This 'Oh-so-divine' treat is Filter Coffee rich, Chocolatey creamy and each bite has that extra walnut crunch to it. A perfect no-bake sweet treat!
"Filter Coffee Decoction" is the infusion obtained by percolation brewing of finely ground coffee powder in a traditional Indian filter.
Coffee is something of a cultural icon in all the South Indian states of India like Karnataka,Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. It is customary to offer a cup of coffee or tea to any visitor. Coffee was originally introduced by Baba Budan to South India in the 17th century and became very popular under British rule. Until the middle of the 20th century traditional households would not use granulated sugar but used jaggery or honey in coffee.
So when I wanted to infuse Indian flavours and spices in my desserts, "FILTER COFFEE" seemed a perfect choice. With few ingredients, it is easy to bring together this NO-BAKE sweet treat and indulge whenever.
This one is NOT the "old fashioned fudge recipe" where milk and sugar is used. It uses Condensed milk which brings the milky flavour in the Chocolate fudge with subtle notes of Filter Coffee. And I love combination of Coffee and Walnuts and therefore I decided on incorporating them too in this fudge, and IT FEELS COMPLETE!!
The recipe is not difficult but "TEMPERATURE" plays a huge role in making perfect Fudge. A perfect Fudge qualifies when:
Appearance: chocolate color, not muddy or gray.
Consistency: firm, not soft or syrupy, not hard, brittle, or crumbly.
Texture: smooth, not grainy, not lumpy.
Flavor: well-blended chocolate, not too sweet, not strong
For a fudge, all you need is 4 ingredients: Chocolate, Condensed Milk, Vanilla and Salt. My recipe incorporates a few add ons - Filter Coffee decoction, Buttter and Chopped Walnuts.
HOW TO:
All you need is a deep pot, where you place Chocolate, Condensed Milk and salt together. Keeping pot on medium heat, start mixing the ingredients.
So the main part is here, where once the chocolate has melted away completely, do not stop and keep stirring for 5-15 minutes until the mixture becomes a little stiff and glossy (signs of perfect fudge mixture). Add in the extra ingredients and a give it a mix once again. Pour it into a prepared pan, level it up and leave at the room temperature for Fudge to set. You are all ready to cut and indulge.
MICROWAVING:
You can also microwave the ingredients to make Fudge. In a microwave safe bowl, place Condensed milk and Chocolate, and keep microwaving and stirring in increments of 30 seconds. Once it reaches a slight stiff and glossy stage, add all the other ingredients, transfer in the prepared pan for it to set. And your FUDGE is ready.
I love combining Chocolate and Coffee together as both of them bring out each other's flavours beautifully well. So here you go with the FILTER COFFEE WALNUT FUDGE.
What you need:
Bittersweet Dark Chocolate - 1 cup (175 grams)
Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (190 grams)
Butter - 2 tablespoons (30 grams)
Filter Coffee Decoction (room temp) - 2 tablespoons (add more for intense coffee flavour)
Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
Vanilla - 1/2 teaspoon
Directions:
- Prepare 5" by 5" square pan by placing butter paper in it and rubbing it with either oil or butter (for fudge to be removed easily).
- Chop "Good Quality" bittersweet dark Chocolate and place it in a bowl.
- Take out Condensed milk in a pan, add Chopped Chocolate and salt to it.
- Start mixing them on medium heat and combine them well while stirring constantly. Keep stirring and beating (very important) for another 5-15 minutes to make the mixture reach thick glossy stage.
- Now add all the other ingredients (vanilla, filter coffee decoction and butter). Give a good mix.
- (If using microwave, take condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl, add chocolate to it and keep microwaving and stirring at 30 seconds interval till it reaches thick and glossy state. Add other ingredients).
- Transfer the fudge mixture into the pan. Add few chopped walnut on top if you like and let it sit at room temperature for an hour to set.
- Once it sets, take the set fudge and place on chopping board, cut in desired small blocks and eat them up.
Note:
- I used 5" by 5" square metal pan, which delivered 9 fudge squares from the recipe above. Don't forget to apply butter on the inner sides of the pan and use butter paper to line for easy removal of Fudge. You can easily double or triple up the recipe to attain the quantity of fudge that you desire.
- Stirring of fudge mixture is VERY IMPORTANT to get the perfect Fudge texture which should be creamy and chewy at the end.
- If you discover that your fudge doesn't set and still feels gooey even after refrigeration, that means that you have under-cooked the mixture. It has not been cooked to a high temperature. Here you don't have to throw away you fudge mixture. You can heat it again to a high temperature and then pour again to set. This will solve UNDER-COOKED problem.
- Sometimes, imperfect Fudge will turn out to be grainy and crumbly, which means that the mixture has been over-cooked, beaten for too long or cooled at wrong temperature. If your fudge has burnt flavour and has been scorched, then you'll have to start again.
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