Ramona’s Pumpkin Fudge

 

I got this recipe from a friend who used the word “Divine” to describe this fudge. Since I was looking for something different to do with pumpkin I decided to give it a try. It is definitely a rich and decadent candy. A little goes a long way – still, I ate more than a little.

I made it two different ways – vanilla and chocolate - and I decided that both were worthy to take to a gathering. Since several people requested the recipe, I have decided that I am not the only one who thinks this fudge is pretty tasty.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 C sugar
1/2 C canned pumpkin
2/3 C evaporated milk
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1 (12oz) pkg vanilla or chocolate chips
2 C mini marshmallows
1-1/4 tsp vanilla
chopped nuts if desired

Directions:

Line an 8 X 8 pan with foil, letting the foil hang over the sides of the pan. (I don’t have a square pan, so I just use a round cake pan.) Spray the foil with non stick spray.

It’s a good idea to have the chips, marshmallows and vanilla measured out and ready to add at the end of the cooking time.

In a heavy pan, combine the sugar, pumpkin, evaporated milk, butter, salt and pie spice. Stirring constantly over medium heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 12 minutes while continuing to stir. This is a lot of stirring, but it’s important or else the mixture will burn and be ruined. It should look like a thick caramel sauce. I have many ideas for how I could use just this pumpkin caramel.

Remove sauce from heat and stir in chocolate or vanilla chips, marshmallows and vanilla  until smooth. Poor into the foil lined pan. Cover and refrigerate until set.

* I mixed up my own pumpkin pie spice using: 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/2 tsp ginger. It’s more than you’ll need, but it’s good to have a little left for other holiday recipes.

Caramel Candy

This was my third attempt at making caramel candy. The first attempt turned out too soft that I had to keep the candies in the refrigerator at all time. The second attempt, with the help of a stuck candy thermometer, I got a giant black rock which I promptly trashed before anybody could turn it into a weapon.



This one, I dare say, was a success!!! Although the candies went soft at room temperature in Thailand and they still had to be kept in the refrigerator. But at almost 40 degrees Celsius (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit) even my Chapstick had to be kept in the cold box.




I followed the first recipe from this page which is super easy with only a few simple ingredients. My candy thermometer was still stuck but I kept the time and continuously testing the texture under cold water.

My brother said that these candies tasted very similar to Jacques Torres' (at about a dollar a piece!) but mines didn't melt in the mouth as much as the professional candies. Mines were also more difficult to chew because they were huge. I said I almost broke my hands cutting those pieces so shut up.

Look What the Easter Bunny Laid in My Basket

I realize that the title of this post sounds dirty. Or disgusting. But the important thing is that you are looking at one of the most scrumptious chocolates ever to slip down my gullet. It is from Chocolate Covered, the tiny chocolate emporium on 24th Street in Noe Valley.

I don't know what it is - the gooey caramel, the huge, crunchy walnut, the dark, dark chocolate, the generous sprinkling of coarse salt on the top, or the combination, but it is like a little nugget from heaven. The first time I had one, I was driving and nearly had an accident because I was so enraptured. And by enraptured, I mean moaning and groaning with pleasure. Unfortunately, I was not alone. I cannot apologize enough for my public display of lewdness (or the many near-accidents I am sure I caused), but this chocolate swept me off my feet and left me weak in the knees and begging for more.

(Marilyn Monroe voice): Thanks, Easter Bunny. *wink*

Molasses Chocoate Caramel Candy

My brother asked me to buy him some caramel candies from Jacques Torres. I said: "Why?" Who eats caramel candies anyway? It's just burnt sugar and it sticks to my teeth forever. But because I am a good sister, I got him two huge boxes ($16 for 18 pieces!)

Then I tried one. Then two. Then three. And I couldn't stop. I ended up eating a third of the box...

I guess being forever sticky has its own appeal.

Not wanting to spend almost a dollar a piece for caramel candy, I set out for my own caramel candy recipe to make at home.

Here's my first try: chocolate caramel candy. I picked this one because it didn't require a candy thermometer (which is my mistake number 1.)



I cooked everything according to the recipe except that I didn't know how to check for the right consistency under cool water and ended up burning my index finger. Up to the index-finger-burning point everything was pretty easy.

I was very excited to cut and wrap the candies up. I was dreaming of mailing them to brother to surprise him.



But it was a mess. The brick of caramel doesn't quite harden enough. I guess I should have cooked it a little longer. I muscled through a few wrappings and got about 20 candies before giving up. They were soft sticky candies that tasted more like burnt molasses than chocolate. Not quite the quality I want to airmail to Thailand yet...

Caramel Popcorn

This recipe is so easy, and I always have the ingredients on hand. I can have this stuff made in about 15 minutes. We can't stay out of it and it's usually gone in one sitting. I like it because it makes a big batch and I can divy it up and give some away to the neighbors for Christmas.

Ingredients:

4 quarts popped popcorn (1/2 C Kernels)

1/2 C butter

1 C brown sugar

15 lg. marshmallows - or 2 C mini

In a medium sauce pan, melt butter. Add sugar and marshmallows and stir over medium/hight heat until mixture comes to a boil. Pour over popcorn and mix until the popcorn is evenly coated.

We eat it right out of the bowl, but you could spread it out on a cookies sheet so that it will cool and can be put into some type of a container to give away.

Never the Twain...

East is east, and west is west, and never the twain shall meet...or so I thought. When it comes to popcorn and candy at the movies, I thought it was like keeping a Kosher kitchen - the sweets bag shalt never mix with the savory bag.

