Organic Echo Fudge Review

(Reprinted from Busy Mommy Media 4/23/10 - Enter contest to win 2lb. fudge box on their site.)

Fudge is probably the most common of the homemade candies but really doesn’t seem to get made at home very often anymore. It’s relegated to being a treat for when you’re at the beach or when visiting relatives who do make it which means that no one gets as much fudge in their lives as they deserve. The problem with buying fudge is that you very rarely find it outside of specialty shops and probably have about a 50/50 chance of finding out what’s in it. Even if you do find out what ingredients were used, many commercial types use a lot of ingredients that you might not be so thrilled with if you’re trying to stick to an organic diet. Enter Organic Echo, an online purveyor of all manner of organic goods, edible and otherwise. Amid the myriad products they stock is this lovely gift box of organic fudge.

Most organic chocolate products I’ve tasted have honestly not always been that wonderful. Organic Echo fudge, fortunately, does not fall into that category. While it may not be the best fudge ever (that title belongs to my Aunt Teri’s), it is a very solid offering that really has a lot going for it. The texture is more of a firm/semi-crystalline fudge rather than a creamy one, but it does soften and melt nicely on the tongue. I was sent a box of “Rich Rainforest Dark Assorted” which consisted of a half pound of plain fudge and a half pound of fudge with walnuts. I tend to favor plain fudge over that with nuts or other crunchy bits, but the walnuts used here were of good quality and lend a satisfyingly bitter/rich note that contrasts the deep cocoa flavors of the fudge quite nicely. I noted the addition of marshmallow creme in the ingredients list, and I generally see that as a major plus given that most of the recipes that I favor also contain it. The ingredients also include things like minimally processed sugars and the addition of “Love and Gratitude” at the end of the list.

One thing I was somewhat surprised to see included in the ingredients list was palm oil listed in the “natural oil blend” given how controversial that can be and how carefully the rest of the ingredients have been selected. The only other concern I had was that every square contains 120 calories and 7 grams of fat, but that’s really more of a problem with fudge in general and not terribly specific to this type.

All in all, this would make a great gift for the organically-inclined types in your life. It comes in an attractive package that makes it easy to save or share and is a good excuse to go browse through the Organic Echo site.

For years I didn’t have any luck with homemade organic chocolate brownie recipes, they always came out hard and I had to resort to the nasty boxed mixes that still have trans fats, until I found this recipe at allrecipes.com. These are so soft and yummy! But I’ve adapted and tweaked it a little. Note: these are more of a cake-like brownie, but very moist and dreamy.

ORGANIC CREAM CHEESE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Ingredients:

(Use as many organic ingredients as you can find and are willing to pay extra for, I’ll make note below of where I do and do not use organic.)

photo by swruler9284

• 4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate (I didn’t have that on hand so instead used 4+ ounces of organic chocolate chips)
• 5 T. organic butter
• 1 (3 ounce) package organic cream cheese, softened – I make it myself with our fresh/”raw” milk (it’s SO easy to make, by the way)
• 1/4 c. sugar – I use organic evaporated cane juice sugar - (or equivalent Agave)
• 3 eggs – preferably from a local farm with pasture-fed chickens
• 1 T. all-purpose flour – I use half organic whole wheat pastry flour (which I grind in my grain mill) and half Bob’s Red Mill unbleached, unbromated white flour
• 1/2 t. organic vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. sugar (see note above)
• 1/2 t. no-aluminum baking powder
• 1/4 t. sea salt 
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour (see note above)
• 1/2 c. chopped crispy pecans (optional)
• 1 t. vanilla extract (see note above)

1. Melt chocolate with 3 T. of the butter over very low heat. Stir constantly until smooth. Set aside to cool.
2. Cream remaining 2 T. butter with cream cheese until smooth. Gradually add 1/4 c. sugar. Cream until light and fluffy. Blend into this 1 of the eggs, 1 T. flour and 1/2 t. vanilla. Set aside.
3. Now beat the remaining 2 eggs until light and fluffy. Gradually beat into them 3/4 c. sugar. Continue beating until thickened. Stir in the baking powder, salt and 1/2 c. flour. Add to this the cooled chocolate mixture. Blend well. Stir in the nuts and 1 t. vanilla.
4. Spread half of the chocolate batter into an 8×8? buttered glass baking dish. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the top. Then drop the remaining chocolate batter by tablespoons over the top of the cream cheese mixture. Swirl through batter layers with a spatula or knife for a marbled effect.
5. Bake in a preheated 350* F (175* C) oven for 35-40 minutes. Cool in the pan. Cut into squares or bars.
6. Being the chocoholic I am, I then sprinkle more chocolate chips on the top after the brownies come out of the oven – they melt into a yummy frosting.
7. A few notes since I just made this again: I doubled the recipe for a 9×13, and it took about 45 minutes, but oven temps can vary, so keep an eye on it. (I pulled it out when it was soft on top and felt almost set, but not too firm – I don’t like them too done.) Lastly, the chocolate color is lighter than in the picture above, so don’t worry if yours don’t look just like that! (It has that swirled look to it, though.)

Why Use a Reusable Grocery Bag

There are countless reasons why you as an every day American should start to use a reusable bag. We have studied article after article, paper after paper, and blog after blog. Other than the fact that Reusethisbag.com makes the coolest reusable bags around, you are now on the cutting edge of a unique Grassroots movement that is sweeping the nation! It is our belief that within five years over 90% of the country will be using a reusable grocery bag! Its time to wake up and smell the coffee we say! Here are a few of our favorite facts in regards to why we are urging you to make the very important choice to put down your paper and plastic and protect your Earth today! It isn’t too late. In fact, we are just getting started!

• A Plastic bag takes 450 years to biodegrade. Imagine 10 billion of them!
• The production of Paper bags causes 70% more pollution than Plastic.
• When Plastic “photo degrades” it ends up in our oceans. Incidentally, it appears much like a plankton, and is then consumed by fish. Fish eat it, and it winds up on your dinner table. YUCK!!!
• The recipe for making paper bags starts with 1 part pulp, 400 parts WATER. What a waste of water!
• The recycling of plastic emits heavy metals into the air causing extreme air pollution
• An average person will use over 350 bags in a single year!
• In New York City, one less grocery bag per person would reduce waste by five million pounds and save $250,000 in disposal costs!
• In 1999 more than 14 million trees were cut down to produce 10 billion paper bags that were used by Americans that year!

The facts are staggering and we could go on and on as to why it is so imperative that you stop using paper and plastic now.

• Reusable bags save trees
• Reusable bags save water
• Reusable bags save gas and oil
• Reusable bags help air pollution
• Reusable bags help our oceans
• Reusable bags help our sea creatures
• Reusable bags save 700+ bags over the span of their lifetime!
• Reusable bags help our families!