Salted Caramel Fudge (for the Thermomix)

This was without a doubt everyone's favourite fudge last year!

I'm pretty sure there's a reason salted caramel in one form and another has become so prevalent everywhere - and that's because it tastes absolutely divine!

This is my version, tweaked to our preferences and mostly blogged for my own ailing memory, and for my children to be able to find my recipe (because who knows where those scraps of hastily scribbled on paper disappear to!). If you're cooking strictly gluten free, check the chocolate label carefully to ensure it hasn't been made in a factory handling wheat etc. See the notes at the bottom for some nutty suggestions!

If you want to make a selection of fudge, why not try my Chocolate Cookies and Cream Fudge and Festive Fudge with Cranberry and Pistachio recipes too?

Chocolate Cookies and Cream Fudge (for the Thermomix)

Fudge is one of those deliciously decadent treats that people love to make at Christmas - both to eat themselves and as gifts for others. 

Who doesn't love chocolate, and cookies, which make a great monochrome combination that looks very attractive when cut up into cubes and popped into pretty packaging for gifts.

This is my version, tweaked to our preferences and mostly blogged for my own ailing memory, and for my children to be able to find my recipe (because who knows where those scraps of hastily scribbled on paper disappear to!).

If you want to make a selection of fudge, why not try my Salted Caramel Fudge and Festive Fudge with Cranberry and Pistachio recipes too?

Christmas Spiced Honey Roast Almonds (includes Thermomix instructions)

A delicious treat, perfect for serving up to guests with festive drinks, or packing up for Christmas gifts in pretty jars.

Beware, these are incredibly more-ish! And pretty easy to make too, so don't say I didn't warn you!

They do last a few weeks, but I don't think you'll be needing to worry about that - more about not eating them all in one sitting!

You can substitute your favourite nuts if you'd rather not use almonds, just keep an eye on them in the oven. Skin on almonds work particularly well, as the glaze adhers to the crinkly skin of the almond nicely.

Christmas Pudding Truffles (can be gluten free, includes Thermomix method)

Fun canapes, or a festive gift.

Inspired by pretty truffles I'd seen made last year with leftover Christmas pudding, I wanted to make something similar, but using the small fruit cakes that are widely available - and also available gluten free so making it even more accessible (do check the labels on the chocolate you use though, as some bars are prepared in factories handling wheat)!

           

If you don't want to use alcohol, you could just use pure apple, orange or pomegranate juice depending on your preference. I recommend using foodsafe gloves to roll up the balls as I feel it is much easier to handle them as well as being more hygienic, and you won't get into a sticky mess!

Makes around 25 truffles.

Mincemeat Stars (including Gluten Free alternatives)

A delicious alternative to traditional mince pies at Christmas time!

Several years ago, I saw these beautiful little traditional Finnish Christmas tarts called 'joulutorttu', which are traditionally filled with prune jam, that I thought would work wonderfully as a mince pie alternative filled with mincemeat instead.

I played around with them, trying different ways of making sure they didn't burst or come apart during baking, and looked pretty, and this is what I came up with.

You could make your own mincemeat and my easy (gluten free) puff pastry (Thermomix methods for both), or you can simply use a pack of pre-rolled puff pastry and a (411g) jar of mincemeat if you're pushed for time and want the easy alternative. Either way they'll have a lovely home-made look, keep well, and are perfect to offer to unexpected guests that drop by over the festive period, so make a nice little stash as they're very more-ish!

Makes either 20 mini mincemeat stars (my preference), or you could make eight large ones.

Piccalilli with Pears and a Hint of Red Chilli (includes Thermomix method)

The perennial English mustard pickle favourite - punchy, crunchy piccalilli is perfect with pork pie, cheeses and cold meats all year around.

Having a kitchen helper or two will shave lots of preparation time from the recipe (whether they're smaller versions of yourself, or a clever appliance you can plug into the wall!), however it's all worth it for the amount of jars you'll end up with, which you can share around the family and friends (or hoard all for yourself if you're a complete piccalilli fiend!).

