I like fudge, but I am terrible at making it the "old fashioned" way. This means making it with cocoa powder, stirring the whole thing for about an hour and hoping like crazy after all that work that it doesn't turn to sugar, which for me it almost always does. I remember one particularly horrible day when I tried to make peanut butter fudge and it turned into a big grainy mess. I almost dissolved into a puddle of tears when I had to chuck it all in the garbage. There really is no saving a bad batch of fudge.
Fortunately for us modern inventions like chocolate chips and marshamallows have made making fudge nearly fool proof. In this recipe you make a syrup, pour that over some chocolate and marshmallow and give it a stir. I have never messed this one up yet, and it makes really lovely light fudge that you can add things (like nuts) to if you deem it neccesary.
Milk Chocolate Fudge
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk (or 2/3 cup evaporated milk if you have large cans)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (11.5 ounce) bag milk chocolate chips
1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow cream -or- 2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
NOTE: This makes an 8x8 square pan of fudge which weighs in at a whopping 3 pounds. If you feel like you need your 9x13 pan full of fudge (like for Christmas presents) then all you have to do is double the recipe and you're good to go.
-Line your 8x8 baking pan with foil overhanging the edges (9x13 if you're doubling the recipe.)
-Pour the chips, marshmallow cream and vanilla (and the nuts if you're using them) into a large heat proof mixing bowl and set aside.
-Combine the sugar, butter, evaporated milk and salt in a large heavy saucepan.
-Bring the mixture to a rolling boil over medium heat while stirring constantly.
-Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for 4-5 minutes or until a candy thermometer clipped to the pan reaches 234 degrees.
-Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate chip/marshmallow mixture in the bowl.
-Stir vigorously for one minute until the chips and marshmallow cream are completely melted and the mixture is creamy and starting to lose it's gloss. (This step is good for building arm muscles!)
-Pour this mixture into your baking pan and spread out.
-Let sit at room temperature for at least 4 hours before cutting. (Putting it in the fridge for a little while before cutting makes the fudge easier to cut.)
-To cut, lift the foil out of the pan, pull the foil down from the sides and cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.
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Variation: (Which I haven't tried! But this isn't the horrible one I made in the story above and it should turn out perfectly fine.)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge- Substitute 1 cup peanut butter chips and 2/3 cup milk chocolate chips for the chocolate chips in the recipe. You can also add in 1/2 cup chopped peanuts for the nuts if you like it "chunky".
You could also make up your own fudge flavors by substituting the chocolate chips for butterscotch chips, mint chocolate chips, raspberry chocolate chips, white chocolate chips...the possibilities are endless!
