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A recent visit by my wife’s sister got me experimenting in the fudge factory with an old favourite of mine cheesecake. This is something I always had time for even in my busy days as a plasterer I had time to knock up a lemon Cheesecake for visiting family and friends.
With a kitchen full of fudge something clicked in my head a combination of fudge and my favourite desert might just work so I set about making a lemon cheesecake, adding a small quantity of my lemon and lime fudge.
Pictured right, was the result, my first Lemon and Lime Fudge Cheesecake! I kid you not it was something special and a definite winner for the visiting family!
Fudge Cheesecake Fancies!
The next stage for me was to refine the Cheesecake and make it more pleasing to the eye and make it look more like my Fudge Fancies.
After a long day in the Fudge Factory this is the end result a trio of Fudge Fancy Cheesecakes with a white chocolate spoon to eat them with. The fudge cheesecake can then be topped with fresh ingredients as it is more of a desert then a fudge.
I’m really pleased with the end result the combination has resulted in something that will work well for wedding deserts and other functions. Keep your eyes and ears peeled, and taste buds at bay and you may be seeing these more often!
A Trio of Deserts
The new Fudge Fancies Cheesecake compliments some of my other fancies really well. So here we have a Trio of Cheesecake deserts which are Strawberry, Lemon and Lime and Eton Mess, with a white chocolate spoon for each!
Haven’t done a blog post for ages so thought I’d leave it for a special occasion and this is it!
I have Just found out that Fudge Fancies is one of the lucky regional winners of the business accelerator scheme backed by Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden, and Prime Minister David Cameron. Fudge Fancies were initially shortlisted with 10 other business who all had to pitch about plans and future goals in front of a panel of local successful entrepreneurs, they then whittled it down to 3 lucky winners. The regional winners receive a prize package which includes advice from the local business mentors, substantial advertising space in the local gazette and last but not least going through to the national final with a chance to work with Deborah Meaden.
Full details of the competition can be found at this link http://goo.gl/VMMeH still cant belive it.
With Middlesbrough’s Christmas Market just about organised I thought it just right to mention some of the fantastic traders we have on board.
Dragonfly Bakery
Dragonfly Bakery, specialises in delicious cupcakes in over 30 flavours, handmade with quality ingredients including farm fresh free range eggs. The Dragonfly Bakery has a colourful stall, which also makes celebration and wedding cakes for all occasions, and you will find a range of delicious treats available at market including their unique ‘Sunshine Fruitcakes’. All of the cakes are derived from traditional English Farmhouse recipes.
The Dragonfly Bakery also does Vintage Tea Parties where they provide a savoury range but the Christmas Farmer’s Market in Middlesbrough will see the exclusive market launch of a delicious savoury range, The Farmhouse Savoury Collection, including traditional recipes for pies and quiches along with some more contemporary flavours and styles. The Farmhouse Savoury Collection includes a range of delicious preserves and chutneys, including some mouthwatering winter warmers and spicy Christmas treats.
Burtons Bangers & Bacon
At Burton’s Bangers all the meat in there sausages is pure British shoulder and belly pork ONLY , with no hidden ingredients that customers might otherwise find unsavoury.
There bacon is NOT injection cured (the commercial method which is quicker but bulks up the product with water). They instead use the older, slower technique of immersion curing (also called “pickling”). This method takes longer – a few weeks in fact. Once cured, the bacon is dried and then matured in there chiller before being sliced and vacuum packed to seal in it’s freshness.
Adams Apple
Chris Carabine of Adam’s Apple makes freshly hand pressed apple juice which is a big hit with Market shoppers “perfect for making mulled apple juice for Christmas’ I for one will be byeing some
Chris named Adam’s Apple after his 13 year-old son Adam.
d.a.n.i.delights
Danni makes raw vegan organic nurture foods which include energy bars, chocolates, desserts, nut butters and cheeses, crackers and savoury dishes. Danni is also hoping to have some holistic cards and artworks for sale on the day.
