And so the evacuation of the cupboards continues. There has been a sad little can of condensed milk sitting in my cupboard for the longest time. I’m fairly sure it was well out date but I figure those kind of things never really go off. Well at least not for a good two years after they say so.

So this week I bring you Dark Chocolate fudge with dried apricots, amaretti and roasted hazelnuts (in half). Not bad for 10mins work and 60mins of passive baking. It’s from that mad one Nigella Lawson. She’s done it again. No effort, maximum calories and maximum deliciousness. I’ve changed the additions because I think pistachio an arrogant nut.

I can’t not talk about the excitement of planning my new kitchen. I cannot stop thinking about it. I know it’s fierce sad and I shouldn’t be so excited. But I am. I’ve planned everything. It’s going to be amazing. Ideally I would like a 1.5 storey glazed orangery on the back but in the real world, where we have no money left, I am more than overjoyed to dream about the smallest of details of the kitchen we can actually afford. Metro tiles, stainless steel, no overhead cupboards, induction hob, handleless units etc. etc.

I should say we’ve not even got the keys. We haven’t even signed the contract. Haven’t even fully resolved how much of the site we own. But I don’t care.

I love my new kitchen, our new house.

Sigh.

Back to the recipe. It doesn’t look like it makes lots but these fellas are all sorts of rich so it makes about 50 pieces.

No oven, this is all stove-top and fridge.

Condensed milk              1 can (397g)

Dark chocolate                350g (not a typo)

Butter                                 30g

Your own additions; I used 8 crushed amaretti, 8 dried apricots and 100g of hazelnuts but go mad, you could use dried cranberries, almonds, crushed gingernuts whatever like.

Line a baking tray of about 30cm x 20cm with baking parchment.

For my additions I chopped the apricots and roasted the hazelnuts but kept them whole.

So the fudge, add the condensed milk, the chocolate and butter to a large, heavy-based saucepan and place on a medium-low heat.

Stir gently till everything is smooth and delicious – about 5mins. You’ll notice everything going thick and sticky. I thought it was seizing but it wasn’t.

When it’s perfectly melted, remove the pan from the heat and throw in whatever bits you’re using and stir so they’re evenly distributed.

(As I don’t like whole nuts I added the apricots and amaretti first, stirred that, poured half of the fudge into one side of the tray then added the hazelnuts to the fudge left in the pan, stirred it some more, then poured the nutty half into the remaining, empty side of the tray)

Dollop the warm fudge into the prepared baking tray and smooth it down with the back of a spoon.

Pop it into the fridge for an hour to harden – you could put it into the freezer if you are as impatient as I.

When it has toughened up, use a sharp knife to cut it into little pieces of happiness. A cup of tea works well with it.

Last thing – due to the alarming amount of chocolate, it’s best to store this fudge in the fridge.