Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt

Hello friends!

With being back at school, work, running two blogs and the baking club, I find myself more and more intrigued by simply prepared yet superbly delicious recipes. Though this could be in part due to the Brownie Banana Bread Cupcake Blunder of last week (I have mentioned I have a fragile ego have I not?).

So today I am happy to share with you this gem of a recipe from CookinCanuck for Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt.

Fudge is one of those wonderful treats that sounds like it's too much work when in reality you can have the whole batch done and in the fridge in less than twenty minutes. It's a crowd-pleaser every time and you get the satisfaction of hearing everyone go "mmmm" while mentally patting yourself on the back for a job well done with minimal effort and time.

First trick though that is crucial to successful, stress-free fudge: lining your pan with parchment paper. The key is to have the paper longer than the pan, so that after you pour the fudge in and let it cool, you can easily grab the excess paper to lift the fudge out of the pan in one piece.

One of the best bits of knowledge ever that I picked up while roaming through fudge recipes online.

And here's your main lineup for the fudge. Note that I don't have the actual "Nutella-brand" Nutella. The ShopRite brand tastes exactly like it and is half the price. College Savings FTW. Now take these plus a tad bit of butter...

and melt 'em all down in a big pot. Technically you should use a double boiler system, but that would take away the whole minimal-effort deal I am trying to achieve here. If you have a double boiler, then super. If not, no worries.

Keep the heat low and stir the mixture constantly so that the chocolate doesn't burn. It doesn't take very long for everything to melt anyway, so if you keep it low and slow, you should be good. I did it this way and my fudge came out fabulous.

Once you pour it into your pan, wait a minute or two before sprinkling on your sea salt. I found that some of it melts if you apply it too soon, and though it still tastes great, it won't look quite as neat if all your salt melts into the chocolate.

Then into the fridge it goes for 2-3 hours, or overnight if you are want to do this the night before a party or event.

See? Parchment paper is a god-send in these situations. I like clean, straight edges on my fudge (I'm a little type-A I know) and it makes it so much easier to cut when you haven't spent the last half hour fighting to get it out of the pan.

Yum! How pretty are these? Simple, Sweet, Satisfying.

There are so many good fudge recipes out there too so don't shy away if you're not a fan of sea salt or Nutella. For some inspiration check out my Pinterest Board on Fudge, Brownies and Bars.

That's all for now my friends. I hope you are all having a wonderful week and, as always,

Happy Baking!

Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt Via CookinCanuck

1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz dark chocolate (I used milk chocolate chips)
1 cup Nutella
3 tbsp butter, softened, cut into slices

sea salt, for sprinkling

1. Spray a 8x8 in pan with cooking spray, and then line the pan with parchemnt paper, being sure to leave extra hanging off the pan (to pull the fudge out later)
2. Combine all ingredients except sea salt in a deep-rimmed pan set over low/medium heat. Heat until everything melts, stirring constantly, and consistency is smooth. Remove from heat.
3. Pour into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula. Wait a minute or two and then sprinkle sea salt (as much as you like) over the top of the fudge, pressing down slightly if needed to secure the salt.
4. Place in fridge for 2-3 hours or until firm, or overnight.
5. Remove fudge from pan by grabbing parchment paper and lifting gently. Using a long sharp knife, cut fudge into small squares. Keep in airtight container in fridge.

Birthday Cake Fudge

Hello all,

I told you I had to satisfy all the craving that have built up since I hurt my leg, and I have to amdit that after all of the sweets at Rutgers Day, I was regretting not taking any fudge home at the end.

I mean seriously, who doesn't love a giant piece of fudge?

Rutgers Student Bakers' favorite fudge is a cookies 'n cream recipe, but I wanted to try one I've had pinned on my Pinterest boards for months: birthday cake flavored. Yum.

So I finally got myself to stop drooling over my keyboard and get to work. I even had this great idea to use one of these pans:

to make equally-sized, easy-to-make fudge pieces. It's actually a silicone brownie pan from Wilton but I'm sure they won't mind if I MacGuyver it to my own delicious purposes.

I have to admit though, I do wish I had tried this one out with the baking club, or at least with a buddy, When she writes to "move quickly", she's not kidding. This fudge started to harden as soon as I turned off the heat. Attempting to turn half of it blue was a bit too much for me, but I managed to get it all into the pan and covered with, what else, rainbow sprinkles.

Phew. Now the good news is that my idea worked and the little bits of fudge came out perfectly from the silicone pan, and are adorable. The bad news? What the kitchen looked like minutes after I got all of it into the fridge to cool.

I've never seen so many dirty pots/pans/silverware. Sigh. It's times like these when I wonder what I would give to have a dishwasher up at college.

But after I salvaged the kitchen I rewarded myself with a taste, and it was like smooth, creamy, sugary perfection. I could've used even more cake mix in the recipe but really, these are quite addicting as is.

These would be a fabulous birthday gift for anyone with a sweet tooth. Or, you know, for yourself...it's someone's birthday somewhere out there...

Happy Baking!

Birthday Cake Fudge Via Mrs. Bettie Rocker

3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter/margarine
1 (5oz) can evaporated milk
1 (7oz) jar Marshmallow Fluff
1 (12oz) bag white chocolate chips
1/4 cup yellow cake mix powder
1 tsp vanilla
blue food coloring (optional)
rainbow sprinkles (optional)

1. Grease/foil one 8in or 9in square baking pan, or use a silicone baking pan greased with cooking spray.
2. Add margarine, sugar, and evaporated milk to a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and let boil for a full 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Add fluff, white chocolate, cake mix, and vanilla, and stir continuously until all the chocolate has melted and the consistency is uniform.
4. Moving quickly, pour half of the fudge into a heatproof bowl and dye it blue (or whatever color you want).
5. Fill pan with blue fudge first, then the remaining white fudge on top, pulling a knife through to marble (if you want, I always like layers.) 
6. Cover top of fudge with sprinkles and let cool to room temp before storing in fridge for 2 hours to harden.

