Who doesn’t love getting a yummy little edible treat for Christmas? Or really at any time of the year? Presents of food are always welcome and you don’t need to worrry about size, colour or style.
Personal chef Karen Dar Woon is a huge advocate for homemade gifts from the kitchen, and it doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, her appearance on Global News last December with a super easy Cracker Toffee recipe was a HUGE hit. So we’re doing it again this year. Today she whipped up a couple of batches of fudge – amazingly simple! In fact, the traditional brown sugar fudge doesn’t even need any time on the stove.
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Brown Sugar Fudge
Combine three ingredients to make a melt-in-your-mouth butterscotch treat! This is especially good topped with flaked salt, or chopped roasted salted nuts.
300 ml (1 can) Sweetened Condensed Milk
500 ml (2 cups) brown sugar, well packed, approx. 400-500 gm.
250 ml (1 cup) butter, approx. 225 gm (1/2 lb)
Line an 8″ square or 4×8 loaf pan with parchment, extending the ends over the sides of the pan. Set aside.
Place ingredients in a 2-quart/2L microwave safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH for 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Beat with electric mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes
Spread mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Remove fudge from pan, using paper as handles. Cut into slices or squares. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.
Chocolate Bar Fudge
The ingredients for this recipe are available from most convenience stores, making Chocolate Bar Fudge a great “emergency-last-minute” homemade gift. Sprinkle the top with crushed candy canes for an especially festive touch.
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
4 bars, 100 gm (3.5 oz), chocolate, broken into pieces, or 400 gms/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Line an 8″ square or 4×8″ loaf pan with parchment, extending the ends over the sides of the pan. Set aside.
Place sugar, butter and evaporated milk in large (3 quart/litre) heavy saucepan.
Bring to full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.
Add chocolate; stir until completely melted. Pour into prepared pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Remove fudge from pan, using paper as handles. Cut into slices or squares. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.
For the ultimate variety of made-in-BC edible gifts, you can’t beat the one-stop-shopping experience of Edible BC on Granville Island. They stock more than 800 products, mostly made in BC. And for those on a budget, more than half of the items are $15 or less.
Here are a few items I am really loving right now:
Almond Butter Crunch – $6.95/150g bag
Creamy butter, toasted almonds, and milk or dark chocolate – handmade in the Fraser Valley. This stuff just melts in your mouth. It is amazingly addictive!
Wendy Boys Milk Chocolate Caramel Crunch with Vanilla Salt – $14.95/box of 9 chocolates
These lovely chocolates are handmade with fresh cream, local butter, sea salt and French chocolate. One of my all-time favourite chocolates, and named by Vancouver Magazine as one of its “101 Things to Taste Before you Die” in 2008.
I know Granville Island isn’t always the easiest place to get to, especially if you live outside the Vancouver area, so I want to share with you another great place to do some edible gift shopping – Superstore and Extra Foods! That’s where you will find President’s Choice products and this year’s holiday lineup includes some brand-new treats, plus some standbys. If you haven’t noticed, I love the combination of chocolate, caramel and sea salt, and PC makes a really yummy Dark Chocolate Covered Caramels with Sea Salt. It’s only $5.95 a box for two layers of chocolates, so an absolutely fantastic bargain. Don’t forget to pick up a bag of those peppermint almonds, as I wrote about in a previous blog.
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