Its summer in US. Hot bright sun and a cloudless sky and longer daylight time with the sun setting at 8 pm !! Absolutely love it.. Enjoying long walks in the bright summer and slight chilly evenings !! Mean time my parents tell me that its raining cats and dogs in Kerala. Just hearing about the rain makes my heart flutter and yearn for the heavy rains... Huge dark clouds all around the sky and heavy downpour of rains continuously ... Fresh smell of rains hitting the first time on the ground, pools and pools of water all around, making boats and trying to sail them on the muddy water.. those are my good memories of the rains in Kerala. Also in Kerala, it means greenery all around. Ah.. bliss..
[In between the long ramblings, a sneak peak of today's recipe.. Oh Yes, this is going to be one of my long posts again!!. Feel free to skip directly to the recipe!! )
Time : 10 min if you have condensed milk at home.
If making condensed milk, 30 min.
Ingredients:
1 cup Almonds
2 Tbsp Butter / Ghee
1/2 cup Condensed Milk
[In between the long ramblings, a sneak peak of today's recipe.. Oh Yes, this is going to be one of my long posts again!!. Feel free to skip directly to the recipe!! )
Schools reopen after the summer vacation on June 1st and rains arrive in Kerala on the last week of May. So along with school books and new bag, buying umbrellas and raincoats were a must!! There used to be so many different kinds of umbrellas available like the ones that can be fitted on heads and the multi colored ones and so on... Most of the brands had catchy tunes as well in advertisements along with Kids... The umbrella ads used to be my favorite as a kid and I used to try persuading my parents to buy me a new one every year !!! In fact we never used to go anywhere without umbrellas. Whether its hot or rainy or chilly, doesnt matter, umbrellas are a must where ever we go. I have this habit, even now and I did check in my umbrella while coming to US as well.. Lol and I seem to be the only one walking here on the US roads carrying an umbrella !!! My hubby who was brought up outside Kerala refuses to have anything to do with my umbrella mania by the way!! I have tried persuading him to carry umbrella where ever he goes, even if its just to the nearby supermarket to buy some onions !!
Speaking of rains, I did hate the muddy roads and all the splish splash of the vehicles on all those nearby !! Also was (and still am) afraid of the thunderstorms... My grand mom used to tell us that it is Arjun fighting in Mahabharatha that is making all those thunder sounds and used to advise us to recite all the names of Arjun to prevent the thunder and lightning from hitting us. Arjun, Phalgunan, Parthan, Kireedi and some more names... but I could remember only the first 4 during childhood and lol even now :)
Now on to today's recipe... Ya, I am sure most of you would have said Finally and rolled their eyes as well.. But somehow I felt like writing about rains :) I am sharing the recipe of Almond chocolate Fudge balls. As you may know I am part of Jagruti's potluck party Cyber style. On the tenth, I had posted the recipe of Veg Fried Rice for the party. I had been assigned Princy Vinoth of Spicy Foood blog as my partner and had to post her recipe on 28th of the month. Princy had posted the recipe of Almond Chocolate fudge balls and the pictures of the dish were absolutely tempting!! I am very glad that I tried the recipe Princy... Its just Fab.. Thank u so much for sharing!!
The recipe was very simple and could be done in 10 minutes if you have all the ingredients ready with u..Do bear with me guys while I recite my saga of making these wonderful balls... I read through Princy's ingredient list for the party and found that the recipe calls for condensed milk. I am not in the habit of buying condensed milk and that was the only ingredient that I didnt have with me and was wondering what to do. Every time I think about making the almond chocolate fudge balls, I used to delay making the dish due to missing condensed milk. I didnt want to buy condensed milk and finally decided to make it at home.
As usual I postponed making the dish till last Friday. First prepared condensed milk which took around half an hour and then prepared the delicious almond chocolate fudge balls in around 10 min. And done. Feeling happy about the dish, I refrigerated the delicious looking balls as per the recipe and went to take bath before taking photos. I had almost finished bathing when I heard some knock on the door. Hurriedly dressing came out and there they were Unexpected guests !! And there was nothing to offer them !! It was Friday, the fridge was almost empty, all snacks over and grocery list already made. I was forced to offer them the yummy looking balls which I didnt photograph yet!! Inwardly cursing myself for not taking photos immediately, offered to guests with what ever smile I could manage!! But they loved it !! Even my friend's eight month old baby loved them and had more than half of one ball. And he kept opening his mouth for more !!! Awesome !! Feeling so happy and proud, I found that I had around 4 pieces left for taking photos. I was feeling a bit too happy I guess.. I went for a walk with them and then was able to return by only after the sun set!! Aah.. No light for taking photos !! Desperately unhappy I opened the door and found that hubby dearest was home earlier than expected. He welcomed me with a smile saying dear what ever balls u have made were absolutely yummy !!! Aaaah... I shrieked and ran to the Kitchen(which literally meant pushing him aside and stepped into the kitchen). Thank God!! Two balls were still there!! Took the plate and refrigerated them and forbid hubby from touching them till tomorrow.
