Raspberry and White Chocolate Fudge

My favourite brand of chocolate would have to be Whittaker’s, especially the delightful and fairly newly created White Raspberry chocolate block.

This delicious new flavour was an initiative of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School here in Wellington. As part of the Young Enterprise Scheme, a group girls put their thinking caps together and came up with this pink block in support of Breast Cancer.

Their pitch was so successful, the chocolate-maker adopted their idea and included a raspberry white chocolate in their line.

For each block of the chocolate sold, 20 cents will go to the Breast Cancer
Foundation. What a great reason to go out and get some and make this fudge in time for Christmas! I really think the raspberries beautifully complement the scrummy white chocolate. Enjoy!

Raspberry and White Chocolate Fudge
Makes 40 pieces

• 2 x 400g cans sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups firmly packed soft brown sugar
• 250 g butter
• 100 ml liquid glucose syrup (try your local pharmacy)
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• 2 x 250 grams Whittaker’s White Raspberry chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Spray and line a slice tin or container with non stick baking paper.

Place all ingredients, except the white chocolate and vanilla, in a large heavy based saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.

Bring to the boil and boil gently until it becomes very thick and changes colour to a dark caramel brown paper shade – about 6 minutes, to the soft ball stage, 116 degrees on a sugar thermometer.

Stir often to prevent catching on the bottom. Remove from heat and stand until the bubbles subside. Stir in the white chocolate and vanilla until melted and smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Cool to room temperature (about 3 hours ) then refrigerate until firm.Sprinkle over some leftover white chocolate once cooled. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 weeks – if it really does last that long.

Russian Fudge

I have always had a soft spot for Russian fudge. There is something about this smooth caramel-coloured toffee bagged in cellophane and tied with string that conjures up memories of market days, school galas or the local A&P show. You have probably worked out by now, I am very nostalgic.

It seems, in New Zealand at least, people can’t really get enough of this sweet and usually people have their secret ‘best-ever’ recipe hidden away. I have never made Russian fudge until now because as I mentioned in a previous post about fudge..quite frankly, I lack the patience. I now believe my childhood fudge failures were usually caused by not boiling the mixture for long enough so it didn’t to set. It is safe to say, I wasn’t the chief-fudge-maker in our household..

An old flatmate of mine used to love the stuff and seemed to think the Edmond’s Russian Fudge was better than the rest. It did taste pretty good to me too, but doesn’t everything when you don’t have to make it?!

Yes, fudge is delicious to indulge upon (occasionally!) but it also makes for a great gift. People really enjoy something homemade now and then and especially from one’s kitchen.

This recipe comes from Chelsea and is rich, creamy and deliciously indulgent. It seriously melts in your mouth. On discovering the perfect recipe for Russian fudge, I came across this! Has anyone had the chance to try it? Looks pretty remarkable to me!

Russian Fudge

• 3 1/2 cups of sugar
• 125 grams of butter
• 3 Tbsp golden syrup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 200 gram can sweetened condensed milk (half a standard tin)
• 2 tsp vanilla essence

Place all the ingredients except the vanilla, into a medium-heavy saucepan. Warm over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a gentle boil and cook for about 15-20 minutes, until it reaches the soft ball stage (120°C).

Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Beat (I use an electric mixer) until the fudge is creamy and thick and has lost its gloss. Pour into a greased 20 cm cake pan. Score the top and break into pieces when cold.

I have entered this recipe in to the first Sweet New Zealand for 2012! This month is hosted by Arfi.

Christmas Fudge

I’ve never been that successful at making fudge. Not proper fudge anyway. I can bustle up a biscuit-based uncooked fudge slice any day but quite frankly, I lack the patience to stir and stir and stir and stirrrr the darn pot to avoid the sugary goodness getting burnt on the bottom….zzZZZ. I usually avoid making fudge/toffee. Disaster.

Recently I came across a fudge recipe in Jo Seagar’s The Cook School Recipes called Fabulous Fudge. I have had the page post-it noted for a while now and thought I would try it and see just how fabulous this fudge was. If you like a smooth and creamy fudge that is not all sugary and hard, and easy to cut into portions without crumbling, then this is the one!

Christmas Fudge

• 2 x 400 gram cans of sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups of brown sugar, firmly packed
• 250 grams of butter
• 100 ml liquid glucose syrup
• 3 tablespoons golden syrup
• 400 grams milk chocolate, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Spray and line with non stick baking paper, a 20 x 30 cm, quite deep ( at least 4 cm ) tin, or two smaller tins.

Place all ingredients, except the chocolate and vanilla, in a large heavy based saucepan and stir over medium heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and boil gently until it becomes very thick and changes colour to a dark caramel brown paper shade – about 6 minutes, to the soft ball stage. Remove from heat and stand until the bubbles subside. Stir in the chocolate and vanilla until melted and smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the surface. Cool to room temperature ( about 3 hours ) then refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 weeks – if you’re lucky!!!!!

This is an entry into Sweet New Zealand for December. This time it is hosted by Bron Marshall. Check out all the delicious entries!

Mum’s Apricot Fudge

Fudge is a delicious combination of sugar, butter, milk and flavours like chocolate, vanilla, passion fruit, the list never ends! The tricky part of making fudge is combining these items and cooking them properly.

When it comes to making fudge, I’m not really interested. Let’s be honest here, I kind of lack patience. All that stirring and time spent bent over the stovetop waiting and watching as sugar seems to take foreverrrrr to dissolve.

All that said some people make wonderful fudge! I envy places like a wee shop in Palmerston North called Munchkins. They make all sorts of flavours like cookies and cream, Baileys Irish crème, passionfruit (my favourite) and many others. Do check them out – they are definitely worth a visit next time you’re visiting the Manawatu. Chocoholics rejoice! Look at me; I’m doing a better job of selling the store out of fudge than I am blogging about my delights.

Now we’ve got fudge on the radar, I think apricots are hugely underrated and what a great way to use them. The following recipe is a favourite of mine or my mother’s. Perfect for gifts and much simpler time wise than most fudge recipes.

I have since discovered you can now purchase Munchkins fudge online. Go on, I dare you. You don’t even have to leave the house!

Have a good weekend and enjoy the recipe!

Mum’s Apricot Fudge

• 1 packet crushed biscuits
• 75g brown sugar
• 500g apricots, chopped
• 200g butter
• ½ a can of condensed milk
• Coconut to sprinkle

I recommend using quite a large saucepan for this recipe, just to give you a bit of stirring room! Heat pot over a medium heat and melt the butter, brown sugar and the condensed milk. Chop up the apricots into bite-sized pieces and add to the cooked mixture. Add the crushed biscuits and mix like you’ve never mixed before. Fudge tends to get very thick very quick and you want to try and get this mixture as smooth as you can.

Line a baking tin with greaseproof cooking paper and press the mixture firmly into the tin. Sprinkle with the coconut. I have always thought apricots go really nicely with nuts of most kinds so if you wanted to make this item slightly more nutritious, you could add nuts in with the apricots.

Put the tin into the fridge to set. Fudge doesn’t generally take very long to go hard so no need to make this one well in advance. Fudge also travels particularly well so makes an excellent homemade gift!