First, came the news that the jam in a Jammie Dodger is not, in fact, raspberry or strawberry.
Now, another blow to my sense of reality: it turns out the middle of Maltesers, which I always thought was its own special category of food, isn’t at all what I reckoned.
The chocolate-coated delights, which were invented in 1936 and first marketed as “energy balls,” do of course contain their titular malt (a partially germinated and then dried grain; barley in this case).
But that’s not incorporated into, say, a type of wafer ― the inside of the treat is more like that of another famous bar.
So what is it?
According to Maltesers’ site, their recipe involves “crisp honeycombs paired with delicious milk chocolate.”
That should make it closer to a Crunchie than, say, a KitKat.
But if you’re thinking (as I did) “wait, those taste so different,” you may be onto something.
Honeycomb is actually very easy to make; its most basic form just involves melting sugars and then adding bicarbonate of soda to the mix to aerate the caramel.
Both Crunchie’s ingredients list and that of Maltesers list sugar as their first ingredient, though Maltesers’ recipe also includes wheat flour and barley malt extract.
I’ve never seen flour used in regular honeycomb, and I can’t see it being added to Maltesers’ chocolate layer.
So it makes sense that in response to a 2016 X post about the confusing centres, Maltesers clarified that their product uses “a honeycomb structure rather than actual honeycomb.”
So... how is it made?
“These honeycomb centres are then double-coated in chocolate and polished into the delicious treat we all love so much.”
So if you thought the middle of the chocolate was a bit like a biscuit, it sounds like you’re not a million miles off ― after all it’s baked, just with loads of bubbles.
Meanwhile, Crunchies are easily replicable at home (Cadbury’s even shared how) and incidentally make really nice Christmas gifts.