Claire Saffitz takes on possibly her most frustrating make: a recreation of the All-American classic chocolate-coated candy, M&M's, in this episode of Bon Appétit's Gourmet Makes.
While Saffitz usually goes straight to replicating the classic version of a junk food brand, everyone in the test kitchen agrees that the peanut variety are objectively better, and must be made.
When watching the video on how real M&M's are made, though, she breaks down upon hearing that the chocolate goes through the (dreaded) process of tempering. "I'm so mad!" she exclaims. But she sous vides the chocolate to temper it, which makes her life instantly easier.
Using a putty to make her own silicone molds, making chocolate-covered roasted peanuts is by the far the easier part, and conclusively tastes like a peanut M&M. Success!
To get the classic candy coating, she tries airbrushing on a sugar solution, dipping it in sugar syrup, coating it in cornstarch, then finally MacGuyvering a candy drum contraption out of a salad spinner.
Sad piano begins to play as she attempts to get four event coats by hand-spinning the chocolates. She attempts to get that shattering texture by dipping them in royal icing, but it's slow moving. "I'm getting frustrated and bored. I'm gonna kill myself if I have to dip each one." She sprays and sprays again. "If these don't look any better than the ones from yesterday, I quit."
While Chris Morocco watches her paint on tiny "m"s he says "this is one of those moments where I think 'thank god' it's her and not me.'"
In the end, while she may not get the total crunch of an OG M&M, her flavors are there, and she deems it a "qualified success." But at what cost?
Topics YouTube