You'll end up with around three metric tonnes of piccalilli... no, just kidding, but you will need a pretty mahoosive pot to mix it all together with at the end: e.g. a 5 litre stock pot will do it - or use two large pans - or alternatively you can easily halve the quantities in this recipe. The whole recipe will make 4,800 to 4,900g piccalilli, so have plenty of jars ready to go - and it will easily last a year or more in sterilised jars.

How much it makes - smallest jars 326g

It's your choice whether to make this a chunky piccalilli to have as a side to cheddar, pork pie, ploughman's salad etc., or whether to cut it more finely, so you can have it as a sandwich pickle. I tend to cut mine on the finer side, so that it can be enjoyed as a side, and in lovely doorstep sandwiches. Makes a fabulous gift, and has a much more tasty and refined flavour than the bought jars of piccalilli which can be rather astringent from the vinegars used in them, or packed full of sugar.

Cranberry Sauce with Port and Orange (includes Thermomix instructions)

Delicious served as a condiment with a roast turkey dinner, on the side of cold meats, or in a baguette with soft brie, and maybe even a little bacon, or with turkey, ham and stuffing!

Cranberry sauce isn't just for Christmas, so why not make more of this deliciously tart and tangy sauce! This luxury version is enhanced by the flavours of port, orange and a hint of star anise, and as well as the traditional foil for a rich turkey dinner, it is the perfect partner to rich and creamy French cheeses and cold meats.

This yields about 1.1 to 1.2 litres of sauce, and it will keep unopened in the fridge for many months (mine usually happily lasts up to a year, or more!) if sealed in sterilised jars, as well as keeping a good few weeks after being opened. Makes a lovely gift, too. Around 50 calories per tablespoon.

Bejewelled Festive Fruity Mincemeat (includes Thermomix method)

A rich mix of colourful dried fruits, festive spices and slivered almonds, fragrant with orange and spiked with brandy

For the uninitiated who may be daunted by the idea of eating sweet meat pies, worry not - mincemeat generally stopped containing actual meat about halfway through the last century, although from the 15th century onwards, it was exactly what it said on the tin! Now it's usually a heady mix of dried fruit, spices, distilled spirit, and frequently suet (which is often vegetarian now too), and sometimes mixed peel and nuts.

The great thing about mincemeat, is that it keeps really well, frequently for a year, and sometimes another year after that (some people revive it with another glug of brandy stirred in, or whatever spirit is to hand). It's most commonly used to make 'mince pies', and can also be used inside festive 'strudel' type pastries. My preference is to make it into mincemeat stars (inspired by the Finnish festive star-shaped pastries, Joulutorttu, which are filled with plum or apricot jam and look so pretty) which I started making many years ago and have now become something of a family tradition. If you can make this a couple of weeks ahead of using it, the flavours will develop really nicely, but if (like me) you frequently end up fire-fighting everything you need to do in the week (or couple of days!) before Christmas, then don't worry - I've made it and used it on the same day, and it still tastes fantastic! This quantity will fill two large 800g jars (or an equivalent volume of smaller jars) with a tbsp or two left over.

Chocolate Orange Liqueur - Orange Optional (includes Thermomix method)

A decadent after-dinner treat, delicious poured over ice, or into coffee...

You can choose to make this with or without the orange flavour, and have 'just' a chocolate liqueur if you prefer - or you can tart it up with a few drops of mint essence, or a splash of frangelico for a hazelnut / praline flavour.

           

I mean... it's chocolate - what could possibly go wrong?!

So anyway, however you fancy your chocolate liqueur, here's how to make it! It will yield just over 1,200ml, so if you use 40% spirits to make it, then your end result will be around 12% alcohol by volume (abv), and if you use scrupulously clean equipment to make it, and store in sterilised bottles in the fridge, it should keep for a couple of months (if it lasts that long!!). If you give this to people as a gift, you will have their undying love and loyalty for the rest of your life (possibly).

A couple of 'retro' ingredients, but the tasters agree it's rather good! And it's under half the price you'd pay if you bought chocolate liqueur ready made!

Deliciously Dark Chocolate Jaffa Cakes - Gluten, Dairy, Nut and Grain Free with Natural Orange Jelly (includes Thermomix method)

Think Jaffa cakes - but with a rich dark base instead of a light sponge, and an orange filling made from fresh orange juice and zest, topped with delicious dark chocolate...

