Never Fails Fudge

Matt asked me to make fudge a few days ago. This is not a common occurrence, as I am usually busy in the kitchen trying new recipes and testing them on my poor husband. He barely had the words out of his mouth before my eyes got dreamy and I began rambling off the kinds of fudge I could prepare: chocolate mint fudge, basic fudge, mocha fudge, fudge with cinnamon, fudge with toasted nuts, fudge with hazelnuts, white chocolate fudge with fresh nutmeg, the possibilities were endless!

The funny thing is, I used to be scared to death of making fudge. It had a tendency of turning out crumbly instead of creamy, often tasting burnt, or never setting up at all! I tried too many recipes to count, each one turning out worse than the previous. However, as you may have guessed, I finally found a recipe that not only makes the worlds finest fudge, but has never failed me. You can add any ingredient to the basic recipe and the fudge instantly embraces the newcomer and makes it the star of the evening.

I finally came back from my trip to the fudge dreamland, and decided on orange chocolate fudge and cookies and cream fudge—a tribute to my darling husband’s passion for Oreo blizzards. The orange chocolate fudge was delicious, reminiscent of those yummy chocolate oranges you buy at Christmastime. The ones that instruct you to “whack orange on something hard until the segments come loose”. Oh those fun times, hearing the sound of chocolate hit the table, and drooling as you anticipate the taste of that perfect marriage of chocolate and orange. The fudge was creamy and chocolaty, and the orange was perfect. The zest gave a true orange flavor, and every so often you spotted a speck of that magical orange hiding amidst the chocolate.

The spotlight of the evening, however, was…drumroll, please…the cookies and cream fudge! Dressed up in its own little black and white tuxedo, the creamy white chocolate gives way to a very satisfying crunch as you first meet the crumbled Oreo. I find that white chocolate is often too sweet for me, but the chocolate in the Oreo balanced it perfectly. How wonderful, to be able to balance the sweetness of white chocolate with…more chocolate! Talk about my own personal heaven.

Never Fails Fudge

15 oz Semi-Sweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli chocolate chips)
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 t vanilla

Bring a pot of water to boil. Place a glass bowl on top of the pot (the bowl should be larger than the diameter of the pot so that it sits on top of the pot, not in the pot), making sure the water does not reach the bowl. Lower heat so that the water is at a consistent simmer. Add chocolate and sweetened condensed milk, stir until chocolate melts. Remove from heat, add vanilla and any other ingredients. Line a dish with wax or parchment paper, pour the hot chocolate mixture into the dish. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until firm. Remove fudge from dish using the paper lining. Peel paper off fudge, slice fudge. Enjoy, or cover and refrigerate for up to one week.

I added 2 teaspoons of grated orange zest for the orange chocolate fudge and omitted the vanilla. For the cookies and cream fudge, I substituted white chocolate for the semi-sweet, omitted the vanilla, and added ½ cup of crushed Oreos. When adding an ingredient that will change the flavor of the fudge, I omit the vanilla. When adding an ingredient for texture—chopped nuts, coconut, etc—I keep the vanilla in the recipe as I find it gives depth to the chocolate.