Condensed Milk Crunch Bars

It's a new year and that means some things are going to change around here. 

I've thought really long and hard about this and... I'm going on a diet, people. Yes, the time has come for us to be more healthy. I know, I know, I went kicking and screaming into this decision too! But we really need to suck it up and be strong. Channel that inner will-power and all. 

The new Kate Tin diet plan goes something like this; eat more nuts and seeds, more antioxidants, more cholesterol-busting ingredients, fruit, lots of fibre and all those healthy things. Yes, it is as terrible as it sounds - I even had to google the spelling of 'cholesterol-busting'!

But there's no use in fighting it, let's just get this over with, shall we?  The first diet recipe of the year is...

These terribly healthy Condensed milk crunch bars! They're packed with so many healthy things that after eating just 3, I immediately FELT thinner. True story!

Nuts and seeds TICK, antioxidants (also known as dark chocolate, by the way!) TICK, oats TICK, fruit TICK, fibre TICK. No, the condensed milk, butter and sugar don't count. They're cancelled out by all the good stuff - work with me here, people! They even LOOK healthy so no one will ever be suspicious that you're cheating (just be careful to make sure you don't look like you're enjoying them too much).

Although I can't guarantee that these bars will make you lose weight what you will lose is all sense of restraint because, they are probably the most addictive bars on the planet! The condensed milk gives them a smooth fudgey flavour that’s offset perfectly with the bitter chocolate and of course, all the crunchy healthy things make it okay to have 1 or two extra. And hey, if we really wanted to get technical about it, they could even pass as breakfast bars! ;)

Now, repeat after me: "I can do this!"

Condensed Milk Crunch Bars

Makes 24

125g butter

1 cup Natura Soft Brown Sugar

1 can condensed milk

1 cup raw oats

1 cup coconut

1 cup cranberries

½ cup pumpkin seeds

½ cup almonds, roughly chopped

½ cup sunflower seeds

½ cup muesli or granola (or swop out with any other ingredients)

1 cup rice crispies, cornflakes or all bran flakes

125g good-quality dark chocolate (80%), melted

Lightly grease and line 20 x 30cm baking tray.  Preheat the oven to 180C.

Mix the oats, coconut, pumpkin seeds, almonds and sunflower seeds together in a large bowl then tip out onto a baking tray and toast in the preheated oven until the nuts start turning light golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Slowly heat the butter, sugar and condensed milk until the sugar has dissolved.  Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.  It is ready when the syrup forms a soft ball when dropped into a small cup of tap water – also known as soft ball stage. Add all the remaining ingredients except the chocolate and mix well.  Quickly press into the prepared baking tray and leave to cool.  Cut into bars using a sharp knife then dip the bars into the chocolate. Allow to set on waxed paper. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Demerara Toffee Fudge Bars with White Chocolate and Sea salt

Should I even bother typing an intro to this? I mean, with a title like that, I know you’re already thinking ‘Get in mah belleh!!!’ and working out how you can get to the shops and back in the quickest amount of time. I’m thinking it too. ‘Cos I know how flipping amazing these are!

For those of you still reading, let me break it down for you: cocoa shortbread, slapped with a thick layer of fudge, slathered with white chocolate and sprinkled with salt flakes. Jip, that’s fat on top of sugar, on top of butter (somewhere a dietician just quit her job cos she discovered what I do for a living… awkward!). BUT the key here is that it’s not just any sugar - it’s scrummalicious sugar (there are just too few food adjectives out there okay - inventing my own starting now).

I’ve used the crunchy caramelly Natura Demerara sugars for the job (Demerara sugars is crystallized from the first press of sugarcane juice). The Light Demerara is perfect for shortbread - the texture is fine (like wiggling your toes in beach sand!) so it dissolves while baking but still adds flavour. The Dark Demerara has gorgeous amber crystals (so pretty I used them as decoration on top of the white chocolate) which are perfect 

for making a kick-ass caramel fudge. I’ve realised that sugar is so much more than 

just adding sweetness and using proper unrefined sugar will add heaps of 

flavour to your baking!

In my opinion, the best part, is the sexy off-cuts! I pretty much spent the entire morning munching on them while shooting - don’t think for a second they made it back into any sort of storage container (what is this ‘storage container’ you speak of? What is it used for?!). 

Well, now my camera is covered in fudge… Wait, my camera is covered in fudge!

Now, go bake yourself happy while I contemplate whether licking my camera is socially acceptable…

P.S. This is what was left of the batch:

Demerara Fudge Bars with White Chocolate and Sea salt

Makes 16-20

Shortbread base

150g cake flour

30g cocoa powder

130g butter, cut into blocks

60g Natura Light Demerara Sugar

Demerara Filling

130g milk powder (full-fat if possible)

150g Light Demerara Sugar

210g salted butter

100g Natura Dark Demerara Sugar

160ml boiling water

Topping

200g white chocolate, melted

Sea salt flakes

Dark Demerara Sugar, for sprinkling

Grease and line a 20 x 20cm baking tray with baking paper. 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (160 if you’re using a fan-forced oven).

Combine the flour, cocoa, sugar and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix until it forms a soft dough. Alternately, get your fingers dirty and rub all the ingredients together until well combined. 

Press the dough into the prepared baking tin and prick the base with a fork. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely. 

