MUMMY MAKES FUDGE

I came across this small fudge company while on Twitter, after following them for a few months I decided to message the owner Liz and find a bit out about them, Liz sent me some of her hand made fudge which arrived this morning, so I thought I would do a review here goes.

Mummy Makes Fudge all started when Liz Usher the owner decided to make some fudge for a charity fundraiser for her daughter Dorothy's primary school, since then what started as just making a simple batch of fudge has grown into an award winning successful business.

After appearing on Sky TV's cooks to the market program and wining her round, Liz decided to enter the great taste awards and won a coverted award for her Salted Caramel fudge, Liz is supplying lots of delectable little shops with her wonderful confection and can often be found in her kitchen boiling up some weird and amazing flavours on her arga such as Hoppy Beer a favourite with the local morris dancers so im told, or watercress and wasabi which proved a hot hit at the Alresford Watercress Festival.

The fudge arrived in a uniformed box that's able to slip through your letterbox (well thought out) which i gather will get rid of the need of waiting in for your fudge to arrive, or having to go and collect it from the post office, I open it up and inside there are 3 good size blocks of fudge pre-cut into 8 big chunks, each block weighs 120g and has the ingredients on the back of the label.

Lets start with the vanilla fudge I open the packet and have a sniff, the first thing you notice is the warm vanilla scent slowly oozing out of the packaging, followed closely by that wonderful fudgey smell, I pop a chunk in my mouth and the warm fudgey smoothness just melts with the touch of my tongue, the vanilla is not over powering just subtle, and hanging in the background of the melting fudge.

Next is the clotted cream, I once again open the packet and breath in, again the warm fudgey aroma hits you, but with this being clotted cream fudge I guess ill taste it, I pop a chunk in my mouth and yep the first thing you taste is the clotted cream, it takes me right back to a cream tea i had in Devon! now that is interesting, this fudge is a little firmer than the vanilla but still melts in the mouth and is quite yummy!

The first thing you notice about this fudge is the glistening of the salt crust on the top, this looks like the salt has been added while boiling and settled on the top while cooling, I take a sniff and the first thing you recognize is a wonderful toffee aroma, I pop a chunk in and the salt is not the first thing you taste! the toffee fudge is quite tasty followed by a hint of salt that kicks in and makes your taste-buds awaken this is the firmest of all the 3 fudges

Summing up:

Being a small cottage industry company I think Liz has done wonders with her fudge so far, I personally would buy it if I saw it in a local shop, I loved the smooth texture of the vanilla and the hit of salt from the caramel fudge, the clotted cream has to be my personal favorite but I would equally enjoy all the flavours.

Why not try out the fudge by post option Mummy Makes Fudge offers, at £8 for 3 big 120g bars with postage included Its very good value compared to there competitors.

Find Mummy Makes Fudge here - www.mummymakes.net 

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer

All comments in this blog are of my own opinion  

  

STEVIA - TRUVIA WHAT ARE THEY? ARE THEY SAFE?

Ok, so there has been a lot of press regarding these sweeteners but do we actually know what they are? what are Stevia and Truvia?

The stevia plant is part of the Asteraceae family, related to the daisy and ragweed. Several stevia species called "candyleaf" are native to New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, so is Stevia safe? The FDA has allowed companies to use an isolated chemical from stevia as food additive, calling the chemical "generally recognized as safe." Now, products such as Truvia and others have the legal go-ahead to use Rebaudioside A, which is also found in stevia, in their no-calorie sweeteners.

But there are some health concerns surrounding the stevia plant. Stevia may cause low blood pressure, which would be of concern to some taking blood pressure medications.

"Caution is advised when using medications that may also lower blood sugar. People taking insulin or drugs for diabetes by mouth should be monitored closely by a qualified health care professional, including a pharmacist," Ulbricht said.

Our bodies are not designed or evolved to handle calorie-free sweeteners–be it natural or artificial. Experiencing a sweet taste from a food that is not going to provide glucose confounds our body’s sugar-handling process.

