Foodies might want to snap to attention because next weekend is your best chance to looky-loo through other people’s fabulous kitchens and eat treats from great local chefs.
What luck—our two favorite pastimes wrapped up in one great day!
It’s the 25th annual , May 7 from 11 a.m.to 3 p.m., and it’s a fundraiser for . To reserve tickets, call 310-457-5144 or go here. Tickets are $65. Tour organizers assure us it will sell out, so if you want to go, buy your tickets now. You have been warned.
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You’ll have a chance to tour several kitchens that are likely to wow you, make you jealous and that may just cause despair when you return to your own humble abode. Such is the price you must pay for envy.
But what’s to eat?
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Chefs from , Savory Restaurant and Cacao Luxe Chocolatier will offer tastes and treats, and Cook’s Tour creator Marcia Moore will return this year as well. What better way to celebrate a successful 25-year event than to bring back the creative mind behind it?
To nudge you to pick up the phone and get your ticket, and give you a taste of what is in store, today we offer a recipe for Perfect Fudge from chocolatier Maureen McKee of Cacao Luxe, from last year’s tour.
Maureen’s vision is to create the purest, most wonderful chocolates in small batches using the best ingredients with no preservatives, waxes or fillers that are sometimes found in commercially available candy. Maureen is a native Malibuite whose treats were first showcased at the Rainbow Flower shop in Point Dume Plaza from 1979 to 1982. Her passion has evolved into a comprehensive line of decadent chocolates that include dark chocolate almond bark, milk chocolate fudge, English toffee and a creamy handmade truffle.
Yum.
CACAO LUXE “PERFECT FUDGE”
Maureen McKee says, “This really is a simple recipe for one of the most iconic chocolate treats around. My family makes this in several versions for the holidays—plain, walnut, coconut, M&M. We also use different chocolates to vary the ‘intensity’ of the fudge. It is all good! For those who have candy-making stage fright, go ahead and try this. It is so easy that I make this with my 7- and 9-year-old nieces."
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 18 ounces chocolate (buy the best chocolate you can find — this should be a pure chocolate* —see note below)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment or foil and set aside.
Heat sweetened condensed milk, butter and salt on medium low in a 2-quart sauce pan.
In a separate container, pre-melt the chocolate in the microwave until it is totally melted and stirred—no lumps. Be careful not to overheat the chocolate in the microwave—use 30-second intervals and stir at every break. When the sweetened condensed milk is warm and has loosened up, pour all of the chocolate into the sauce pan with the milk. Stir with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be thick as the chocolate incorporates, and then it will get glossy. When your mixture turns glossy, add vanilla and stir quickly. Remove from heat and pour IMMEDIATELY into the prepared pan.
Cool for several hours in the refrigerator before cutting into small squares. Fudge is best kept in an airtight container and eaten within four to five days.
This recipe can be doubled and put in a 9- by 13-inch pan.
*A note about chocolate: We sell bulk chocolate or buy a high-quality chocolate at a retailer like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Chocolate chips or the chocolate sold for dipping fruit are not good choices as they have stabilizers in them that makes for a stiffer fudge.
