I’m not sure how this tradition came about but the exchange of sweets is as much a part of the holiday as Santa Claus. Every year we are inundated with recipe after recipe for holiday goodies. And every year we dread the amount of work that awaits us.
Now I don’t know about you but I am never prepared properly and am always racing at the last minute to make sweets for everyone I forgot about. Which let’s face it, is everyone. I swear if my mother didn’t remind me I would be creating many social faux pas each year. Though I imagine I’d make less each year since I’d end up with no friends.
Anyway, I’m lucky for her and lucky that senior year of college my newspaper advisor gave me an easy breezy recipe for fudge. Way, way easier than Christmas cookies, she actually wrote it out for me on a post-it!
20 years later I still have that post-it and still follow that recipe. Now I have no idea where she got it, for all I know it’s from the can of condensed milk, but it has served me quite well over the years.
Over time, I have made a few adjustments and simplified it, for example using a microwave instead of a double boiler. However, I cannot say enough good things about it. Fudge is always a hit and a welcome change from the onslaught of Christmas cookies.
[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:16]
Variations:
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Milk chocolate with walnuts.
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Semi-sweet chocolate with marshmallows.
- Chocolate with candied cherries.
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Butterscotch with walnuts
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Milk or semi-sweet chocolate with peanut butter. Make a ½ batch of chocolate and pour it into the pan. Then make a ½ batch of peanut butter and pour it on top!
White Chocolate Cherry Fudge
Ingredients
14 ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk (I need to give a shout out here to Borden’s)
12 ounces white chocolate chips or white chocolate cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons salted butter
½ cup candied cherries
Instructions
1. Line an 8-inch x 8-inch pan with wax paper.
2. Put the condensed milk, white chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
3. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat it for 1 minute at 50% power.
4. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the mixture until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. The chocolate, since it is hot, will continue to melt. If the mixture is not yet smooth, place it back in the microwave at 30 second intervals (50% power) stirring after each one until the mixture is shiny and smooth. Tip: Only heat chocolate until it is almost melted. It will continue melting as you stir. Few things smell as bad as burnt chocolate. It lingers. Eew.
5. Stir in the cherries.
6. Chill overnight.
7. Cut into one-inch squares. Tip: I like to cut the fudge after only a few hours and return the cut pieces to the refrigerator. It has had enough time to firm up but is easier to cut.
Variations
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Add a drop or two of red food coloring.
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Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of the juice from maraschino cherries.
- Use nuts instead of the cherries.
Pistachio Fudge
Ingredients
14 ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk (I need to give a shout out here to Borden’s)
12 ounces white chocolate chips, or white chocolate cut into small pieces
3.4 ounces (1 package) pistachio pudding
2 tablespoons salted butter
1/4 cup of pistachios or candied cherries*
*Note: The pudding mix already has some pistachios so you can add less nuts. Or add no nuts and use cherries instead.
Instructions
1. Line an 8-inch x 8-inch pan with wax paper.
2. Put the condensed milk, white chocolate, the package of pistachio pudding and butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
3. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat it for 1 minute at 50% power.
4. Remove the bowl from the microwave and stir the mixture until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. The chocolate, since it is hot, will continue to melt. If the mixture is not yet smooth, place it back in the microwave at 30 second intervals (50% power) stirring after each one until the mixture is shiny and smooth. Tip: Only heat chocolate until it is almost melted. It will continue melting as you stir. Few things smell as bad as burnt chocolate. It lingers. Eew.
5. Stir in the nuts or cherries.
6. Chill overnight.
7. Cut into one-inch squares. Tip: I like to cut the fudge after only a few hours and return the cut pieces to the refrigerator. It has had enough time to firm up but is easier to cut.
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