Blood Fudge

Kinda looks like stewing steak doesn't it?

Recently, a delightful author known as Joseph D'Lacey made a plea on twitter for someone to make him some 'blood fudge' to give away to attendees of the launch of his new book, Blood Fugue, at Blackwell's Charing Cross on Friday (16th Nov).

I will admit, my curiosity was piqued. I have made plenty of fudge before, but the idea of creating some that was meant to look like blood intrigued me. I offered to do this, and he gratefully accepted. His brief was that it should be marbled. I thought 'yep, I can do that'. I offered the suggestion of the addition of sour cherries, to represent coagulated blood. The blood thirsty author was delighted with the idea, but then he threw a small spanner into my works. He added that it needed to be vegan. Vegan fudge? Does such a thing exist? Apparently, yes it does.

Taking a basic fudge recipe, I substituted cream for soya milk (I choose chocolate flavour to give extra taste and colour), and the butter for soya margarine. Despite much head scratching, I could not figure out a way to create the marble effect using vegan ingredients.

First attempt was quite brittle, much like a fudge made with milk. It was tasty, but had a little too much of a snap for my liking. I decided to try again, this time adding a little extra margarine to increase the fat content as I felt that this would add the creamy texture and softness I was looking for.

Success! I sent a sample batch to my client, and he loved it. YAY!

For those interested, here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 700g caster sugar
• 600ml soya milk (I used chocolate but you can use plain)
• 140g soya margarine
• kosher red food colouring gel (any brand like Wilton is fine)
• 75g sour cherries, lightly chopped
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

 Method: 

1. Line a 7" square tin with cling film
2. Place milk, sugar, and margarine in a large heavy bottomed pan (preferably a preserving pan as the mixture will bloom to more than twice the size)
3. Over a medium heat, stir the mixture until all the sugar and margarine has dissolved.
4. Turn the heat up, and continue stirring until the temperature reaches about 240F/115C on a candy thermometer (which can take about 20 mins or so), or it has reached the soft ball stage.
   Soft ball stage is when a small amount of mixture is dropped into ice water and it can be squeezed into a soft ball.
5. Take off the heat and add the colouring, flavouring and the cherries. 
6. Beat firmly until the fudge just begins to lose its glossiness, then pour quickly into the tin. 
7. Level out with a metal spatula, or back of a spoon. DO NOT TOUCH WITH YOUR HANDS.
8. Score the surface into squares, then leave to cool for a couple of hours.
9. Once cooled, turn out and break along the score marks. 

This will keep in an airtight container for two weeks.

Chocolate Explosion birthday cake

Some time ago, I saw an image of a birthday cake (I can't remember where now sadly) and I have been longing for an excuse to re-create it in my own style. The cake basically was decorated with chocolate bars, but in a way that it looked like they were exploding from the cake.

A friend of mine was attending a dinner party I was going to and as it was also her birthday, I brought along this cake as a surprise!

It was a rich chocolate Victoria sponge in three layers, sandwiched and topped with buttercream. Then, surrounded with Matchmakers ( but you could use chocolate scrolls or cigarellos for this), surrounded by a ring of Maltesers, and topped with an explosion of chocolate bars.



Ingredients:

Cake

• 340g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• 340g caster sugar
• 340g butter
• 6 free-range eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• a dash of milk
• 2 boxes of Nestle's Matchmakers (I used orange flavoured) or chocolate cigarellos
• 1 large packet of Maltesers
• A selection of chocolate bars including a Curly Wurly, Twix, Flake, Milky Way and a handful of Thornton's Continental.

Buttercream

• 200g butter
• 400g icing sugar
• 30g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• dash of milk

Method: 

• Pre-heat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/176°C
• Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy
• Beat the eggs with the vanilla extract and add to the butter/sugar a little at a time, ensuring it is fully incorporated between each addition.
• Sift the cocoa powder with the flour then carefully fold in
• If the mixture seems a little stiff, add a dash of milk.
• Distribute the mixture between 3 7" cake tins that have been greased and lined.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-25 minutes until an inserted skewer comes out clean
• Allow to cool fully before attempting to decorate.
• As your cakes cool, make the butter-cream by mixing the butter with the icing sugar
• Add a dash of milk until the required consistency is achieved.
• Sandwich the cakes with a thin layer of the vanilla buttercream.
• Add the cocoa powder to the remaining buttercream.  Put a quarter of the remaining mixture in a piping bag, or bottle.
• Cover the top and sides of the cake in chocolate buttercream.
• The stick Matchmakers, or cigarellos all around the outside of the cake.
• Using the reserved buttercream, pipe little stars around the bottom and press in a ring of Maltesers.
• Do the same around the inside of the Matchmakers on top of the cake.
• Starting with the longest chocolate bar, the Curly Wurly, place this into the centre of the cake.
• Working with progressively shorter bars, work your way to the outside, then finally scatter with Thorntons continental
• Crumble a Flake into the gaps
• Finally, tie a ribbon around the centre to prevent any of your Matchmakers from falling off.

Present your cake with some indoor sparklers or candles

Servings	16
Calories per serving	840

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Back in February 2011, Maine lawmakers were poised to make the "whoopie pie" the official state dessert - even though some claim the chocolate cake/cookie sandwich filled with white fluffy filling was actually invented in Pennsylvania.

In the end, they plumped for the far healthier option of the Wild Blueberry Pie as the state dessert, as blueberries represent a major industry there. Instead, the Whoopie Pie was awarded the booby prize of state snack.

Whatever its provenance, it certainly is a tasty treat. A delicious mixture of cookie and cake, sandwiched together with creamy vanilla filling, and it is growing in popularity. It's the new cupcake.

