Hot chocolate bar?

September 9, 2007 5:14 PM

Candy question. Has anyone run across candy that's similar to hot chocolate powder pressed into the form of a bar? I tasted something like this in Germany in the mid-1970s and it was great. For the candy experts, how might I cook such a thing?

When I was a kid in Germany in the mid-1970s, I went on a Volksmarch (public group walk). The refreshment stands had some candy bars, and I distinctly remember a chocolate energy bar that was shaped vaguely like a Kit-Kat. It tasted a lot like hot chocolate powder (e.g. Swiss Miss) pressed into the form of a bar, with the same powdery, granular taste.

It MAY have been called Dextro-Energie but I am not sure, and any variation in the 2000s may not be similar to what existed back then.

The thing is I've never tasted any kind of candy since then that has a hot chocolate powder taste, and I liked it a lot. If nobody here has ever tasted such a thing nor knows how to get it, how might I whip up such a candy bar in the kitchen -- i.e. what do I bind the powder with; what temperature should it be cooked at; how do I prevent it from turning into chocolatey goop?

posted by stam_broker to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

We have such a thing in Australia. The drink form is called Milo and it's a chocolate powder that you can drink warm or cold. Ten years or so ago they released it in the form of a chocolate bar, which is basically just compressed drink powder covered in chocolate coating. I'm not a huge fan but lots of people are. You might be able to order some online, otherwise I'm sure myself or one of the other Aussie MeFites could post you one.
posted by web-goddess at 5:19 PM on September 9, 2007 [1 favorite]

The other possibility (maybe a long shot) is that it was bad chocolate. If chocolate is exposed to changes in temperature during manufacture it can sort of leach out the cocoa butter (or something like that), ending up with a candy bar that can be brittle or powdery. I've eaten bars like this in the past that clearly weren't meant to have this texture but got it accidentally.

If you were interested in making a bar like this you might try getting your hand on a normal bar of chocolate and then doing research into blooming it.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:44 PM on September 9, 2007

web-goddess, sadly the Milo Bar is no longer what it once was: for some reason, Nestlé decided it needed "updating", and now it's a much more generic caramel/rice crisp/chocolate thing. There is even a petition to bring back the original Milo Bar!
posted by sundress at 8:06 PM on September 9, 2007

We have something that is similar in Guatemala. Best resource I found in English here. It's hard but brittle, very sweet with only a trace of bitter.

You're supposed to cook it with boiling water in order to make hot chocolate (which is the standard way to make hot chocolate down here, none of that powdered stuff thankyouverymuch), but I prefer to just munch it down.

Pretty inexpensive too. For about US$2.50 you can buy a pack that makes about a liter of the hot drink.
posted by papafrita at 8:12 PM on September 9, 2007

Look for Abuelita. It's made by Nestle and sounds a lot like what you're describing. It's also not expensive, and reasonably easy to find if there's a large Hispanic population nearby.
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:14 PM on September 9, 2007

Abuelita? Meh. Not to put down for the sake of downputting, but pretty bland if you ask me. Just like the Milo bar situation mentioned above, Nestlé, while high-quality, tends to the generic side.

However, if need be, it can work. But similar to those Bimbo flour tortillas (ugh!), it can never replace the real thing.
posted by papafrita at 8:44 PM on September 9, 2007

Chocolate La Popular is way better than Abuelita. I don't know how easy it may be to find it outside Mexico, though.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 9:13 PM on September 9, 2007

I was going to say that I've purchased hot chocolate bars in Guatemala, but papafrita beat me to it!

I did find a photo of one such bar. I don't know any brand names...the last bar I bought is long gone.

Here are a few more links that might help:

+ Hot chocolate in Xela (Quetzaltenango), Guatemala

+ Hot chocolate, Philippines style

+ Recipe for hot chocolate made from baker's chocolate

+ Chowhound discussion: "The Great Hot Chocolate Search"

+ Article about hot chocolate in LA, by restaurant critic Jonathan Gold
posted by splendid animal at 9:59 PM on September 9, 2007

You might have had an Ovo Sport from Ovomaltine. It's a Swiss product and tastes exactly how you describe.
posted by chrisch at 10:37 PM on September 9, 2007

I second the Ovo Sport idea.
posted by Zarkonnen at 3:59 AM on September 10, 2007

Do you have a Whole Foods near you? They sell Cocoa Meringue Cookies (made by the 365 brand) that taste *exactly* like hot chocolate powder.
posted by duckierose at 12:15 PM on September 10, 2007