Fudge and Sweet Things

There's a distinct nip in the air of a morning and evening this week (and a cold dull grey day of rain in-between) which makes it very clear that Summer is over and as any retailer knows that means Christmas is almost upon us. Evidence to that effect is stacking up at work in the form of tins of Quality Street outside my wine store and the first customers have been asking for stout and barley wine which means they're making their Christmas puddings. At home I'm sorting out jam jars, stockpiling sugar, idly sketching out possible decorative ideas for Christmas cakes, and thinking about trying out recipes.

I bought a copy of Annie Rigg's 'Sweet Things' as a birthday present (and was really loathe to give it away) I really liked 'Gifts From The Kitchen' a couple of years ago and really want a copy of 'Sweet Things' of my own but have settled for sneakily copying down a couple of recipes from it for now, one of which was for the fudge I made last night. The thing with Annie's books (you surely have to be on first name terms with an Annie) is that she's an amazing stylist 'Gifts From The Kitchen' made me think as much about presentation as it did actually cooking, and 'Sweet Things' looked to have something of the same aesthetic about it.

Home made fudge is much better than any I've ever bought and is the perfect thing for making to share as no one person could reasonably get through a whole batch on their own. Last night's effort was maple pecan (or in my case walnut) fudge and is possibly the sweetest thing I've ever eaten. There was also a recipe for cherry and brandy fudge as an alternative for rum and raisin which sounds good and one for candied almonds rolled in chocolate and freeze dried cherry powder which sounds very good. The maple walnut fudge is interesting, I will make it again but was unprepared for just how rich and sweet it would be, it was also quite different from any other fudge I've made...

Maple Walnut Fudge

150g of caster sugar

300g of maple syrup (thank god for Costco or this wouldn't be financially viable)

2 tablespoons of golden syrup

150ml of double cream

75ml of full cream milk

2 tablespoons of whisky (Annie says bourbon but I'm a scotch girl and used Highland Park 12 for it's slightly smoky edge, I might try something really peaty next time...)

1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract

25g unsalted putter

100g pecans toasted and roughly chopped

A 17cm square tin lined with baking paper.

Combine everything but the butter and nuts in a heavy based saucepan (one that can be plunged in cold water later, so not a preferred and prized Le Creuset which really objected to this treatment) and cook gently over a medium heat to dissolve the sugar, stir frequently.

Stick a thermometer in the pan, bring to a gentle boil, and continue to cook until it reaches 114 degrees C, Keep stirring to prevent it from catching and burning. When it's ready take it off the heat and plunge the pan into a sink of cold water to stop it cooking any more. Add the butter and gently stir before scooping it into a large heatproof mixing bowl. Leave undisturbed for 15-20 mins (I don't think I waited long enough which has possibly affected the texture as I couldn't get the lovely grainy crumbly finish I prefer).

Beat (Annie says with a wooden spoon or spatula, I say with an electric hand whisk) for 3 or 4 mins until the fudge thickens, looks less glossy, and gets a bit grainy. Stir in most of the nuts saving a few to press into the top and spoon into the tin, leave to cool overnight. This should keep for up to 2 weeks in an air tight container.

Gifts (for myself) from the Kitchen

I’m not sure that this even counts as a recipe but I’m quite pleased with the results so am sharing it anyway. The cover of Annie Rigg’s ‘Gifts from the Kitchen’ has a box of rose and raspberry chocolate wafers on the cover (which I think are exactly the same thing as mendiants and which sounds more sophisticated to me than wafer despite meaning beggar). Freeze dried raspberries are impossible to find in Leicester at the moment but the vegetarian shop (Current Affairs) has promised to source some for me which I call excellent customer services.

Thwarted in my desire to follow the recipe faithfully I had to fall back on a collection of nuts, candied petals, and some vanilla finishing salt I got cheap at work because the label explaining what you do with it had fallen off. I still don’t know what to do with Vanilla finishing salt but I won’t add it to chocolate wafers/mendiants again, far too damn salty.

Anyway all you need to do to turn a large bar of top quality chocolate into a lot of small pieces of chocolate and some melted chocolate is heat it very gently ideally in a bowl over barely simmering water stirring it until it’s smooth and then let it cool slightly. Meanwhile get a baking sheet and cover it in grease proof paper then poor small spoonfuls of the chocolate onto the paper and sprinkle stuff on them. Leave the lot to solidify and store in the fridge in an air tight container where they should be happy for about five days. (I can’t see why they shouldn’t keep for longer but that’s what the book and the website’s all say, and as mine probably won’t last that long I have to believe it.)

They would make perfect fillers for Easter eggs and a dark chocolate Brazil nut combo would undoubtedly make my father a very happy man – but will it be possible to share...

Gifts From the Kitchen – Annie Rigg

Back in February I had a good sort through my cook books and cleared some out with half an eye to making space for some new things on the shelf (a small flat imposes some sort of control on my book acquiring habits). One book I’d been looking at since before Christmas and have since got my hands on is Annie Rigg’s ‘Gifts From the Kitchen’. Annie Rigg’s C.V. is fascinating she’s been a food stylist for all sorts of magazines as well as on tour cook for the likes of Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones, I can’t help but wonder if she did heart shaped pastel sugar cubes for them as well.

I like the idea of making things for people although in real life juggling the time to create with how long perishable items can be kept, or how long they need to mature – well I think you can see where this is going. It’s at least one of the reasons that I’m always looking out for new/usable ideas. At first glance ‘Gifts From the Kitchen’ looked like a lot of confectionary and some pretty cakes (I can’t tell you how much I want to make marshmallows or how impractical it looks - they don’t keep and I don’t feel up to organising a sufficient number of marshmallow eaters as well as production on a single day.) However there’s more than just cake in here. Lots of chutneys, pickles, liquors, preserves, spicy nuts, even pasta (and okay so it’s sweet but how to make your own Nutella style chocolate spread – now that I can do) all sorts of good things in fact, and for all conceivable occasions.

What really sets this book apart though is the styling. Give or take a couple of things (mostly that chocolate spread recipe, but there are a couple of others I’m very pleased to have to hand) I could probably find most the things in here somewhere else in my extensive assortment of cookbooks but – and it’s a big but as my other new cookbook (Pam Corbin’s ‘Cakes’) highlights - styling is what turns something ordinary but delicious into an extraordinary present. Some of it’s simple enough stuff – toffee would make a nice enough gift, but toffee still in its baking tin tied up with ribbon and a little hammer... Or perhaps homemade herbal tea bags with hand printed labels and a vintage teapot?

I see a trip to tk maxx coming up and a good scour round the market for ribbons and the like, I will be prepared for Christmas this year (a ‘career’ in retail will make you think April = Christmas planning, by August it needs to be locked down). The blonde, my sister, and the Scottish one all have birthdays coming up soon so perhaps there will be some dry runs first. I did think at one point that this might be a good way to save money as well as doing something nice, the saving money thing doesn’t add up, but the more thought I give it the more I like the idea of making instead of buying. On the other hand it’s entirely conceivable that ‘Gifts from the Kitchen’ will be the staple birthday present of the year from me and I’ll just hope to receive the fruits of other people’s labours.