Stevia is “sweet” on the palate, so the body assumes it is receiving sugar and primes itself to do so. Glucose is cleared from the bloodstream and blood sugars drop, but no real sugar/glucose is provided to the body to compensate. When this happens, adrenaline and cortisol surge to mobilize sugar from other sources (liver and muscle glycogen, or protein, or body tissue) to bring blood glucose back up.

Stevia often contains other ingrediants - Natural flavors: a.k.a “this could be anything.” , Xylitol–Truvia is a popular sweetener made with stevia and xylitol. Although proponents bestow the title “natural” to this sweetener, I’ve never eaten Truvia because I’m not a fan of this uber-processed ingredient.while i was doing some research i found an artical regarding Xylitol here is an extract -

Xylitol


Xylitol is, after all, a naturally occurring substance. Manufacturers of xylitol market it as derived from xylan, which is found in the fibers of many plants including berries, oats, beets, sugar cane and birch. Sounds pretty harmless.The FDA has even granted xylitol GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status. You can’t get any safer than that, right?

How Xylitol is Manufactured

While it is true that xylitol is a naturally occurring substance, manufactured xylitol is another matter entirely. Commercially available xylitol is produced by the industrialized process of sugar hydrogenation.   
In order to hydrogenate anything, a catalyst is needed, and in the case of xylitol, Raney nickel is used which is a powdered nickel-aluminum alloy.

Can we say heavy metal residue? 

Xylitol doesn’t seem quite so warm and fuzzy anymore, does it?
While there is currently no literature on any detrimental health effects of consuming hydrogenated sugar, it is important to note that hydrogenated fats and oils were used for many years before the very damaging effects to health became widely known.Given the violent industrialized process that is required to produce a hydrogenated sugar like xylitol, it would seem wise to avoid it based on the very poor track record of hydrogenated foods in general!

Truvia and Stevia were only licenced as a ingredient in the UK in 2011, do we really know enough about these sweeteners to say they are safe? you decide.

Happy Eating!

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All comments in this blog are of my own opinion.

OLD JAMAICA CHOCOLATE

This morning while I was looking around the shops I spotted an old favorite I used to love, It was totally unrecognizable though and I personally thought it had been discontinued many years ago, It made me wonder how many other people knew it was still being sold??

 

I remember the old packaging and after looking on line I found an example from 1973, this is what iv been keeping an eye out for! Not the new ultra modern packaging Cadburys have today, In my opinion the new packaging is HORRID and says nothing about whats inside the pack at all, you can see this by just comparing the packs.
This is what really gets my goat about design company's, when someone wants to bring their products together in a uniformed way they also need to keep the products heritage, something that Cadbury's have passed over and probably lost sales in doing so! (Rant Over)

The chocolate itself smells wonderful  you can smell the distinctive dark rum flavour as soon as you open the pack, having a look at the fruit content there doesn't seem to be much in the bar and iv broken quite a bit up just to get a picture of a raisin.

The taste seems to have changed as well from what i remember, it is still familiar but I think there has been alterations to the recipe, the rum flavour is still prominent but it just seems different in some way and I feel disappointed and deflated after finding this gem after such a long time.

Summing up.

Deflated and disappointed in the packaging and the amount of actual fruit in the chocolate, after thinking to myself yippee old Jamaica chocolate, I don't think I would ever buy this again a bit sad really because I used to love this product, see what you think?

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer


All the comments in this blog are of my own personal opinion

FUDGE FANCIES.

This is a relatively new contender in the Gourmet Fudge marketplace, who I stumbled across while surfing the World Wide Web, It caught my eye because after working in the fudge industry for a number of years, I had never seen Fudge made in such a way!, Most of us think of fudge as a brown sugary confection we enjoy as a treat, but this “Small British Company” has taken that Idea, put it in a box, shaken it about a bit and ended up with the most wonderfully eye-catching, mouth-watering treat you will ever see!

Started in 2010 by Michael, a plasterer by trade, but with a passion for gastronomy, he tweaked and perfected his Grandmother’s family recipe and so Fudge Fancies was born.

The fudge is packaged beautifully in a plain white classic box with a hand tied black ribbon, you just know whatever is inside is unmistakably handmade, I can’t wait to open it to see what delights are awaiting inside.

