Weekend Carnivore

This is going to be one of those recipes where it is clear that I am not an actual vegetarian. Sure, there is no meat in this recipe. Actually, if I posted a fudge recipe that did include meat, I would hope somebody would try to get me some help. No, what makes this recipe not totally vegetarian is the use of marshmallows. As you probably know, commercially sold marshmallows are  usually made with gelatine which is in turn made with the use of animals. So, marshmallows are for sure a no no for real vegetarians. There are vegetarian and vegan marshmallows available to buy but I would be lying if I said that I knew for sure that they would work in this sort of recipe. Perhaps, somebody could contact me and let me know and then in the future I can try doing this fudge recipe with vegan marshmallows.

Still, I have decided to post it anyway because I think that a lot of people such as myself, which are trying to eat less meat and perhaps progress into being real vegetarians will still be interested in such recipes. It is easier for those of us taking those baby steps away from meat to give up the big items first and then move into worrying about things like the gelatine in marshmallows. It will happen for me but just not straight away.

Apart from that, this is a super easy fudge recipe which I developed the other night. I am a dark chocolate type of a gal. I very rarely ever crave milk chocolate but now and then I just have to have a bit of the dark variety. I had learned this basic method of making fudge a few days prior but with the normal milk chocolate. So,I wanted to see if I could come up with something for the dark chocolate freaks such as myself. I thought that just a block of dark chocolate fudge would be far too rich. So, I roamed the aisles of the supermarket looking for a few ingredients that would jump out and scream ‘add me’. When I spotted the dried cranberries and raw cashews I thought they might be worth a shot.

Now, just to prove you don’t have to spend a ton of money to experiment with cooking, I am happy to say that everything for this easy fudge recipe was bought at Lidls. I bought their 70% dark chocolate which cost something like £1.85 for the whole bar. They also sell fair trade milk chocolate bars for the same price. Which is great to know and for a milk chocolate fudge recipe I would have for sure bought that instead. Then, for the marshmallows I went for their multi-coloured kiddie bag which was about a pound. Sure, they were funky colours but once it melted down it really wasn’t going to matter. Lidls now has a range of natural nuts and dried fruit too. So, I grabbed a really big bag of dried cranberries for just under £2 and a the cashews cost a bit over £1. The bag of cranberries had many more than needed for the recipe but they are great thrown into salads or just eaten as a snack. So, I had no problem spending the money on them and a small bag in Tescos or other supermarkets cost much more than that.

So, loaded up with my cheapo ingredients, I went into the kitchen and came out with this scrummy dark chocolate cranberry and cashew fudge recipe. We had guests over for the weekend and judging by how quickly we all ate the fudge, I would say it worked!

Dark chocolate cranberry and cashew fudge

Dark chocolate cranberry and cashew fudge recipe

Ingredients:

2/3 cup reduced-fat evaporated milk
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup dark chocolate, broken up in bits
1 1/2 cups marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup raw cashews, freshly toasted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Put the evaporated milk, sugar and salt into a pan and bring to the boil.
2. Allow to boil for 5 minutes, stirring all the time and then remove from the heat.
3. Stir in the broken up dark chocolate,and marshmallows and keep stirring until it is all melted.
4. Stir in the vanilla followed by the nuts and cranberries.
5. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 inch square pan. Try to resist licking the spoon too much!
6. Smooth out the mixture so that it is as flat as possible on the top and put into the fridge to cool.
7. The longer it is in the fridge the more firm the fudge gets and the more the richness mellows out. Overnight would be fantastic but you can eat it just fine after a couple hours.
8. Cut up into squares and enjoy.

Serves: 10 to 12 depending on the size you cut the bard