Easy Hazelnut Fudge

I  love giving homemade food gifts during the holiday season. Last week, I made a few different kinds of treats- some old favorites, some new finds- and filled up more than a dozen holiday themed take-out boxes and festive bags, and gave them away as gifts. An assortment of goodies- chocolate truffles, bark, fudge, cookies and peppermint bark brownies- went into each bag.

This hazelnut fudge was one of the things that went into my gift bags. The fudge is rich, creamy, and smooth and melts in your mouth.

Ingredients:

(makes 64 small pieces/squares)

• 10 oz semi-sweet chocolate (I used Baker's baking squares)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 tsp coffee powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp Nutella
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• ½ - ¾   cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped (reserve a handful to sprinkle over the fudge before it sets)
• A pinch of salt

Method:

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8x8- inch baking dish and line with parchment paper.

In a large microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate and butter. Add the condensed milk, vanilla extract, coffee powder, Nutella and salt. Microwave in 45-second increments for 3-5 minutes  and mix well in between. Stir in the toasted and chopped hazelnuts.  Mix well until the mixture is smooth and everything comes together.

Pour the thick mixture into the prepared baking dish, smooth the top and sprinkle the reserved hazelnuts all over the surface.

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I let it sit overnight in the refrigerator). Once the fudge has set, take it out of the dish and cut into bite-sized pieces using a sharp knife.

Here are some of the other treats I made-

* Pistachio and Peppermint White Chocolate Bark

Line a baking sheet with foil. Melt 8 ounces of white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Pour the melted chocolate over the lined baking sheet and spread it with a spatula to get a layer that is about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle the top evenly with crushed candy canes and chopped pistachios. Refrigerate until firm. Cut/break into pieces and serve.

* Orange-flavored truffles

Although truffles are simple enough to make any time of the year, I usually get down to making them only during the holidays.  I use this recipe as the base and make different kinds of truffles by changing the flavors (vanilla, orange, peppermint, balsamic vinegar) and toppings (toasted and chopped nuts, cocoa powder, sweetened coconut flakes, crushed candy canes, toffee bits).

This time I made orange flavored truffles and used toffee bits, cocoa powder and toasted and chopped hazelnuts as my toppings.

* World Peace Cookies

I consider myself to be a fairly decent baker, but for some reason, I’ve had no luck with cookies despite numerous attempts. This very popular recipe for world peace cookies (I found it here) is the only cookie recipe that has actually worked well for me.

Christmas Fruitcake

I made my very first fruitcake, in time for Christmas, a few days back. After going through a lot of recipes, I finally picked one that I saw on Edible Garden. I have made many changes to the original recipe since I did not have many of the ingredients on hand and I’d decided that I’d only work with what I had. Despite all the additions and substitutions I had to make, the cake turned out to be fantastic.

* I started by preparing the caramel. Melt ½ cup sugar in a pan slowly until it turns clear, smooth and dark brown; this recipe requires a dark brown caramel and it took me 5-7 minutes to get to this stage. Turn off the heat and add ¼ cup water carefully to the caramelized sugar to thin it out a bit. Stir and set aside. (See here for tips for making the perfect caramel.)

*Next, preheat the oven to 350 F and grease your baking dish of choice. I used my 9" springform pan.

*In a large bowl, mix together these dry ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp powdered cloves
• ¼ tsp powdered cardamom
• ¼ tsp ginger powder
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
• 1 tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt

*In another bowl, cream together the following:

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 Tbsp butter + 4 Tbsp oil (I did not have enough butter and that is the only reason I used a combination of butter & oil.)
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbsp orange marmalade
• 2 tsp rum extract

*Combine the dry and wet ingredients together and then stir in the caramel. Mix well.

*Add a cup of dried fruit and ½- ¾ cup of chopped nuts to the batter .I used a combination of dried figs, cranberries, golden raisins and cashews. (I first tossed it all together in 2-3 tsp of flour to prevent everything from sinking to the bottom of the cake while it baked.) Mix well.

*Transfer the batter to the cake pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Wordless Wednesday

Homemade For The Holidays

I decided to gift homemade treats this year for the holidays and spent a good part of the day yesterday making a few things.

I made different variations of chocolate bark, 2 kinds of truffles, fudge, peanut clusters and the easiest of them all- chocolate-dipped marshmallows.

* Truffles- I made a few flavored with orange zest and used toasted hazelnuts and cocoa powder as toppings. I'd made balsamic truffles earlier and they were really good.

I got lots of ideas for bark from this month's issue of the Food Network Magazine. I made 3 kinds using different combinations of chocolate and toppings-

*Swirled Bark using white and dark chocolate melted separately, poured onto a baking sheet lined with foil, swirled together and then topped with toasted and coarsely chopped hazelnuts and dried apricot bits.

*Milk Chocolate Bark using milk chocolate as the base layer, a small amount of white chocolate, melted and spread on top of it, and finished off with a sprinkling of chopped up dried cranberries.

*White Chocolate Peppermint Bark- I added a tsp of mint extract to the melted white chocolate before spreading it. Then, I added crushed candy canes on top.