But I was restless. I mean I had barely tasted them. Now only 2 were left. No sunlight as of now. But I couldnt help having the feeling that we will only finish them off after dinner. So I decided to take photos of the 2 pieces left under a lamp. I am sure that the photos may not turn out well. but I needed to have something to post for Sunday. I wasnt sure that I would be able to make them again the next day.
Took the remaining fudge balls to my bedroom lamp and started messing around to take a couple of photos that would be suitable for the blog. In between jumping around taking photos, I slipped over the chord of the lamp and fell with a huge thump onto the floor, camera flying high and hitting the carpet. Thank God for the carpet. Nothing happened to the camera. Otherwise my hubby would have definitely thrown a tantrum :) Well, as for me, I did scratch myself somehow on legs and hands over landing heavily on the carpet. But just to show how mature I am, I didnt answer the "What happened" shout my hubby gave from the living room. I simply picked myself up slowly from the floor. Picked up the camera. Put it back where it was usually kept. Picked the fudge balls and put them in the fridge and then went over to hubby and cried over my minor ( Read very very minor) scratched hands and joints, hoping to be fussed around by him which he did :) And I did finish off one of those fudge balls after dinner.
On Saturday morning, found that hubby was going to office for some urgent work. Since I didnt have much work around the home, I decided to make the fudge balls again and take photographs which I did without any mishaps this time. Now onto the recipe :)
Almond Chocolate Fudge Balls:
Now on to today's recipe... Ya, I am sure most of you would have said Finally and rolled their eyes as well.. But somehow I felt like writing about rains :) I am sharing the recipe of Almond chocolate Fudge balls. As you may know I am part of Jagruti's potluck party Cyber style. On the tenth, I had posted the recipe of Veg Fried Rice for the party. I had been assigned Princy Vinoth of Spicy Foood blog as my partner and had to post her recipe on 28th of the month. Princy had posted the recipe of Almond Chocolate fudge balls and the pictures of the dish were absolutely tempting!! I am very glad that I tried the recipe Princy... Its just Fab.. Thank u so much for sharing!!
The recipe was very simple and could be done in 10 minutes if you have all the ingredients ready with u..Do bear with me guys while I recite my saga of making these wonderful balls... I read through Princy's ingredient list for the party and found that the recipe calls for condensed milk. I am not in the habit of buying condensed milk and that was the only ingredient that I didnt have with me and was wondering what to do. Every time I think about making the almond chocolate fudge balls, I used to delay making the dish due to missing condensed milk. I didnt want to buy condensed milk and finally decided to make it at home.
As usual I postponed making the dish till last Friday. First prepared condensed milk which took around half an hour and then prepared the delicious almond chocolate fudge balls in around 10 min. And done. Feeling happy about the dish, I refrigerated the delicious looking balls as per the recipe and went to take bath before taking photos. I had almost finished bathing when I heard some knock on the door. Hurriedly dressing came out and there they were Unexpected guests !! And there was nothing to offer them !! It was Friday, the fridge was almost empty, all snacks over and grocery list already made. I was forced to offer them the yummy looking balls which I didnt photograph yet!! Inwardly cursing myself for not taking photos immediately, offered to guests with what ever smile I could manage!! But they loved it !! Even my friend's eight month old baby loved them and had more than half of one ball. And he kept opening his mouth for more !!! Awesome !! Feeling so happy and proud, I found that I had around 4 pieces left for taking photos. I was feeling a bit too happy I guess.. I went for a walk with them and then was able to return by only after the sun set!! Aah.. No light for taking photos !! Desperately unhappy I opened the door and found that hubby dearest was home earlier than expected. He welcomed me with a smile saying dear what ever balls u have made were absolutely yummy !!! Aaaah... I shrieked and ran to the Kitchen(which literally meant pushing him aside and stepped into the kitchen). Thank God!! Two balls were still there!! Took the plate and refrigerated them and forbid hubby from touching them till tomorrow.
But I was restless. I mean I had barely tasted them. Now only 2 were left. No sunlight as of now. But I couldnt help having the feeling that we will only finish them off after dinner. So I decided to take photos of the 2 pieces left under a lamp. I am sure that the photos may not turn out well. but I needed to have something to post for Sunday. I wasnt sure that I would be able to make them again the next day.
Took the remaining fudge balls to my bedroom lamp and started messing around to take a couple of photos that would be suitable for the blog. In between jumping around taking photos, I slipped over the chord of the lamp and fell with a huge thump onto the floor, camera flying high and hitting the carpet. Thank God for the carpet. Nothing happened to the camera. Otherwise my hubby would have definitely thrown a tantrum :) Well, as for me, I did scratch myself somehow on legs and hands over landing heavily on the carpet. But just to show how mature I am, I didnt answer the "What happened" shout my hubby gave from the living room. I simply picked myself up slowly from the floor. Picked up the camera. Put it back where it was usually kept. Picked the fudge balls and put them in the fridge and then went over to hubby and cried over my minor ( Read very very minor) scratched hands and joints, hoping to be fussed around by him which he did :) And I did finish off one of those fudge balls after dinner.
On Saturday morning, found that hubby was going to office for some urgent work. Since I didnt have much work around the home, I decided to make the fudge balls again and take photographs which I did without any mishaps this time. Now onto the recipe :)
Almond Chocolate Fudge Balls:
Time : 10 min if you have condensed milk at home.
If making condensed milk, 30 min.
Ingredients:
1 cup Almonds
2 Tbsp Butter / Ghee
1/2 cup Condensed Milk
1 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Almond slivers for garnish
Prepping:
Step 1: If you have condensed milk, skip this step
For making condensed milk:
Heat 1 cup milk in a sauce pan. Once it boils, add 3 - 4 Tbsp of sugar. stir well. Let it boil till it is reduced to half the consistency and becomes very thick. Keep stirring in between so that milk do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Switch off once the milk becomes thick. Takes around 20 - 30 min on medium flame to prepare the condensed milk.
Step 2:
Toast the almonds in a pan for 2 - 3min. Let it cool. Then blend to a smooth powder.
Method of Preparing:
Step 1:
In a mixing bowl, add the almond powder. Take 2 Tbps of ghee/butter and mix it well using hands with the powder.
Note: I used ghee.
Step 2:
Then add the condensed milk slowly and mix well.
Step 3:
Now add 1 Tbsp cocoa powder to the mixture.
Step 4:
Grease your hands with ghee and make round balls. With 1 cup of almonds, I could make around 8 fudge balls.
Garnish with slivers of almonds on the balls. Refrigerate till set for 3 - 4 hours. Delicious Almond chocolate fudge ball are ready to serve. Enjoy them as a yummy snack/ Dessert. I am sure the kids will love them :)
Note:
Also sending the recipe to Gayathri's "Walking through the memory lane" event hosted this month by Manju of Manju's Kitchen.
Almond slivers for garnish
Prepping:
Step 1: If you have condensed milk, skip this step
For making condensed milk:
Heat 1 cup milk in a sauce pan. Once it boils, add 3 - 4 Tbsp of sugar. stir well. Let it boil till it is reduced to half the consistency and becomes very thick. Keep stirring in between so that milk do not stick to the bottom of the pan. Switch off once the milk becomes thick. Takes around 20 - 30 min on medium flame to prepare the condensed milk.
Step 2:
Toast the almonds in a pan for 2 - 3min. Let it cool. Then blend to a smooth powder.
Method of Preparing:
Step 1:
In a mixing bowl, add the almond powder. Take 2 Tbps of ghee/butter and mix it well using hands with the powder.
Note: I used ghee.
Step 2:
Then add the condensed milk slowly and mix well.
Step 3:
Now add 1 Tbsp cocoa powder to the mixture.
Step 4:
Grease your hands with ghee and make round balls. With 1 cup of almonds, I could make around 8 fudge balls.
Garnish with slivers of almonds on the balls. Refrigerate till set for 3 - 4 hours. Delicious Almond chocolate fudge ball are ready to serve. Enjoy them as a yummy snack/ Dessert. I am sure the kids will love them :)
Note:
- Since I prepared condensed milk at home, it was only lightly sweet. We loved it and preferred the light sweetness. With store brought condensed milk, I am sure it would have been even more sweet.
- Embed more almond slivers inside the balls for crunchiness.
Also sending the recipe to Gayathri's "Walking through the memory lane" event hosted this month by Manju of Manju's Kitchen.
wow girl..you made condensed milk at home, kudos to you. yummy recipe :)
ReplyDeleteyummy fudge and yummy presentation
ReplyDeleteso innovative. thanks for linking to my event.
ReplyDeleteI love your 'smiley face' fudge balls :) They look smooth, cute and inviting :)
ReplyDelete