Making My Own Crunchies

[Jeanied]

Ollie - don't tell me you still haven't tried one! I asked you back in post 66!! Your adoring public need to know. If you are going to be a pioneer in the kitchen you need to tell us, you know!!

[OllieMartin]

Mmmmmmmmmm, I hope you're my Secret Santa

I didn't enter the secret santa I'm afraid
Too many family members to buy for, I tend to opt out of these things.

Which recipe did you use in the end?

I went with my original recipe in the end:
100g sugar
3 tbsp syrup
mixed
tipped into mould and heated in the oven until molten.
a knife point's worth of bicarb' dropped in and stirred quickly.

Ollie - don't tell me you still haven't tried one! I asked you back in post 66!! Your adoring public need to know. If you are going to be a pioneer in the kitchen you need to tell us, you know!!

The truth:

I honestly haven't tried one yet! I've listed my reasons below in typical Pumpkin Becki format:
1) They took several hours in the oven to successfully melt the sugar & syrup without it burning. So I've only made 9 and don't want to use any up.
2) It took 3 attempts to get these right, so they're even more special
3) I'm not really allowed chocolate at the moment as I'm on a special diet (Perhaps I'm just sweet enough!)

[Jeanied]

Thanks for letting your adoring public know, - but we can't believe you haven't tried them - who have you appointed to quality control? This is an important issue y'know!! The finished product photos look so great - this is no time to be coy - we are all poised to emulate your success. Or have you been nobbled by Cadburys /Mars???

[OllieMartin]

Thanks for letting your adoring public know, - but we can't believe you haven't tried them - who have you appointed to quality control? This is an important issue y'know!! The finished product photos look so great - this is no time to be coy - we are all poised to emulate your success. Or have you been nobbled by Cadburys /Mars???

Well I've bought a load more chocolate and am making various other bars tomorrow so will try and make some more. If they're as successful and aren't too fiddly I may try one, or perhaps even appoint a chief taster. Who knows, it might even be someone from the forum

[Rhona]

I've cracked. I'm going to try the crunchie's.

I've got a nice-sounding recipe for salted caramel lollies that I might have a bash at. They're transparent, with the little salt flakes twinkling away, so ideal for Christmas.

[Jillyreeves]

I've got a nice-sounding recipe for salted caramel lollies that I might have a bash at. They're transparent, with the little salt flakes twinkling away, so ideal for Christmas.

They sound interesting, please would you post the recipe

[Rhona]

It was in this month's Olive magazine - here's the link:

Salted caramel lollies recipe - Recipes - BBC Good Food

I need a recipe for posh salted caramels, preferably chocolate covered ones. The little chocolate boutique near me used to sell dreamy ones but have stopped doing them! Shocking.

[Jillyreeves]

Thank you Rhona I look forward to trying them :-)

[OllieMartin]

And then I decided to make caramel & biscuit bars:


Melted butter, digestive biscuit crumbs, sugar & cinnamon mixed in a pan


Spooned into moulds


Baked at 190oC for 7 minutes


Sugar melted in pan, then butter and cream added to produce caramel

[OllieMartin]

Spooned into moulds and biscuit bases placed ontop


Chilled in freezer to produce bars' centres


Chocolate poured into moulds and biscuit & caramel bases pushed in. Then topped up with chocolate


Chilled in freezer to produce bars

Yay!

[Jeanied]

Stunned silence on the vine. Ollie - are you real?
These look so professional Ollie - well done!

[Jillyreeves]

Brilliant :-)

[OllieMartin]

It's just so much fun playing around with food and making things!
I was amazed how well the caramel came out, I didn't actually measure anything, I just threw in 'some' sugar and 'some' cream and it came out just the right consistency: not too solid, not too runny, but just hard enough not to melt when pressed into the molten chocolate.

Next is chocolate bars with a wafer inside. I've found a pack of wafers that are the perfect size.

Hehehe *skips off to the kitchen*

[Bren In Pots]

they do look good Ollie, what's your plans for those alphabet cutters I spotted on the chopping block ?

[OllieMartin]

they do look good Ollie, what's your plans for those alphabet cutters I spotted on the chopping block ?

Ah, well spotted.
I began to realise that, with so many different bars, it was becoming difficult to tell them apart.
So I selected a series of cutter letters, which I place on top of the bars and gently hammer into them to leave marks:
C = Crunchie
B = Biscuit base with caramel centre
F = Fruit & Nut
H = Hot (chilli chocolate)
X = Extra Hot (super chilli chocolate)
M = Marshmallow centred

The white chocolate with cranberries doesn't really need one as it's obviously different.