Because you’re worth it! A little indulgence goes a long way in celebrating the year that was & the way you proudly stood up to it!
Cheers to one & all!
Here’s a simple quick 6 ingredient, cran-tastic holiday recipe that’s perfect for pot lucks, gifts & dessert tables, treats for your little kiddies & also your adorable Grandmas’ and Grandpas’ who cannot really chew the hard toffee, but certainly love their secret daily sugar fix through the day!
While we might have all tried the regular fudge recipes at some point, I thought this slightly tart (sour) & soft chewy one with premium quality white chocolate loaded with chopped cranberries, orange peel & pistachios will add some more festivity and joy to your home.
Cranberries are a good source of vitamin C & antioxidants, while the green unsalted pistachios are heart & gut friendly, power packed with fibre, minerals, protein & high levels of unsaturated fatty acids. I have added some leftover orange peel from my Christmas cake to further mellow down the sweet taste of the fudge, but that’s entirely up to you.
The best part of this recipe is that you can get your kids to help you make this one, allowing them to feel all grown up & helpful in the kitchen, giving them an extra piece as help tax, as we call it in my home! My 16-year-old daughter wanted some fudge from Santa in her stocking & so I was happy to delight her with a new flavour.
The story behind this goes as follows, until when she was all of 7, my daughter always looked forward to her overflowing stocking placed beneath her bed. Unfortunately, in her 7th grade Hindi language text book, she came upon a lesson that spoke of how the children in the story discovered that there was no such thing as a real Santa Claus, but in fact their own parents dressed up as Santa. She returned home from school all crest fallen and sullen faced, complete silence replacing her wide eyed, overly chatty, bursting-with-stories demeanour.
Upon some gentle nudging, I discovered to my horror, the tragedy that had unfolded upon her that fateful day in school & then had to get around to consoling & reassuring her that it was all humbug & just a stupid story which did not happen in our part of the world! She wanted to protect her little brother from the rude shock & humbug, you see! Thereafter, we never spoke of that stupid story again & she quietly decided to prefer believing that there was in fact a big fat jolly ol’ chap who came in through her window each year on Xmas eve to give her whatever he possibly could fit in on his already over-full sleigh! Ha ha!!!
This story always makes me feel warm in my heart ‘cause it makes me realise that we all need that little bit of hope & faith to hold on to, that little something that makes us believe that all will be ok & that there is someone watching over us from above who can make things better during the -not-so-happy-times in our lives! I’m sure each one of you has similar such delightful, heart warming stories to narrate from your own childhood or from your kids’ growing up years.
On this sweet fudgy note, I close for the season to take a short break with my folks and family & promise to be back with plenty more food in 2021.
Let’s all toast to more mindful eating.
Wishing you and your families a bright, healthy & more exciting 2021 !
The Culinary Konnoisseur
Recipe for White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Fudge Love at first bite!
Ingredients (Serves 8 – 10 persons)
- 400 grams tin condensed milk
- 400 grams white chocolate, roughly chopped (not chocolate compound)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 cup dried cranberries, chopped
- ¾ cup unsalted green pistachios, chopped
- 1 teaspoon chopped orange peel
Instructions
- Line an 8 x 8-inch or 10 x 10 pan with butter or parchment paper.
- Fill a quarter of a large saucepan with water and bring to boil. Reduce heat.
- Pour condensed milk in a large mixing bowl and place over the saucepan with hot water, stirring continuously until warm. DO NOT BOIL.
- Add the butter & stir in. Stir in all the white chocolate until completely melted.
- Immediately remove from heat and gently fold in vanilla essence, chopped pistachios and cranberries, as well as orange peel if available.
- Pour the mixture into the readied pan and smoothen it with a rubber spatula gently.
- Put it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
- Before serving, remove from the refrigerator & leave at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Cut into 1inch square pieces & serve.
- Store in the refrigerator for upto 1 week.
The Culinary Konnoisseur 
I’m really glad I’m on the 1st taster’s list. That was WOW!
Smooth chocolate, fruit ,pistas, what’s missing? Just the 2nd one!! Which I got! On par with the best I’ve ever tasted.
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