Melt-in-your-mouth Vanilla Fudge

Life is short. Have you ever contemplated that fact? I have always had it in the back of my mind, my mortality lurking there, but recently a few events have made it glaringly obvious. Not that I want to go into all the morbid details, but I really just wanted to share how precious our lives are. How lucky we are to be well, alive and fortunate enough to have all that we do. I really just want you take a second to think about that. About all you have. Not about what you want or what you don't have, just about ALL you DO have - and then be thankful for it. Annnnnd after all that heavy thought, here is what you came for....

 
This fudge is really yummy. Have you ever had American Fudge Factory fudge? It has a firm dreamy outer layer and a creamy soft inner centre - all a product of their famous fudge making method. I have watched them fudging away before, it's a pretty awesome process. They make the thick, hot, sugary mixture in a big copper pot, then they pour it onto a massive marble slab where they almost churn it with a big wooden spoon/paddle type thing. This whole process adds a hang of a lot of air to the fudge, which makes it super dooper creamy. They then add all those wonderful flavours (gotta say, the milo and the milky bar are my ultimate flavours!!!!) and leave them to set in a nice, thick bar. It's amazing fudge, if you have never had any - seriously - go and find a store and buy some. Their slogan is 'flippin good fudge' and they aren't lying!

 
So when I cam across this recipe in my latest IDEAS magazine, I was absorbed. I mean that. I could not stop thinking about this fudge. I guess it was the liquid glucose that caught my attention. It's the one ingredient that I have never added to my fudge, and it's the one ingredient that I could imagine giving that super soft and dreamy centre to fudge. So I gave it a try.

 
And it turned out fantastically. I didn't follow their exact instructions, I cooked it longer then they instructed and I added vanilla bean seeds instead of vanilla essence. Hmmm - come to think of it, I also beat it with my electric hand whisk so that it would be super creamy. And it worked. SO. WELL.

So go and check their fudge out here. I can imagine this would make a really sweet sauce too if you shortened the cooking time. Excuse the pun!

Rocky Road Custard Creams

Hi there! Remeber me? I know! Its been so long since I have last posted! I have been busy with my teaching prac and been LOVING it! But it has taken up a huge chunk of my time! I have been working at a Pre-School just up the road from my home called The Birches Pre-Primary. It is a totally awesome school. I have had to do art lessons with the kiddies for my first year pracs. Its been so much fun! In fact nect week I plan to do an introduction to my lesson by making balloon animals and then preceed to do painting with round balloons dipped in paint. Messy and fun! Woo hoo!

Anywhoo... The last post I did was of my fav cookies: Custard Creams. I really do adore them. SO I made a second batch and added a whole of fun to it!

AND by a whole lot of fun I mean mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and jelly tots!

These mini marshies I used here were REAL jet puffed mini marshmallows that my sweet friend Carla had sent me because I couldn't find any here in SA. But just today, when I was shopping for some fruit (YES, I do try and eat healthy at times! I mean I LOVE banana bread!) I found some mini pink and white marshmallows at Woolies! Speaking of SA things - I have been overwhelmed at all the South African Foodie love Bits of Sunshine has been getting over the past few weeks! You guys have no idea how much that means to me! Thanks a million!

Word of warning: the marshmallows make the bottom of these cookies ultra sticky! Seriously! If you have a Silpat - use it! A Silpat makes baking anything sticky, BLISS.

And that is all there is to these little bites of yumminess!

Let me know if you have ever made a Rocky Road version of your fav cookie!

Rocky Road Custard Creams 

Yield: about 40 cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Baking time: 15-20 min

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 cup custard powder
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup jelly tots
3/4 cup mini marshmallows

• combine butter, icing sugar, vanilla essence, custard powder and flour together and mix until a firm dough is reached
• add the chocolate chips, jelly tots and mini marshmallows and mix
• shape into balls and press flat with a fork or your hand
• space each cookie on a greased baking sheet (they don’t grow/rise much)
• bake at 180°C/350°F for about 15 - 20 minutes on the middle shelf
• keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t brown around the edges
• enjoy!

www.bitsofsunshine.com (c) 2013 Heidi Hawyes

Custard Creams

It's not often that I fall IN LOVE with a cookie recipe. I am an adventure-cookie-bakin-kind-of-person. I love to try out new cookie recipes, and it seems so does every other food blogger, so recipes for any-kind-of-cookie are in endless supply. This recipe, however, is a recipe that I crave, that I love, that I will make again and again.

Let me tell you why:

1. These cookies taste like custard shortbread
2. Their texture is delightful (corn flour - the secret to an amazingly crunchy, yet soft cookie!)
3. They are buttery and flavourful
4. You can eat the dough, by the handful.
5. They require very little effort

So - what is not to love about that?

In fact, I used to make these for my friends at school. Sometimes we would sit and discuss baking cookies during accountancy classes (yes, cookies are far more educational and interesting!) And they were always such a hit.

Speaking of school, you know before you leave high school, everyone says to you: enjoy your last year...you are going to WISH you could go back once you start work. Well, I have never really felt that way. I have always LOVED the freedom of no homework, no routine, no EXAMS! That was my blissful life, before I started studying again. BLEH. Now I have all the normal activities to do as well as trying to fit in all my assignments and studying for exams.

Next week I get to mix up my normal life, I am starting my prac teaching - and I am both nervous and excited for it! I get to do something new. I have been working as a graphic designer for the last 5 years, and my life has pretty much been the same everyday for the last 5 years. Crazy. Now I have to break out and mix it up. The biggest downside for me is leaving my little pooch at home. She goes with me everywhere, yip, even to work. And leaving her at home is already breaking my heart. She gets all sad! Sigh.

Anyways, 

This is what you will need to make these work:
250g butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 cup custard powder
2 ¼ cups flour

and then you pop all of these into your mixer

and mix! Until it looks like this..

 Perfect!

 Then roll some dough into little balls, and press them down with a fork.

Have I ever told you that I love my silpat baking mat? I would even go as far as saying - it may be one of the best baking 'tools' I have ever bought! I highly recommend getting one. I know so many girls debate about which is better, a silpat or baking paper...but I think a silpat wins hands down. It is like magic! Nothing sticks to it (so there are no tears of despair because your cookies are ruined because they have stuck to the paper (not that this has ever happened to me! ha!)). The cookies literally glide off. It also distributes heat more evenly then a baking sheet. Win, win.

So after you have rolled and pressed, it time to bake.

This time will vary according to the thickness of your cookies, but I baked these ones for about 18 minutes at 180°C/350°F . The longer you bake them, the crunchier they will be.

Custard Cream Cookies Printable



Yield: about 40 cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Baking time: 15-20 min

Ingredients:
250g butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract)
1 cup custard powder
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

• combine all the ingredients together, starting with the wet ingredients then add the dry ingredients and mix until a firm dough is reached
• shape into balls and press flat with a fork or your hand
• space each cookie on a greased baking sheet (they don’t grow/rise much)
• bake at 180°C/350°F for about 15 - 20 minutes on the middle shelf
• keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t brown around the edges
• enjoy!

www.bitsofsunshine.com (c) 2013 Heidi Hawyes