This week my search for the internet’s weirdest recipes takes me to the world of huge confectionery and the creation of the giant KitKat.
The internet is a wonderful thing and when faced with a problem, such as the cancellation of a beloved treat like the peanut butter KitKat chunky, it not only allows devoted sweet lovers to combined their efforts to find a way of recreating the treasured confectionary, it also actually allows them to work to improve it.
This is the story behind the origins of the giant peanut butter KitKat. The sweet that sparked an internet campaign for its reinstatement following it cancellation, was actually raised from the dead and given a new lease of life through the web and its determined band of followers, who triumphed in the face of adversity to save their delicious peanut delicacy.
The variation on the classic KitKat was introduced in 2006 before being cancelled, a move which sparked an internet campaign to bring it back. Lo and behold, earlier this year, it was reintroduced after winning a competition to find the KitKat chunky champion. However, its cancellation prompted a stream of internet recipes to create new, bigger versions of the nutty favourite, and it is now possible to create your own giant version for as little as £5.
Now, despite its reintroduction to the confectionery market earlier this year, the recipe is still one that intrigues me as I was one of those individuals who dearly missed the peanut butter KitKat and spent many an hour searching for the remaining elusive bars online and in shops before finally accepting that it was gone and would probably never return.
The suggestions for recreating this tasty treat range from a monstrous recipe for a 46,000 calorie KitKat made in a wallpaper pasting tray, a sweet that could sustain a small town for several weeks, to the slightly more reasonable idea of making a 6,000 calorie one in a loaf tin. And this is the recipe I’ve decided to try, partly because it seems slightly healthier than the 46,000 calorie concoction, but mainly because I do not have a fridge large enough to house a sweet created in a pasting trough.
I start by melting two bars of chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and then pour this into my two pound loaf tin before putting it in the fridge for several hours, just long enough to make a cup of tea, put my feet up and catch up on the week’s television. A very relaxing and enjoyable recipe so far.
As previously stated I am making a peanut butter KitKat because that is my favourite. However, if it’s not to your tastes or you have a nut allergy then you can make a normal giant KitKat by leaving out the peanut butter and adding in an extra layer of wafers.
Once the chocolate is set, I begin spreading a thick layer of peanut butter on top of the six wafers that will form the base of innards in my giant KitKat and then gently place them side by side in the loaf tin. I then put a thin covering of peanut butter on the remaining wafers and begin layering them before covering them in melted chocolate and placing the tin in the fridge for another couple of hours.
The stakes for this recipe are high as all of my friends and families have already laid claim to their slices so I am just hoping that this will work and when I take the KitKat out of the mould it will not fall into a sludgy pile of gloop.
However, when I take the loaf tin out of the fridge it is clear that the experiment has worked and the monolithic KitKat is ready to serve.
Cutting into the goliath is a challenge to say the least but I am shocked and delighted when I finally managed to carve into the beast and can see that the layers have worked and the bar genuinely tastes like a peanut butter KitKat.
The monster lives. Mission accomplished!
If you would like to try making a giant peanut butter KitKat follow the recipe below.
8 bars of 100g chocolate
18 peanut/vanilla wafers (24 for a normal KitKat filling)
½ a jar of peanut butter
A 2lb loaf tin
1. Melt two bars of chocolate in a bowl over boiling water
2. Pour the melted chocolate into the bottom of the 2lb loaf tin, smooth out and place in the fridge for several hours
3. Cut your wafers to size, cover the first six in a thick layer of peanut butter and place on top of the chocolate top in the loaf tin (If you are not making a peanut butter KitKat simply place your wafers directly on top of the chocolate)
4. Cover the remaining wafers in a thin coating of peanut butter and place them in the loaf tin, creating three layers of wafer and one of peanut butter (For a normal KitKat there should be four wafer layers).
5. Melt the remaining six bars of chocolate and pour them into the loaf tin, making sure that the wafers are completely covered
6. Place in the fridge for several hours
7. Remove from the loaf tin mould, slice and enjoy
If you have got a weird recipe that you would like me to try email me. Alternatively, if you have tried making this recipe, why not let me know how you got on by leaving a comment in the box below.
Happy baking!
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