Susan Jane White has a very sweet deal
Eats shoots & leaves
Chocolate peanut butter fudge
When I'm not too busy tie-dyeing my husband's favourite socks, growing out my eyebrows or making cute little voodoo dollies, I'm making chocolate peanut butter fudge. Guaranteed to initiate a thunderstorm of happy hormones, this recipe may even help to vaccinate against bad moods. Yup. That's a whole lot of promise for a little block of chocolate, you say? Maybe. But I can certify many a marriage is held together by dark chocolate (no names).
Plus, there's not a grain of sugar in sight, which is basically akin to a knighthood in LA and Ranelagh.
Many kitchens have been surviving on industrial quantities of sugar as both hobby and fuel this season. I, for one, have been pogoing around the house after each baking fest like a muppet on acid. The odd sugar-bonk is fantastic, but the World Health Organisation warns us that anything over six teaspoons a day for an average adult spells trouble. It's even less for children.
Excessive sugar is a nasty, two-faced friend; deliciously sweet and charming, yet behind our backs, it's wreaking havoc. Jeesh. When we streamline sugar into our system, our blood sugar levels rise and our chest can feel like a propeller about to take off. This is a sugar spike. What follows is a sugar crash. Neither are very pleasurable, and can contribute to the development of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Not overnight, you understand: First we form habits, and then the habits form us.
Knowledge is power. As Mahatma Gandhi almost said, be the change you want to see in your house. I reckon if we can embody this sentiment during these challenging times, we won't have to teach our children anything. We can just be.
How's that for deliciousness?
Chocolate peanut butter fudge
For 24 servings
You will need:
100g 70pc-85pc dark chocolate
100g block of creamed coconut
200g peanut butter
Smattering of flaky sea salt
1 Line a bread tin with parchment paper. Set it aside.
2 We're going to marry the dark chocolate and the creamed coconut using a bain-marie, until they become one. Place the dark chocolate and the creamed coconut in a shallow bowl on top of a saucepan containing 3cm of simmering water. The trick? Never let the bowl touch the hot water underneath. As soon as the chocolate and coconut are melded, remove the bowl from the saucepan and stir through your peanut butter. You can leave swirls if you fancy, or completely whisk the peanut butter in.
3 Scrape this gorgeous gooey, glossy mess into your prepared tin, sprinkle it with a smattering of flaky sea salt and leave it to set in the fridge, for around three hours, or overnight. It will be ready to plunder during moments of urgency.