Every Christmas my mother would make us the most delicious Peanut Butter Fudge. Mom was not one to make us a lot of treats throughout the rest of the year, but at Christmas time she would always make us our favourites.
One of those was this Peanut Butter Fudge. It was rich and creamy and a real taste treat for each of us. We all loved it.
Our mother had been quite chubby during a period in her childhood, and she had an obese mother. I think controlling weight was a really important thing to her. For the life of me, I cannot remember her ever sitting down at the table to eat a meal with us.
My sister and I spoke about this one day and she could not remember mom eating with us at the table either, although she did remember her standing at the counter eating leftovers from the day before.
It was not something I ever thought about while my mother was alive, so I will never ever know what motivated her. She was a very tiny woman. Short and petite.
I remember thinking throughout her last years of her life that I must have been a huge disappointment to her with my size and weight problems. All that effort she went to while we were growing up to help to keep us thin had all gone to waste!
Oh well, we are who we are. My father has always struggled with his weight, and my last thirty-five years of life have been a huge struggle with my own. I have decided though that I am simply not going to worry about it anymore.
I will eat healthy, with the occasional treat and let what be, be. I think that is the healthiest attitude to take. I will indulge and partake of treats every now and then like Mom's Peanut Butter Fudge. And I will enjoy them, for all of their delicious taste and the wonderful memories that they bring into to my heart and soul.
I truly believe that good food nourishes the soul as well as the body.
One thing my mother always made at least once during the holidays was
peanut butter fudge. It was never chocolate or any other kind . . .
always peanut butter, but we didn't mind because we loved it so very
much. It was a real treat for us! WE never got candy as a rule!
She always made her fudge in the same pot. It was an old aluminum one that she had
gotten in her original set of Wearever cookware back in 1955.
I think the set of pans cost almost as much as a house, but here we are 2020 and we are still
using them. Money well spent, I'd say!
Mom never measured anything. She didn't need to. It was all done by
memory, and she knew exactly how much of each thing she needed to add by
sight alone . . . and it always worked like a charm, every time.
Me .
. . I made fudge sometimes for my children when they were growing up, but, 9 times out of 10 they'd end up having to eat it with a spoon. They ate and enjoyed it anyways.
We'd watch our mother as it went together . . . as if by magic . . . and then sometimes she would let us beat it when it was ready, with her big old wooden spoon.
If we'd been very good . . .we'd be given the pot and spoon to lick clean. We always did a pretty good job of that, coz it would always be as clean as a whistle by the time we were done.
The beaten fudge would be poured into the same pan each time. It was an old aluminium tin, blackened through use . . . it's bottom engraved in a swirly pattern of raised tin.
Some how those little traced swirls on the bottom of each piece only added to it's flavour. Every sweet and cake of my childhood used to come with that swirly pattern on the bottom as well. We never minded. What I wouldn't give to have that tin now!
But even more I would love to have my mother here. One year, when I was all grown up and had a family of my own, she let me watch and take measurments while she made it. This delicious recipe is the result. Enjoy!
Mother's Peanut Butter Fudge
Yield: Makes one 8-inch square pan
It just wouldn't be Christmas without a pan of this to munch on! Creamy and peanut buttery. If you don't like peanut butter, look away now!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (585g) of white finely granulated sugar
- 3 TBS smooth peanut butter
- 1 cup (240ml) of whole milk
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Butter an 8 inch square pan. Set aside.
- Place the sugar, peanut butter and milk into a LARGE saucepan. (You will need a really big one as it really increases in volume when it is boiling. Trust me on this.)
- Heat, whisking, until the peanut butter is completely melted into the mixture. Increase the heat slightly and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to a medium boil and continue to boil, stirring occasionally to help prevent it from catching. You will want to boil it to the soft ball stage, (115*C/235*F) This should take between 18 to 25 minutes or so. Once this happens, remove from the heat immediately.
- Stir in the butter and vanilla. Beat with a wooden spoon until it begins to look creamy and begins to lose it's gloss.
- Pour into the prepared pan immediately. (Don't wait too long or it will harden in the pot and you won't be able to pour it into the prepared pan. You just want it to begin losing it's gloss.)
- Allow to set for about an hour at room temperature, before cutting into squares to serve.
- Store in an airtight container. This also freezes well.
