Malted Milk Balls

Cafe Society
1

In response to this thread(I love malts too), I got to thinking that it’s been quite awhile since I’ve had a truly good malted milk ball.

I adore the things–but only when they’re done right. Whoppers are an abomination and do not deserve the title. I’m not a snob, though–some of the best malt balls I’ve ever had were from Sears’ candy counter back in the '70s. It occurred to me that maybe somebody out there in Doperland can tell me where to find some good ones.

My criteria for good ones:

  1. They must be mostly malt. I can’t stand the ones where you get a little core of malt surrounded by a quarter-inch of chocolate.

  2. The malt must be “fluffy,” not gritty.

  3. The chocolate must be decent. It doesn’t have to be gourmet quality, but Whopper quality doesn’t cut it.

That’s pretty much it. We used to get some really good ones at work but then they changed providers and swapped to the “quarter inch of chocolate” variety, and I don’t think it would be productive to pursue the old provider at this point.

So…any ideas? I’m in Northern CA (Bay Area) for local stuff, or I’d be willing to try mail order if I don’t have to buy a ton of it.

Thanks! :slight_smile:

2

Heh. I just landed here from the malt thread. Can you get Malteasers? They are pretty tasty little devils.

Actually, the spelling is Maltesers. I never noticed that before.

3

Brachs is still good. Brachs was what the dime stores sold in bulk. I haven’t seen Brachs malts in my grocery in years. They are available online.

12 oz bag $4.69 plus shipping
http://www.hometownfavorites.com/Brachs-Malts-12-oz/productinfo/HFCA862/

If you want gourmet quality. Ghirardelli is the gold standard. I personally refuse to pay this much. Brachs is good enough for me.

4

Brachs are great, but sadly I haven’t seen them in stores for years now.

I’ve had some wonderful ones from some candy specialty shops, but more often than not those shops overdo the chocolate.

Whoppers and Mighty Malts are abominations. The flavor is just yuck.

It appears that Maltesers are not available here in the U.S.

5

I’m in the DC metro area, and my local Giant carries them in a special “import” section, along with several other British brands.

6

Maltesers are absolutely what you’re looking for.

The last time I was in the US I brought home a carton of Whoppers, and was ‘enjoying’ them - until I decided to do a taste test. There’s just no comparison. Maltesers are maltastic, and the chocolate is much nicer too.

7

The chocolate on Whoppers tastes like brown wax. Our grocery store has a British Imports shelf, I’ll have to look for the Maltesers.

8

Did you know you can get a bag of JUST the malt part? I happen to like the ones that are covered in a a quarter inch of chocolate, but sometimes you don’t need anything to interfere with delicious malty goodness:

http://www.nutsonline.com/chocolatessweets/malted-milk-balls/malt-ball-centers.html

9

Woo, thanks! I’m pretty sure I do know where to get Maltesers–I’ll give those a try. (We have a Powell’s candy store nearby that carries my other British favo(u)rites, Curly Wurly and Galaxy Minstrels, so I’ll check and see if they have Maltesers.

I also remember liking Brach’s when I was a kid, so I’ll give those a shot too. Thanks!

10

Useful info.
Thanks.
I personally love malted milk balls but Whoppers is the only kind I have found recently.
I remember Brach’s were better, but I will try Maltesers next time.

11

Just buy some Carnation malt powder and [del]snort[/del] consume it directly.

12

Occasionally I’m tempted. I do like making my own super-malty chocolate malts, with like 3 times the recommended allotment of malt powder. But there’s something about the interplay between the chocolate and the malt in a good malt ball that just makes life worth living. :slight_smile:

13

Hell yeah!

I gotta add:

Whoppers, bleah. EXCEPT for the Reese’s PB malt balls. I love those. BUT I can only have those very rarely.

Besides direct consumption, most of my malt powder goes into my coffee.

14

Hmmmmmm…

A potential new pleasure!

15

The company that makes Pete’s Wicked Ale aslo had a candy division called Cocoa Pete’s that I’m not sure is running anymore. They made an excellent malted milk ball called Maltimus Maximus. If you can still find them they are worth a try.

16

I like the crunchy ones, like Whoppers. I won’t debate the taste, but I’m eating them for the texture, anyway, not the flavor.

That said, anything made with chocolate can’t be all bad, and I’ve never turned down the non-crunchy kind, either.

17

Aren’t Whoppers covered in carob instead of chocolate?

18

Nope. It’s not carob, but it’s not real chocolate, either. It’s that not-quite-tasty fake stuff.

19

Check it out - you can buy the crunchy center by the pound here. I don’t like milk chocolate, and I have 2 lbs of Belgian Dark Chocolate buring a hole in my pantry… ooooooh I’m sensing a candymaking project coming on…

20

I know what I’m snacking on next time I’m in England.