Alice in the Kitchen

Christmas 2009

Oreo Truffles, Gingerbread Truffles, and Velveeta Fudge

Gingerbread Truffles

Gingerbread truffles… a nice Christmas treat, especially for those people (freaks) in your life who don’t love chocolate.

The ingredients are fairly simple.  Make sure the ginger snaps are crushed very fine:

And when you get ready to roll your truffles, your mix should look like this:

These truffles are very rich, so I recommend rolling them very small – smaller than golf balls, slightly larger than marbles.

Much easier than a Gingerbread House!  Merry Christmas!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 3 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts
• 2.5 cups gingersnap crumbs (about one 14-oz box)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, for rolling

Preparation:

1. Place the white chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave until melted, stirring after every 45 seconds to prevent overheating.

2. Once the white chocolate is melted, add the corn syrup, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract. If it seems to be separating, stir gently with a whisk until it comes back together. Stir in the gingersnap crumbs, powdered sugar, all the spices, and the chopped nuts. Place the mixture in the refrigerator until it is firm enough to shape, about 1 hour.

3. Using a teaspoon, roll the candy into small balls between your palms. Place the granulated sugar in a small bowl, and roll the balls in the sugar.

4. Place the gingerbread truffles in an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator. These candies store for several weeks, but they tend to lose some of their strong ginger flavor after about a week. Allow the truffles to come to room temperature before serving.

A Very Redneck Christmas – Velveeta Fudge

I asked Matt’s roommates recently if they had ever eaten (or even heard of) Velveeta fudge.  Their responses were, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly skeptical.

Not that I can blame them.  When I first heard about “Velveeta Fudge” I remember thinking that it sounded pretty disgusting – a regular fudge made with Velveeta cheese?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to be a redneck, but really?  Fudge made with Velveeta?  We’re not too poor to make real fudge… are we?

But let’s be honest.  I’m not above trying it.  And this Christmas seemed like the perfect occasion, especially in light of the fact that my dad will eat just about anything, so it probably wouldn’t go to waste.

The ingredients were simple: Velveeta, butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa.  But I’m not a huge fan of plain fudge, so I also bought some dried cherries to throw in the fudge, along with some extra pecans we had at the house.

So we begin.  Melting the butter with the Velveeta was easy enough, but it didn’t really look “smooth” as the recipe suggested that it might.  Perhaps the problem was that I didn’t stir “continuously,” as was also suggested in the recipe.

So after this mix got all melted together, I added some vanilla, the cherries, and the pecans, and ended up with this:

At this point, I was fairly doubtful that the Velveeta Fudge was going to be edible.  But I pressed on.  Now I stirred the mixture above into 2 pounds of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of cocoa:

And then pressed the mixture above into a lightly greased 11×7 pan:

And put it into the fridge to chill.

Later we sliced it, and we ended up with:

drumroll please…..

some REALLY delicious fudge!  It was smooth and light and creamy, just like fudge should be – and there was no hint of a cheese flavor.

So I’m happy to have been the test kitchen for you – Velveeta Fudge is a winner!  The recipe on the Velveeta website is quite a bit more complicated than the recipe I used, so I can only vouch for the one below, and it’s very easy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, sliced
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped nuts, pecans, walnuts
• 2 (16-ounce) boxes confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Directions

Spray lightly the bottom of a 9×9 or 11×7 pan.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the cheese and butter together, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla and nuts (and the cherries if you so choose!)

In a large bowl mix together the sugar and cocoa.  Pour the cheese mixture into the sugar and cocoa mixture and stir until completely mixed.

Using your hands, remove candy from bowl and press evenly and firmly into pan.

Chill and cut!  Enjoy!!