Homemade Snickers

A homemade snickers bar is what happens when you use your kitchen powers in the service of gluttony, or that elusive need that can only be sated by chocolate. This is a victory of shopping rather than any kind of arduous cooking, the nougat being the only fiddly component. But when it is so light, billowing and thick that children could go missing in its pillowy masses I think you’ll agree with me that it is well worth the effort. Besides making a Snickers from scratch somehow appeases the guilt of purchasing a chocolate bar; it’s far less knaff and much more grown up. And at the end, there is a great big slab of the stuff and you can slice away at your hearts content. See, guilt free. You don’t get that toddling off to the shops to buy 5 snickers bars all at once do you? Hang on, are you even allowed to do that anymore?

But how does it taste you ask? It tastes insane. Quite apart from anything else, it’s a gustatory celebration of chocolate, nuts, caramel and nougat. Need I say more.

Ingredients

Base layer

1 cup dark chocolate chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

Nougat layer

200g (1 cup) caster sugar

125ml (1/2 cup) glucose syrup

75ml (1/4 cup) honey

1 egg white

125g nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews)

Caramel layer

1 x 395g tin condensed milk

Top layer

1 cup dark chocolate chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

2 tbsp cream

Method

Thoroughly grease you baking pan, I used a 20cm square baking pan, and line with plastic wrap. Melt the base ingredients together in a saucepan over very low heat then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

For the nougat layer, put the sugar, glucose syrup and honey in a saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil then without stirring, brushing down the sides of the saucepan with a wet brush to remove any sugar crystals that may form. Cook until the mixture reaches 142C on a sugar thermometer or test the syrup by dropping a small teaspoonful into a bowl of iced water – you should be able to remove the ball and stretch it into pliable strands. As the temperature of the sugar mixture reaches 110C, beat the eggwhite in a large clean bowl until firm peak. While beating, very slowly pour the syrup in a thin stream into the eggwhite. Continue to beat until the mixture is thick and holds its shape. Once this happens, stop beating and stir the nuts into the nougat mixture. Pour the nougat over the chocolate base and spread to flatten with the back of a spatula. Set aside in a cool place (doesn’t have to be the fridge) to set.

For the caramel layer place the condensed milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly so the mixture does not catch, for 5 - 10 minutes until golden in colour and the consistency has thickened. Pour over the top of the nougat layer.

To finish combine the top layer ingredients in a saucepan and place over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Pour over the caramel layer and let cool completely. You will need to refrigerate the snickers bar for at least one hour before serving, then cut using a hot wet knife. The slice can stay at room temperature but it does tend to get a little goey.