Maple Walnut Fudge

This Maple Walnut Fudge is my idea of fudge perfection: oh so sweet, fabulously smooth and utterly creamy, bright with gorgeous maple flavor and speckled with chunks of walnuts.  It'll have your mouth watering and wanting for more.  Fudge perfection.

The only thing better than how this fudge tastes is how quick and easy it is to make!  It's fast and practically fool-proof; you'll be on your way to sugary nirvana in no time.

If you're not a fan of nuts, you could certainly leave them out of the recipe; though I do think they really add a nice texture and compliment the maple flavor beautifully.  Walnut lover or not, if you like maple flavored treats, you really have got to give this fudge a try!

Maple Walnut Fudge
adapted slightly from AllRecipes.com
yields: 3 dozen pieces of fudge

3 cups white chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Natural Maple Flavor, or maple extract
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (toasted, if desired)

Butter and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper.  Lightly butter the parchment and set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the white chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, butter and salt, stirring constantly.  Once melted and combined, remove from the heat and stir in the maple flavor and walnuts.  Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, even the surface, and refrigerate until set, 1-2 hours.

Remove the fudge by lifting the parchment paper, then cut into 36 squares (or more, if smaller pieces are desired).  Serve immediately or store in the fridge or at room temperature for up to a week.

White Velvet Cutouts {My Favorite Christmas Cookie}

I hope you all had a warm and merry Christmas!  I've had a rather busy holiday season this year and I didn't get to spend as much time in the kitchen baking as I would have liked.  However, no Christmas is complete in my eyes without making a batch of White Velvet Cutouts.

 I first introduced these cookies on my blog back in 2009 when I shared my history with these delicious cutouts.  Having originally stumbled across the recipe in an issue of Taste of Home magazine, I fondly remember making these with my mom around Christmas nearly every year of my childhood.  While they are delicious and perfect for any occasion, to me they epitomize the holiday season.

I assume these cookies get their "Velvet" name due to their gloriously soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture.  A generous amount of cream cheese in the batter gives them a beautiful texture and an unique flavor that is utterly addicting.  Growing up, my mom and I would skip chilling the dough and shape these with a cookie press.  I tend to favor rolling and cutting them out as the original recipe recommends.  Either way will produce a delicious cookie (heck, you can even portion them with a cookie scoop and flatten them slightly before baking).  You can cut them out into any shape you wish and color the frosting however you desire, making these truly perfect for any occasion throughout the year.

I hope you'll give these cookies a try soon.  I'm fairly certain they won't disappoint and they'll quickly earn a place among your favorites on your holiday cookie tray.

White Velvet Cutouts
adapted slightly from Taste of Home
yield: about 7 dozen cookies

For the cookies:
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the frosting:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted; divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4-5 tablespoons whole milk or heavy cream; divided
food coloring and sprinkles (optional)

For the cookies:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg yolks and vanilla; mix well.  Gradually add the flour, mixing until just combined.  Divide dough into two disks, wrap well with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours, or until firm.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters; place 1 inch apart on parchment lined baking sheets.  Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes or until set (but not browned).  Cool 5 minutes on the pan, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

For the frosting:
Combine the butter, 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, vanilla, and 3 tablespoons milk or cream in the bowl of a stand mixer; beat on medium-low until smooth.  Gradually add the remaining sugar; beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Add 1-2 additional tablespoons milk/cream and food coloring, until frosting reaches desired consistency and color.  Use an offset spatula or knife to spread a layer of frosting over the cooled cookies.  Immediately top with sprinkles, if desired.  Store in an airtight container.

After a few hours, the frosting will set and the cookies may be gently stacked for storage.

December 2013 Gourmet Taste Trunk {Plus a 50% Off Code}

Today I have my December Gourmet Taste Trunk to share with you, as well as a special offer for anyone interested in signing up for the service.  If you'd like to see what I have received in past Trunks and learn a little more about the service, you can read my previous Taste Trunk posts/reviews here.

This month's trunk came decked out for the holidays.  Taste Trunk always meticulously packages their boxes, but this month stepped things up even more with a lovely festive flare.

An itty bitty stocking filled with candy was tied to the usual packaging that contains the product info/recipe cards that are included with each box.

My December Taste Trunk included the following products:

Leopoldt - Oblaten Lebkuchen Assorted (approximately $3.00/200g)
"The Lebkuchen is a traditional Christmas cookie, which is often enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee.  Made from high quality ingredients, they have a sweet, light nutty taste, and their aroma is spice, a bit like nutmeg and allspice.  Includes 3 sugar coated and 4 chocolate coated cookies."

