Pistachio Fudge

 

 

So I found a recipe for Pistachio Fudge – it sounded easy and I thought I had followed it to the letter.  But the results were dire = all grainy and not properly set and all the nuts had risen to the top rather than being distributed throughout.  It was basically inedible.

 

But I couldn't quite bring myself to throw it away – so I piled it into containers and into the fridge and basically sulked.  A day or two later I was steeling myself to throw it out when I thought to consult Mr Google.

 

And there were lots of suggestions about how to rescue fudge – and it worked brilliantly.  In fact I am quite sure that the fudge was better for having been cooked twice.

 

This is the failed batch.

 

This is the original recipe – I used a mixture of chopped pistachios and brazil nuts:

 

To rescue it I just added a splosh of milk and a spoonful of condensed milk and reheated it while continuously stirring it.  And it soon started to change colour and texture.  Magic!  After almost 10 minutes I took it off the heat and furiously whisked it with a wooden spoon  for 5 minutes– I couldn't use my stick blender because it would have chopped up the pistachio and brazil nuts even further.

 

 

Then into a pan lined with baking paper quickly because the fudge was already on the verge of setting – talk about a contrast with my first effort!

 

I cut it when it was cooled and it was so sinfully delicious I couldn't give it all away – which was bad - at least for my waist line!

Cute Mini Pavs

 

Many of you were curious about buying pavlovas in the store.  So I thought I would show you the other common size you can get here in New Zealand.  Which I almost prefer.

 

 

I took a pic of the packaging for you.

So I decorated each one with sweetened and vanillaed whipped cream and popped some chocolate sprinkles and fruit on top.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Cherry Log

 

 This Christmas treat was inaugurated by my mother years and years ago.  My version is a bit different but equally indulgent.

 

Ingredients:

Packet of Chocolate Chip biscuits (cookies)

1 cup of cream (double)

2 tblsp icing sugar (powdered sugar)

200g or so of mascarpone

Cherry Brandy (you could substitute brandy and cherry essence)

Vanilla essence

Chocolate for decoration

 

Method:

Whip the cream and the icing sugar with the vanilla essence – when softly whipped mix in the mascarpone.  My mother's version just used cream which was nice but stayed really soft even after being in the fridge.  The mascarpone meant that the coating was a bit set.

 

Dip your biscuits into cherry brandy.  This is the only bit of the log that is at all tricky.  You want to dip each one for long enough that it takes up the brandy but not so long that it goes mushy.  I erred on the shorter side which was a bit of a mistake – given that my biscuits were quite thick ones.

 

You then stick each biscuit to each other with your cream mixture – I did mine vertically before putting it onto its side – this is how you form the log.

 

Then cover the outside of the log with the rest of the cream mixture and ut your chocolate decorations on.  Traditionally we would have just had grated chocolate but I saw these fabulous little stars and bought them (and they were expensive too)

 

You can't serve this log straight away – it needs at least 4 hours in the fridge for the cherry brandy to work its way through the biscuits.

 

Not diet food but great as a Christmas treat.

 

PS  If you want to make a kid friendly version of this you could use cherry juice/ essence or dilute the cherry brandy with water.

Pavlova – the cheat's way

 

 

Here is another festive food that can't with honesty be described as a recipe.

 

Ingredients:

 

Store bought pavlova

Cream

Icing sugar

Vanilla essence

Strawberries

Blueberries

 

Method:

 

Whip your cream (plus vanilla and sugar) to softly mounding. Slather it on top of your pavlova.

 

Add your slices, chunks of berries – and that's it.

 

The pavlova was crunchy on the outside and soft and marshmallowy in the middle.  Very sweet but then it's a treat.

Need Some Inspiration? Try Candies & Sweets!

Cranberry & Pistachio Dream Fudge

Food on Friday: Candies & Sweets was indeed inspirational – and potentially hazardous to my waistline!  To see all the delightful dishes at a glance I suggest you head over to this Pinboard. I have selected a few to inspire you today.

The pic at the top is from James and Everett – Cranberry & Pistachio Dream Fudge – so delectable, Christoph!

Crock Pot Cherry Almond Clusters by The Midnight Baker – I would never have thought of using a slow cooker for these!

Cape Cod Salt Water Taffy by Cooking Weekends

Rum Balls by Cooking with Carlee

Cashew Cream Filled Raspberry Chocolates by Lisa's Kitchen

Food on Friday : Candies & Sweets

ON

It's definitely party time for this Food on Friday.  I am looking forward to all your Candies & Sweets with some trepidation – it will all be so very tempting to try.

To add your treats to the table just put your name/blog name plus the name of the candy/sweet into the first Mr Linky box and then paste the url for your post about it into the second box.

To help you check out the other links I will be pinning them to this Pinboard.

Happy times!

Pistachio Fudge – Rescue Mission

I decided that this was the year I would give some edible gifts.  So I found a recipe for Pistachio Fudge – it sounded easy and I thought I had followed it to the letter.  But the results were dire = all grainy and not properly set and all the nuts had risen to the top rather than being distributed throughout.  It was basically inedible.

But I couldn't quite bring myself to throw it away – so I piled it into containers and into the fridge and basically sulked.  A day or two later I was steeling myself to throw it out when I thought to consult Mr Google.

And there were lots of suggestions about how to rescue fudge – and it worked brilliantly.  In fact I am quite sure that the fudge was better for having been cooked twice.

This is the failed batch.

This is the original recipe – I used a mixture of chopped pistachios and brazil nuts:

To rescue it I just added a splosh of milk and a spoonful of condensed milk and reheated it while continuously stirring it.  And it soon started to change colour and texture.  Magic!  After almost 10 minutes I took it off the heat and furiously whisked it with a wooden spoon  for 5 minutes– I couldn't use my stick blender because it would have chopped up the pistachio and brazil nuts even further.

Then into a pan lined with baking paper quickly because the fudge was already on the verge of setting – talk about a contrast with my first effort!

I cut it when it was cooled and it was so sinfully delicious I couldn't give it all away – which was bad - at least for my waist line!

Need Some Inspiration? Try Candies & Sweets

Isabelle at Home's Salted Caramel Nut Brittle

Oh boy, Food on Friday: Candies & Sweets was a cause of great sugar craving – but what fun to see the over 80 dishes linked in.  Here are a handful of them that particularly caught my eye.

To see them all at a glance just pop over to this Pinboard.

The first pic is of Isabelle at Home's Salted Caramel Nut Brittle.

 

Flavz Corner brought these Marshmallow Pops to the table

 

Dark Chocolate Covered Spiced Orange Slices by Craving Something Healthy

 

And for something a bit different Bacon Brittle by Jo and Sue

Blackcurrant Cake Pops by Rachel Cotterill

Old Fashioned Fudge by turnips 2 tangerines

Food on Friday: Candies & Sweets

 ON

It's definitely party time for this Food on Friday.  I am looking forward to all your Candies & Sweets with some trepidation – it will all be so very tempting to try.

To add your treats to the table just put your name/blog name plus the name of the candy/sweet into the first Mr Linky box and then paste the url for your post about it into the second box.

To help you check out the other links I will be pinning them to this Pinboard.

Watch out for that sugar rush!

PS  Just click on this Need Some Inspiration post to see the super features from Food on Friday: Silverbeet & Spinach.