Pastry Chef Attempts to Make Gourmet Snickers

[Claire] Yeah it's too, like...

Even as it starts to cool--

It's like taffy.

It's a little too silly putty-ish.

[Claire] Yeah, true okay.

So what are you gonna do?

I'm gonna try again.

I like that about you, Claire.

Obviously [laughs].

Here, I'll leave that with you.

I'm looking forward-- No, I'm gonna call it quits.

No, no, no, no. Just gonna say...

No, that's not the Claire we know.

I know.

That's not the Claire we know and love.

That's not the show.

[upbeat music]

[sighs] Sucks.

Hey everyone, I'm Claire, we are in the BA Test Kitchen,

and today we are making gourmet Snickers bars.

[upbeat music]

I've had Snickers over the years,

mostly in the form of the little mini Halloween candies.

So this is the classic Snickers bar.

It says peanuts, caramel, nougat, milk chocolate.

So what's not to like, basically.

One of the things that's very noticeable about the Snickers

is this ridged pattern on the bottom.

And then it has that kind of distinctive

chocolate kind of swirl on top.

It's 10 centimeters long.

Inside you see three main components.

You have a layer at the bottom of nougat.

Then you have the layer above

which is a mixture of caramel and peanuts.

And then of course the whole thing covered in chocolate.

Besides being very sweet, it's very good.

Really chewy caramel, crunchy peanuts.

Overall, I think it leans really sweet,

and that's something that I kind of want

to dial back in the homemade version,

but all the components together are so good,

so delicious, I'm a big fan.

This is an almond snickers, the little minis.

I really want it to be peanut.

This one's hazelnut.

It's a little bit overpowering.

I like the options with the different nuts and everything,

they don't go too crazy on the flavors,

but overall I'm just a huge fan of the classic,

so that's what we're gonna try to recreate.

Peanuts all the way.

So now I wanna try to isolate the layers.

So that's interesting, the nougat kind of separates

fairly easily from the chocolate on the bottom.

It's a really thin, very even layer of chocolate.

So of all the components in the Snickers,

I think I'm the most intrigued by the texture of the nougat.

There's sort of an airiness to it.

Will you do me a favor?

Will you taste this?

Yeah.

So that's the nougat, does it taste peanutty to you?

I feel like there's peanuts in the nougat.

Yeah.

There's peanuts in the nougat right?

I didn't really realize that.

It's good. It is good.

What can we improve?

I'd make it a touch less sweet.

Just getting that chew factor right

I think is the big thing. Yeah.

Hey, sugar man!

I would like better chocolate.

If you could find that balance between

milk and dark chocolate,

maybe a little bit of bitterness.

Less sweet.

Yeah. It's very sweet.

The corn syrup hits you on the face.

Number one thing is that caramel pull.

Like you pull apart the halves and you just have the droop.

Very dramatic.

On it's own the caramel does not have a lot of complexity.

I think we can really make a much deeper,

more complex tasting caramel.

Really bring out some of those bitter notes in the sugar.

And that will help temper the sweetness a lot.

My plan is just to make a really dark salted caramel,

add some butter, and try to get that texture.

'Cause the texture's key.

So now it's time for my favorite part,

reading the ingredients.

Milk chocolate, parentheses, sugar, cocoa butter,

chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milk fat,

soy lecithin, artificial flavor.

Peanuts, sugar, palm oil, skim milk, lactose,

salt, egg whites, artificial flavor.

It's pretty straightforward.

What I want to do now is go do a little bit of research,

see if I can get some kind of YouTube video

of how they're made.

They're asking for money.

I do give money to Wikipedia actually.

It was named after the favored horse of the Mars family.

How It's Made - Snickers, Discovery Channel Good Eats.

[How It's Made Narrator] Blades slit the slab

into long strips.

According to this guy,

if it doesn't have a squiggle on top it's not a Snickers.

It told me what I basically suspected,

which is you make the nougat,

which does have peanuts in it,

you make the caramel, you make both into a slab,

you stack 'em, you cut 'em, and you cover them in chocolate.

So that's what I'm gonna do.

So for the three main components,

we have the chocolate, the nougat, and the peanut caramel.

Chocolate I'm gonna worry about tomorrow.

But today I want to focus on the fillings.

So we have the nougat, and the challenge with that

is gonna be getting that fluffy texture.

And then with the caramel the challenge will be

getting that texture just right

so that it stretches and pulls.

So I'm gonna start with the nougat.

[upbeat music]

I'm gonna use a basic nougat method

that I researched and I liked on 101 Cookbooks

by Heidi Swanson.

Did I leave peanut butter over here, Gaby?

No.

Where'd it go?

Wait, I'm holding the peanut butter, oops.

We basically pour sugar syrup into beaten egg whites.

And I'm going to whip peanut butter into it.

Oh, [beep] [laughs].

That was supposed to be a third of a cup of water

and two tablespoons corn syrup.

Let's just go with it.

[mixers whirring]

This looks pretty good.

It's peanutty, which adds kind of a nice savory element

to offset all the sugar.

But I do want to whip it a little longer

because I think it needs a little more air.

[mixer whirring]

It's a little dense.

I think I know what the problem was,

I added the peanut butter too early.

It really does need to whip and cool down

before I add anything else.

So I'm still going to spread this into the prepared pan

and just kind of see what the texture's like.

[sighs]

Claire, what you got, ooh, where we at?

Nougat.

It's not there.

Just taste it.

It's still warm.

It's too dense, it's too chewy.

Yeah, you need pillows.

I added the peanut butter too soon.

I have to make it again.

See the nougat? Yeah.

I wonder if-- I'm getting flashbacks.

What else did we do, or you do, that was--

It's not supposed to really break apart [laughs].

But it worked, because this really does aerate the mixture.

Do I have to pull the nougat?

I don't think that's the direction.

Why? But if it works?

Because it's still gonna be taffy.

But it's only taffy because it hasn't set yet.

Keep telling yourself that.

Obviously this is very

It does have that kind of Laffy Taffy texture.

I do know that with, at least, cooked sugar

you can pull it and that will aerate the mixture.

It is, however, extremely stuck to these gloves.

I can't get [laughs] it out.

What do I do?

I need to really oil up those gloves.

This is a classic example of me

not starting over fast enough.

Now I'm gonna keep going 'cause I've already invested time.

It's like when the subway is 10 minutes late,

and you're like 'well, I've already been here 10 minutes

so I'm just gonna wait longer',

and 20 minutes later it still hasn't come.

You think it looks fluffier?

No, Claire.

What do you mean? Fluffier?

What do you mean? [laughs]

No? No [laughs]

Why not?

Because it just looks like you're stretching it.

But it's so much lighter in color than it was before

which means it's had air worked into it.

Did you cut one of these bad boys open yet?

So look, see. A, it's a little lighter

and it's more crumbly.

I know, it's like that fluffiness, fluffy texture.

This has too much of a shar in.

Alright, when do you think I'm done with this?

Yeah.

[laughs]

Yeah. What was the question?

Alright, I think I'm done.

Yeah, you're definitely done.

Okay, so.

I want to just roll it into,

I don't even really care what the shape is,

just something that's an even thickness.

Just gonna set this aside and cover it with some plastic,

and then I do want to check back on it later

once it's had some time to set up.

It's still a little bit dense.

So I'm gonna go ahead and mix up another version of this

and I'll adjust the method so that I don't incorporate

the peanut butter until the very end

when the nougat is room temperature

and has had a chance to whip for longer.

[upbeat music and mixer whirring]

Even though I haven't added the peanut butter

the egg whites have deflated on their own.

I think actually part of the problem is that

the recipe calls for I think more sugar

than the egg whites can handle.

Tomorrow morning first thing

I wanna get another batch of nougat going

and I have to go home and kind of think about

the proportions and come up with

basically a different recipe.

And then I want to pivot and move right into the caramel

because both of those components need to set

at room temperature before I can put them together

and then even move onto the chocolate stage.

[uptempo music]

Alright, so a little time has passed.

It's been four days, I came down a little light flu.

I can say that at least we've given the nougat

some sufficient time to set, so I want to try this out.

Can't really taste anything,

so it's sort of a pointless exercise.

Actually I do kind of taste the peanut flavor.

Peanut butter?

Yeah. It doesn't have that fluffy texture that it needs.

I'm gonna use the recipe from this book.

[coughing]

Sorry.

So this is that French style nougat with honey.

This is a different proportion

and a slightly different method.

Sugar, water, corn syrup, honey, egg whites and vanilla.

And then we're gonna add the peanut butter.

[mixer whirring]

It's not really working 'cause it's setting too fast.

I might have to re-warm it.

So this'll hopefully cream that mixture together.

I overcooked the sugar.

Now it's setting too hard.

Let me just pat it down into a prepared baking sheet.

It might be okay.

And it does feel actually nice and light and airy.

So it might be okay.

I truly can't taste anything so it's kind of pointless.

I think it's gonna work.

I hope.

I'm just saying that 'cause I need it to.

Physically I don't feel good, at all.

But I also can't be home anymore.

I can't be home in bed.

Too boring.

Now I'm gonna move onto the caramel while the nougat sets.

I'm making a soft, chewy caramel,

so it's not just sugar and cream and butter,

we're using some corn syrup and also evaporated milk.

This looks pretty good.

It all depends on what the texture is when it sets.

Same thing with the nougat,

so it's a waiting game for these two.

