Friday, December 30, 2011

White Chocolate Almond Baklava Fudge!

SHH... Secret photo is now embedded in this blog!  Here is the Alaskan Landscape Cake...










This is a recipe I tweaked from a basic white chocolate fudge recipe when I was writing "Small-Town Hearts", the story of two competing candy stores.

And they're delightfully well-matched owners, LOL!

Anyway, this is a wonderful treat, easy to make and the Baklava mix is something I keep on hand in the freezer. I make my own by adding equal parts of the nuts (a 1-to-1 ratio) and then adding in 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to the the mix per cup of nuts. So if I make up 4 cups of nuts, I add 1  1/3 cups sugar, 4 teaspoons of cinnamon and 2 teaspoons of nutmeg. I keep it in a plastic jar (a leftover Raisinets container from Sam's Club, LOL!) and just scoop out what I need.

White Chocolate Almond Baklava Fudge

 Ingredients
  • 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
  • 4 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 3 teaspoons almond extract
  • 16 ounces white chocolate, chopped
  • 1 cup chopped roasted almonds
  • ½ cup Baklava mix (chopped almonds, walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg)
Directions
1.     Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish, line with double wax paper, top side buttered. Set aside.
2.     In a medium bowl, beat soft cream cheese, sugar, and almond until smooth.
3.     In the top of a double boiler over lightly simmering water, heat white chocolate, stirring until melted and smooth.
4.     Fold melted white chocolate, almonds and baklava mix into cream cheese mixture. Spread into prepared baking dish. Chill for 1 hour, then cut into 1 inch squares.

Seriously, how much easier can you get than this? And the blend of nuttiness to almond "white chocolate" is wonderful.

And of course I love anything to do with Baklava, in any way, shape or form!

12 comments:

  1. Oh my stars. This looks amazing!!!

    And y'all, Ruthy saved my rear this morning! After traveling all day yesterday, I didn't even think about what day it was. That it was my day to post! So Ruthy, who gets up with the roosters (Blackie, for one!), posted for me when she saw I was tardy. Ruthy, dear, thank you!! I hope to get back on schedule today. No more being a slacker. :)

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  2. This is why a pawwwtnahship is essential to our well-bein', Sugah!!! Because we cover our boootaaaays as necessary!

    Well butter my buns and call me a biscuit, I'm makin' a weddin' cake today. With cart blanche... Which means this sweet bride and groom have NO IDEA what they're getting.

    What were they thinking????

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  3. Oh, I love the Yank with a southern accent!

    Bless the bride and groom's hearts.

    ;)

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  4. Ruthy, I think you're going to have a marvelous time at that wedding reception - it's the one for the military couple who are on their way to Alaska, right? Lovin' 'em to pieces with cake.

    This fudge looks sinfully easy...it's tempting...we're having 30-40 people here tomorrow night for a New Year's get-together (friends, children, fun, fellowship), and my menu WAS complete...but, oh, this would be a great addition...and it looks so easy...

    It's the cream cheese that pulled me in!

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  5. I STILL haven't made fudge! I guess I need to try the simple one before toying with additions like baklava mix. :)

    Jan, I hope y'all have a great time! Sounds fun!

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  6. Missy, this is so stinkin' easy. Like the maple fudge recipe, you can't mess this up. And (shocker!!!) you can make it without the baklava, sweet thang!

    You can use the basic recipe and add anything you want liked chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit (dried pineapple and maraschino cherries, patted dry? Oh my stars, or craisins for a holiday twist? Craisins and almonds??? YUM.)

    Jan, yes, and I just finished the cake. I'll post pics later after they see it just in case mom is SNOOPING AROUND... You know how mothers are! ;)

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  7. This sounds delicious. Can't wait to see pictures of the cake. I love the sound of this celebration.

    Ruthy, that baklava mix sounds so yummy. My sister made this easy peasy ;) cheesecake thingy for Christmas that would probably taste amazing with that mixed in.

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  8. Okay, I've added the cake pic above. It came out great. Gray sugar for "ice"... Mirror for pond. Weeds and sprigs for flora. Crushed Oreo road. Mountains are cupcakes affixed to a cake top with toothpicks and frosting. "Dirt" bare ground is cake crumbs, yellow and chocolate mixed. Love it!

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  9. Bee-yoo-ti-full cake! Perfect - but no one will want to cut into it!

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  10. Ruthy, that cake is totally awesome!

    It reminds me of one I made for my class a few years ago during the Quadricentennial celebration of Henry Hudson exploring New York.

    Yours is much more detailed and elaborate. Mine had a marshmallow peep pumpkin patch and Milano cookie headstones since it was around Halloween and we'd been reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. :)

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  11. Ruthy, that's amazing. Looks like a ton of work!

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  12. Mary, I love that idea! And it sounds absolutely "fanciful". I've done fanciful cakes before, and it's amazing what you can do with pretzel sticks (fencing) pretzel rods (logs) Raisinets (boulders) etc...

    And we did cut into it. And it was delicious! ;) That buttercream decorator icing is just the ticket! (No one says "just the ticket" anymore so I'm starting a trend)

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