What favourite treat created for the holidays reminds you most of your childhood? I really would love to know!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Even though our Christmas Celebrations are going to be somewhat subdued this year, I am sure that many of us are quite busy with preparations over these next few weeks. We may be spending the day with only one or two, or maybe a few more than that.
Baking still has to be done, etc. These next few weekends I am taking the simple route when it comes to anything other than Christmas Preparations. I still like to have a decent dinner on Sunday however.
Here in Canada there are four of us for supper every night. My sister, her husband Dan, my father and myself. On Sundays my sister likes to cook a roast dinner. She cooks a lovely pot roast most weeks.
Dessert is usually on the menu as well. My dad likes a bit of something sweet after his main meal. It needn't be complicated however. Peach Crumble fits the bill when it comes to simple desserts!
It is a bit of a cheat really. It used tinned peaches, cake mix, brown sugar, butter and toasted nuts. Nothing elaborate and things a lot of us will already have in our cupboards.
It does make a largish sized dessert, but you can so very easily cut it in half. Just use one can of peaches, half the butter, brown sugar and nuts, and half the cake mix.
You can always freeze the remainder of the cake mix to use another time, or even to make half a cake. Cake mixes are a handy ingredient to have in your cupboard.
I like to use peaches in juice, rather than in syrup. I think that it would be too sweet if you used the ones in syrup. To be honest I never buy canned fruit in syrup.
I think as well, with this simple dessert, you could use any kind of canned fruit. Fruit cocktail would be nice, as well as pears, cherries, etc.
Just pick your favourite kind. All would work. Just pick your favourite kind. Just thinking here that you could do cherries with chocolate cake mix. I wonder if that would work? I bet it would!
But I digress here. This is not about how many variations of the original I can think up, but about creating a simple and delicious dessert that pleases many without eating up a lot of my time.
This fits the bill on all counts. It is simple. It is easy to make. It is delicious. People love it.
You can make it in one large casserole dish. I used to have a nice oval dish that I used. Or you can do it in individual sized casserole dishes.
These ones here hold about 1/2 cup each. If you are doing individual or even a full dish, make sure you place the casserole (s) onto a baking sheet just in case things overflow. I hate a mess in the bottom of the oven.
Having to clean up a mess in the oven would only defeat the purpose of having chosen an easy and quick dessert to make. And this is sweet, it would burn and bake on like the dickens!
That's something my mother always said to describe something that was over the top. "like the dickens!" I am not sure where the saying came from.
But we all say it. That would hurt like the dickens. That would itch like the dickens. That would burn like the dickens.
You get it I am sure. Its just one of those nonsensical sayings we all repeat without even knowing where they come from or what their meaning is.
You can use whatever nut you like in the topping. I like walnuts or pecans personally and I always toast them.
Its not hard to toast nuts. Just pop them onto a baking sheet in a single layer and pop them into a medium to hot oven. Toast for 5 to 8 minutes until you can start to smell them. You will know they are done then.
Toasting nuts helps to enhance their natural nuttiness. I always toast my nuts when I am using them for baking. I know you must be sick of me saying that, but its true.
And sometimes people hop onto the page without having read my other recipes so they would be reading this tip about toasting nuts for baking, for the first time.
Personally I like cold vanilla ice cream on top of mine. There is something very lush and delicious about the cold ice cream and that rich fruity bake on the bottom.
The two just go together like peas and carrots. You can of course have cream, whipped or pouring cream on top as well. Or you can go for a warm custard sauce. You can find my recipe for that here.
Peach Crumble
Yield: 8
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 55 Min
This quick and easy dessert is delicious. I like to bake it in individual dishes so everybody each has their own dessert. Serve warm with ice cream for a real taste treat.
Ingredients
- 2 (24.5 oz) (215g) tins of sliced peaches in juice, undrained
- 1 (2-layer size) (425g) vanilla or yellow cake mix
- 1/2 cup (120g) cold butter cut into 16 pieces
- 1 cup (200g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (45g) chopped toasted walnuts or pecans
To serve:
- Vanilla Ice Cream, Pouring Cream, or Custard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
- Place the peaches and juice in a 13 by 9 inch baking dish, or divide them between 8 individual single serving baking dishes.
- Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over top of the peaches in the dish(s).
- Place butter slices on top of each dish. Then sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over top.
- Finish with the chopped nuts.
- Place onto a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot or cold with your preferred topping.
- I personally like ice cream, but would never turn down a dollop of clotted cream if I had it.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
This delicious Caramel Snickerdoodle Cake is a recipe I have been eyeballing for several weeks now. I picked up everything I needed to bake it about two weeks ago.
I have only just now gotten around to baking it today (Friday as I write this). There were other things to do and to eat. We finally ran out of baked goods today!
I don't know about you, but I think every house needs a cake in it for the weekend! Weekends are usually when we stop to indulge ourselves a little bit and a nice fresh cake helps us to do just that.
And what a cake this is! Caramel Snickerdoodle Cake. Just the name starts my tastebuds into tingling!
The original recipe comes from this cookery book. Lost Recipes by Betty Crocker. Beloved Vintage Recipes for Today's Kitchen.
It is a treasure trove of recipes both for Betty Crocker fans as well as modern cooks. Especially if you are intersted in recipes with a bit of nostalgia involved.
Its a book filled with up-dated versions of tried-and-true recipes from the Betty Crocker kitchens. Many of them have fallen out of vogue and have been forgotten. But I say, bring them on!
I adore retro recipes! And I love books like this one. I highly recommend it. Everything I have cooked from it so far has been exemplary!
It was the name of this cake that first intrigued me. Caramel Snicker Doodle Cake. It rolls off the tongue beautifully.
I adore Snickerdoodles. They are cinnamon flavoured sugar cookies that have been rolled in cinnamon sugar prior to baking. That way you get a nice cookie with a cinnamon sugar crust on the outside.
This cake is based on that same premise. You can either bake it in a tube/chiffon/ angelfood pan, or in a bundt pan. I chose my sister's bundt pan.
It was a bit fiddly shaped so I had my doubts as to whether the cake would release properly, but bingo! It did. My worry was for naught.
Because it has a sugar crust, its really important that you grease your cake tin really well with something that isn't going to react with the sugar and burn. I used white vegetable shortening. That is what is recommended in the recipe.
I trust the Betty Crocker kitchens. The cake tin will be dusted with a cinnamon sugar coating before adding the batter. That's why you really want to make sure you grease it well so nothing sticks to the pan.
That cinnamon sugar coating is essential to the snickerdoodleness of this cake. It creates a lovely cinnamon sugar crunch on the outside of the cake that is a beautiful contrast to the cake it self.
The cake it self is also lightly flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla. You create the batter using an all in one method. That just means that all of the cake ingredients are beaten together in one bowl.
I did whisk the flour and other dry ingredients together first before adding anything else. I wanted to make sure that the baking soda was evenly distributed.
There is nothing worse than biting into something and getting a mouthful of baking soda. That is a huge turn off for me, as I am sure it is for you! Ain't nobody going to enjoy that!
The cake itself, aside from the coating, is incredibly moist and delicious. There is sour cream in the batter and melted butter. That always makes for a deliciously rich cake.
It also uses evaporated milk, which further ensures that it is going to be a lovely moist cake. Just a note here. The butter here has measurements marked on the side of the foil.
The recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter melted. I used the foil measurement and melted the butter. Then I thought to myself, hmmm . . .
That looks a tad bit too much. I poured it into a measuring cup and it was probably closer to 3/4 cup than it was 1/2 cup, so be warned. You can't always trust the measurements on packages.
Full disclosure here. I didn't quite have a full cup of sour cream. I added some buttermilk to it to make up the full amount.
I wasn't short by much so I knew that it wouldn't affect the cake batter overly much. But then . . .
It called for 5 ounces of evaporated milk, which I was assuming was a whole tin. DUH! Nope, that is really only not much more than 1/2 a cup, or a generous 120ml. So I added extra milk . . .
This could easily have been a disaster, but hey! It turned out fine! As you can see from the above photograph, it is incredibly moist!
I had to cut a little sliver to taste test it. For quality purposes you know. Anyone who eats at my table knows that most of the time a tiny bit of whatever I am serving is missing.
Those are the hazards of eating at a food bloggers table.
I cannot wait for everyone to get home, and after supper so that everyone else can try this cake. I just know they are going to love it. Especially my dad.
We are having Chili Dogs and Chips using some leftover chili from the other night. It was excellent chili so we are in for a real treat when we combine that with this cake. Oh boy, but you will need to roll us out of here! Talk about Bon Appetit!
