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Sunday, April 21, 2013

Oh, Fudge!




If you haven't seen A Christmas Story, you have to...but since it is April, wait until Christmas (or if you want to follow our family tradition, watch it while you are eating pie on Thanksgiving in the evening to welcome in the Christmas season).

One scene features Ralphie saying, "Ooooh, fuuuuudge...," and then going on to explain, the narrator (grown up Ralphie) says, "Only I didn't say 'fudge.' I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the 'F-dash-dash-dash' word."

In honor of that scene, I will be sharing some delicious and easy fudge recipes today (no candy thermometer required).


Bavarian Mint Fudge

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons plus 1 tablespoon butter, divided
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 package (11 1/2 ounces) milk chocolate chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Line an 11-in. x 7-in. pan with foil and grease the foil with 1 1/2 teaspoons butter; set aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and remaining butter; stir until smooth. Stir in milk and extracts until well blended. Spread into prepared pan. Refrigerate until set.

Using the foil, life fudge out of the pan. Discard foil; cut fudge into 1-in. squares. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: about 2 1/2 pounds, or 77 pieces.

Nutrition information: 1 serving (1 piece) equals 62 calories, 3 g fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 13 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein.

Source: Taste of Home. You can find the recipe here.

Notes: The mint taste of this fudge is so subtle...kind of like a mint truffle. Delicious. My only advice? This doesn't take long to make, but it seems like my kids will completely ignore me while I am cooking--unless it is one of those cooking moments that require my full attention...such as sauteeing onions and spices just before adding the broth or tomatoes...or when you are stirring sweetened condensed milk into melted chocolate and trying to get it smooth and not overworked. Well, both of my boys had meltdowns and immediately needed me right when I was mixing the condensed milk into the melted chocolate. As a result, my fudge didn't turn out quite as smooth as it would have. However, it tasted fantastic.


Strawberry Shortcake Fudge (with variations)

Ingredients:

1 can Duncan Hines starter icing
1 packet Duncan Hines Frosting Creations (any flavor you like--in this case, strawberry shortcake)
1 bag white chocolate chips
Sprinkles or other toppings or mix-ins (optional)

Directions:

Line an 8x8-inch pan with aluminum foil.

Mix frosting creations packet into icing starter.

Melt white chocolate chips in microwave. Melt in 30 second increments, stirring during each interval until smooth.

Mix icing into melted chocolate chips (if using mix-ins, stir these in now).

Pour into foil lined pan. Sprinkle toppings on top if you would like.

Chill for 2 hours.

Makes 64 1x1 inch pieces.

Source: We found this on a blog called Make-Bake-Celebrate. You can find the recipe here.

Variations: The flavors, mix-ins, and toppings are only limited to your own imagination. You can use any kind of frosting you like (Duncan Hines Frosting Creations...or any other kind of canned frosting). How about normal white vanilla frosting with crushed Oreo cookies mixed in?With the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations flavors and your own imagination, just think of the possibilities!


Above: We made caramel fudge too (using the Duncan Hines Frosting Creations)


Above: Classic chocolate fudge.

Below is a list of all of Duncan Hines Frosting Creations flavors:

Key Lime Pie
Peaches and Creme
Pink Lemonade
Fruit Punch
Bubble Gum
Caramel
Cherry Vanilla
Chocolate Almond
Chocolate Marshmallow
Cinnamon Roll
Cotton Candy
Mint Chocolate
Mocha
Orange Creme
Strawberry Shortcake
White Chocolate Raspberry


Birthday Cake Fudge aka Cake Batter Fudge

Ingredients:

2 cups and 2 tbsp white or yellow cake mix
2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, cut into four pieces
1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
Sprinkles, optional
1 can of icing, optional

Directions:

Line an 8x8-inch baking dish with foil. Lightly grease foil.

In a large microwave safe bowl, mix together cake mix and powdered sugar until completely blended. Add in milk and butter.

Microwave for 2 minutes. Your butter should be almost completely melted. If not, microwave it for a little longer.

Stir together until blended. It will be a thick consistency. Then, fold in your white chocolate chips. The hot batter will melt them as you stir. Be sure to keep stirring and folding until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate chips are melted.

Pour your fudge batter into your foiled lined baking dish and smooth out with a spatula. You can use a piece of wax paper and an icing smoother to get your fudge nicely smoothed and leveled.

Add sprinkles on top, if using (unless you are using a can of icing to frost your fudge, in which case, you would wait to add your sprinkles).

Let chill in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes. Then lift the fudge out of the pan using the foil.

If you want to frost your fudge, pull the foil back and add icing and sprinkles.

Cut into 1 inch squares.

The chill time will depend on how stiff you like your fudge.

Source:  This also came from the blog Make-Bake-Celebrate. You can find it here. She was inspired by a blog called Sally's Baking Addiction. You can find it here.

Notes: These were delicious. We opted not to frost ours. Personally, topping fudge with frosting seems like a good way to die from a sugar overdose, you know? There can be too much of a good thing!

1 comment:

  1. The Duncan HInes ones could not have been easier. All of these are easy. I have never had success with stove top fudge because I tend to forget and be a pan scraper, which turns it into sugary crystal, not smooth fudge. Nice that there's an alternative!

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