Danni’s products can also be found in local health food shops
The One Stop Hot Shop
Quality award winning chilli products from extreme hot chilli sauce to chilli chocolate – your one stop shop for all things chilli – perfect for the chilli lover.
Hand made in Yorkshire by Andrea Wood one and two star wining products in the 2010 and 2011 Great Taste Awards.
Andrea will also be serving hot soup on the day.
The Gingerbread House
The Gingerbread house specialises in delicious handmade Gingerbread, made to Liz’s own traditional gingerbread recipe and using only the freshest spices and the finest ingredients to create beautiful hand made luxury gingerbread houses, gingerbread biscuits and personalised wedding favours.
To ensure freshness all of there products are baked in small batches and delivered by hand to a small group of specialist food retailers.
The Gingerbread house is based in the hamlet of Egton Grange high in the hills of the North Yorks Moors.
Chilli Cake Deli
Chilli Cake Deli is a new buissnes soon to appear in Middlesbrough. At Middlesbrough’s Christmas Market they will be serving freshly cooked food all day.
This is only half of the traders that I’ve listed (all the foodies) the rest I will tell you about on my follow up post.
Nearly forgot Fudge Fancies will be there also LOL
With Christmas fast approaching I’m constantly thinking of the Fudge Fancy Christmas Range and I will be bringing back some of the best sellers from last year. One being my ‘tree treats’ which can be hung from your Christmas tree.
I will also be doing the new Fudge Fancy Chocolate Toppers in Christmas pudding flavour, imagine all the taste of a Christmas pudding in a chocolate bar.
A Giant Fudge Fancy Christmas pudding will also be available which, once again, will have all the flavours of a traditional pudding but in a Gourmet Fudge version, this will be perfect for sharing. My Christmas Truffles making their first appearance are Chestnut and Mulled Wine Flavour, the chestnut will be a white truffle and the mulled wine a dark one.
I am constantly experimenting and thinking of new ideas for Christmas so this range can only get bigger and better.
Keep a look out online and the local farmers market in a few weeks were you will be able to purchase the Christmas range.
Little did I visualise myself some 16 months ago running a confectionery business, from self-teaching myself the ups and downs of making my product.Since then things and opportunities just seem to come my way.
One of the latest projects I have the pleasure of being involved in is ‘The Chocolate Challenge’ run by Will Mclean from the’ The Entrepreneurs Forum’. A project that visits schools helping students appreciate what is involved in the thought process of setting up a business based around chocolate. As a judge for the challenge I spend the day going between the groups and classes, listening to their ideas and offering advice, as well as judging the final presentations at the end of the day.
The winning group will then spend the day recreating their chocolate with Gareth James a Chocolatier based in Tynemouth.
The latest challenge was held at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium.
I always wondered why Middlesbrough never had a farmers market, Stockton has, plus some of the smaller towns on the outskirts of Middlesbrough like Stokesley, Saltburn and Guisbrough. As a regular attendee at the Breakfast Exchange held by the council, I approached Karen Shields from town management and she was very positive about the idea. I made an appointment with her to discuss things further.
A few meetings later we have managed to set the ball rolling. Instead of a traditional monthly farmers market we have decided to hold a two day market every 3 months, the first of which will be the Christmas market on the 2nd and 3rd of December in the town centre.
As market co-ordinator my part in this has been to locate and approach traders to take part, which will be twelve initially but hopefully this number will increase for next year.
I have also approached some local designers and offered free fudge for them to design a logo for the market, as I feel the market should have an identity. The response has been brilliant and we have some fantastic logos for the market.
Lots of other ideas and projects in the pipeline will keep you posted.