I love that these were included in the holiday Trunk!  It's so fun and festive getting to try a traditional Christmas cookie from another country.  These taste and texture of these are what you'd expect if a macaron and a chewy ginger cookie had a baby.  They're really unlike anything else I've tried before.  The warmth of the spices is so perfect for a cold evening with a cup of tea, coffee or cocoa.  Both the sugar coated and chocolate coated version are delicious.  The dark chocolate cuts a little of the spice and adds a lovely sweetness, while the sugar allows the flavors to really stand out and shine.  I really loved getting to try these; unfortunately, it seems they would be incredibly hard to track down if I ever wanted to repurchase them.

Two Snooty Chefs - Spicy Sedona ($4.98/1.75 oz bar)
"Spicy Sedona brings warmth to the body with the chipotle spice, with complex layers of herbs and spices, finished with cilantro and lime to refresh the palette."

You can really taste the chipotle and lime in this chocolate.  It makes for a incredibly unique and unexpected experience.  I quite like it!

Belfine - Chau'Cho! (approximately $1.60/chocolate stick)
"This Belgian innovation has caused a sensation in Europe.  Simply put the chocolate end of the stick in a cup of hot milk, stir, and voila - rich, hot chocolate, sinfully delicious and creamy."

I really love the concept of hot chocolate on a stick.  It's convenient, portable, and great for gifting!  Chau'Cho! suggests heating 7 oz. of milk to 170° then stirring the product in the hot milk until thoroughly melted.  This worked beautifully for me and created the perfect, chocolaty concoction.  I hands down prefer hot chocolate over hot cocoa and I love Chau'Cho! as a convenient, super fast option.  The only problem is I'm having a hard time finding an easy place to purchase these online in the US.  If easy available, these would make great holiday gifts and stocking stuffers!

Biscotti Bari - Lemon Poppyseed Biscotti ($2.00/1.25 oz)
"Italian style, small-batch, homemade biscotti crafted with care the same way it's done in Bari, Italy... with slow, skilled hands using only the finest, all-natural, local ingredients."

This biscotti has a great texture and a nice bright, but not overpowering flavor.  I'm thinking the lemon poppyseed combination would be delicious dipped in a cup of Earl Grey tea.

Gourmet Temptations - Spicy Cider Bourbon Glaze ($8.00/16 oz)
"Spicy Cider Bourbon Glaze - naturally dark, rich, sweet and mildy spiced with multiple uses."

This is the product that had me most excited from first glance after opening my Trunk this month.  My first thought was that this would be perfect for glazing a ham to serve at Christmas dinner.  Sure enough, the info/recipe card included for this product provided a recipe for "Crispy Cider-Bourbon Glazed Ham."  I'm drooling just thinking about it and I'm fairly certainly I'm going to push to get that put on our Christmas menu this year.  This is a product that, if it tastes as good as it sounds, would likely be something I would repurchase again and again.

Dulcet - Tangy & Peppery Moroccan Sauce ($8.00/9 oz.)
"The perfect sauce for capturing the flavors of Morocco!  This full-flavored savory sauce, with just a hint of pepper, is excellent with chicken, beef, lamb and veggies."

Anyone who knows me well knows I have a love affair with pepper, so this is right up my alley.  Moroccan is definitely a cuisine that I haven't explored much, so I'm excited to give this sauce a try!

Total value of my December Gourmet Taste Trunk: approximately $27.58

Overall I'm really happy with the contents of my December Gourmet Taste Trunk.  Each product that I've tried thus far has been unique and delicious!  Having paid $29.00 for the box, I do wish the value had been a bit higher; however, my total was an estimate seeing that a couple of the products were foreign and I couldn't find a US supplier for a more accurate price estimate.  That said, I am really pleased with the products themselves and I'm especially looking forward to trying the Spicy Cider Bourbon Glaze!


If you're interested in trying out Taste Trunk, you can sign up and receive 50% off your first trunk using the code "Friends50" at checkout (be sure to also enter "thatwinsomegirl@gmail.com" in the referrer field at checkout).  I'm not sure how long this offer lasts, so I'd recommend signing up sooner rather than later if you were interested in the service.  With the discount, your first Trunk would only be $14.50 (plus $5.99 shipping); however, if you remained subscribed to the service, your future Trunks would be the usual subscription price of $29.00.