Five Fabulous Fudges!

On my quest to find great home-made fudge, I found another recipe I wanted to try. This time I had help from Hannah, my soon to be Sister in law. We rummaged around the baking cupboards and put together five flavour combinations – dark chocolate and pistachio, marshmallow and crunchie, cranberry and macadamia, maple pecan and peanut butter. 

Once the flavours were decided we got on with making the basic fudge. It took a while for the mix to reach the correct temperature on the sugar thermometer but when it finally got there we divided the mix into separate bowls with the various additions and poured into mini traybake foils. After a couple hours of cooling time we eagerly went to check out our results. We cut up the different fudge bars and demolished our samples. The flavour was excellent but there seemed to be a downside. The fudge was very soft; I think this was down to under beating the mixture. I will definitely make this recipe again, just to perfect it, you know?!

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Decadent Chocolate Fudge Cake, made for a good friends, friend's birthday. This is a triple layer chocolate sponge cake, layered and coated in chocolate fudge icing, topped with giant chocolate buttons to give that little extra bite. I really love the look of the buttons on top with the whimsical red ribbon which finishes the cake beautifully. I was a little sad to give this cake away because, I believe it's the best chocolate cake I've ever made, and I would have loved to cut it open. I'm sure it will be a hit with the birthday boy and all those celebrating!

Salted Nutella Fudge

Continuing my quest for chocolate this week I had a mooch through the backlog of recipes I have yet to try and I stumbled across Salted Nutella Fudge.  I have been wanting to try fudge recipes for quite a while but for one reason or another I haven't quite made the leap. What appealed about this recipe was that I had the few ingredients needed and very little effort seemed to be involved. I just melted all the ingredients together and spread out onto a baking sheet, sprinkled with rock salt and allowed to set for a few hours. I chopped my slab of fudge into cubes. and had a taste. At first I was unsure of the salt, but I found it intensifies the depth of chocolate flavour. After sharing with family and friends, much of their feedback was that they didn't like the salt but the fudge was delicious. I cant wait to try fudge making again!

Fruit and Nut Tiffin

I have been craving chocolate more often than usual recently, so in order to satisfy my taste buds I got busy in the kitchen. I had a selection of fruit and nuts in my baking cupboards so thought I would throw together a crunchy, chewy Tiffin to have with my afternoon tea. A mix of pecans, macadamia nuts and juicy cranberries were thrown into my chocolatey biscuit base and topped with a layer of dark chocolate. After some time setting in the fridge, I got stuck in. I loved the flavours together but think the dark chocolate topping was a bit too much. Next time I attempt this recipe I would use milk chocolate for a sweeter note. 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

After being left slightly disappointed with the last cookie recipe I tried, my desire to find a great cookie recipe was fuelled. I like my Chocolate Chip Cookies to be crunchy and chewy at the same time so that's what I want to be able to make. I chose to use dark brown soft sugar to try and get the chewy texture I was after and they turned out perfect. I loved them so much I made another batch of cookie dough to store in the freezer for when I get the sugar cravings.  Just 10 minutes in the oven and they're done. Superb!

Death by Chocolate Cookies

A very rich, dark double chocolate cookie for the true chocoholic. I found these cookies to have a brownie like consistency. They are soft, fluffy and moist in the middle with an outer shell which was crunchier and chewy. Filled with chunks of dark chocolate, they were still gooey when we devoured them straight from the oven. They taste was divine.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread is incredibly quick and easy to make and there's no better way of using up really ripe bananas. Easily adapted, you can chuck in a handful of blueberries, chocolate, fudge chunks or just whatever takes your fancy. This moreish loaf makes for a scrumptious weekend breakfast served with fresh coffee or can be enjoyed as a tasty snack throughout the day. 

Fabulous Chocolate Brownies

Over the past year I have baked a lot of snacks for my family, friends and colleagues and without a doubt the most popular goodies are my Chocolate Brownies. These squidgy cake squares are rich, moist and chewy. I like to change them up a bit and throw in some extra chocolate or fudge chunks. They are outrageously tempting fresh from the oven, served with a glass of cold milk. 

Raspberry and White Chocolate Cupcakes

Can’t decide between chocolate or fruit filled treats?, then you don’t have to. Raspberry and White Chocolate Cupcakes combine the berry freshness of raspberries which compliment the delicate white chocolate in these light and airy jam filled beauties. These were made as a scrummy summer barbecue dessert served with ice cream but perfect with a nice cuppa tea too. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Easter celebrations are never complete without enjoying a fine home cooked roast with the in laws. I chose to add to the selection of yummy desserts by bringing along some rich Chocolate Cupcakes with freshly made Vanilla Buttercream to get the perfect flavour balance. Aptly decorated with chocolate shavings and mini eggs. What’s not to love?