Caramel Snickerdoodle Cake
Yield: 16
prep time: 20 Mincook time: 50 Mininactive time: 1 Hourtotal time: 2 H & 10 M
You can use either a bundt pan or a tube pan for this lush cake. It is an incredibly delicious and moist cinnamon flavoured cake, with a crunchy cinnamon sugar crust and a lush caramel drizzle topping. Fabulously tasty!
Ingredients
For the crust:
- white shortening to butter the baking tin
- 2 TBS golden caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the cake:
- 2 1/2 cups (350g) all purpose flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 5 fluid ounces evaporated milk (reserve 1 TBS for topping)
- 1 cup (120g) sour cream
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly
For Topping:
- 10 caramels, unwrapped
- 1 TBS evaporated milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Grease a bundt or a tube pan really well with some white vegetable shortening. Mix together the 2 TBS of sugar and cinnamon and completely dust the insides of the cake tin, coating it evenly. Shake out any excess.
- Mix the flour, soda, salt, sugar, and remaining cinnamon together in a large bowl. Add the milk (don't forget to save 1 TBS), the eggs, vanilla, sour cream and melted butter. Beat all together until well blended.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for half an hour.
- Remove from the pan and leave to cool completely for one hour.
- Put the reserved milk and unwrapped caramels into a microwavable dish. Cook on high in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes, whisking every 30 seconds until the caramels are melted and the mixture is smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake.
- Cut into thick slices to serve.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
One thing which I really came to love when I was living in the UK was Preserved Stem Ginger in Syrup. It was one of my favourite things and something I used regulary, especially at this time of year.
I had no idea that it was not readily available in North America. It was not until coming back to this side of the pond that I started to search for it and realised just how pricy it was going to be. Outrageously so!
Preserved Stem Ginger in Syrup is created from the young roots of the Ginger plant. Preserving it in a sugar syrup means that you can keep it for longer.
The preserved pieces can be chopped and stirred into cakes and bakes. You can also sprinkle it over top, etc. The syrup makes an excellent cordial and is blissful spooned over scoops of cold ice cream.
It keeps for ages and ages so it is a great store cupboard ingredient.
When looking for fresh ginger to use in this recipe make sure you choose it very carefully. You do not want to be buying old ginger. It can usually be found in the produce section of most super markets.
You want to look for pieces that have a firm, and unwrinkled skin. You should be able to scrap away the skin easily using a finger nail. If the skin is tough and thick, this is a bad sign.
It means your ginger is old and dried out. Don't buy it. Any piece of ginger that is light in weight or wrinkled will not soften no matter how long you simmer it. You want it to be heavy. This indicates moisture.
Preparing the ginger for use is very easy to do. You will need to begin the night before by freezing it. This helps to insure a really tender finish with your ginger and it doesn't require quite as lengthy a cook time to tenderise it.
Just peel it and cut it into 1 inch slices/chunks. Pop it into a zip lock baggie and then bang it into the freezer overnight.
The next day you will need to poach it in some water. Just pop the ginger into a saucepan and cover it with cold water so that it is at least covered over top by an inch of water.
You then need to bring it to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover and leave it to simmer for about an hour and a half to two hours. At that time it should be nice and tender.
Fresh Ginger Root is actually quite fibrous. You may have noticed that when you are trying to grate or chop it. It is really important that you poach it first in this way so that you can break down some of those fibres.
When it is done you should be able to insert the tip of a sharp knife into it quite easily. After that you can drain it, but DON'T throw away the poaching water.
This poaching water is integral for making the sugar syrup that you will need to create the preserved ginger. This gets mixed with a quantity of sugar and heated to dissolve the sugar.
You can stir it to dissolve the sugar, but as soon as the sugar has dissolved you need to stop stirring it. If you don't you will create sugar crystals in your sugar syrup which you really don't want.
Sugar can be quite temperamental to work with, so trust me, just stop stirring it and leave it. It will be okay. It will take about 25 to 30 minutes to make your syrup.
You want your syrup to be quite thick as your ginger root will have retained some of the water it was cooked in, even if you have drained it well. This will transfer to the syrup and thin it out a bit.