It’s been a busy few months here at Fudge Fancies and we have been to some great venues displaying our products. One particular event was held by Middlesbrough Fashion Week at La Pharmacy in Middlesbrough an ‘evening with Kate Fearnley’, a talented local fashion designer. I had the opportunity to talk to Kate later on in the evening and she introduced me to her PR, Sarah Blenkinsop who I am delighted to say is doing some work for Fudge Fancies.
Within a few weeks Sarah got in touch with me about a possible sponsorship deal with ‘Big Brother’s Bit On The Side’ I quickly got in touch with Laura Edwards the Production Secretary for the program explaining about my products in turn Laura explained that the fudges would be placed in the green room for all the presenters and guests who take part in the show. We will also get a link from the Big Brother website to the Fudge Fancy website.
We will be supplying the show with 80-100 fudges a week from now until November, this is a fantastic opportunity for Fudge Fancies and who knows where it might take us.
The local paper have also ran a story which can be viewed here http://bit.ly/nYpSWU
Originally when I started Fudge Fancies a little over a year ago I came up with 8 fantastic chocolate fudge flavours that you can buy online or at one of the local farmers markets in the region this was brilliant for a short time but me being me I am always experimenting in the Fudge Factory with different flavour combinations.
These are some of my new flavours that I have come up with and can now be purchased online at the Fudge Fancy shop.
Eton Mess - Raspberry flavoured fudge mixed with meringue chunks and covered in creamy white chocolate. A popular traditional dessert transformed into a Gourmet Fudge Fancy.
Bakewell Tart - White chocolate covered fudge mixed with slow baked cherries & topped with almonds. A fantastic flavour combination especially in fudge form.
Apple Crumble - White chocolate fudge mixed with slow baked pink lady apples & topped with a crunchy biscuit crumb and a pinch of cinnamon.
After Dinner Mint – What better way to finish off a dinner party than with this classic treat of dark Chocolate covered fudge infused with peppermint and topped off with a chocolate mint stick.
Irish Coffee – Whisky and coffee, doesn’t get better than this! Dark chocolate fudge mixed with coffee & a popular Irish whisky, topped with creamy white chocolate.
Mango and Coconut – An exotic mix of slow baked mango, topped with white chocolate and coconut.
I am constantly trying new flavours out and if anyone has any ideas I would love to hear from you.
Here at Fudge Fancies I have found myself experimenting with different flavour combinations. I am always trying to come up with something new and exciting and trying to find different ways to extend my range.
A few weeks ago I found my son, Dylan, taste testing my chocolate fudge, without my permission lol, he seemed rather partial to eating just the chocolate off the top of the fudge which give me an idea – chocolate bars.
I then spent most of the evening working to come up with a look that would still keep the Fudge Fancy identity.
Easy really, make them round then incorporate the same flavours that I put in my fudge keeping the same high quality ingredients.
These new Chocolate Bars, which I have named Chocolate Toppers will be making an appearance at the next Farmers Market in Saltburn on 10th September.
We recently ran a competition on Facebook to help Fudge Fancies Facebook page get 2,000 likes by sharing the page. Up for grabs was a designer fudge cake, the flavour of which would completely the choice of the randomly picked winner.
The winner, Claire Willmer set the challenge off making her favourite cake a Black Forrest Gateau in the designer fudge fancies competition. I really enjoyed making this one and think I succeeded in the taste and also the look, some fantastic comments below from Claire.
Hi Michael we have had some of the fudge cake it is absolutely delicious and very addictive my husband reaction was “mmmmmmm that is sooooo nice you need to taste this” My little one had her eye on it the whole day “cake, have some” then when she had tried it she said “like it, that’s nice” “mummy’s one” and started to eat my piece too, she kept licking to make it last longer I think.
We’re really please that Claire and her family enjoyed her custom made fudge cake.
A big thank you for everyone who helped Fudge Fancies reach over 2,000 likes and that number just keeps growing! There may be more competitions and chances to win fudge coming soon, so if you haven’t already, Like our Facebook page for the fudge fancies latest news!
