Edible Holiday Gift Special: Vegan Miracle Fudge!

I’m calling this “miracle fudge” for several reasons. First of all, the odds of me seeing a vegan fudge link on Twitter, and actually clicking on it, are roughly zero. That alone makes this video miraculous, but that cocoa, maple syrup, and coconut oil can combine to create something so pleasurable and fudge-like, also makes it worthy of the title.

Michele actually discovered the link on Twitter, and called my attention to it since she recognized the Tweeter as my friend, Stephanie Stiavetti aka @sstiavetti. Nothing against Ms. Stiavetti, but this still usually wouldn’t have been enough to tempt me, except that I heard mention of coconut oil.

This was significant because another friend, Ariyele Ressler, posted something called a “The Triple Luxe” on her YouTube channel(pictured here), which featured this fascinating fat. I was captivated by her delicious looking creation, and the coconut oil’s butter-like properties, and told myself that I needed pick some up for experimentation.

Anyway, as a result of this perfect storm of social media synchronicity, I decided to check out her recipe, and it rocked. I did a bunch of tests, and even though you’re forfeiting some health benefits, I found the refined coconut oil worked better than the raw, extra-virgin style, if you want something closer to real chocolate fudge. The other key is to keep these in the freezer. They work at room temp, but the texture is much better cold.

The extra-virgin oil has a very pronounced coconut flavor, and seemed to not provide quite as firm a bite. Of course, I expect you to experiment and report back. As advertised, I think this would make a fun, and unique edible gift for the foodies on your holiday gift list. I hope you give this fudge recipe a try soon. Enjoy!

Bonus Holiday Gift Idea:

Not only does Stephanie have great taste in vegan fudge recipes, she also writes cookbooks! I just received a copy of Melt: The Art of Macaroni and Cheese, which she co-authored with Garrett McCord, and it’s very well done. It’s getting rave reviews on Amazon, so if you’re still in shopping mode, go check it out.

Ingredients for about 2 dozen squares of Miracle Fudge:

1/2 cup really good unsweetened cocoa (I used this one)

1/2 cup real maple syrup

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped and lightly toasted

few drops of vanilla

pinch of salt

Notes:

– You can make this without the nuts, but make sure your oil is nice and warm, so the mixture is liquid enough to pour.

– If the mixture gets too firm to work with, just place over a bowl of hot water until it melts.

The Tour of the Mill returns – Italian Cuisine

The Mulino Bianco back on tour in the main ones Italian squares to involve the affectionate public in a journey dedicated to food culture and promoted by Barilla to raise awareness on issues such as eating properly and following a healthy, balanced and conscious lifestyle. The Tour of the Mill in 2019, celebrates the eighth edition, after having involved over 1,100,000 visitors in 164 cities in seven years, with seven new stages.

It starts Thursday, April 25 from Palermo (until Sunday 28 April), with many activities designed for both adults and children, to then arrive at Catania from 3 to 6 May. Before the summer break, the initiative will touch Naples, Rome and Rimini, to then continue from September with the last two autumn events.

The facility that will welcome young and old is a space of over 300 square meters, which is renewed and enriched every year with activities. Both adults and children will be guided by a team of nutrition experts, available to provide all the information and suggestions necessary for proper nutrition, within a cognitive and exploratory journey to discover quality raw materials. But great attention will also be given to the protection of nature through the recycling and saving of resources, sustainable agriculture and the importance of a transparent and controlled supply chain.

Visitors are usually particularly attracted to the section Where the products are born, the heart of the tour. A circular space that, thanks to a 360 ° projection, catapults those present into a virtual visit of a factory to discover the production processes that give life to some of the most famous Mulino Bianco products.

In Interactive pantry, with large touch screen displays, you can learn more about the theme of the ingredients, their origins and the main uses. A corner dedicated to Good Nutrition instead it will illustrate the best food pairings to tackle the five main meals of the day. At the Column of Ideas there will be the possibility of engaging personally in favor of a more sustainable world, simply by taking a suggestion for a small daily gesture, thanks to which, for example, it will be possible to reduce CO2 emissions or save electricity and drinking water. In the section dedicated to Paper of the Mill, visitors will learn about the new specification on sustainable cultivation dedicated to soft wheat flour.

It will be an interactive game to reveal that Mulino Bianco dedicates 3% of the wheat fields to the cultivation of flowers that promote biodiversity and bee proliferation. A new play space for the very young it enriches the 2019 edition of the Tour, with the presence of an educator who will guide you through games, colors, drawings and laboratories dedicated to recycling, to learn how to transform objects, starting right from the reuse of trays that contain snacks . An opportunity to help consumers become more aware and pay more attention to the environment around us.

the editorial staff
April 2019

cork stopper and screw cap. An (even) emotional issue – Italian Cuisine

This was revealed by research conducted by the Neuromarketing Research Center "Behavior and Brain LabIulm": the cork stopper continues to be psychologically linked to a higher quality wine. Let's see why

Imagine a candlelit dinner. Close your eyes and listen to the sound of Cork which is extracted little by little from the neck of the bottle, while the wine begins to gurgle gurgling in the glasses, without haste, waiting for a romantic toast. Now close your eyes, and try to visualize the same scene without that cork. With a wine from the screw capin short, of those that simply open with a pressure and a rotation of the hand. The detail may not seem relevant, but the atmosphere would be completely different. And so, apparently, also the perception of the taste and prestige of the wine itself.

Cork and wine quality: the test

This is emphasized by a study carried out by Neuromarketing Research Center "Behavior and Brain LabIulm" of Milan on behalf of APCOR, the Portuguese Association that brings together the cork producers. The objective of the survey was to evaluate the role of the cork in the perception of the bottle that is about to open and taste, in an attempt to understand whether (and how much) the presence of a cork can actually suggest greater product quality. To do this, the Milanese university has selected a sample of 32 people aged between 20 and 65, with different professions, educational qualifications, incomes and wine consumption habits.

First he was made to listen to them simply noise a cork stopper that is extracted and a screw cap that is removed from the bottle. Both the encephalogram performed during the test and the questionnaire presented after the experiment confirmed that the cork was able to arouse more positive feelings. Even before the tasting, in short. The second phase, on the other hand, also concerned the tasting. The people involved were shown opening two bottles, one with a screw cap and one with a cork: although both contained the exact same wine, the encephalogram revealed that that contained in the bottle with cork stopper was generally more appreciated. At least on a purely emotional level.

The cap, an important choice

"This confirms that the perception of the value and quality of a wine is also influenced by the cork it presents", he underlines Carlos Veloso dos Santos, general manager of Amorim Italia. "It will be for the gesture, it will be for the noise, it will be because for us Italians wine is still a product strongly linked to tradition and culture. Of course, then we should talk about oxygenation and properties that the cork stopper can guarantee and even transmit to certain types of wine, effectively improving its characteristics, but it would be a completely different matter. What LabIulm research has shown is that cork is still closely linked, even on a psychological level, to premium wine segment. What in our country continues to grow year after year, in short: this must make us think, for example, who in wine companies is involved in wine packaging. Because to better communicate its product to consumers will have to choose the bottle, the label and, of course, the most suitable cap .