These started out as a pleasant accident with coconut flour chocolate cookies (i.e. they turned out more like cakes than cookies!) - which I decided would be great as a base for dark chocolate Jaffa-style cakes, but with a natural orangey filling. I'd seen a handful of recipes for 'normal' sponge-based Jaffa-style cakes in the past (i.e. wheat flour, sugar and butter), but these all had a suggestion of using a packet of orange flavoured jelly melted with less water than usual - and to be honest, I never really liked the flavour of artificial tasting packet-jelly even as a child.

So I plotted and I schemed, and I decided that reducing down some freshly squeezed orange juice, along with the grated zest would have a much nicer taste (and far fewer colourings and flavourings!) as the orange filling, and given that the chocolate 'cake' part was made with coconut oil rather than butter, putting dark chocolate on the top would keep it dairy free.

If you're not looking to make the GF DF variety, and just want normal cake bottoms, you could make plain or chocolate cake batter, and just put a tbsp or so in the bottom of muffin tins instead - or, you could make Jaffa muffins by using the orange and melted chocolate toppings on top of muffins - or even better, on top of chocolate Magic Bean Cake muffins, for a really delicious twist! See here for MBC recipe.

This recipe makes 16 dark chocolate Jaffa style cakes at 137 calories each (if you're counting) [calories in square brackets].

Sweet Chilli Sauce - includes Thermomix method

Who doesn't love dipping into a sweet chilli sauce?

And with only 5 ingredients, you can make your own quickly and easily in around ten minutes!

Delicious with Thai food, such as fishcakes, crabcakes or plump and juicy prawns, this quick recipe can be put together while whatever you are dipping in it is cooking!

Serves four, easily doubled. You could even make up a large batch if you wanted to, and store it in sterilised bottles as it would last a long time due to the ingredients. 60 calories per serving [calories in square brackets].

Smoky Barbecue Sauce (includes Thermomix method)

You can't beat a decent barbecue sauce, especially if you make it yourself!

This is amazing with my Pulled Pork recipe, especially in a bun with some homemade Southern style coleslaw or with spare ribs, and also great on burgers, with sausages, or even on grilled chicken with a little handful of melted cheese, and a couple of rashers of crispy bacon. You could use it as a glaze if you're cooking, as well as a sauce.

Many commercially-made varieties are overly sugary and vinegary, and lack substance, being made mostly of water and thickener. If you make your own with a base of tomato passata (sieved tomatoes), you can control how sweet and thick it is yourself, and adjust the salt and acidity levels as well. As you can see, I played around until I got it to my preferred consistency and flavour (the bottom right!).

Even better, if you're making it for the family, you can leave out the salt if you have small children (or want to reduce your salt levels). This one does have a little bit of a kick though (only a little one, honest!) from the smoked paprika, so if there are any baby-mouths in the house, you might want to go easy on that! Once you've made it, you could portion it out into re-sealable sandwich bags to freeze (and defrost as required), or store from hot in sterilized jars and refrigerate after opening. If you have a Thermomix, I've included the Thermomix method at the bottom. [Calories in square brackets]

Calories per 2 tbsp (30ml) serving, 24. Makes approximately 1.2 litres / 1,200 ml / 1,200g.

Chocolate Pecan Fudge and Cocoa Dusted Truffles

Not quite what you might be expecting...

But if you've never tried anything like this, you may find yourself very pleasantly surprised!

No heating or cooking involved, just combining some raw and natural ingredients to give a delicious and rich result that can make a healthier adult alternative to traditional fudge or truffles, or a tasty treat for the kids! I'm a complete chocoholic, and I could (and may!) happily by-pass conventional chocolate for the cocoa dusted chocolate pecan truffles - I won't be buying any chocolate this week, that's for sure!! And these turned out so well, I can see me experimenting with a few different flavours too...

All you need to make them, is a decent food processor or blender and a tray or dish to put the mix in to chill. (I made mine in my beloved Thermomix and have included speed/timing instructions for Thermomix owners in brackets).

Chocolate Brownies with a Twist

Oh, these are naughty, very, VERY naughty - there is no expense spared here, and not a calorie saved! 

Well, they're chocolate brownies, and I'm a chocoholic, so what else would you expect? There is NO compromising where chocolate is concerned in this house!

