There are certain desserts I can’t stay away from. Snowball cookies (a.k.a. Russian Tea Cakes) are in that category. If they’re on a plate, I’m eating every last one. There’s no doubt about it. And when I’m presented with toffee bars, the same dang thing happens.
Add caramelized smoked almonds, and guess what? It’s known in my brain as, “Give these away now now now before I eat every last one.”
Sometimes when I’m busy brainstorming recipes to post three times a week or stuck in a baker’s block rut, I don’t take the time to fully appreciate what drew me to create this blog. Luckily, I had a reminder the other day.
Every now and then, I have a day at work that makes me want to quit. It’s rare, since I’m lucky enough to love my job, but it happens. I worked really hard on something that I cared about, and it just didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to because of a little detail that I’ll call bureaucracy. That’s the b-word in my life. It’s what limits creativity with arbitrary, often pointless rules.
I got home that day feeling pretty weepy, and before I knew it, I was pounding away at smoked almonds with a rolling pin. Boy, was that therapeutic. And as I pressed dough into the baking pan in front of me, I was reminded of how lucky I am. Because not only do I work in a job I love, but I have another love that I foster here at home and share with you. And it’s not at all accidental that this love lets me crush things with my hands from time to time. Better than a punching bag, y’all.
Caramelizing smoked almonds is really easy. All you do is melt some butter, add brown sugar, and wait until it gets nice and bubbly. Then you stir in the almonds, and poof! Crack in a skillet, people. And it goes so unbelievably well with chocolate.
If you’ve never had a toffee bar, then I should probably explain that there is no actually toffee in them. You can add Heath bits, but that’s not traditional. It would taste good, mind you. But I honestly have no idea how toffee bars got their name. If you know, please enlighten me. My nerd self wants to know.
If you’re into baking desserts that will literally leap off the plate and into people’s mouths with astonishing rapidity, this is it. Just beware: it might be hard to stop. But that’s the joy of baking, isn’t it? Creating wonderful treats that are impossible to resist. And I can tell you, it has a heckuva lot more soul than red tape.
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I’m starting off the week with my all-time favorite fudge recipe. This one knocks my socks off every single time, and I make it only once a year. Otherwise, well, I’d never eat anything else.
The flavors in this fudge are incredibly complex and complementary. The process starts with caramelizing smoked almonds (I know!) in butter and brown sugar. By themselves, they’re dynamite. In fudge, I can only describe the effect as mind-blowing.
To really set off the smoky caramel of the almonds, I use Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips as the fudge base. This is not the kind of fudge a 2 year-old will go for, most of the time. I’ll do something lighter and more colorful later this week for that! But this fudge is the perfect dish to bring to a grown-up holiday party. Because the only thing better than eating this fudge is doing so with a glass of champagne in your other hand.
Other than caramelizing the almonds, which is a very easy process, the fudge base for this is made in the microwave. So not only is this an impressive recipe, but it also takes a lot less time than a dish of this caliber would ordinarily cost you. That means you have more time to eat fudge and watch sappy holiday movies. Who wants to stand over a stovetop with a candy thermometer? Not me. Never me!
It’s only the first day of Fudge Week, so there’s more holiday joy to come. Stay tuned for more fun from my bloggy friend Gayle and me, as well as a couple of ideas for how to wrap and present fudge as a gift. We’re here to serve!
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