Caramel Biscuit Fudge aka Twix Fudge

The blogging world has changed. Years ago people followed and read blogs all the time, but not any more. First because the world wide web is saturated with blogs. Blogs of fashion and beauty, food and parenting, gaming and movies the topics are endless. Then we have the internet aka social media outlets feeding our need for instant gratification with short videos showing us how to make ... well anything and everything!

Of course I am in the foodie world so my social media channels are full of short videos making fun recipes and one of the things that keeps showing up is fudge. How to make fudge with only 4 ingredients or by just using this or that! So, I thought I would give a few of these recipes a try. See if these simple recipes are that simple and to see if they taste like the fudge that takes forever......

So, I started with this recipe from Sally's Candy Addiction by Sally McKinney and Sally's Baking Addiction blog - One of the blogs I follow like a groupie.

Caramel Biscuit Fudge

1 can of sweetened condensed milk (from 14 oz can)
2 tablespoons caramel sauce
546g white chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla
⅛ teaspoon salt
140g Twix Bites

Line 8-by-8-inch pan with foil, leaving overhang on sides to remove fudge later.
In medium saucepan over medium heat, combine condensed milk, caramel and white chocolate. Stir constantly with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat before stirring in vanilla and salt. Cool mixture 10 minutes.
Slowly and carefully fold in chopped Twix bars (to keep chocolate swirl intact). Pour and spread mixture into prepared pan. Cover pan with foil and refrigerate 4 hours or store at room temperature overnight.
Remove fudge from pan using foil as handles. Use sharp knife to cut fudge into 64 1-inch squares (if fudge has been refrigerated longer than 4 hours, let fudge sit at room temperature 20 minutes before cutting).

* for more delicious recipes like this check out Sally's blog (link above) and if you want to know more about her book Sally's Candy Addiction you can check out my review here! 

Have Your Cake and Eat It by Mich Turner {book review}

It's an interesting phrase "have your cake and eat it" - generally one hears the phrase being said as "You can't have your cake and eat it too." Meaning that life isn't perfect; that sometimes you get one thing, but that means you miss out on something else. You can't have both!

Why can't we have both, why can't we have our cake and to eat it too? Mich Turner probably asked the same question and she is telling us that we can have our cake and to eat it! 

Mich is not only a baker, cake decorator, and author she has a degree in food science and a founder of a company! She's done it all and she's done it again with her latest title Have Your Cake and Eat It! A book full of nutritious, delicious recipes for healthier, everyday baking. 

When we bake at home we can control what is put in it and Mich shows us how best to do that! I will get to all the delicious cakes and bakes recipes, but for just a moment I want to point out that the introduction, ingredients, and dos and don'ts chapters are great because Mich not only tells what we are going to need, but educates us on the why and how of baking! It's what turns it from a good baking book to an amazing one! 

Now to all the glorious recipes Mich gives us. First chapter Muffins, Cupcakes, & Buns - The easiest of all bakes. The next chapter Biscuits and Cookies - my favorite type of bake because they are easy to make and they come in all sort of varieties: crispy, crunchy, soft, gooey .... Bars & Flapjacks come next my second favorite type of bake! Finally we get to the Cake chapter the longest and most extensive chapter followed by the last chapter on Meringues! 

My list of recipes to try: 

Date, Banana, & Peanut Butter Muffins 

Raspberry, Rose, & Pistachio Cupcakes

Pumpkin Scones

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Party Rings

Almond & Cranberry Biscotti 

Almond Toscaner

Date & Apple Squares

Salted Caramel Pumpkin Brownies

Strawberry & Walnut Flapjacks

Pumpkin & Carrot Bars

Queen Elizabeth Date Cake

Citrus Coconut Layered Cake 

Soured Cream Vanilla & Blueberry Cake

Layered Chocolate Orange Cake

Lemon Meringue Chiffon

Lemon, Pistachio, & Honey Loaf Cake

Banana, Coconut, & Caramel Pavlova

Raspberry & Rose Meringues

*I was given a copy of Have Your Cake and Eat It by Mich Turner  to review by the publisher, jacqui small. Retails at £22 and available now from your local book retailers or online! All opinions are my own, I was not given any other compensation nor was I asked to give a positive review, please see my contact/policy page for more information.

Blueberry Scones

Wesley Wyndam-Pryce: I wonder if asking Ms. Chase to dance would...
Giles: For God's sake, man, she's 18, and you have the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone. Just have at it, would you, and stop fluttering about. 
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer - season 3 episode 20

I started watching Buffy when I was in high school and I was obsessed with it! My friend and I would call each other during the commercials for any "OMG" moments. We related to all the teenage angst and felt we were a part of the Scooby Gang.

Re-watching it now I am still taken into all the angst, but with less "OMG" moments not just because I have seen it before, but because I have more life experience. Now it's more like "Yup that's how it happens, that's life." Which is why it's such a great show.

Watching Buffy has been a trip down memory lane and when I decide to watch it again in like 20 years I am sure I will see it differently once again. Sometimes long for the days of having the emotional maturity of a blueberry scone, but mostly I'm glad those days are over.

Blueberry Scones

150g dried blueberries
orange juice, for soaking
150g cold unsalted butter
500g self-raising flour , plus a little extra for dusting
2 level teaspoons baking powder
2 heaped teaspoons caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 large free-range eggs
4 tablespoons milk , plus a little extra for brushing

A couple of hours or so before you start place the dried fruit into a bowl and pour over just enough orange juice to cover. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Put the butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, and a pinch of salt into a big bowl and using your (clean) fingers to gently rub the butter into the flour until just combined. The less it's touched the more crumbly it will be.
Make a well in the middle of the dough, add the eggs and milk, and gently mix with a spatula or spoon. Drain the soaked blueberries and fold into the dough. If needed add a little bit of milk, until it forms a soft, dry dough. It should be bit scruffy, the opposite of bread dough which is usually smooth and neat.
Sprinkle a little flour over the top of the scruffy dough and leave in a bowl (covered with with cling film) in the fridge for 15 minutes.
When the time is up roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it's about 2-3cm thick. Then with a 6cm round cutter or something with about that diameter cut out circles from the dough. Place them upside down on a baking sheet. Re-roll the rest of the dough and cut out as many as you can. Brush the top with either melted butter or milk.
Bake for 12-15 minutes. They will be risen and golden on top! Leave them to cool before serving with clotted cream and jam!

Scones are one of the most controversial afternoon treats here in England; from how they are pronounced and what gets put on first the cream or the jam? I myself pronounce scone like cone with an 's' and I like my cream first then the jam. 

*recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver's Crumbliest Scone recipe - found in Jamie's Great Britain