*Peppermint Pistachio Fudge using this Mango Power Girl recipe that is an adaptation of a Nigella Lawson recipe. I used my microwave to make the fudge. I melted 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, 4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate and 8 oz. bitter-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave and then stirred in a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk and microwaved again for 2 minutes or so. Finally, I added ¾- 1 cup of coarsely chopped pistachios and a teaspoon of mint extract. I poured the thick fudge in my largest baking dish and cooled it for a bit before refrigerating. A few hours later, I took the fudge out of the refrigerator and cut it up into bite-sized portions.

*Chocolate-dipped marshmallows inspired by what I saw here- I used crushed candy canes, toasted hazelnuts, slivered almonds, chopped up dry mango pieces and shredded coconut as toppings.

* Peanut Clusters- I just melted some chocolate (any kind will do) and added some store- bought roasted peanuts to it. I spooned small amounts of the mixture into my mini muffin pan after lining each of the cups and kept it refrigerated for the mixture to set.

I put together a few gift bags for my neighbors. Each bag had a few pieces each of the various goodies I’d made. I used these festive take-out boxes for delivering my edible gifts.

Happy Holidays, all!

Spiced Banana Bread

I don’t know why we buy bananas, without fail, during every trip to the grocery store especially since we rarely give them a second look once they get to the fruit bowl. I usually end up throwing them out, a couple of days later, when they are overly ripe. Every once in a while I make a banana bread not because I’m too crazy about it, but because I can’t think of anything better to do with a bunch of bananas (other than making the occasional smoothie, pancake or batch of muffins) that are rapidly spoiling.

I've made a couple of different versions of banana bread since I first started baking but never one that’s been spiced up like this. This is a very nice spiced bread/cake to bake especially this time of the year, it being the holiday season and all.

Wet ingredients:
3 very ripe bananas, mashed well (I pureed the bananas)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
½ cup sugar (adjust according to taste and sweetness of fruit)
1 egg
3 Tbsp yogurt
2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger powder
½ tsp powdered cloves
¼ tsp salt
½ cup chopped walnuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Add the egg; beat well. Add the mashed bananas, sugar and vanilla extract. Mix well.

Mix the dry ingredients together and combine with the wet ingredients. Add a few walnuts to the batter and sprinkle the rest on top. Pour into the greased loaf pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes at 375 degrees F, then turn off the oven and let it continue to remain inside for another 5-10 minutes.

I’ve baked a couple of different versions of this bread over time and this seems to be one version that I will keep going back to.

Chocolate Balsamic Truffles

This blog has been gathering dust lately. It’s been so long since I did a post on food. I have been unable to use this space as frequently as I would have liked to for various reasons… work, the holidays, friends visiting, complete loss of interest for a bit and lack of motivation and just LIFE in general…
The New Year is a time for new beginnings and on that note, I bring to you my first post of 2008 - Chocolate Balsamic Truffles.

I tried my hand at making truffles yesterday. I was inspired by Giada’s recipe that I saw on Everyday Italian. The process is a little time-consuming, not to mention messy, and I quickly realized that they weren't as easy to make as they had seemed when I had first watched the segment on her show. I was however, pleased with the way they turned out and the end result was definitely well worth the effort. The truffles tasted absolutely heavenly and simply melt in your mouth.
I’ve tweaked the original recipe a bit and this is how I did it.
Ingredients:
10 oz dark chocolate
½ cup heavy cream
3 tsp balsamic vinegar
For coating the truffles:
Cocoa powder
Chopped and toasted walnuts
Toasted coconut

Method:
Cut the chocolate blocks into small, even pieces (this helps melting it uniformly easier) and place in a microwave- safe bowl.

Heat the heavy cream in a pan till small bubbles begin to form along the edges and it almost starts to boil.

Combine the cream and chocolate to form a ganache that is smooth and without lumps. (If the chocolate doesn’t melt completely, just pop the bowl in the microwave for 10-15 seconds)

Add the balsamic vinegar and mix well.

Cool the ganache completely, cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for an hour or two till it is firm and has set.

Using a spoon, scoop up the ganache and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (I managed to get 20 medium sized balls.)

With extremely clean hands, roll and shape the ganache into small balls. (I had some trouble here as the chocolate started to melt and my hands began to get sticky. I just popped it in the freezer for 5 minutes before continuing to round out the balls.)

Roll each truffle around in your chosen topping. I made three kinds -some with a dusting of cocoa, some with a coating of coarsely ground and toasted walnuts and some others covered with lightly toasted coconut flakes.

I don’t think that these can be stored for a very long time, but I have read in a couple of places that they will keep well for at least 2-3 weeks if refrigerated and stored in an airtight container. Let the truffles return to room temperature before serving.
I don’t expect my truffles to last long enough for their shelf life to be a concern!

This is going to Deepz at Letz Cook for JFI - Chocolate and to Bindiya who blogs at In Love with Food, for her chocolate fest.

Before I forget, I would like to thank Jaden and Hari Nayak for my personally signed copy of the cookbook “Modern Indian Cooking”. It is a beautiful book with stunning pictures and some great recipes by Hari Nayak and Vikas Khanna. I am looking forward to trying out a couple of recipes from here in the coming months. Thanks once again!

Here's wishing all my blog buddies a very happy and prosperous 2008!

Season's Greetings