However, if you're trying to be good, and want a leetle, leetle there is the option to cut them into little baby brownies and 'reduce' the calories that way. But be careful, they are DANGEROUSLY more-ish...

Aromatic Spiced Mango and Apple Chutney

Well, if you're going to the trouble of making yourself a good curry...

...you should certainly have a go at making this delicious mango chutney to eat before (with poppadoms etc.) or with your dinner (especially if it's a curry!).

If you're counting, it's approximately 17 calories per level tablespoon - great with curries and poppadoms etc., and also left-over roasts such as turkey, pork, chicken and ham, and strong cheeses! Also great to give away as a Christmas gift!

Sri Lankan Chicken Curry

Most of us love a good curry...

...although it's quite easy to get into a bit of a curry 'rut' and end up eating the same curries over and over again. There's nothing wrong with that if you've found the ones you like, but it's always pleasure to find a new one that's really good and add it to your repetoire (and your friends', if you're feeling like sharing!).

If you want a really authentic experience, go for chicken on the bone either chopping up a carcass yourself, or using chicken thighs. I've given a recipe with the choice of using this or chicken breast meat, to cater to different tastes (and those wishing to reduce the fat content).

Serves a generous four (to six), easily halved or doubled. The curry powder makes more than you need, but will keep for months in an airtight container or jar (and you’ll definitely want to make this one again, or even make it in bulk as gifts! You can also use it in my delicious Spiced Sweet Potato and Tomato Soup).

Cajun Spice / Seasoning Mix (includes Thermomix instructions)

Like it spicy and full of flavour?

Want to add a tasty kick the next time you grill, griddle or barbeque some chicken, pork or salmon, or indeed anything else you fancy? Fed up of paying over-the-odds for overly-salty pre-made spice mixes with added nasties?

Well, make it yourself then!

It will only take you a few minutes, and it's really easy! Makes around 32 servings, at 5 calories per teaspoon, and you can season with the salt element to suit you.

Salted Chillies

This has to be one of the simplest preserves imaginable.
Just two ingredients - salt and chopped up chillies. Mix them together and sprinkle a little more salt on top, that's IT!

They need to sit in a cool place for a couple of weeks, and then they're ready. Just keep them in the fridge once you've opened them and they'll last for months. They're incredibly versatile, and traditional in (Hunanese) Chinese cooking (so there will be some recipes here which call for them). You can use them as a seasoning, to just stir into something when you fancy a kick, or if you're cooking something which calls for fresh red chillies and you haven't got any in, they're a great standby. They're also a traditional condiment for certain oriental dishes. So, what are you waiting for?

Chocolate Heaven...

...since (about) half past seven.

A little bit of a bastardisation of a certain Very Famous Chocolate Manufacturer's catchphrase there, which doesn't do these particular chocolates justice, because their quality far surpasses the clunky, mediocre fayre peddled by the masters of mass production. Not that I don't eat them sometimes, but they're infinitely disappointing compared to the 'real thing'.

By 'real thing', I mean artisan chocolates crafted with love - hand-made using carefully selected high quality chocolate and ingredients, where the balance of flavours has been perfected. I wish I had the words to describe what the perfect chocolate to me is, but I struggle to vocalise it without descending into rapturous eulogising, which may sound somewhat overly sensual (not least because I'm drooling at the thought of it). Besides which, it would be impossible to describe the perfect chocolate, because I haven't tasted them all...

 

I used to be a member of a certain chocolate tasting club, where you'd get sent a box each month, of a carefully chosen collection of brand new, experimental chocolates by various different master chocolatiers from across the globe. You never knew what you were going to get, just that it was going to be good and have things in it that you'd never tasted before. Some of them would blow your mind, and others would, well, mess with it. Not always in a good way, but it would always be exciting trying new flavours that were exclusive to the tasting club.

It's been a while since I've eaten chocolates like that - the occasional food festival/show there might be a few stands of people selling handmade chocolates, some of which are really good, but that happens only a few times a year.

So, I expect those of you for whom chocolate is akin to a religion are dying to know just what transported me to chocolate heaven for an evening - which chocolates? Who made them? Where can you get some too? Read on, and I will divulge all...