Your Very Own Chai Latte

I've been engaging in a love affair with Chai tea for almost five years now. One of my roommates is quite capable in the kitchen and, on a bitterly cold New England day, encouraged me to attempt to make my own chai latte.

I used whatever I found in my kitchen, but I'm sure it would have been better with whole milk.

I went for a 50/50 ratio of steeped tea to milk. That decision was not a good one.

Look at how delicious that froth looks.

Cinnamon + Nutmeg on top

Ultimately, the drink was way too milky and did not have much chai flavor going for it. I'll go with a B for effort, though.

Tiger Candy

This recipe is both incredibly easy as well as delicious. My mother made it every December and packaged it in red boxes tied with ribbon to hand out to our teachers. It was always a hit and everyone remembered receiving it from my older brother so by the time I was in their classroom they would ask excitedly, "is this the Splainin family's famous fudge?!"

It isn't really fudge. We've always called it Tiger Candy. I don't have my mother's actual recipe, but it doesn't matter because this is definitely a recipe that you can wing. And that is the kind of recipe that I always prefer!

You want equal parts white chocolate and milk chocolate. I've never tried it with dark chocolate, but note to self. It really doesn't matter if you purchase the chocolate in chip form or bar or whatever. My mom used to buy them in little wafers, which makes the melting and stirring easy.

*Melt one type of chocolate in the microwave for as long as it takes to become completely melted into a thick liquid (probably no more than 3 minutes). 

*Continuously stir the chocolate to keep it from hardening while you pop the other type into the microwave. 

*Mix peanut butter into one of the bowls of melted chocolate. Probably 1.5 cups will do. I normally am crazy for chunky peanut butter, but for this project, you'll probably want smooth.

*Pour one type of chocolate into your dish/pan/container and pour the other type on top.

*Use a spoon, fork, or knife to swirl the two together however you like.

*Place in the fridge or freezer to harden. I'm impatient so I use the freezer to speed up the hardening process.

*Cut the hardened candy into squares. This is the hardest and most frustrating part as the candy is difficult to cut and often splinters into little shards instead of neat squares. My brother and I definitely used to "accidentally" cause the candy to splinter while we were helping mom cut it because then there were more scraps that we couldn't give away and had to eat ourselves.

This treat is always a hit when we give it out. Just make sure to warn others that it contains peanuts.