Sweets

Here begins the sweet stuff.

Tapioca Pudding

This is a coconut milk tapioca pudding from one of those giant Indian cookbooks. I have increased it from the original recipe up to one can of coconut milk.

Ingredients

• 1 1/9 c. tapioca
• water for soaking
• 3 1/3 c. water for cooking
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 2/3 c. (1 can) coconut milk
• tropical fruits (optional)
• rind of 1 lime (optional)

Directions

Soak tapioca in water for 1 hour. Drain. Boil cooking water. Stir in sugar and salt. Add tapioca and coconut milk. Simmer 10 minutes. Serve warm or cold, decorated with optional ingredients.

Nutella Fudge with Sea Salt

I found this chocolate fudge recipe online at The Crunchy Mamacita, who had gotten it from Cookin' Canuck. I found the crunchy version a bit more approachable, but I've edited out some unnecessary room-temperaturing and the instructions for making your own fake double boiler (since I have a real double boiler). I also assume you don't need to know which end of the double boiler the water goes into and which end takes the fudge.

I had my eye on an Andes Mint Chocolate Chip Fudge, but I thought I had all the ingredients for this one (and certain people just don't appreciate mint properly). Then it turned out the can of milk was evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk, and Peter had eaten almost all the Nutella. So I went shopping and found everything on sale, including the dark chocolate chips and coarser sea salt than I had at home.

Ingredients

• 1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz Nestle dark chocolate chips (53% cacao) or other high-cacao semisweet chips
• 1 c. Nutella
• 3 T. butter cut up into small pieces
• coarse sea salt to sprinkle on top

Directions

Line 64 square inches of baking pan or convenient rectangular tupperware with parchment paper. Leave some overlap for later fudge extraction. (I used two 8x4 pans because my 8x8 pan has only been fit for steaming bread since an unfortunate accident with a fish.)

In the double boiler at a gentle simmer, mix all ingredients but sea salt. Stir until melted and smooth, about 5-7 minutes.

Pour into pan(s) and smooth out with a spatula. Sprinkle with sea salt. Press sea salt into fudge to secure it. Chill until firm (at least 2 hours).

Lift the fudge out of the pan(s) and cut into fudge-sized pieces. (The directions said 3/4 inch, but I think an inch is more fudge-sized.) You can either rinse the knife frequently or knock off the extra fudge buildup on your cut lines later.

Keep the parchment paper to separate the fudge from your tupperware, tin foil, snack baggies or other fudge containment schemes. Keep refrigerated.

Almond Easy Fudge

This is an even easier easy fudge, with just the basic ingredients from Eagle Brand, along with my addition of some almond extract.

Ingredients

• 3 c. (18 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• dash salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract

Directions

Line an 8x8 pan as in the previous fudge recipe. Mix all ingredients but extracts in a double boiler until melted and smooth. Add extract.

Pour into pan and smooth with a spatula. Chill two hours. Cut into desired size.

Easy Mints

This recipe came off a bag of Domino's sugar.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. butter or margarine
• 2 T. water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 3 1/2 - 3 3/4 c. confectioner's sugar
• food coloring (optional)

Directions

Melt butter with water over low heat. Remove from heat, add salt and extract. Gradually add sugar.

If using food coloring, separate mixture for coloring and color each part with "several drops."

Knead until smooth. Mold with molds or roll and slice. (I just rolled into balls instead.)

Yield is 1 lb. The directions are vague about whether they keep.

Candied Grapefruit Peels

You can do this with (four) oranges, but I prefer grapefruit.

Ingredients

• 3 whole grapefruit peels (presumably halved)
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. water

Directions

Boil peels in cold water whole and drain them, twice. Cut them into strips. Boil the strips six more times, starting with cold water each time.

Dissolve sugar in 1/2 c. water on heat. Cook peels slowly in the water until only 2 T. syrup remains.

Roll in sugar and cool on a greased cookie sheet.