

Perhaps, an option would be to: Check out Zürich´s Swiss Sprüngli catalog ..

[Alexandria Profile]

Perhaps, an option would be to: Check out Zürich´s Swiss Sprüngli catalog ..

[Sakkarin Profile]

Oh dear, we're on dangerous ground here, as I might just have to try all the chocolate selections that are currently available to check which crunchy sweeties are still out there

I've had a couple in the last few weeks, but neglected to take notes...

I do know some have been remodelled and have ended up somehow less appealingly presented. Getting an anonymous round choc out of it's own little tear-proof bag is not the same as untwisting cellophane and silver paper to reveal a proper chocolate-shaped choc, recognisable by its shape alone.

[Linnet Profile]

Go do it Sakks - you know you want to!!

And think of it as a kindness to all those of us who are trying to lose weight before Christmas, so can't undertake it ourselves!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I got confused

I meant Thornton's (not Terry's) shops would be your best option and they are still going strong, you can make up a box to your own taste in those (though the bigger the store the better, some of the smaller ones don't have the full range, just pre-packed in my experience, e.g. Uxbridge)

Here's the store locator

https://www.thorntons.co.uk/store-locator/

[jeral Profile]

My favourites used to be hazel nut whirls, with a close second being Brazil nut chocs. I imagine they are fewer now due to the cost of nuts vs sugary gloop. Coconut ice (like Bounty bars) I still like.

Is there any reason why one can't make chocs at home by melting (or tempering) a chocolate bar of choice and using silicon ice cube trays as moulds?

I tend to be someone who only eats one piece. If a sudden urge to nibble persists, crispy minty Quality Street Matchmakers fit the bill

[Sakkarin Profile]

Absolutely no reason whatsoever you can't make your own! I've made truffles in the past, and various sweets (I have a recipe book which is just sweets of every description), in fact as a kid I always used to make my dad fudge for his birthday, it would be an easy step to chocolate cover it.

I don't know how you can have the willpower to stick to one piece.

I was tempted to start a choccy test, as they had Black Magic half price from £4 to £2.

Unfortunately the had Reeses Peanut Cup selection boxes down from £2.50 to £1.25, so Reeses won...

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I've got the simplest recipe for peanut cupcake/ reese. I'll dig it out.

I'm thinking people perhaps value their teeth more these days.
Whenever I offer a hard sweet to anyone in the school, there are few takers, as they've often had expensive treatment.

Would a Dime bar scratch that hard sweet with chocolate itch?

[Sakkarin Profile]

Dime bars are an aberration.

Interesting point that, about kids having expensive treatment, and probably has a bearing on attitudes in some areas.

I suspect in many areas the opposite is true: poor care for those that can't afford it, as witnessed on the Jeremy Kyle show every day. That is, unless they specifically weed out any "contestants" with a full set of teeth, perish the thought. I remember there was a furore a few years back when it was revealed they had deliberately made a contestant wear "chavvy" clothes.

On that point about people valuing their teeth more nowadays, my teeth are on borrowed time anyway

Not so fond of Reeses right at this moment after overdosing on it last night. Or maybe I'm becoming a "just one-er".

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I suspect the answer is largely economic
"Creams" are fondant, 60% or so sugar, cheap
Hard centres tend to involve more expensive ingredients such as nuts and fruit
If they are making up a box of chocs to sell for less than a fiver....

[strictlysalsaclare Profile]

I have made chocolate brazils, a slightly crunchier version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (sorry Sakkarin!) and nut clusters in two ways. They are fun to make. Methods for each below:

Peanut butter cups

When I made these I used a crunchy chocolate biscuit dough for the base, and rolled Malteaser sized blobs into balls which I then plonked into mini muffin trays lined with cases. I them made a deepish dimple with the handle of a clean wooden spoon into the dough and baked for about 10-15 mins at Gas mark 4-5. Once the bases were cooled I filled the hollow with about 1/2 a teaspoon of smooth peanut butter (crunchy would also work). I then melted some chocolate and carefully spooned enough in to cover them completely and allowed it to set for a few hours in a cool place. It's up to you which chocolate you use.

Cluster recipe No. 1

Blitz a selection of shelled Christmas nuts (blanching the almonds if necessary) in a food processor until you get some small rubbly texture with a bit of dust. Melt whichever chocolate you prefer, tempering it if you wish to, then stir the nuts into it until they are completely coated. Dollop teaspoons of the mixture into a mini muffin tray lined with cases and top with either a halved glace cherry or a blanched hazel or macadamia nut. The cherries look best balanced on the top, but you may wish to push the nuts down lower into the cluster mixture so they are partly surrounded by it (sorry if this sounds a bit x-rated but there is no other way to describe it!!). Leave for a few hours to set


Cluster recipe No. 2

If you have a copy of Nigella Lawson's book 'Kitchen' it's the Sweet and Salty Crunch Bar recipe, spooned into mini muffin cases as the previous 2 recipes. If not then melt some plain or milk chocolate, stir in some regular salted peanuts and a couple of crushed Crunchie bars - or you could make your own honeycomb like I did! This wasn't deliberate, I just wanted to check if the somewhat stale bicarb i had was still OK enough to use!

Chocolate brazils - in case you have trouble getting hold of the commercially available ones!

Blanch the brazil nuts if necessary, then melt a generous amount of dark or milk chocolate. Temper this if you prefer for appearance reasons, especially if you make making them as a present for a loved one. Just dip the brazil nuts into the chocolate so they have a generous coating of chocolate, and leave them to set on a tray lined with some baking paper. There is no reason why you could do something similar with another variety of Christmas nut, or even some honey roasted nuts and do little clusters with them.