Then Jude taught me that it's fun to put the candy in the popcorn, so that every now and then you get a little sweet bite among the salty bites, and it also slightly melts the chocolate, which makes it gooey-liscious. It works great with my favorite concession candy, Raisinettes.

It's kind of surprising that I like this combination, as I was the kid who couldn't stand to have her food touch on her plate - I would methodically eat around the gravy-soaked portion of the peas, leave bits of meat glued to mashed potatoes, etc. But for some reason, this works for me.

I looked around online and found nothing that spoke to the origins of this practice. I thought that it might be regional, like putting peanuts in Coke, or salting your beer. Nope, no evidence that anyone does this at all.

So, tell me, does anyone do this? Or are we the only ones with chocolate and salt covered fingers in the dark of the cinema?

The $8.00 Chocolate Bar

I was in the FIDI a couple of days ago, and walked past a place called Fog City News, whose sign proclaimed this:


Of course I had to stop in (no kidding!!). The chocolate section was pretty good, but not as mind-blowing as they would have you believe. I bought 2 of my favorite chocolate bars from Vosges, the "Goji Bar" (goji berries, pink Himalayan salt, deep milk chocolate) and "Mo's Bacon Bar" (applewood smoked bacon, Alder wood smoked salt, deep milk chocolate), and 2 new bars to try from an Austrian company called Zotter, with its weird promises of hand-scooped something or other, "Banana Curry" and "Cheese, Walnuts, Grapes". I should have known better, but they were too weird to pass up.

While I was checking out, I noticed a candy bar on the counter in unusual packaging, and I asked the sales guy about it. "Oh," he said, "that's a really good bar, from new company. The guy who started it has come out with a single-origin white chocolate, the first of his kind. That's his dark chocolate, which we have on the counter to promote the brand. Shawn, the owner, is a really interesting guy." Then he pulled out a plate from behind the counter (just like on a TV cooking show!) and before I knew it, I was sampling a square of creamy, not-too-sweet white chocolate. I added the new chocolate bar to my pile and headed over to some friends' for an impromptu chocolate tasting.

The Zotter bars? Disappointing, odd, definitely not worth the money. The "Banana Curry" tasted like a breakfast bar that you might buy at Trader Joe's, with no hint of curry. It was also kind of reminiscent of baby food. The "Cheese, Wine, Grapes" was just plain strange. It had a kind of briny taste that I would not describe as cheese-like, more like something that had gone off, with a grainy texture, and the wine part just made the back of your throat sting in an unpleasant way. A total bust. I should have known better after tasting the Brie Cupcake at last year's Cupcake Bakeoff. Cheese and chocolate do not mix.


The Askinosie bar (70% Dark Chocolate) was excellent, though. Great flavor, smooth texture, complex. Upon further inspection of the packaging, I realized that the picture on the front of the bar was of the farmer whose beans were in the bar - I liked that. The farm is in San Jose del Tambo, Ecuador, and there is information about the source throughout the packaging, as well as this quote: "In his effort to restore the once glorified Soconusco bean, Askinosie is the first in the world outside of Mexico in over 100 years to make chocolate from this historic region." Hmmm, seems like this Shawn Askinosie guy, from Springfield, MO of all places, did his research.


It turns out that Shawn is a former Criminal Defense Lawyer who made desserts as a hobby. After exploring his cupcake obsession (I can relate), he decided to go into chocolate making. Not knowing anything about it, he used his investigative skills to make himself an expert, then sought out farmers to work with directly who could fulfill his vision. It turns out that chocolate was his calling.

I like those kinds of stories. The guy sounds a little kooky, the kind of person who would trap you at a dinner party and bore you to death with his latest venture, but with his heart in the right place. He has a program in which he teaches local, underprivileged kids about the chocolate making process and entrepreneurship. One less lawyer, one more chocolate maker. I can live with that!

And along with all of this, the chocolate really is delicious, relying on nothing but its pure ingredients to differentiate it from the herd. It is a chocolate to be savored, one square at a time, like a fine wine or an espresso. Okay, I had three squares after lunch. Fine, I had six. But I savored them all!

Hot Chicks

About 5 people have sent this to me now, and I smile every time I see it. Come here and gimme some sugar, sugar!

Candy is Dandy

I was trying to think of what kind of candy would be good to sneak into the movie theater tonight, to see "The Other Boleyn Girl" - and I remembered that we had received these as a Christmas gift. Discreet and appropriate, don't you think? Sweet, English, traditional, and a little naughty.

Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

It is no secret that I love food. Two of my favorite foods are chocolate and bacon. But just because you like two things, does not always mean that they should be put together (tequila and table tennis, for example).

Here is a beautiful and unlikely exception, Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges Chocolates. Put your fears away and go out and get one of these chocolate bars immediately (unless you are vegan, then by all means skip this post). The deep milk chocolate is creamy and rich, paired with crunchy bits of applewood smoked bacon, and then made even more delicious with the addition of Alder wood smoked salt - simply orgasmic. And just like any food that combines the sweet with the salty (kettlecorn, Reeces Peanut Butter Cups), it is highly addictive.

I was given this chocolate as a gift from my friend Kristina, who bought it at her favorite local chocolate shop, Chocolate Covered in Noe Valley. These sweet people know their chocolate.

Being given a gift always wants to make me give back. So, here is a link to my favorite candy website, Candy Blog. Wonderfully organized, with and excellent rating system and amazing photographs, it is a joy to read.

Candy Chameleon

Ich liebe marzipan! It's been one of my favorite candies since I was a young girl. Not only is it delicious, it can be made to look like anything. I fell in love with these adorable marzipan pigs at a store in Munich. I want to nuzzle them, and then bite off their little ears. Is that wrong?