Saturday, December 24, 2011

More Last Minute Easy Candy Gifts!

Now don't tell me I am the ONLY one who waits till the last minute to throw gifts together?!? And what better gift to please a friend or neighbor than CANDY! Here are a couple of easy quick ones I made that are sure to please!

First is Pistachio Fudge



Pistachio Fudge

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 package (3.4 ounces) pistachio instant pudding mix
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups white baking chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pistachios, divided

Line a 9" square baking pan with aluminum foil, extending foil over
2 sides of pan; grease foil. In a heavy large saucepan, combine
sugar, pudding mix, evaporated milk, butter, and salt. Stirring
constantly, bring mixture to a boil over medium heat; boil 5
minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in marshmallows, baking chip, and
vanilla until smooth. Reserving 2 tablespoons pistachios, stir
in remaining nuts. Spread mixture into prepared pan. Sprinkle
reserved nuts on top. Chill 2 hours or until firm. Use ends of
foil to lift fudge from pan. Cut into 1" squares. Store in an
airtight container.



The second is a similar recipe to one I already posted but I found an AWESOME simplified version using less ingredients but the exact same yummy results!! I found it at Recipe Girl, LoVe her recipes!! Check out her tutorials.
Almond Roca....have you ever tried it or made it yourself ? If not, YOU MUST!! A piece of heaven I tell you!!





Almond Roca
Yield: 3 cups
Prep Time: 18 min
Cook Time: 15 min
So simple and delicious, but it can be a little tricky. Please read all of the comments and tips before attempting your first batch! We've been making this recipes for years for the holidays and we love it!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped toasted almonds, divided
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter
4 bars of chocolate (such as Hershey's Bars) (I just used chocolate chips bitter sweet)

Directions:

1. Butter a 7x11-inch pan (or 9x12 for slightly thinner roca). Sprinkle 1 cup of toasted almonds on bottom of the pan.
2. In heavy saucepan at medium-high heat melt butter and add brown sugar. Stir until gently boiling. Reduce heat to medium or medium-low and boil 12 minutes exactly, stirring constantly. *Edited to add* I made mine without a candy thermometer with success, but since some readers have noted having trouble with this recipe- you might wish to stick and instant read thermometer in there just to make sure it's about the right temperature. Pull it off the heat when it has reached the hard-crack stage (300 degrees F)- if it gets higher than 320, it will not remain solid.
3. Remove the mixture from heat, give it a good stir to mix up that butter and sugar one more time, and immediately pour hot mixture into pan over almonds. (see *Tips below) Place chocolate bars on top. Let them sit a minute or so until melted, then spread chocolate around carefully. Sprinkle with remaining toasted almonds and gently press them into the chocolate..
4. Cool completely, and then break apart into chunks with a sharp knife. Store in a covered container.

Tips:

*This recipe is gluten-free adaptable- just be sure to use a brand of chocolate that is known to be GF.
*If you like the sweet-salty combination in desserts, use roasted almonds that are salted (then you can chop them and toast them lightly in a dry frying pan). If you don't care to have much salt, use unsalted natural almonds. I went for the salty kind and LOVED it.
*If you don't have a 7x11-inch pan, it's okay to use a 9x12-inch pan. You probably won't want to go all the way to the edges with the almonds, toffee and chocolate or it will be thin. Leave about an inch all the way around.
*Speed up the cooling process by placing the pan in the refrigerator.
*If you are in a place where it is very humid, you will likely have trouble getting your toffee to set. Toffee doesn't like humidity. Try it on a dry day!
*Edited to add that some people have trouble w/ the chocolate separating from the toffee. This is kind of normal in almond roca since the toffee is so buttery. I've been told that one way to avoid that is to give the toffee a light dusting of cocoa powder before placing the chocolate bars on top. The powder apparently acts as an absorbent for the butter and allows the chocolate to adhere more easily to the toffee. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm told that it works!

I hope everyone has a Beautiful and Very Blessed Christmas!


Love In Christ,
Dee




2 comments:

  1. Oh that looks sooooooooooo good...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi, I came across your site and wasn’t able to get an email address to contact you about a broken link on your site. Please email me back and I would be happy to point them out to you.

    Thanks!

    Randy
    randydavis387@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete