Maltesers
"Each second, an average of two individual bags of Maltesers are sold in the UK."
Yet again David has succumbed to a box of maltese's. Well they were on a special. And it's almost Christmas. I suppose the colour of the packet is a bit Christmassy isn't it? He is trying very hard to keep them in the drawer so that he doesn't just eat them all up, but it's hard isn't it?
They are very yummy and that advertising slogan 'the chocolates with the non-fattening centres' was very effective wasn't it? I don't think it's been used for years, well it was probably eventually declared illegal.
And what is in those non-fattening centres? Well malt, milk and most likely sugar. Of course it's a trade secret but here are a couple of people's responses to the question.
"I'm not sure of the exact recipe for the "honeycomb" bit, but I'm reliably informed that it is no coincidence that the Horlicks factory is just up the road from the Mars factory where they make Maltesers. Whatever the ingredients are, once mixed they are made into little pellets. These pellets are then cooked in a vacuum oven which gives them their "honeycomb" texture. Then, they are sent tumbling over lots of chocolate covered rollers to get their coating, chilled and finally bagged and boxed." Anna Iver
"As a student I worked at the Horlicks factory in Slough and (since no-one told me to keep it secret) can reliably inform that the stuff inside Maltesers is ground up to make Horlicks. The recipe included malt extract and milk which were cooked in a partial vacuum, firstly to reduce its water content then, to puff it up. We used to munch big chunks of it fresh out of the oven - delicious." Martin Stevenson
And yes Maltesers are made by Mars Incorporated - who make Mars bars, and Snickers and Milky Way. But did you know that the company is also Wrigleys, Uncle Ben's and all those pet food brands like Pal and Chum and Whiskas. Not that this is going to be an article about Mars Incorporated. Maybe another time.
However, when reading the official history on the company website and also elsewhere I learnt a few things that were a little surprising to me.
The name Mars is from the founder of the company Frank C. Mars, who was born in 1883 in Minnesota. His son Forrest Edward Mars Sr. (shown on the left) fell out with his father and took himself off to England in 1932 where he founded Mars Incorporated and invented Maltesers in 1936.
They were first sold in 1937 as 'energy balls' and aimed at slimming women. Maltesers, since then have been a British thing, even when Forrest Edward Mars Sr. eventually returned to the USA. In fact it is only since 2017 that Maltesers have been sold in the USA. Which I find extraordinary. So I guess it's a bit early to know whether they will be a huge success over there. I found one writer saying that people were amazingly loyal to the brand of chocolate that they buy.
Maltesers as a name by the way is pretty obvious - malt teasers.
I think that 'less fattening centre' slogan was brilliant but cannot find who came up with it. And I guess the other thing aiming at people who want to feel less guilty about the chocolate they eat is that they are small. And so you can kid yourself you are not eating much. Until you find the box is empty.
I had a look for recipes using Maltesers, and there are lots and lots of course - mostly cakes, ice-creams and slices. This one was probably the most tempting and possibly one of the more complicated too.
So if you want to give up all pretence of slimming by turning a 'less fattening' chocolate into something truly decadent - give it a go.
