Chocolate Fudge

Melt in your mouth cubes..

I you are from Mumbai, or have been to any of the maharashtrian hill station (matheran, mahabaleshwar, khandala, lonavla). You would have surely brought bag their signature fudge..its gooey, its oily, not very chocolaty..and i would actually call it more of a chocolate walnut halwa, than fudge...whereas fudge in the west is block of soft chocolate, that melts in your mouth....and much better than out maharashtrian version.
Easier to make than truffles (provided you pick the quick n easy recipe) and equally yummy, this candy recipe is perfect as a home made gift or to serve and children's birthday parties, or to just eat.

Ingredients:
1 can sweetened condensed milk (400 g)
350 g dark chocolate
150 g chocolate praline/butterscotch chips (optional)
125 g whole hazel nuts
125 g whole almonds
1 tsp vanilla powder
2 pinches salt

you can also add roasted peanuts or pistachios in place of almonds and hazelnuts, or if you have a nut allergy, then you can skip the nuts all together.

Method:
Roast the nuts for 10 mins in a preheated oven at 180 degrees.
melt the chocolate either in the microwave or on a double boiler.remove from heat and add the condensed milk into the chocolate. mix to obtain a thick paste, then stir in quickly hazelnuts, vanilla and salt.
Pour into a rectangular silicone mold or a dish lined with parchment paper.
refrigerate for at least 4 hour and the cut into cubes using a good chef's knife and a cutting board. you could also try setting it in individual silicone mold. although haven'e tried it yet.

Millionare's Shortbread Bars

Sweet Somethings.......

I always love gifting home made treats to people. Especially for my little nieces and nephews. but the problem with making such edible gifts is that they have to be durable, especially if they have to travel in the Mumbai heat in an auto rickshaw (all types of whipped cream and butter cream turn into liquid by the time you reach your destination).
So i usually prefer making cookies or bars to carry for my nieces or nephews, or to send to any other special friends and family.
So when I wanted to send something special for my sister in law (who is like the biggest fan of my baking), I remembered this recipe that i had checked out a couple of times of joy of baking.
Although it looks a bit tedious, I assure you that the end result is so absolutely delicious, you will be making this recipe again and again and again......
the first time i tried the recipe, the only change i made was to make the caramel by using brown sugar, butter and milk, instead of using condensed milk, as the recipe says, because the end result is the same (and I didn't have enough condensed milk at hand).
The next time i made it i used an oatmeal crust instead of shortbread, and it tasted even better, I guess the oats added a  nice mealy and nutty flavor that complimented the caramel and the chocolate very well.

Ingredients

SHORTBREAD:

3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt 

Or 

You can use the oatmeal crust recipe from my Date Squares 

CARAMEL FILLING:

1 - 14 ounce (396 grams) can Dulce de Leche or sweetened condensed milk

or

½ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

3 - 4 tbsp  Milk

CHOCOLATE TOPPING:

6 ounces (170 grams) semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into pieces

1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Ingredients:

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C and place rack in center of oven.  Grease with butter a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan.

FOR SHORTBREAD: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the vanilla extract.  Add the flour and salt and beat until the dough just comes together.  Press onto the bottom of your greased pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or until pale golden in color. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

FOR CARAMEL FILLING: If using Dulce de Leche then simply warm the caramel in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. If using sweetened condensed milk, pour the milk into a heatproof bowl and place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cover and cook, over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 60 to90 minutes or until the milk has thickened and has turned a caramel color. Remove from heat and beat until smooth.  Pour the caramel over the baked sh+bread and leave to set.

Note: You can also do this step in a microwave oven. Place the sweetened condensed milk in a large microwaveable bowl and cook on medium power for about 4 minutes, stirring halfway through baking time. Reduce the powder to medium-low and continue to cook for another 8 to 12 minutes, or until the milk has thicken and has turned a light caramel color. Remove from microwave and beat until smooth.

Or

Caramelize brown sugar and butter and add milk and cook till thick and sticky.

FOR TOPPING: Melt the chocolate and butter either in the microwave oven or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate evenly over the caramel and leave to set. Cut the shortbread into pieces using a sharp knife. 

