Mmmm, fudge...

First of all, the lovely Lissa held a giveaway over Christmas and New Year in which you could win a free copy of one of her books. And I won! SO EXCITING!! I can't wait to start reading - just as soon as I finish Pride and Prejudice and Zombies ;)

I wasn't originally planning on posting the recipe I used to make fudge as Christmas presents for pretty much everyone I know, because it's really freaking simple. Plus, you can find a million and one recipes for fudge elsewhere online. But Little Miss A helped me make it. And she remembered that when we were making jam, I kept stopping to take photos. And she insisted that I take photos again "so the people can see them!" #bloggerinthemaking

So here it is (for the Jaffa version, at least)! And I apologise in advance for some of the photos. That's what happens when you have a six year old sitting next to you asking if she can a) taste every single ingredient, and b) take a photo of each step as well...

The cast of characters:

Start by dumping the contents of a 400mL tin of sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan.

Then take 1 cup of dark chocolate melts (or regular chocolate, if you want):

And chop them up:

Take 2 cups of milk chocolate melts (or regular chocolate) and do the same:

Try desperately not to just eat it all. Put the whole lot on the stove over low heat, and stir until smooth:

Taken by Little Miss A. Not bad, really! 

Add 1 teaspoon of orange essence. Or more if you like it really orangey:

Pour it into a lined 20cm square tin:

Again, taken by Little Miss A

And flatten it out.

Then take a handful of Jaffas. I have no idea if you can get anything vaguely similar to Jaffas in North America or Europe. Find some kind of orange flavoured candy if you can't. (Also? I really want to go to Dunedin during the Cadbury Chocolate Festival to watch them roll Jaffas down the world's steepest street now. Because OHMIGOD AMAZING.) Shove said Jaffas into a ziplock bag:

And bash them with a rolling pin:

Then pour the Jaffas over the top of the fudge and press them down lightly:

Put the whole lot in the fridge for at least two hours, then chop it into bite sized pieces (I cut it into 36 pieces), and completely forget to take photos of the finished product because you're a numpty your brother and ten of his mates are outside asking repeatedly when they can have fudge. It was pretty damned good. As evidenced by the fact that there was one piece left by the time the guys had left!

And if you're not a huge fan of choc orange flavoured stuff, you can replace the orange essence with peppermint essence, and the Jaffas with smashed up candy cane, and you end up with this:

Also delicious. Although after a little while, the candy cane starts to go squishy... Which is fine, because it means it doesn't get stuck in your teeth!

So there you have it - it's quick and simple and totally delicious. You can make it in any number of ways, and it's cheap to make. It's pretty much the perfect recipe!

Did anyone else go crazy with the fudge making over Christmas? Also, who wants to come to Dunedin and watch 30,000 Jaffas be rolled down a giant hill with me???

K xx

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Contrary to appearances, I'm not actually dead. I've just been more than a little busy with the inevitable Christmas shopping and wrapping and baking and celebrating. We had the first of three family Christmas celebrations last night, and my brother has a bunch of choir friends arriving in about half an hour. (They do this song in choir in which the tenors and the first basses sing all kinds of philosophical stuff about how to be happy. The second basses sing the names of over 80 brands of beer. So they've decided to get together and see how many of the different beers they can try. I foresee messiness...)

Anyway, basically I've been distracted by this:

Candy cane fudge

And this:

Jaffa fudge

And this:

My niece, Little Miss A

I'll be back for Movie Monday, as per usual. Have a wonderful, safe and happy Christmas.

K xx