To make the Demerara fudge layer, place all the ingredients in a  blender and blend for 1-2 minutes or until smooth and combined. Pour into a saucepan and stir continuously over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved. 

Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture turns golden brown and reaches soft ball stage (118C on a sugar thermometer). To test if it’s ready, drop a small amount into a small cup filled with tap water, it should form a soft, pliable ball. Remove from the heat and immediately pour over the shortbread. Allow to cool completely. 

Spread the melted white chocolate over the top of the toffee then sprinkle with a little sea salt and the Demerara sugar. Allow to set then cut into bars using a hot knife. 

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour! 

Nutty chocolate magic bars

Idiot-proof doesn't come close to describing these bars. I mean, you don't even need a bowl to make them! It's a simple case of layering 5 ingredients and banging the tray in the oven. No stirring, no mixing, and no effort. But I don't promise that waiting for them to bake won't take effort because it will. It will in fact be torture. Now I hear you asking, 'But Kate, why are they magic?!' Well, because you just layer the ingredients in the baking tin, and while they are in the oven, they magically split into a crumbly biscuit layer, a sticky caramelised toffee layer and a nutty, chocolatey layer on top. 

What I love the most about these magic bars, besides the fact that they're ridiculously easy and decadent, is that they're just as versatile. Don't like coconut? Swop it out for oats, or puffed rice or granola. Add more nuts, take out the chocolate, sprinkle in smarties or chocolate malty balls, the sky is the limit!

Magic 5 ingredient chocolate bars

No mixing, no washing up, simply layer the ingredients in a baking pan and the bars magically come together during baking.

(makes 24)

125g butter or margarine, melted

150g chocolate or digestive biscuits, crushed

1 tin (395g) sweetened condensed milk

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

2 ½ cups chopped nuts, coconut or oats (or a combination of all)

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 20 x 20cm non-stick baking pan.

Pour the melted butter into the tray and sprinkle the biscuit crumbs over evenly.

Pour the condensed milk over. Layer the remaining ingredients on top one at a time and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until light brown. Loosen from the sides while still warm and cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Coconut jam (Hertzoggie) slices

Last week I pledged to celebrate Heritage month by giving some of our favourite South African treats a bit of a twist. If you haven't tried my milk tart pancake recipe, do it! You really won't eat pancakes any other way again. When I was in the Klein Karoo a few weeks ago I was given the most beautiful homemade apricot jam from a tannie that owns the tuisnywerheid and after seeing the little hertzoggie tarts on the shop shelves, I instantly knew what I wanted to do with the sweet spread. 

I absolutely adore hertzoggies; with their crisp shortbread cups, jammy centres and fluffy, coconutty (that's a word) topping they are just the perfect accompaniment to a cup of rooibos tea. My only problem with them, is they're a bit of a pain to make. Well, in their defence, any little tart is a mission. So these slices are my shortcut to sweetness.

The shortbread base is actually the very first recipe I copied down from my mother's cookbook into my own little book and it's such a winner I use it for a thousand things. From cookies, to bars to tart crusts, it's definitely a keeper. If you're not an apricot jam fan, give the bars an even more modern twist and swop it out for fig, strawberry, raspberry or whatever you can get your hands on. 

Hertzoggie slices

Makes 12

250g butter or margarine

¾ cup castor sugar

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

2¹/3 cups cake flour

²/3 cup corn flour

1-2 cups apricot jam

3 egg whites

1 cup castor sugar

2 cups coconut

For the pastry, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg followed by the baking powder, flour, corn flour and salt. Press the pastry into a 30 x 20cm greased baking dish and refrigerate. Whisk the egg whites until soft peak stage then beat in the castor sugar until thick and glossy. Fold in the coconut. Remove the pastry from the fridge then spread with the apricot jam. Spread the coconut meringue topping over then bake at 170C for 30-35 minutes or until the top is slightly golden but the shortbread is cooked through. Slice into blocks and serve. 

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Blueberry Crumble Bars

These beautiful looking bars stole the show this past week when I made them on Expresso. We were talking all things Indigo, as apparently, this is the hottest hue of the year for walls, decor and fashion. I can't recall blueberries actually ever being 'trendy' but if ever there was a time, now is as good as any. Being the only 'blue' fruit, it had very little competition vying for the spotlight, which is why I gave it a starring role in this recipe. 

The pastry is dead easy to make with just a little rubbing-in required from your fingertips. My grandmother always taught me to leave one hand clean and flour-free when baking incase the telephone rang or someone knocked on the door. And being as stubborn as I am, I never do, which thanks to Mr Murphy means that someone always calls at the exact point my hands touch the flour. Go figure. You could, of course, swop out the fruit for whatever is in season (strawberries, raspberries, peaches, plums etc.) though they won't lend the stunning inky contrast the blueberries do.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

Makes 30

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3 cups cake flour

large pinch of salt

zest and juice from one lemon

225g butter cold and in cubes

1 egg

4 cups fresh blueberries

½ cup sugar

4 tsp corn flour

Combine the sugar, baking powder and flour with the salt and lemon zest and mix well.

Rub in the butter until the mixture is crumbly then stir in the egg to form a dough.

Divide the dough in half and press one half into a lined baking sheet so it’s about ½cm thick.

Stir together the lemon juice, blueberries, sugar and corn flour and sprinkle this over the dough layer.

Crumble the remaining dough over the berries and bake at 190C for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing into squares.