Not For The Calory Counters Amongst You……

Lots of rich, dark chocolate!

Rich. Decadent. Fattening. Very Fattening. But…..to balance that….CHRISTMAS!

You can be forgiven for many foodie indulgences at this time of year, so I make no apologies for leading you astray with this bewitching balls recipe!

Anything with six, yes SIX, Cherry Ripe bars in it has to be a great thing, right? Damn straight. Chuck them all in the food processor along with cocoa and a packet of Nice biscuits (ouch, more sugar), blend to a pile of powdery goodness then mix through a can of condensed milk. OMG. This is so full of yum-ness that you just have to rush out buy Cherry Ripes right now and make this! I made them for a Christmas party (also made my yummy Teriyaki Chicken Bites, perfect for taking a plate of nibbles to a function at any time of year, and always popular), but really you don’t need an excuse, at this time of year, to spoil yourself with something so sweet and delicious.

The full recipe can be found here……and whilst it can be quite an expensive recipe to make, with all of those chocolate bars, I was lucky enough to get them on special for half price this week, yay.

Apparently Cherry Ripes are now Australia’s oldest chocolate bar, having been around since 1924. I didn’t know that until today, although I knew they were my very favourite 🙂

Happy Christmas Fooding!

Choc Cherry Slice…..Again….and Again….

I was so happy with the choc cherry raisin slice I made the other day, that I have made it another two times since – 3 times in 3 weeks! I think this easy no-bake treat will be a firm, no-fail favourite for a long time to come. A great thing to have the ingredients always on stand-by for, as you can make it and cut up an hour or so later – it doesn’t take a long time to set, so you can easily make it at the last minute.

Yum!

Happy Fooding!

Slice Me Up Baby….

Last week when I made the Soupe Barley, I bought a box of raisins, but had 3/4 of a boxful left over. Now raisins are not something I eat or use much, so I decided to try making the no-bake choc cherry slice on the back of the packet, just to use some of them up.

I fudged it a bit as I used different biscuits and changed the quantities slightly, so I wasn’t sure how it would turn out – but the verdict was fantastic! It was a huge hit at work for morning and disappeared mightily fast!

I made the slice the night before, as the recipe said to leave it to set before spreading with the melted chocolate topping; however I’ve written it below as I will do in future, which is to put the topping on straight away. This is because when I cut the slice up the icing had not properly ‘melded’ with the base, and tended to crack a bit.

Crunchy Choc Raisin Slice

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

250 gm pkt Granita biscuits

1/3 cup glacé cherries, cut in half

90 gms butter

370 gms condensed  milk (not quite all of a tin)

300 gms dark cooking chocolate

1 tsp butter, extra

Crush biscuits in a food processor until finely crumbed. Add the walnuts for the last few seconds of processing.

In a microwave-proof bowl, melt the butter, condensed milk and 150 gms of the chocolate, stirring frequently until smooth.

Add the biscuit mixture, raisins and cherries to the chocolate mixture and mix well.

Place in a lined slice tray (28cm x 18cm).

Melt the remaining chocolate and extra butter, in the microwave until smooth, and spread evenly over the top of the slice.

Refrigerate for a few hours, then cut into squares to serve, and stuff your face!

Happy Summer Fooding!

Cherry Stuffed Grilled Chicken Breasts

Ready to go in the oven….

Hmmmm, my friend walked in to the supermarket and said to the girl in the deli when looking at the chicken, “your breasts are very small today”…..!!! Oops!  But well worth the gaff, as this chicken dish from yummly.com was delightful and a little different.

We enjoyed this with mashed potato & spicy peas. The cherries weren’t overpowering, rather gently subtle.

Happy Fooding!

 

Choc Cherry Muffins

I burnt these! I’m still not used to just how hot my current oven is – I keep turning the temp down lower than every recipe says, but it is still too hot. Actually it has been great for cakes rising so far, much better than my previous oven, but I must remember to turn it down even more. Also the oven doesn’t have a window in the door – how archaic – which is a bit frustrating, as you can’t see how things are going, but you don’t want to open the oven too often to check, especially with cakes.

Despite their burnt bums, these muffins, which use yummy Cherry Ripe bars in them, were all eaten by the TAFE class that I took them to!

I’m sorry if you are not able to get Cherry Ripes where you live – you haven’t lived ’til you’ve tried one!

Choc Cherry Muffins

2 cups SR flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1/3 cup castor sugar

60 gms butter, melted

3 x 55 gm Cherry Ripe bars, chopped

1/2 cup Nutella hazelnut spread

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl; stir in the remaining ingredients and mix (do not over-mix).

Spoon into a lightly greased muffin tray. Bake at 190C (unless your oven is super hot like mine in which case lower it a bit and keep an eye on them) for 25 minutes.

Makes 12

Happy Unburnt Fooding!