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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Or is something seriously sinister going on here?

78 replies

modernmystery · 15/09/2018 22:40

I had a fancy for dark chocolate covered corncakes last night. Went to Tesco and they only had chocolate rice cakes (meh). So I bought some plain corn cakes and some dark chocolate for some DIY. Melted the choc in the microwave on a flat plate, dipped the corncakes face down to coat them. Left them on a plate on the kitchen counter to dry for a few hours while I watched TV. The were 90% dry when I finally headed to bed (2am) so I popped the uncovered plate of corncakes in the fridge overnight.

Woke up this morning and got a bit of a shock to see these seriously creepy patterns on every single cake.

I'm utterly baffled and quite creeped out. I haven't seen any heavy, chocolaty-footed insects in the house (second floor flat in the middle of a city). I had a go at rationalising it in terms of differential rates of contraction of chocolate and corn causing cracking, but they don't snap along those lines if I break them. I ate a few and they taste fine (yummy actually). I've shown the pictures to everyone I can and no one has any idea what would have left precise double rows of dots in a meandering pattern on the surface of the chocolate, but the theories have left me wishing I hadn't eaten any :S

Can wise mums net shed any light on this mystery?

(P.S. Sorry if I'm being overly dramatic about this but I had a SERIOUS maggot bin incident a few days ago and I'm on my home on my own at the moment so feeling a bit squeamish at the thought of dealing with whatever might be behind this.)

Or is something seriously sinister going on here?
Or is something seriously sinister going on here?
OP posts:
peachgreen · 15/09/2018 23:03

That is a spider with a very big willy hunting for a mate

oh no... they've been DARKED ON Shock

Blameanamechange · 15/09/2018 23:04

Are they like rice cakes OP? Anyway I think its where the chocolate has separated as they weren't quite dry and then set in the cold fridge? Only way is to do 2 more batches and one to be nearly dry and the other super dry! Then get back to us OR clean your fridge out just incase those creatures now disguised as chocolate are still lurking....My wise dh once left the lid off his fishing maggots and they crawled all over my fridge! -makes me shudder thinking about it.....

whereiscaroline · 15/09/2018 23:07

This has made me feel ill Shock

RumbleMum · 15/09/2018 23:08

I reckon it's fat bloom from having put them in the fridge.

Though I grant you the patterns are bizarre and you shouldn't rule out a spider dragging a massive schlong around.

CoffeeAndToffee · 15/09/2018 23:09

Just follow the tracks and tell us what you find...

Original poster
modernmystery · 15/09/2018 23:12

Just to clarify - I'm on my home completely alone. I don't have kids/lego/any of that. This happened after they went in the fridge 90% dry. There's nothing else in the fridge (I'm too lazy to cook or keep food when it's just me).

They can't be slug trails. There's little discoloured dots in the chocolate but no slime. The tracks aren't indents, they are completely smooth and flat. Milipedes/spiders in an empty fridge?

I feel a bit ill now Sad

OP posts:
RyderWhiteSwan · 15/09/2018 23:14

Though I grant you the patterns are bizarre and you shouldn't rule out a spider dragging a massive schlong around.

Cackle!

Original poster
modernmystery · 15/09/2018 23:14

I'll definitely do another batch to try and replicate...

OP posts:
nakedscientist · 15/09/2018 23:16

The warm chocolate allowed flour maggot eggs to hatch out of the corn cake and crawl over the chocolate?

Shudder.

IamPickleRick · 15/09/2018 23:18

Were they completely covered in chocolate before? So as well as the spider willy tracks, the bits that aren’t covered anymore have been munched?

Does your fridge have any holes/puncture marks?

Original poster
modernmystery · 15/09/2018 23:19

Corncakes are flat crispy snacky things made of corn. Some sort of healthy snack alternative.

I've never seen spiders/slugs/milipedes in this flat (been here 3 years, very inner city, no greenery for miles).

Interesting to note the posters that do think it could be something to do with the chocolate cooling/have seen these in other chocolate-coated crispy snacks.

OP posts:
Original poster
modernmystery · 15/09/2018 23:20

Were they completely covered in chocolate before? So as well as the spider willy tracks, the bits that aren’t covered anymore have been munched?

No, I did a patchy job. No signs of munching/nibbling.

OP posts:
Original poster
modernmystery · 15/09/2018 23:23

Fat blooms are interesting. But these look very regular and meandering... Ugh

OP posts:
SirVixofVixHall · 15/09/2018 23:26

I also think it is patterning to do with the setting of the chocolate. The unmarked areas are paler and have a bloom. It is really pretty !

DunkandEggAgain · 15/09/2018 23:26

Eeek! Confused

SirVixofVixHall · 15/09/2018 23:31

I do agree they look meandering though. They are like slug or snail munch trails, but they come to an abrupt stop in places, which rules out a slug.

crispysausagerolls · 15/09/2018 23:35

Maybe I’m an idiot (and honestly I may well be) but I don’t see how anything would be alive in the fridge to create these tracks? Wouldn’t any insect slowly die of the cold? Or are they able to live in cold conditions? Isn’t there lack of oxygen in there too? Also, if your fridge is empty, wouldn’t you be able to see the critters? I admit they look like insect tracks but I can’t believe it as an explanation

SlowlyShrinking · 15/09/2018 23:35

It looks like some kind of crystalline pattern 🤔 is there such a thing as fat crystals? Or chocolate crystals? Or it could be sugar crystals maybe?

tempester28 · 15/09/2018 23:35

I think you should check your salad draw. The dark trails would indicate the chocolate cooled faster? So a very cold creature walked or slithered
across the corn cakes.

crazykiwi · 15/09/2018 23:36

Sorry OP I think its tiny aliens trying to do chocolate equivalent to crop circles. I think these ones must be quite new to this. Check for any circular scorch marks in the kitchen.

Haggishaggispudding · 15/09/2018 23:37

Could be sugar or fat bloom bit doesn’t really look like either. Realistically if it’s alive it has to be able to fly or at least hop. V odd. Do you have any pics of uncovered cakes you can post?

Fruitbatdancer · 15/09/2018 23:38

Defo not slugs (I have a bad slug issue at the moment. And not ants.
Could it be something on the cake which has reacted with the chocolate overnight? A syrup line or sugar/ some sugar substitute?
Weird! I would not eat anymore!

LS83 · 15/09/2018 23:39

This is pattern from untempered chocolate.

Or is something seriously sinister going on here?
Betsy86 · 15/09/2018 23:41

Grim... and I desperately need to know the answer...

GruciusMalfoy · 15/09/2018 23:42

It's just from the chocolate going from melted to solid again, without having been tempered.

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