Ingredients:

• 230g Plain flour
• 75g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 170g butter,softened
• 150g sugar
• 1 egg, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60ml buttermilk
• 120ml coffee or lukewarm water

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C / Gas mark 4
2. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy
3. Sift the flour and cocoa together in a separate bowl and put to one side
4. Beat the egg and vanilla extract together, then add to the butter & sugar a little at a time, blending well in between each addition
5. Mix the coffee/water and buttermilk together
6. Beat the a third of the buttermilk/water mixture into the butter/sugar 
7. Now beat in a third of the flour/cocoa mix
8. Repeat this alternating between the buttermilk and flour until all are fully combined.
9. Spoon small teaspoon sized dollops of the mixture onto lined baking sheet, and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed.
10. Once fully cooled, sandwich together with a vanilla cream, or for a more authentic filling, use Fluff, the marshmallow crème that can be bought online or from many department stores.

Makes about 12 sandwiched cookies.

Pretzel, Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookie

Sometime ago, I ordered some Nestle's Butterscotch morsels from American Sweets Online, just because they sounded gorgeous. But to be honest, I was not sure what to do with them so they have been sat in my cupboard for a bit.

I had some pretzels left over from Christmas and so I thought why not combine the two along with the "Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World" recipe?

What makes it the "Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World"? It is the use of brown butter. Butter makes everything taste great,but when you melt it and cook it for a while, it becomes brown, nutty and caramelly and then things go from great to AWESOME.

Ingredients:

• 250g Butter
• 360g Bread flour
• 1 tsp Kosher (cooking) salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 60g Caster sugar
• 300g Brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 40g pretzels, broken into small pieces
• 100g Butterscotch morsels
• 100g Chocolate chips
• Course sea salt (optional)

Method:

1. Place the butter into a large pan and melt over a low heat. 
2. Once melted, turn the heat up to medium and gently stir occasionally
3. Once the foam dissipates, it turns a deep golden brown but will burn quite quickly if not taken off the heat at this point.
4. Leave to one side to cool for 15 minutes
5. Put the cooled butter in a mixing bowl, and add both sugars and beat for 2 or 3 minutes
6. Mix the egg and yolk together along with the milk and the vanilla. 
7. Add this into the the butter sugar mixture a little at a time, beating well to fully combine.
8. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, kosher salt and bicarbonate of soda
9. Add this a little at a time to the butter egg sugar mixture. 
10. You should have a soft, but slightly greasy dough formed
11. Carefully fold in the pretzels, butterscotch and choc chips.
12. Cover with clingfilm and chill for about 4 hrs.
13. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180 C / Gas 4
14. Once fully chilled, scoop rounded tablespoon size pieces of dough and roll into a ball and flatten slightly.
15. Place on a lined baking sheet, at least 1" apart. They should spread too much if they have been chilled properly, but will form a nice thick bake.
16. Sprinkle with a little sea salt if using
17. Bake for 10-12 minutes
18. Allow the cookies to rest for 2 or 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to fully cool.

Servings	32
Calories per serving	184

Chocolate and Walnut Fudge

Fudge is one of those things that people say to me all the time, they wish they could make it. Well, you can!

I realise that it appears to be like some kind of alchemy, and I suppose in someway, it is as you are changing the structure of the sugar crystals via intense heat, but it really is simple.

Below is the basic recipe for a simple vanilla fudge, which I then added dark chocolate and some chopped walnuts to, but you can add anything you like, more or less.

TIP:
The secret to good fudge is stirring CONTINUOUSLY during the heating process, so ensure that before you start have your trays lined with greaseproof paper, your chocolate broken up, and your nuts chopped, as you will not be able to do this while the fudge is getting to temperature. It is worthwhile having a jug with iced water close by too as this will be useful to test for the soft ball stage.

Ingredients:

• 397g can Condensed Milk
• 150ml milk
• 450g demerara sugar
• 115g butter

Flavourings:

• 150g Dark Chocolate
• 85g Chopped walnuts

Method:

1. Line your tray (I used one about 7" square)  with greaseproof paper along the bottom and over two sides as this will aid you lifting out the fudge.
2. Ensure if you are using additional flavourings, that you have them prepared ready
3. In a large pot (preferably a preserving pan if you have one) attach your sugar thermometer to the side with the tip at least 1" or so off the bottom
4. Place all the main ingredients (sugar, condensed milk, milk, butter) in the pan.
5. On a low heat, stir gently until the sugar has fully dissolved. 
6. Once all the sugar is dissolved, raise the temperature under your pan to medium-high
7. KEEP STIRRING. The mixture should start to bubble furiously and look like lava. Be extremely careful not to splash any on you.
8. After about 10-15 minutes, or when the temperature on your thermometer reaches 230°F / 115°C your fudge should have reached the soft ball stage, so turn the heat as low as possible. 
9. Drop a little into your jug of iced water - after a few seconds pick it out and if you can form a soft ball that isn't runny and doesnt drip out of your fingers, it is ready. If you dont get a soft ball, put it back on a high heat for another few minutes then re-test.
10. Let the mixture cool for a few minutes, then give it a good stir for about 5 minutes and you will see that it eventually starts to loose it's glossy sheen. 
11. When that starts to happen, add in your chocolate and nuts (or whatever flavourings you chose) until they are fully combined.
12. Working quickly, pour the mixture into your prepared tin, and press down with a pallet knife or spatula. Please do not use your fingers as the mixture will still be incredibly hot. 
13. After about 15 minutes, once it has set a little, use a sharp knife to score the portions onto the surface, cutting no deeper than half way through
14. After about an hour, it should have cooled enough to put in the fridge. Leave there for another couple of hours if possible
15. Lift your fudge out of the pan using the paper, and you should be able to just it into pieces.