Store the shortbread in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate nice and firm. 

Yield: 16 - 2 inch (5 cm) squares

Seviyan barfii

Trial and Error..

Thats what comes to my mind whenever I think of this yummy dessert. One of my cousins once brought a box of these barfis to our house and one bite of it was enough for us to start guessing the recipe, so that we could recreate it later. And as soon as She got the time, My Mom along with her two helpers (me and my sister) tried cooking up a batch that would be similar to the orignal barfi that we had got.
What mummy concluded after tasting the crisp, n crunchy barfi was that, it had three main ingredients - seviyan, condensed milk and nuts.
The First batch - It was not at all the same, it stuck to our hands..and we couldn't even get out proper pieces.
Second Batch - we decided to increase the amount of vermicelli and roast the quite a lot and with a little ghee. But the result was still not perfect - it was still lacking in the crunchiness
TADAA.. THE THIRD BATCH - This one was perfect and it became a frequently mad edessert in our house, the only difference in this batch was that after spreading it on a tray, mummy put it in the oven for a bit to crisp up the top, and it turned out perfect....

Ingredients:
150 - 200 g seviyan (vermicelli)
1 can of sweetened condensed milk (400g)
2 tbsp ghee
100 g mixed nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews or walnuts), you can toast the nuts a bit if you want.

Method:
Prepare a tray by lining with foil and grease with a little ghee.
Dry roast the vermicelli till a little fragrant. then add ghee and roast for a few minutes. the vermicelli should be golden brown and fragrant. add the condensed milk and chopped nuts. Mix till all of the vermicelli is coated with condensed milk.
transfer into lined tray immediately, and flatten with the backside of a bowl or the underside of a glass.
score with a knife into diamonds or squares.
bake the barfi in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes at 160 degrees Celsius. to crisp up  the top, and make it nice and crunchy. (you can skip this step if you like it softer)
Let cool and separate the pieces.

Perfect to carry as a gift for your friends and family

crisped to golden perfection

Date Squares

Sugar Free can be sweet....

When people hear sugar free related to any desert they automatically think " it contains artificial sweeteners", i don't believe in replacing sugar with artificial sweeteners..just for the sake of making a desert sugar free...i would rather eat a little less to control my sugar intake. Also don't listen to the advertisements for artificial sweeteners - they don't taste the same as sugar and using them as much as sugar is not healthy.

naturally sweet ingredients on the other hand, can replace sugar in some desserts and nobody will even find out that it doesn't contain sugar.(unless u want to tell them)

I found this recipe on joyofbaking and when i tried it out and served it at home everyone liked it but felt that it was a bit too sweet. so the next time i tried it i just cut out the sugar. i also substituted the all purpose flour for whole wheat. (healthier and it gives it a more rustic flavor and color)

so this is one of those recipes that u can kind of eat guilt free or serve to someone who is trying to cut their sugar intake.

its also pretty simple and requires very little time.

Ingredients

Date Filling:

3 cups (400 grams) pitted dried dates

1 cup (240 ml) water

Oatmeal Crust:

2 cups (200 grams) old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup (130 grams) wheat flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¾ cup (175 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Method

Date Filling:Place the dates and water in a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the dates are soft and have absorbed most of the water (about 5 - 10 minutes). Remove from heat, Let it cool to room temperature and then puree in your food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Grease an 8 x 11 inch (20 x 28 cm) or  a 9 x 9 inch (23 x 23 cm) pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

Oatmeal Crust: In the bowl of your food processor, place the  oats, flour, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon. Pulse to combine. Then add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Press 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the prepared pan.

Spread the dates evenly over the oatmeal crust. Sprinkle the remaining dough evenly over the top of the dates. Bake for about 30 -40 minutes or until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool. Once the squares have cooled, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator at least one hour or until firm enough to cut easily into squares.

These will keep, covered, in the refrigerator up to a week.

Makes about 20 - 2 inch squares.

you can also try this recipe with other fillings, such as any fruit jam or chocolate ganache....off course them it won't be sugar free....