You would think it should be pretty simple to melt some chocolate and add in some peanuts. But I managed to screw it up.
I went to Aldi’s and bought the ingredients.
They had two different brands of chocolate bars, the cheap bar ($1.39 ) and the good bar.( $1.97 ) Guess which one I bought. The cheaper bar had 47% cacao and the good bar had 70%.
Yes, there is a difference. In quality and taste. The cheaper bar tasted more like milk chocolate.
The mistakes I have made are numerous.
Tempering Chocolate
First, there is the matter of “tempering” the chocolate. Yes, that’s a real thing. It’s what makes the chocolate shiny and easy to pick up without melting immediately in your fingers.
My research has led me to realize that I know nothing about what I am doing. Tempering chocolate is a science in itself and not to be taken lightly.
The chocolate should be melted to just the right temperature, depending on the type of chocolate, and then tempered using various techniques. All the while paying close attention to the temperature. I am a peanut cluster failure.
Chocolate to peanut ratio
Second, I used way too many peanuts. Instead of chocolate with peanuts what I made was just a blob of chocolate covered peanuts.
My deep love of salted peanuts seems to have blinded me to the truth. Peanuts can do that you know.
It was my wife, a candy expert with considerable experience in the consumption of all things chocolate, who pointed out the chocolate peanut cluster was just way too overloaded with peanuts.
My attempt was clumsy, and totally amateur. Now that I have made my peanut cluster fail I have much more respect for the real candy makers.
To learn more, check out these sites. I wish I had.