Hedgehog madness

While my compadre Marty is busy growing her own yeast in her kitchen (yes, not only does she make her own bread from scratch, she also grows her own yeast! OMG, if the woman were a super hero, she's be  Super Yeast Woman), I was looking for the easiest recipe that didn't require much prep nor cooking at all. My friend was cooking dinner for us and Iwanted to bring a dessert along; the problem was, I didn't feel up to an elaborate recipe. I wanted  a two-step rather than a 12-step recipe.

I was glancing through an interesting recipe book a colleague lent me -- Mantle of Safety Cookbook 2, from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Australia -- my eye caught sight of this recipe for Hedgehog Slices, something I hadn't eaten in decades.

You will not believe how easy this recipe is (unless of course you've tried it yourself, in which case you will know how easy it is :)); or how cute they look. I had Hedgehogs or Chocolate Hedgehog Slices, to be precise when  I was 14 or some ridiculous age like that. My sister made them for me and at the time I thought she was the best cook in the world. They tasted great -- a chocolate dessert like none I'd ever tried before. They are kinda like KitKats but better because there's an extra layer of something in them. Later I discovered this was a little bit of coconut.

Hedgehogs are basically melted chocolate (or cocoa+butter+sugar) poured onto crumbled biscuits and nuts, pressed and then chilled. There are many things you can add to the original recipe for variety/digestive bisuits are often used but you can try ginger nut cookies or cinnamon cookies. You can also add dessicated coconut (just a couple of tbsp) to the butter mix (as I did) or a variety of nuts.

I promise you, it took me just 15 mins prep and 10 minutes to assemble this dessert. I froze it for a couple of hours and it was good to go.

Chocolate Hedgehog gone nuts

200g biscuits

2/3 cups sugar

3 tbsp cocoa

125 gms butter

1/2 cup walnuts

1 egg, lightly beaten

Roughly crush biscuits and nuts and set aside in a mixing bowl.

Heat the sugar, butter and cocoa on a medium fire till butter melts and ingredients are mixed. Stir occasionally.

Make a well in the middle of the cookie/nut mix and pour in egg and butter batter alternately. Mix well.

Press the mixture down in a lined square pan or a lamington pan.

Chill until it sets. I put mine in the freezer. Slice and enjoy.