I open the lid in anticipation and WOW the aroma of the delectable fudge hits you, it’s like you have just walked into the most wonderful smelling shop you could ever imagine!

Yours eyes are taken aback by the vision of the toppings, the colours and textures are the first things your eyes see as you focus on which one looks the most tempting

 “I want to eat everything in seconds”

My mouth is watering just looking at the little fancies that are just waiting to be taken out.

I have:  Sticky Toffee Pudding, Apple Crumble, Dark Chocolate & Orange Zest and White Chocolate Lemon & Lime, Oh decisions – decisions, which one shall I try first?

Let’s start with the apple crumble, (I've always loved it)

I take a sniff and “Oh My Word” it smells just like Freshly Baked apple crumble!! The topping is amazing with its rough pieces of different shapes.

I pop a piece in my mouth and the soft fudge just melts into a creamy explosion that ignites your taste buds, the white chocolate starts to melt and you find pieces of real apple hidden inside and a hint of cinnamon?, now I've tasted thousands of fudges in my time and have to say at this point this fudge has just gone straight into my top spot! I've never in my entire time in the confectionery industry tasted fudge so smooth but with a hidden depth.

Next is the dark chocolate & orange zest.

The aroma is again amazing, you can smell the fresh orange zest and the dark chocolate, I pop a piece in my mouth and the fudge again just melts away “it’s so soft” the zingy orange zest is a delight and the dark chocolate is not overpowering, it leaves you wanting more.

Now for the sticky toffee pudding.

The first thing you notice is the little bit of date on top of the white chocolate, the unmistakable aroma of the chocolate fudge, I pop a piece in my mouth and YEP it is sticky toffee pudding, the toffee, dates and chocolate all combine in that amazing pudding taste all en-robed in the delicately smooth fudge.

Lastly it’s the white chocolate lemon& lime. 

I love the lemon and lime zest on top of this fancy the aroma it defiantly of lime and brings back the memories of a fresh mojito, the fudge melts to perfection yet again and you get the freshness of the lemon & lime and the melting white chocolate it’s an amazing combination!

Summing up.

Today has changed my opinion on fudge as I know it, Fudge Fancies are on to a winner with this amazing take on this classic confection, it’s something no one else is doing, I think this small British company will go far, from what Michael has achieved so far, I have no doubt we will soon be seeing a lot more of these delightful little fancies, Top End high street stores I fear will be knocking on their door very shortly and if not should be! 

If you have not tried them yet you should, i assure you it will tickle your taste-buds.

Find Fudge Fancies Here http://www.fudgefancies.co.uk/

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer

All comments in this blog are of my own opinion

STRAWBERRY LIQUORICE

Looking around for something different to try, I stumbled across Henry Goode's strawberry liquorice, something I have loved since a child but not had for what seems like decades, so iv decided to have a nibble and give it a review at the same time.

The packaging is a brown paper bag style and just by looking at it you know its an old fashioned product, In fact Liquorice in the form of a candy has been around since the 1600s when it was first invented in Holland, In the UK we probably think of Pontefract as being the Liquorice producing capital, Pontefract's deep sandy soil makes it one of the few British places in which liquorice can be successfully grown. It still has a number of liquroice manufactures there today.

On opening the pack the dark burgundy liquorice sticks fall out, they glisten in the light, almost as if they have been polished before being packaged and im wondering if this is not a wax spray finish that has been added in the final stages of manufacture?

I decide to have a smell and am disappointed with the aroma, there is a small whiff of strawberry scent but not what i was expecting, but with this being a liquorice product and being a natural flavour it does not concern me in the slightest, I pop a stick in my mouth and chomp away.

The liquorice is chewy and sticks to your teeth, there is a distinct wax coating as i thought but this is probably added to stop the pieces sticking together, the strawberry flavour is there but not in your face, Its mild and tastes natural, there is no hint of aniseed at all but this is strawberry liquorice.

Summing up.

I like the packaging its old fashioned, the strawberry flavour tastes natural, I didn't like the wax coating, you can taste it and it leaves a coating on the roof of your mouth, would i buy again? I'm afraid the answer is no see what you think!

Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer

All comments in this blog are of my own opinion

DO SWEETS NEED A PRESERVATIVE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURING OR ARTIFICIAL COLOURING?

This is something iv been researching, products with a very high sugar content and high boiling point should not need any kind of preservative if made correctly. Sugar is itself a natural preservative and has been used as one for numerous years, Sugar in the right format can also be used as a moisture retainer so products that are meant to have a soft texture remain soft for the maximum amount of time so to extend the shelf life of a product.

Most of us think of sugar as the white granulated stuff we spoon into our tea or coffee but there are numerous combinations and formats sugar can be made into, here are a few to mention, Liquid, Powder, Syrup, Inverts, these are just a small selection of formats, sugar can be added to a product and called something else on the ingredient list, look out for Invert on an ingredient list you will be surprised in the amount of products this is in, another one is dextrose the name for a powdered sugar, dextrose, fructose and sucrose all are sweeteners in some shape or form

Why do sweets need artificial flavouring or colouring when we have natural colours and flavours we can use? The trend has started to change and big manufactures and producers have now started to realize us the general public want natural flavours and colours and have so started to change the way they make there products, we all like to feel we are eating healthy and in moderation a sweet treat now and again has become the norm for most households.

Artificial flavours and colours are used for cheapness and ease in the formulations of food products, but as the change from unnatural to natural starts to kick in manufactures are realizing there are quite good products on the market now days that make reformulation quite simple and easy, For anyone out there that thinks bringing a product to market is simple i have to say here it can take years before a recipe from the idea stage hits the shelf depending on how much money you have of course!


Happy Eating!


Follow Me On Twitter @Fudgegeezer


All comments in this blog are of my own opinion

IS SUPERMARKET FUDGE ANY GOOD?

Today I decided to look in the top 5 supermarkets for some fudge, all had it in stock but i had a criteria in my mind, The fudge couldn't just be in a plastic bag, it had to be made with butter and have NO artificial flavorings or colourings.
All the supermarkets met my criteria but which was the least expensive? and was it any good? lets find out!

The one i chose was Tesco, this was the least expensive out of the 5 and also was in a nice little cube box, it has no artificial flavorings or colourings and from reading the ingredients on the back I cant see that it has any artificial preservatives either, in fact the ingredients read and are the same as lots of other quality fudges on the market today which are a lot more expensive!

Opening up the box the fudge is packed in an air tight clear film bag which almost fills the whole size of the cube box its packaged in and from first impressions looks value for money.

After taking the bag out the box i decided to have a count up and see how many chunks of this wonderfully coloured, mouthwatering confection iv got, I count 15 good sized chunks and i cant wait to open the bag!.
Fudge is a typically English confection but rummer has it that it was the Americans who invented this tasty treat.

I empty the bag and start to explore the chunks, all look to be different sizes although some are uniformed, this gives me the impression that the fudge looks like any other fudge iv seen and tasted in typically English seaside shop, the colour is good a light brown not too dark and i can see little surgery Crystals on the fudge which form as the fudge starts to set.

 I can resist no longer and pop a chunk in my mouth, The first thing that hits your taste-buds is the smooth tasting butter quickly followed by that glorious fudgey toffee flavour all lovers of this confection like, the fudge just seems to melt away in your mouth its not at all hard or chewy, Its soft and the sugar crystals are so small they evaporate on impact of hitting the inside of your mouth. Id say this fudge has been well beaten after the initial boiling stage to get it this smooth.

Summing up!

Now im a fudge connoisseur or should be after making the stuff every day for well over 10 years and iv got to say this fudge is good fudge, it don't leave an acrid taste at the back of your throat you sometimes get with less expensive ingredients, or badly made fudge.
This fudge makes your taste buds explode in a mouthwatering array of buttery toffeeness and you just want to pop the next chunk in just to make sure your senses are right. Have to say Iv only got 3 chunks left!!

If you want to have a mouthwatering fudge experience then Id run along to your nearest Tesco and pick up a pack today i assure you, you wont be disappointed!


Happy Eating!

Follow me on Twitter @fudgegeezer

All comments in this blog are of my own personal opinion.