Phudge

Phudge 

Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 249.

This may be the easiest recipe in all of Maida's books. After eating my first piece (and I could have easily ate the whole pan), I realized that I had this before. I think it is a fairly common recipe and I wonder if it originated from Maida Heatter. Whatever the source, it is fantastic. I haven't tried any of the other fudge recipes which require a bit more skill than this one but taste wise, this one is hard to beat. It can be eaten cold or at room temperature. I like it cold. It gets very soft when it gets to room temperature.

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate

6 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/8 tsp. salt

4 cups confectioners sugar

1 cup walnuts or pecans (medium sized pieces0

After melting the chocolate, beat in the cream cheese, vanilla and salt. Beat in the remaining sugar and melted chocolate and the nuts. Transfer to a foil-lined 8" pan. Wrap and refrigerate until firm.

Serve cold or at room temperature.

Yum

Rocky Roads

Rocky Roads 
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 250.

This is probably the easiest Maida Heatter recipe you will find. Only three ingredients, no baking and you can make it in 10 minutes. It is very pretty and you could wrap the entire block of candy and give it as a gift.


1 pound milk chocolate (I used Hershey's)
12 large marshmallows or 1 2/3 cup miniature marshmallows 
1 1/2 cups pecan halves or large pieces

Line the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square cake pan with foil. If using large marshmallow into quarters. (Use miniature marshmallows to save time and skip this step).

Break the chocolate into pieces and slowly melt it on low heat in a double boiler.

Pour about half of the chocolate mixture into the foil lined pan and spread it to cover the bottom.

Sprinkle half of the nuts over the chocolate.

Place the marshmallows pieces in an even layer over the chocolate and nuts.

Drizzle the remaining chocolate over the top. It will not cover the top but should be drizzled so that it holds the nuts and marshmallows in place.  Top with the remaining nuts.

Place the pan in the refrigerator and chill until firm. Remove from the pan, peel off the foil and cut into 16 to 24 squares. They can be wrapped individually in wax paper or cellophane or wrap the entire block in foil until serving. Store in the refrigerator to keep the chocolate fresh looking. It will keep for weeks.

Yum

Chocolate Raisin Clusters

Chocolate Raisin Clusters
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews-McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 250


I wanted to start out with something really simple and Maida says in her introduction that these are so easy that a five-year-old can make them. I have made them in the past and they are indeed very easy and very delicious. On our vacation a few weeks ago, I packed some of these to snack on instead of a bag of candy bars. It is important that they be stored airtight because they do dry out quickly.

Ingredients:

8 oz. semisweet chocolate
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
5 ounces (1 cup) raisins

Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over hot water on moderate heat. Stir until melted and smooth.

Remove the top of the double boiler. Add the condensed milk and stir until smooth, then stir in the raisins.

Use a rounded teaspoon of the mixture for each cluster, forming 24 clusters and placing them on a piece of aluminum foil.

Let stand at room temperature for about 3 hours until they are firm. Then release each cluster and turn it over to let the bottom dry.

Store airtight. Do not let these dry out. They may be frozen. (If you freeze them be sure to let them thaw before unwrapping or they will sweat.)