Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

I decided to give this recipe a go as I like Lindt’s ‘A touch of Sea Salt’ dark chocolate and I thought this would be similar as pistachio’s have quite a salty taste.  The fudge wasn’t quite as I expected – as the pistachio nuts I used were quite bland – I used the raw, de-shelled ones from the baking isle.  I think next time I would buy them in their shells because I think they taste saltier.  However, I’ve found sprinkling a tiny bit of sea salt on the top of this fudge does give it a taste I like that is similar to the Lindt chocolate, and it makes the fudge look pretty impressive too :)

375g packet dark chocolate melts
395g can condensed milk
30g butter
Pinch salt
1 cup unsalted pistachios, shells removed

Put the chocolate, condensed milk, butter and salt in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until melted and well combined.  Put pistachios in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.  Add pistachios to the chocolate mixture and stir well.

Pour the mixture into a 20cm square baking tin that has been lined with baking paper.  Smooth the top.  Allow the fudge to cool, then refrigerate until set before cutting into pieces.

One Dough – Hundreds of Biscuits

In the Easter 2011 ‘Indulge’ magazine put out by Countdown there is a fantastic biscuit recipe that I have had heaps of fun playing around with.  It is easy peasy and makes a good 50+ biscuits each batch.


All you need is:
250g butter, room temperature
¾ cup caster sugar
⅔ cup condensed milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 cups self raising flour

Use an electric beater to combine butter, sugar, condensed milk, egg and vanilla until light and creamy.  Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until combined.

At this point you can divide your mixture (the magazine recommends in 3) and start adding different ingredients to make your different biscuits.  My favourite is a raspberry (I use a natural soft raspberry liquorice log, chopped up), pistachio nut and white chocolate combo.  I’ve also tried, triple choc – add cocoa powder, white chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate drops, and chocolate chip biscuits – just add chocolate chips.  You could add dried fruit, smarties or m&m’s would be great for kids lunch boxes or birthday parties.  Give them a go and experiment, be sure to let us know how they turn out!

To bake roll two teaspoons of mixture into a ball and flatten with a fork.  You can also make mixture into a log, chill and cut into biscuits if you prefer a more perfect look.  Bake time and number of biscuits will vary depending on your fillings but a guide to bake time is about 12mins in a 180˚C oven, just keep an eye on them.  You should get at least 40 biscuits out of the mixture (the first time I used it and made three different types of biscuits I got 60).

*Tip – Due to the popular demand of the raspberry, white chocolate and pistachio biscuits in our house I divide the mixture in half and make into x2 logs which I place in the freezer, one just until it is hardening then I cut it into 24 pieces and lay them on a biscuit tray to bake.  The other, I leave until we are out or our supply is low and thaw until it is able to be cut, but is still semi frozen, and bake.