INSTANT CHOCOLATE & CASHEWNUT FUDGE

These are the days when I wish I can whip up something in less than 5 minutes,something which is good, in taste and looks and these blocks of chocolate goodness is my answer! If you ask me what's keeping me busy,we have been having parties at home back to back, baking and cooking on all the 4 burners at the same time,baking goodies to giveaway as gifts, some were packed and sent to my relatives on the otherside of this wide nation, some as 'under the tree' gifts for friends and some just for the 2 of us to munch on while we vaccum clean the house and load the dishwasher! :)

I still have another big batch of  fruit cakes and  cookies to be baked and in between all this I think of how to shoot some pics and post them on my blog. My blog has not been fed well the last week, but the author has been,very well! :) I made a batch  of delicious Orange Marmalade 2 weeks ago and it's been sitting inside my fridge all these days! I'm thinking of baking some tarts with it but I have made so many plans and I am planning to execute it all, but when? That's the big question,a million dollar question? Looks like my blog will have Christmas goodies till the end of January! :-)

I have made this fudge before,a pistachio version, when I was in India. At that time, we couldn't get foil trays of the mentioned size or shape in the recipe and I longed to be in US or UK then. And now that I am, nothing 's gonna stop me! The best part of this recipe is, you can make them in less than 5 minutes which definately doesn't include the time you spend in hunting for your can opener (like me!) to open the condensed milk ! Oh, you need to give them some time to chill, okay? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to chop them up into those pretty squares you just saw :-)

INSTANT CHOCOLATE & CASHEWNUT FUDGE
Recipe: Nigella Lawson


Ingredients:
350g Semi sweet chocolate/Dark chocolate chips
1 tin /396g condensed milk
2 tbsp butter
150g cashewnuts, chopped

Method:
Into a saucepan, on medium heat, add the chocolate chips , condensed milk & butter and let it melt together.
As soon as it is mixed together, switch of the flame and add the nuts and mix well.
Pour into a square* foil tray/tin lined with foil. Cover it and leave it in the fridge till well set (about 1 1/2 hr).
Mark the set fudge into squares using the tip of a sharp knife, turn it out onto a chopping board ,peel the foil away and cut into pieces.
Store it in the refrigerator.You can freeze them in a ziplock bag and eat them straight out of the freezer too!

*I used a rectangular foil tray and my fudge was a bit thin. I like it this way. If you are making it in the square tin, cut them into small pieces because these are quite rich.

Verdict: I was afraid  I would have to make another batch to give away because we both couldn't stop digging into it! It's a very easy and delicious recipe, try it and you will know! :)

I am sending these to Chocolate Extravaganza -Monthly Mingle hosted by myself and also to the new blogging challenge 'Forever Nigella' started by Sarah of Maison Cupcake.

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

I never knew chocolate & pistachio combo could be so delectable! It's actually very addictive! :) Whenever I get free time at office, I let myself have a peek-a -boo on Nigella's videos on Youtube! I find all her videos very fascinating ... the main reason being every single sound is captured well.. the soothing sound of choco chips falling... MMMMMMM... it tempts me very very much! I almost end up being too close to the screen! :D So when I saw the video for this recipe... that was it!!!! I couldn't hold on any more... actually who can when u see the fudge being taken out of the fridge and cut into squares!!! Too much I say ;D So the moment I reached home from office... went straight into our store room, grabbed a tin of condensed milk, a slab of dark chocolate and a bag of unsalted pistachios & then the magic happend!! :) TADA!!! :)

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge:
Originally published by Nigella Lawson

350g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped

1 x 397g can condensed milk

30g butter

pinch salt

150g pistachios

Serving Size : Makes 64 pieces of rich fudge

METHOD

1.	Put the chopped chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt in a heavy-based pan on a low heat, and stir to melt.
2.	Put the nuts into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin, until broken up into both big and little pieces.
3.	Add the nuts to the melted chocolate and condensed milk and stir well to mix.
4.	Pour and spatch this mixture into a foil tray 23cm square, smoothing the top.
5.	Let the fudge cool, and refrigerate until set. You can then cut it into small pieces approx.
6.	3 x 2.25cm. Cutting 8 x 10 lines in the tin to give 64 pieces best achieves this.
7	Once cut, it can be kept in the freezer – no need to thaw just eat straight away. I made mine in a slightly bigger tin, so it turned out thinner. And as you can see in the pic above my fudgies just couldn't bear the heat and humidity at this side of the world :) Nevertheless they tasted fantastic with the pistachio giving a nice small break into the otherwise very chocolatey condensed milk fudge. Will definately make again... much MORE!! :) I'm sending this post as an entry to 15 Minute Cooking @ Mahimaa's Kitchen Have a great week!! -Ria