Peanut Butter Fudge

I am planning on making some fudge for a secret santa present this year, and I wanted to give it a trial run. I wasn't going to risk making a dodgy recipe for a gift- and I wanted my own batch. I specifically wanted to make peanut butter fudge, as I the person I have for secret santa loves it.

A quick google search came up with the Sophie Dahl recipe for peanut butter fudge, which looked pretty easy- there is no mention of a sugar thermometer, for one thing (which I don't own). I'm quite hit and miss when it comes to fudge making, so the simpler the recipe the better, for me, at least.

I really liked the end result- it's not chewy, which is how I prefer fudge to be, but it has a really lovely flavour- the dark brown sugar makes it slightly treacley. It is incredibly sweet, so cut it into little cubes (unsurprising for a recipe that contains 800g sugar).

Besan Laddoo

These are the second type of Indian sweet I have attempted, the first being barfi. Besan laddoo are dense, sandy textured spheres, speckled with chopped nuts. Like the barfi, I got the recipe from Mamta's Kitchen, my go-to when I want a reliable Indian recipe.

They're not difficult to make, but toasting the gram flour to the right shade of red-brown takes a while. I got a bit worried that I had done something wrong, because my mixture stayed a stubborn yellow for a long time, but I got there eventually. Cooling the mixture before you can handle it takes a while too- it retains heat like nothing else I know.

After I removed the pan from the heat, I stirred a few drops of almond essence and orange blossom water into the mixture like I did with the barfi. This is my own (non authentic) twist, but I like it.

Ingredients
150-175g ghee or unsalted butter
250g chickpea flour/ gram flour/ besan
250g caster sugar
100g chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios, cashews)

Method
Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Stir in the chickpea flour, and cook, stirring all the time until it turns reddish brown. This takes a while, when it is ready the ghee will begin to separate from the flour. Stir in the sugar and nuts, and allow to cool.
When you can handle the mixture, take about 1 tablespoon of the mix, and form into a ball. You really need to compact it together when you're doing this, or it will fall apart. Repeat with the rest of the laddoo mixture. 

Almond and Orange Blossom Barfi

Barfi, or burfi, is a sweet made with condensed milk from India, like all Indian sweets they are tooth achingly sugary. They are also very delicious, but even I can only eat one or two. I have been meaning to try making all the different Indian sweets that I love so much for a while now, and Barfi seemed like a good starting point as it is a fairly straightforward recipe. My favourite sweet is the gulab jamun, a deep fried ball of milk powder saturated in a rose flavoured syrup, which I will make, once I feel confident with enough other recipes.
I love the taste of almonds with orange blossom water, which is more of a Middle Eastern combination than an Indian one. I added a few drops to the barfi mix after cooking it, but if you want to keep it traditional, just leave it out. The recipe I used came from Mamta's Kitchen, a website with a huge collection of recipes, everything I've cooked from there has been fantastic. If you like or want to learn about cooking authentic Indian food it's a real find.

Ingredients
400g condensed milk
200g ground almonds
20 blanched almonds, roughly chopped
few drops almond essence
1 tsp orange blossom water
Extra blanched almonds, to decorate.

Grease a swiss roll tin. Put the condensed milk, ground almonds, chopped almonds and almond essence in a saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. The mixture is quite stiff, but persevere. When the mix starts pulling away from the sides in one mass as you stir it, it is ready. Off the heat, beat in the orange blossom water. Transfer the barfi mix to the greased tin. I found this easiest by spooning it in, and then smoothing it all down with a knife. I also only used about half the length of the swiss roll tin, making the sweets about 1cm thick. At this point I pressed in some more blanched almonds to decorate. Leave the barfi to cool. When the mixture has set, cut it into squares or diamonds. Lift out of the tin carefully to store.

Frangelico Fudge

I love Frangelico, a sticky-sweet hazelnut liqueur that comes in a monk shaped bottle. Some larger supermarkets stock it now, due to the Nigella effect on people's shopping lists. I'm not complaining, if I hadn't had read about it in How to Be a Domestic Goddess, I doubt I would have concocted this recipe. Don't leave out the salt unless you really are a sodium-phobe, it adds a certain something.

Ingredients
50 grams hazelnuts

275 grams Caster sugar 

100 grams golden syrup 

250 grams clotted cream
125ml Frangelico

pinch salt

tsp cocoa

Method
Toast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan. When they are cool enough to handle, rub off the skins, and chop roughly. Grease a 20cm square tin. Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and heat gently, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, cover and boil for 3 minutes. Uncover and continue to boil for 3 minutes more. Take off the heat, and beat until it takes on a slightly grainy appearance. Pour into the tin. When it is half-set, sprinkle over the hazelnuts and dust with cocoa. Cut into squares to serve.