Once you have your thick syrup it will be time to pop the poached ginger root into it. This then gets further poached in the syrup to preserve it.
Oh my, the smell when all of this is going on is phenomenal! Truly. Your home will not need any air freshener for sure!
I used the time while my ginger was poaching in the syrup to sterilise my jars. You get one full pint jar of the ginger root, plus some extra bits.
You also get one full pint of extra syrup which you really want to keep. (Trust me, it is delicious!)
To sterilise jars simply pop clean jars onto a baking sheet and bang them into the oven. Turn the oven on to preheat to 99*C/ 210*F. Let it heat up and then turn it off and leave the jars to cool in the oven.
You will also want to sterilise the lids. Just pop them into a pan of boiling water and leave them to sit for a few.
Once your preserved Stem Ginger is done, you can strain off the syrup and pack the hot pieces of ginger into a sterile jar. Ladle the hot syrup over top, filling to within no less than 1/2 inch from the top of the jar. Wipe the rim with a clean cloth and then place the lid on.
Put any leftover syrup into another jar and seal. Set both aside to cool and the lids should pop in and seal as it cools.
This really is a great thing to have in the larder/refrigerator. You will find that it comes in useful for a great many things. It adds a lovely firey touch to all kinds of desserts and even main dishes. You will find it is really quite versatile and that syrup is like liquid gold. Add it to coffee, or sparkling water, or even fizzy lemonade for a real taste treat!!
Preserved Stem Ginger
Yield: 2 X pint jars
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 2 H & 30 Mtotal time: 2 H & 45 M
A delicious condiment that is very easy to make and adds a lovely touch to homemade ginger cakes, puddings and cookies. The syrup can be used as a cordial and added to sparkling water, etc. for a lovely gingery drink. This is not complicated to make in the least.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds (650g) fresh ginger root (you will need to freeze the ginger overnight)
- 3 cups (600g) granulated sugar
- water to cover the ginger root
- 2 1/2 cups (600ml) of the reserved ginger cooking water
Instructions
- You need to begin this the night before you want to make the preserves. Peel the ginger and cut it into 1 inch thick pieces. Place into a zip lock baggie and bang into the freezer overnight.
- The next day when you are ready to begin, put the frozen ginger into a saucepan and cover it with water. (You will need about an inch over top of the ginger.) Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover tightly and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the ginger is nice and tender.
- Drain the ginger, reserving the ginger cooking water. Set aside.
- Measure 2 1/2 cups (600ml) of the ginger cooking water into a saucepan and add the sugar. Bring to the boil slowly, stirring only until the sugar has totally dissolved. DO NOT stir beyond that point or your syrup will crystalise. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a quick simmer.
- Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until you have a lovely thick syrup. Add the drained ginger root to the syrup.
- Bring back to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer for a further 20 minutes before transferring the ginger and syrup into a sterile jar and sealing. Store in a dark cook place for up to one year.
notes:
You can bottle any leftover syrup to use as a cordial or flavouring for bakes, stir fries, ribs, roast pork or chicken, steamed or grilled fish, marinades,etc. It will last up to 12 months unopened. Once opened refrigerate and use within 2 months.
Here are a few ideas on how you can use some of it up over the holidays:
Lemon Ginger Snack Cake. A deliciously moist snacking cake that is mixed together right in the pan prior to baking.
Honey Ginger Jumbles. These are lovely and not overly sweet, with the mild flavour of honey, orange and a bit of a ginger kick!
Irish Whiskey & Ginger Cake. This
is about to become your favourite teatime cake. It is fantastic, with a
warm golden colour and a pleasant sweet spicy flavour.
Squidgy Prune & Ginger Cake. This may not look like much, but it's fabulous. If you like cakes that
are rich, squidgy moist and totally indulgent, you will LOVE this easy
loaf cake!
Pear and Ginger Trifle. A delicious trifle filled with moist Jamaican Ginger Cake squares and sweet ripe pear.
Sticky Lemon and Ginger Drizzle Cake. This is a lovely and moist dark gingerbread type of cake, filled with
lots of fiery ginger flavours . . . there is a full 4 tsp of powdered
ginger in the cake itself and it is filled with a lemon and ginger curd
filling, along with a ginger flavoured buttercream and is topped off
with a sticky lemon drizzle. I added some chopped preserved ginger on
the top to add even more gingery goodness.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons