I rang up the makers a few years ago (being very bored at work). Apparently, it’s a trade secret. Does that help?
Richard Cutler, Kingston Upon Thames
Maltesers are made in two stages. The inner crunchy part is made by making small pellets of a dough like mixture. This is placed in a low pressure container which forces the bubbles in the mixture to expand, making the pellets larger. The pellets are then coated with chocolate and polished. The details are vague because the company wouldn’t give me exact details!
Simon Mackie, Birmingham
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, England
The same way Brits or Yanks are made. A male and female get together and – presto! – nine months later a little Malteser appears.
Norman Ross, Dublin, Ireland
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, Acton, MA, USA
Making Maltesers is easy. How do they make “Aero”?
Jim Butcher, London
I saw them made at the factory once. First the honeycomb dough is made and rolled out in a long sheet. This passes between two rollers which have little hemispheres carved out of them to make the bubbles and compress the dough around them. When the dough is baked the little balls pop up and the compressed bits between them are broken off. The little balls are then coated in chocolate and when that’s dry they are rolled along a section of track which is at an angle, probably about 30-40 degrees. Only the maltesers which manage to make it to the end of the track while still rolling on the highest part are packaged, the others are crushed up and used to make more maltesers. This is to weed out the lumpy maltesers; apparently they don’t roll properly and end up at the bottom of the track. But I saw some siamese maltesers get through successfully. I hope I’m not going to go to hell for exposing trade secrets…
Nicky, Melbourne Australia
They’re round, strong and full of chocolate…
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