American Fudge

A few weeks ago I told you the history of fudge in my family, in particular tablet, a British type of fudge made primarily from sugar, that is much more crumbly in texture than American fudge.

But now I have no stories. None at all. And I don’t even need one, not today anyway! American fudge speaks for itself and will change your life. And possibly kill you. Eating it, you can almost feel your arteries becoming clogged from the luscious gooeyness that is American fudge! But that’s a side note that we ignore for the moment because this fudge is so incredibly good that you can’t possibly live without it once you’ve had some.

So I highly recommend American fudge (obviously)! Plus, it’s so much easier to make than tablet! The recipe I used was so simple and I think it’s pretty foolproof (added bonus)!

Another side note – please don’t buy fudge, unless it’s actually the good stuff. So often this type of fudge is just a waste of money. It’s so easy to make it and it tastes so much better than the bought stuff. If you really want to buy some, tell me and I’ll make you some instead – that’s how much I don’t want you to waste your money on it (or your heart – I mean heart in the health way, not in the love way. Though that too – I don’t think it’s possible to fall in love with bought fudge. But believe me, it’s difficult not to fall hopelessly in love with home made fudge).

So the recipe. I found it on a blog (naturally). Please be careful when you look for fudge recipes though – so many of them have silly ingredients like marshmallow cream (I don’t even want to know what that is!) or ready-made icing or other yuck, highly processed, will-kill-you-faster-than-normal-fudge-and-that’s-saying-something ingredients! To be fair, this recipe is basically just chocolate and condensed milk – so it’s certainly not free from processed foods. But I draw the line at marshmallow cream (it gives me the chills).

As I’ve found so few recipes that I like (or trust), I’ve adapted this recipe into a few different flavours for those who can’t abide mint flavour, or want something more interesting than chocolate fudge. Basically, the ingredients that you need are chocolate (milk or dark if you want chocolate flavour, or white if you want some other flavour like mint or strawberry), condensed milk and any flavours or colours that you want to add.

Choc-Mint Fudge

Adapted from here

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1 396 or 400g can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp mint extract

a few drops green food coloring

Method

1. Line a 20cmx20cm tin, or there abouts with foil.
2. Melt the white chocolate in one saucepan over low heat, and the milk chocolate in a separate saucepan over low heat. Melt for a minute or so – and stir so that none of the chocolate burns or seizes!
3. Add half of the sweetened condensed milk to one pot and half to the other and stir both pans until they are completely melted.
4. Remove both pans from the heat and add the mint extract and the green food coloring to the white chips and stir until combined.
5. Add alternating spoonfuls of fudge from each saucepan to the prepared tin, making a collage of brown and green. Then run a butter knife through the fudge quite a few times to give it a swirled look.
6. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but probably best if it’s two hours just to make sure. Cut into pieces and indulge! It will keep in the pantry or fridge for about a week, if it isn’t all eaten on the first day…

 

 

Chocolate Fudge

Use the same ingredients as the original recipe, but replace the white chocolate with milk or dark chocolate, and leave out the mint extract and food colouring. This means you won’t have to melt the chocolate separately, you can put it all in the same pot.

To jazz this up a bit, you can easily add a tablespoon of your favourite liqueur such as Frangelico, Tia Maria, or Cointreau.

 

Top Deck Fudge

Use the same ingredients as the original recipe, but leave out the mint extract and food colouring. Be sure to melt the chocolates separately if you want a nice swirl in the finished product.

 

Strawberry Fudge

Use the same ingredients as the original recipe, but replace the milk chocolate with white chocolate, and replace the mint extract and green food colouring with strawberry extract and pink or red food colouring. You won’t have to melt the chocolate separately, you can put it all in the same pot. Or you can do it separately and have a white and pink swirl in the finished product, it’s you choice!

 

 

Happy Baking!

Advertisement