Rutgers Day 2012

Hello all,

I told you I would share all of the exciting happenings of Rutgers Day, and I will not disappoint.

Rutgers Student Bakers made over twenty different recipes in order to prepare for this day, with sweets ranging from Red Velvet Rice Krispie Treats to Banana Caramel Cake Pops. My personal favorite? It would have to be a tie between the Crunch Berry Cereal Treats and the Strawberries N Cream Muffins.

With every dollar going to Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale, people just couldn't pass up the chance to try out our gourmet sweet treats!

Red Velvet Cereal Treats:

Fudgy Mint Oreo Brownies:

Trix Cereal Bark:

Cake Batter Sprinkle Bark:

S'mores Bark:

Chocolate Covered Oreos:

Banana Caramel Cake Pops:

Clementine Muffins:

Crunch Berry Cereal Treats:

Would you be strong enough to turn away any of those items? If you are, don't worry; we had even more to pick from. The Rutgers Student Bakers do not take baking lightly; only the amazing, the decadent, the mouth-watering comes out of our kitchen.

We had such a great turnout, with thousands of students. alumni, faculty, family and friends.

Everyone really got a kick out of our carrot-cake shooters...

and the members shared some great laughs together while supporting the cause to end childhood hunger.

In the end, we raised more funds than I could have hoped for, and I am so proud of each and every one of the members who played a part in this event this year. With baking every Friday in April and all day long the day before, these ladies deserve a serious round of applause. I have never been more honored to be part of a group and it reminds me why I love baking so much.

And now, drumroll please....

The following members are now officially Very Important Bakers (VIBs)

Congrats Ladies!

Shivani Amin

Allie Avillo

Tessa Caprio

Linda Ferreira

Jennifer Lee
Jenny Lin

Valerie Raziano

Elena Spathis

Prama Verma

Anne Wang
Smitha Yellayi

Another round of applause to my lovely fellow officers; without whom, I would have lost my sanity on numerous occassions:

Alycia So

Ashley So

Serena Mueller

Devon Stein

I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart for an amazing Rutgers Day, and an amazing year full of wonderful baking memories.

Sweet Escapes: Happy Halloween!

Hello my fellow Halloween-Obsessed Friends!

Although, with the weather lately I feel like I should be saying Happy Holidays. I mean, really, I just broke out the nice Fall sweaters and then it becomes a frozen tundra outside my apartment. Why can't we just have one nice, long, Autumn season?

Regardless of the chilly weather, I hope everyone is having a wonderful Halloween. Today the baking organization I run, Rutgers Student Bakers, is having a Halloween Bake Sale with Candy Corn Cupcakes, Cookies n Cream Fudge, and Witch Hat Cookies! Very festive, and very tasty.

I thought I'd share these recipes as this week's Sweet Escape! These are tried and true recipes that are sure to impress, and who doesn't love Halloween themed sweets and treats?

1. Cookies n Cream Fudge via VeryBestBaking

This is a fantastic recipe because it can be made festive for any holiday with the wonder of food coloring. We dyed ours orange to pair nicely with the dark colored Oreos, but you could always marble the white with red and green for Christmas, pink for Valentine's Day, and even green for St. Patrick's Day! The flavor on these will be a sure-fire hit at any event you have. We whipped these up last semester and sold out, and they are back by special request.

2. Candy Corn Cupcakes via OurBestBites

What a great way to add some fun to traditional vanilla cupcakes. Split the batter into 2 portions, and dye each a different color (in this case, leave one "white", and make one yellow and one orange). Pour each layer into the cupcake pan and voila! Candy-corn cupcakes, or really any themed cupcakes for any occasion. Very impressive for the school bake sale or just a whole lot of fun with your friends.

3. Death by Chocolate Witch Hat Cookies via Explore.Dream.Discover.

Now this isn't quite as versatile as the previously mentioned treats, but it's just way too neat to pass up for the Halloween parties. Bake up some killer (hah, get it? I love me some literary puns) chocolate cookies, and top each with a chocolate kiss. Pipe orange frosting around the kiss and you now have adorable witch-hat cookies that will be sure to please any chocoholic.

This has been this week's Sweet Escape! Enjoy your fright night and keep an eye out for a new post on S'mores Muffins in the next few days!









Disclaimer: I do not profess to own any of these photos. They were found across the internet at some lovely blogs, which I link directly both by name and through the image. 

Cookie Spree Part 2: Salted Double Fudge Cookies

I am sorry for the delay in posts (that is, if anyone is actually reading this blog). I have family staying with me and so things have been a bit hectic on the home front. However, I did get a chance to finally try out the next cookie recipe I had saved on my favorites on foodgawker. This one is for Salted Double Fudge Cookies, via KeepItSimpleFoods. A simple recipe, but be warned, its simplicity does not detract from its utter genius, as it is one of the best chocolate cookies I have ever had. The fact that it is a simple recipe will most likely lead to my gaining a few extra pounds, as it will be too easy to make these on a weeknight. :)

First things first: Cream together sugars, butter, egg, and vanilla. Then, stir in flour cocoa powder and chocolate chips (in that order). Let the dough refrigerate for 10 minutes and then...surprise!....that's it! Just bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, and you are in salty double fudge heaven.

Thanks KeepitSimpleFoods (find recipe here) for sharing such an awesome recipe on FoodGawker. Hope you all enjoy testing (and munching) on these; they are a chocoholic's dream <3