The next thing will be fitting them

into these molds that I have,

that even has that sort of slightly irregular exterior

that the Snickers has.

The next big challenge after nougat and caramel

is tempering the chocolate.

[uptempo music]

This is the caramel that I didn't pour

into the pan with the peanuts.

But it does sort of have that nice stretch and pull

which I think is gonna be really important.

The nougat has firmed up to the point

where I think it's too firm.

I just want to make one more batch,

and I'm gonna cook that sugar mixture a little bit less.

[uptempo music]

[mixer whirring]

Sort of looks like a crumbly mess.

It does feel really nice and fluffy.

[uptempo music]

Obviously it's a really thick layer of caramel

that I'll have to shave down so that it can fit in the mold.

The nougat layer looks pretty close.

I'm actually very happy with the texture of the nougat.

It has some airiness to it.

I'm going to rest half of this mixture back on top.

This whole episode is boring.

This whole episode is not dramatic.

Try the nougat.

Yes.

I might pass out before I get to the chocolate part.

Sure.

Okay, thanks.

Really, is that a viable plan?

Pop it back into the fridge for a few minutes

and then I'll take it back out

and we can start those slices to fit into the molds.

[uptempo music]

Okay, this feels good.

Nice and firm.

[blade slicing]

So here is that center piece,

overall I think the proportions look good.

I think the nougat is just the right texture,

so I'm glad we did it again.

In some ways I wish the caramel itself

were a little bit darker,

had a little bit deeper flavor.

I'm gonna put them back into the fridge,

while I temper the chocolate.

Gonna do a little refresher

on chocolate tempering temperatures.

My plan is to use 50/50 dark chocolate and milk chocolate.

I'm gonna use something called the seed method.

I know that this is hearkening back to the Kit Kat episode.

[uptempo music]

There's still so much seed chocolate in it.

[groans]

This is suppose to set within two minutes.

Are they tempered?

I think so.

So a bar of each set aside for seeding.

Then I'm gonna chop the rest and start melting it.

[uptempo music]

Alright, so we're right at the temp.

Add all the seed chocolate.

It is the evening, it's night, no one's here.

Cat and Gaby are here, thank God.

86, so I'm gonna take it back off.

First I'm gonna do a little bit of a test

on this piece of parchment.

To set and dry.

So a best case scenario,

is this chocolate hardens perfectly,

it has a nice snap.

Worst case, none of that happens,

the chocolate is out of temper.

But I'm just gonna go with it no matter what.

So doesn't really matter.

If the chocolate isn't in temper

then it's not gonna pop out of the mold,

so that's a big concern of mine.

[coughs]

It is like watching paint dry.

What are we making again?

[Man] Coffee.

Has it been three to five minutes?

Really? No, I don't like that.

I don't care, I'm making them.

[laughing]

I'm moving forward.

Alright, not too bad.

This is not tempered chocolate,

I have to say, unfortunately.

No.

It's very hot in the kitchen right now

so that could have a lot to do with it.

But I wanna put these in the fridge

just to see if we can get them to pop out of the molds.

And then we might have to just try again on another day.

[uptempo music]

[mold tapping]

[mold tapping]

It's not coming out of the mold

so that confirms what I thought

which is that it's not tempered.

Hopefully more luck to me next week.

When I'm not feeling ill.

[uptempo music]

I will pretend like Friday never existed

because I was in the throws of my illness

and don't really remember what went on here in the kitchen.

You know what, I should start over

and just be like 'that never happened, it's day two'.

Just eliminate all that film.

I have more energy today.

I'm basically gonna start over.

I want that caramel not only to have a more robust

bittersweet caramel flavor, but I want it to be saltier.

Starting over.

Because Friday was like a fever dream.

No, I think I just told myself it was good.

There were a lot of problems.

Wait, did you try it?

I don't even remember.

[laughs]

[uptempo music]

The teaspoon of flaky salt.

Flavor-wise, it's excellent.

Pivot to the nougat.

Oh my God, if I'd waited two seconds later, ahh.

[mixer whirring]

That's looking really good.

The nougat's set nicely.

It's pretty firm.

I love the flavor.

Very peanutty, and the texture is chewy and firm

but also really satisfying,

so I'm just gonna go ahead with it.

I want to just warm the top of the caramel,

and then press the nougat into it.

Smells like campfire now.

This goes into the fridge.

[uptempo music]

Pop this out, it feels nice and firm.

[uptempo music]

Have to say, I think they look pretty good.

I think the proportion is really nice.

I'm gonna chill these,

and then I'm gonna move to tempering the chocolate.

Must be cooled to 82.

[uptempo music]

One thing I'm gonna do differently this time

is just stir to incorporate the seed chocolate

and then let it sit for two minutes.

Right, that was two minutes.

87, oh my God, okay.

I feel like it's set.

Yes.

Okay.

It's set. I'm just gonna go for it.

[uptempo music]

[sighs] Okay.

My heart was racing on that, okay.

Oh, [beep], I didn't grease the molds.

It's not good.

I forgot to grease the molds.

Oh [beep], I really hope they come out.

Oh God, it was going too well.

Just gonna keep our fingers crossed,

and get them in the fridge.

[uptempo music]

I did Google 'do you have to grease chocolate molds?'

and most of the answers said no,

so I feel really heartened by that.

Try tapping them out and see.

[mold tapping]

[gasps] Oh my God.

[mold tapping]

[gasps] Yes! [triumphant music]

It's the best thing that's ever happened to me.

They look perfect.

I love the pattern that they kind of made too

on the surface.

The overall proportions I would say,

obviously there's a thicker layer of chocolate.

Really good. It's very chewy.

I'm really happy with the textures of the filling,

it's much, much less sweet than the original.

That was part of the goal, so I'm really happy about that.

Oh my god!

I like the wavy...

The pattern?

You are amazing.

Chocolate molds, no, it was the molds.

No, I know, but you are amazing anyway.

Oh, thanks.

Well, took me three days to make a snickers, so...

Alright, let's do.

Yeah, this is definitely not too sweet.

I love it.

Uh-huh, great.

Yeah, I think the best thing is it looks right,

so that's all that matters.

If you don't cut into it.

What are you about to drink?

Is that a protein shake?

Okay, I won't make fun of you.

These are delicious.

I will say that-- They're so chewy, right?

They're really chewy.

I would say overall there is a lot more chocolate.

A little more chocolate.

I think the chocolate is a little overpowering.

Yeah.

[murmers]

Oh, Mary, Joseph!

Lot of crunchy textures, snappy chocolate.

Yeah.

The caramel doesn't have that weird thing

where it thins out. It pulls.

It almost gets to a meatfloss

Thready? Yeah, yeah.

Thready.

I think that if I left the peanuts in larger pieces

where there'd be more caramel in between it would do that.

Gary, do you want to try a piece of homemade Snickers?

Enjoy.

Thank you. You like it?

Thank you. It was a lot of work.

Never doing this again.

Overall there's sort of endless sweets that you can make,

and yeah, I would change a couple things,

but I'm satisfied with where this ended up.

That's a win.

[uptempo music]

Here's how you make a gourmet Snickers.

For the caramel, combine one and a half cups sugar,

a quarter cup corn syrup, and a quarter cup water

in a saucepan and stir over medium heat to dissolve.

Bring to a boil and cook and wash down sides

with a wet pastry brush until mixture turns a deep amber.

Slowly stream in one cup plus two tablespoons heavy cream

followed by five tablespoons butter and half a vanilla bean.

Cook until mixture reaches 250,

then pour caramel into a bowl and fold in crushed peanuts.

Pour peanut caramel across bottom of a loaf pan

in a thin even layer.

Set aside to set.

For the nougat, bring 98 grams honey to a boil

in a small saucepan.

Cook to 250 fahrenheit.

In another saucepan, combine 121 grams sugar,

49 grams water and 19 grams light corn syrup,

and stir over medium heat to dissolve.

Bring to a boil until mixture reaches 280 fahrenheit.

Meanwhile, whip 19.6 grams egg whites in a stand mixer.

Add a pinch of salt and slowly sprinkle in five grams sugar

and whip to firm peaks.

When honey hits 150, slowly stream into egg whites.

Slowly stream in sugar syrup when it comes to temperature.

When nougat mixture is around 140 fahrenheit

beat in one cup peanut butter

that's been warming in a double boiler.

Scrape nougat onto a baking sheet and let cool.

Work a rectangle of nougat into a thin sheet

of about three millimeters thick.

Cut with a knife to fit the dimensions of the loaf pan.

Warm top of caramel with a torch

and press nougat onto top of caramel and chill to set.

Invert loaf pan and cut filling

into seven and a half by one and a half centimeter bars.

Chill.

Temper a mix of dark and milk chocolate

using the seed method.

Pipe chocolate into candy bar molds,

then press bars of filling,

cover tops of bars with more chocolate,

chill until set, then invert molds

and tap sharply on the counter to un-mold.

[Man] Circus?

[Claire] Yeah, the circus.

The Big Apple Circus.

Which is currently in town.

I don't know about circuses.

There's no animals.

Oh, it's like Circus Olé or what's it called.

[laughs] Cirque du Soleil?

Oh no, that's not what it's called at all.

[laughing]

But you know the ones where they do really cool stuff?

Backflips? Cirque du Soleil.

Circus Olé!

[laughing]

Is that what it is?

Desolé?

Cirque du Soleil.

Soleil means sun in French.

That's what I said, right?

You said [laughing].

Circus Olé.

Soleil! Circus of the sun?