Fathers Day Chocolate Whisky Fudge

I recently purchased a Tala sugar thermometer, and have been keen to try it out by making some fudge. With Fathers Day approaching, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity. My Dad loves both chocolate and whisky, so this seemed like the perfect recipe to choose. This fudge has a smooth, creamy texture rather than a crumbly one.

Ingredients:

(makes 16-32 pieces depending on how generously you cut it!)

1 Tin Of Sweetened Condensed Milk (I used the light variety)
100g Unsalted Butter, cubed
225g Light Muscovodo Sugar
2 Tbsp Glucose Syrup
150g Dark Chocolate, broken into chunks
60ml Scotch Whisky

Method:

Grease or line a square 20cm tin. Put the condensed milk, sugar, butter and glucose syrup into a saucepan and heat until combined and smooth on a low-medium heat. 

Once the sugar has completely dissolved, turn the heat up to high and stir the mixture continuously until it reaches the "soft ball stage". A sugar thermometer is by far the easiest way to guage this, but if yot don't have one, it will take roughly 10-15 minutes for the mixture to reach this point. It will come away from the sides of the pan, and a small amount placed into cold water will form a soft ball. Once this point has been reached, remove the pan from the heat.

At this point, you want to add the whisky (there will be some pretty strong fumes from it, just to warn you) and the chocolate. Stir the mixture until the chocolate has completely melted, then pour it into your tin and smooth the top.

Leave the mixture to cool for about an hour before covering with cling film and placing the tin in the fridge overnight. This will give the flavours a chance to develop and make it much easier to cut. 

Gingerbread And White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These little biscuits make a nice change from ordinary cookies. The sweetness of the white chocolate works well with the heat of the gingerbread, and they have a nice "chewy" consistency rather than the hard crunch of a gingernut. They are perfect for giving as gifts, or for enjoying with the hot drink of your choice. This recipe will make about 35 biscuits, but of course this depends on the size. I chose to keep them small but they will work well as giant cookies too.

Ingredients:

400g Plain Flour
3/4 Tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda
2 Tsp Ground Ginger
2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves
1/4 Tsp Ground Nutmeg
180g Salted Butter (room temperature)
125g Dark Muscovodo Sugar
40g Black Treacle
80g Golden Syrup
100g White Chocolate Chips
1 Egg

Method:

In a bowl, sift together the flour, spices (ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg) and bicarbonate of soda. 

In a separate, larger bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add to this the egg, treacle and syrup and beat until thoroughly combined. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients - it's best to do it two or three tablespoons at a time to prevent the flour from going everywhere, especially if you are using a handheld electric whisk like me. Once you have a smooth mixture, gently fold in the chocolate chips. 

You should now have a slightly sticky, but not runny, dough. Wrap this in clingfilm and leave it in the fridge to chill for at least a couple of hours, but ideally overnight.

Once you are ready to make your cookies, preheat your over to 170 degrees (or 150 for a fan oven). Line a baking tray with a sheet of greaseproof paper, and take the gingerbread dough out of the fridge. I found it best to warm it up by working it in my hands for a minute or two before rolling it out. You want to roll it to a thickness of about 5mm. This will give the biscuits a nice, soft texture. Use the cookie cutter of your choice to cut your biscuits and place them onto the baking tray. Make sure you leave a decent gap between them as they will expand, and you could potentially end up with a single, giant cookie! 

Bake the biscuits for 12-15 minutes until they have risen and are a nice golden colour. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.