Oh, Fudge!

Chocolate Fudge topped with chopped nuts | photo by Zoë François

Addiction warning, I cannot stop eating this fudge! I’ve been giving away bags of it to anyone I meet, just to keep from eating the whole batch. I lost a bet to my boys on Super Bowl Sunday and as a result I had to make the dessert of their choice. They chose fudge. It wasn’t my best parenting moment to teach my boys to bet, but I got swept up in the moment and really thought I was going to win. In this case we all won, because this fudge is crazy good. I like chocolate fudge with all kinds of stuff in it, especially nuts, but my boys are purists and just wanted unadulterated chocolate.

This recipe is made by boiling down evaporated milk until it reaches just the right temperature and poured over really great chocolate. No marshmallow fluff! I’ve done those recipes as well, but I like the texture of this better and the flavor is more intense and not as cloying. It requires a candy thermometer, but don’t let that scare you, it is really very simple and I’ll talk you through any possible sticking points. Read More

Chocolate Orange Cake

Special Chocolate Orange Cake | Photo by Zoë François

One of my dreams is to travel to Chinon, France and stay at the Hotel Diderot, where the proprietor makes homemade marmalade. It’s owner is one of my favorite food bloggers, Jamie Schler, who is an amazing baker, cook and the writer I want to be. Basically, she has crafted my ideal life. I first “met” her online while we were baking from each other’s websites. Her recipes always work, they are always delicious and they always have a story that make eating them all the more enjoyable. This cake is from her new cookbook, Orange Appeal and is no different. It’s outrageously chocolatey with a hint of orange, which just gives it a depth and balance of flavor. It also comes with a delightful story. This recipe was passed to Jamie by her father, who worked at NASA. Let me unpack that last sentence for you. Her dad bakes cakes, which is the sweetest, coolest thing for a dad to do and pretty unusual for a man of his generation. My father, who has many, many talents, has never baked a cake in all of my days. I’m not sure he’d even make it through a box of Duncan Hines? And, her dad worked as an engineer at NASA, how cool is that? It pretty much makes him a rock star in my mind. His original recipe, which you can find on Jamie’s blog, was equally chocolatey, but used coffee to add the essential acidity to the recipe. Jamie has swapped the coffee with orange zest and juice. Both versions are brilliant!

Special Chocolate Orange Cake from Orange Appeal by Jamie Schler | Photo by Zoë François
Special Chocolate Orange Cake | Photo by Zoë François
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Tea Cup Rose Cakes – Paleo Sweets

Tea Cup Rose Cakes

My story with sugar is long (my whole life long) and a bit convoluted. I was raised by hippies in the 1960s. We lived on communes, as one did. Until I was about 7 it was really the only life I knew, so never struck me as unusual.

It wasn’t until I started to attend school that I understood that my life in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont wasn’t the way the whole world lived. It was sugar that was the first and most profound indication. I’d grown up thinking (being lead to believe) that raisins and other dried fruits were candy.

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Chocolate Caramel Matzo for Passover

This year I added a little extra flavor power to classic chocolate caramel matzo. I made a triple batch to make sure I could send gift bags home after the seder. All the toppings were a hit, but the toasted sesame seeds with the milk or dark chocolate is my new favorite.

Every Passover I make this chocolate caramel matzo recipe from Marcy Goldman’s classic book A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking. When I was growing up I loved matzo with butter or my mother’s matzo brei, but as a dessert, it never inspired me. Until my friend and co-author, Jeff introduced me to Marcy Goldman’s recipe she calls: “My Trademark, most requested, absolutely magnificent caramel matzoh crunch!” Despite the main ingredient being matzo, it satisfied my craving for a decadent dessert at Passover. The candy was met with rave reviews and is now part of our tradition along with the fruit pâtes. It really is magnificent and a bit addictive, which is why I save it for Passover!

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