Caramelized Peanuts with Milk Chocolate Organic

What is in these coated peanuts?

The coating is a milk chocolate made from cane sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa mass and vanilla extract. Then come the peanuts themselves, brown cane sugar, acacia gum, salt and honey. Kazidomi Vrac states organic farming for the ingredients and processing in France.

Are they suitable for a vegan diet?

No. The Kazidomi Vrac recipe carries milk powder in the chocolate and honey in the caramel, both of animal origin. It also contains peanut, a major allergen, and milk, so anyone avoiding either should leave it alone. The 250 g bag is sold by weight like the rest of the bulk range.

Caramelised peanuts or the praline almonds?

The Kazidomi Vrac praline almonds sit under dark chocolate and finish in cocoa powder: matt surface, roasted, bitter edge. These peanuts are caramelised and wrapped in milk chocolate with a pinch of salt, so they are sweeter, softer in flavour and closer to a sweet than to a nut.

How do I use them in baking?

Roughly chopped with a knife, they scatter over a chocolate fondant, an ice cream, a cheesecake or a cookie dough. The Kazidomi Vrac peanuts bring the crunch of the nut and the sweetness of the chocolate at once, so no other topping is needed. Fold them in at the end to keep the texture.

How do I stop the coating melting?

Keep them somewhere cool and dry, as Kazidomi Vrac advises, away from a window or an oven. Chocolate blooms and turns sticky when the temperature climbs and drops again. An airtight tin in a low cupboard does the job; the fridge dulls the surface and softens the caramel.