OK, don't ask me why but I got it into my head that maybe I could make whoppers. Then, maybe I could make them with
good chocolate and that might be super amazing. Keep in mind I was raised by a man that could detect the smell of whoppers the moment he walked in the room. Sniffing with his nose in the air and firmly declaring "WHOPPERS!" So I have a healthy respect for their inherent superiority in the world of candy. But if I didn't try and make something at home just because it was already delicious I....well I guess I would have a lot more time on my hands.
Regardless, after a quick internet search I found many yahoos and charlatans spouting "malted milk ball recipes" that were nothing more than balls of disgusting white chocolate (yes I am a hater) with malt powder mixed in. Criminal. Whoppers are filled with delightful airy crunchy heaven, not sugar grease. However, one brilliant person was talking about what amounts to a malt heavy meringue center dipped in chocolate. Sounds a bit more like it.
So, here is what I am going to try out, I already ordered the
malt powder and eagerly await its arrival.
Warning! I have not tried these yet, this is my plan for my trial batch, I will update you as the project progresses!
First Stab
Adapted from http://creativeepicure.blogspot.com
4 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tarter
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1 Cup Powder Sugar
1/2 Cup Malt Powder
Preheat oven to 225 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Stir together powder sugar and malt powder, but do not worry about lumps or paltry mixing for now, these will be sifted later.
Place room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixer bowl and beat with whisk attachment on low speed. When the egg whites start to get foamy gradually increase to high speed and slowly pour in the granulated sugar. Beat until stiff glossy peaks form.
Sift the sugar/malt mix onto the egg white foam and fold in with a rubber spatula.
Using a pastry bag or plastic zip-top bag with a corner cut off, pipe dime to nickel sized dollops onto parchment lined paper leaving around 2cm between the rows for them to spread, though they shouldn't spread near as much as cookies.
If you want your end result to look remotely like whoppers smooth the tops of the meringues with a damp finger, otherwise you can leave them as they are and end up with whopper kisses.
Bake for 50 - 60 minutes then turn off oven and prop open door with a wooden spoon. Leave in the oven to cool for at least 2 hours.
After completely cool store in a air tight container until you are ready to dip them. For myself I have plans of a dark chocolate ganache, and maybe also a salted peanut butter version.
Comments:
As with any meringue type recipe, a dry day will yield much better results. On a Seattle spring day, your little crunchy centers may just be chewy no matter what you do. You can wait for a better day, or decide that hey, chewy malt balls sound pretty good too.
The recipe I found called for cocoa, not sure why so I replaced it with more malt.
It also contained something called turbidino sugar for crunchiness, which I can only assume was meant to be turbinado. However, I feel that I am going to be fighting sweet overload anyway so I am leaving it out for now. Maybe some other crunchy ingredient will replace it later.
Also, be sure you do not get
diastatic malt powder, that is an ingredient bakers use to get nice brown crusts. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is not the same thing.
