Mocha Pecan Fudge (GF)

I’m one of those people who constantly moan about the inflation of cinema food prices. This consequently makes me the person who sneaks food into the cinema too. Yes, I’m that person who sits there rustling away with her freezer bag full of homemade goodies wrapped in glamorous aluminium foil.

I can see those annoyed glares in my peripheral vision, but they always morph into stares of jealousy as they see my unique sweets emerge from that unsuspecting packaging.

This fudge would definitely be one of those cinema snacks. I don’t think anyone can argue that these are way better than any crappy extortionately priced popcorn/drink combo.

As always, I ate way too much of this. The texture is so creamy and soft and with the crunch of the pecans, punch of the coffee and slight salty note at the beginning (due to the sprinkling of Malden sea salt), these just make the perfect adult chocolate fudge.

Tips for making good fudge:

• Have all of your ingredients at the ready – This will mean you aren’t caught out halfway through. (This is just a basic for any recipe really, but I’m a sucker for weighing as I go.)
• Try not to stir the fudge as this will result in a grainy texture. Shake it every now and again if it calms your conscious.
• Use good quality ingredients – This is so important in baking anyway but in confectionary, I think its even more crucial. You can really taste the difference between ok chocolate and really good quality here.
• Purchase a sugar thermometer – I much prefer the electric battery powdered thermometers as opposed to the old school brass ones; they are very accurate, faster and I’m never trying to peer at the numbers on the scale like a granny.
• Act fast – This is especially with chocolate fudges. As soon as you add the chocolate into your fudge mixture, it immediately begins to cool down, set and stiffen. If you’re not fast, it will set in your pan. Ah. To help things along in this respect, keep your nuts warm in the oven so that when you add those in, you aren’t adding in yet another cold ingredient.
• Finally, have fun! These tips are really making fudge seem like magic and a precise science all at the same time. It really isn’t!

Have fun and experiment with flavours; fudge is like the magic carpet of sweets. A canvas to transport amazing flavours.

Ingredients – makes approx. 25 pieces of fudge

• 20g coffee beans
• 300ml double cream (210ml needed for fudge after infusion)
• 340g sugar
• 170g glucose
• 60g unsalted butter
• 200g dark chocolate
• 100g roasted pecans, roughly chopped
• Malden sea seal to finish

Note: I used a 10 inch round cake tin to set my fudge, however you can use a loaf tin or a baking tray. This will just mean that they may be thinner/fatter than the ones pictured (but you can trim these to a size you like.)

Method

Grease and line your baking tray/cake tin with butter or spray grease and baking parchment.

Begin by crushing your coffee beans in a freezer bag using a rolling-pin to bash them. This will make the coffee flavour infuse the cream a lot more powerfully. Place the coffee beans and cream into a saucepan and place on medium heat. Once the cream has come to the boil, take the own off of the heat and cover with cling film. Let this infuse for 15-20 minutes. Strain your cream so that the coffee beans are no longer present.

Re-weigh the cream so that you are left with 210ml. (A lot of the cream will have been lost during the boiling process.)

Place the cream, sugar and glucose into a large pan and place over medium-high heat. Bring this mixture to 120C on a sugar thermometer.

Stir in the butter and bring the mixture back to 120C. Once the fudge has reached this temperature, take the pan off the heat. Add in your chopped chocolate and 3/4 of your pecans and quickly stir these into the hot mix. Once the chocolate has completely melted, pour your fudge out into your prepared tray. Sprinkle the top with the remaining pecans and a little Malden sea salt.

Leave to set for 30 minutes to 1 hour before portioning.