No-Bake Monday: Cayenne and Sea Salt Fudge

Ka-kow! Or should I say, cacao? My friend Lysa from Smile Belly reminded me that fudge is awesome and easy to make. She had a recipe for cinnamon fudge that I adapted for this post. She just looked too cute holding a tray of fudge, and the fudge looked too yummy, and anything I can put sweetened condensed milk in I am down for (see the last no-bake monday recipe).

Ingredients:
- Butter, for greasing the pan
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pound (about 2 cups) bittersweet (60 percent cacao) chocolate chips (recommended: Ghiradelli)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, at room temperature
- Kosher or sea salt for sprinkling

Directions:
-Grease your pan and line with parchment paper so the paper hangs over the edges. 8x8 is what Lysa used and I used a 7x14, probably also a 9x9 or any other similarly sized pan would work. The bigger pan you use the thinner your layer of fudge will be.
-Combine your ingredients in a double boiler, or you can use a glass or stainless steel bowl over a pot of just barely simmering water. Sir your ingredients together until the chocolate is totally melted (this will take 5 or 10 minutes, be patient)
-Pour the fudge mixture into your pan and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle the top with salt if desired (it's still tasty without it, but I love the chocolate-salt combination). Refrigerate for a few hours until firm.
-When fudge is ready, run a warm knife (put it under hot water) around the edge of the pan to loosen the fudge. Pop the fudge out of the pan onto a cutting board and remove the parchment paper. Cut into squares and serve! Keep the extra in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

What I really like about this fudge is that you don't notice the cayenne flavor at first. It sneaks up on you like it should so you are first hit with slightly salty chocolate flavor, then it's sweet, then it's spicy. Yes!

No-Bake Monday: Coffee Jello

So, I don't like coffee and my two roomies can't drink coffee because of stomach problems. So we are generally a tea-drinking household. However, when I saw this recipe on Food Librarian's wonderful blog I was struck by the overwhelming desire to consume coffee in gelatinous form.

While it may sound gross at first, let me assure you that the can of sweetened condensed milk that goes into this ensures creamy, sweet coffee deliciousness. The fact that it is almost as easy to make as jello is an added bonus. These squares are an awesome little caffeinated pick-me-up (just don't eat to many before bed time).

Coffee Gello
1/2 c cold water
2 cups strong coffee, hot. The stronger you make the coffee, the more caffeine and coffee flavor you will get in the end.
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
3 packages of Knox unflavored gelatin

1. Place 1/2 c cold water in a bowl big enough to combine all ingredients in.
2. Sprinkle 3 unflavored gelatin packets over the water. Let sit until the gelatin blooms, about 10 minutes. (mine didn't take anywhere close to that long)
3. Stir in the hot coffee and mix until the gelatin is completely dissolved. (It will be chunky at first, give it time, just keep stirring)
4. Stir in the can of sweetened condensed milk.
5. Pour into glass pan. Thickness of finished jello depends on the size of the pan. I used a 7 x 11 pan but a 9 x 13 pan will give you thinner pieces and an 8 x 8 pan will give you thicker pieces. (I used a metal pan and it worked out fine)

Note: The combo of coffee and sweetened condensed milk is inspired by Vietnamese coffee. You can probably adapt this to use coffee or espresso, cream and sugar (be sure to dissolve the sugar in the hot coffee and gelatin). I find that 1 packet of unflavored gelatin will firm up 1 1/2 cups of liquid to finger jello "strength" (according to David Lebovitz's "How to Use Gelatin" post you can mold 2 cups with one envelope - but I feel finger jello needs to be stronger).