Emergency Caffeine Fudge | Recipe
A simple fudge recipe with a unique espresso flavor
I am sure you all know what fudge is, but 6 months ago I didn’t even know what this delicious thing was until I visit a candy store in Monterey, CA. I went there looking for salt water taffy, but I came home with a bag of 4 fudge squares. By the way, if you have never try salt water taffy, it is a must! My all time favorite candy.
These four squares were about $3 a piece. Yep, super expensive, but after trying it, they were so worth it, so worth it that calories no longer count. For those who doesn’t know what fudge is, fudge is rich candy made from sugar, butter, and milk. They often comes in chocolate flavor.
So few ingredients, yet the fudge has a reputation of being hard to make. To make a perfect fudge that taste rich, creamy, and melt in your mouth, the sugar crystallization process have to be just right. Sounds complicated doesn’t it? But my determination have led me to chase after that perfect simple recipe (inspired by allrecipes.com fudge recipe).
I have to admit, my fudge didn’t set when I first made it. After searching and reading advices online, I gave up and decided to remelt my failed batter. Yep, don’t be afraid if you fail the first time. Just remelt it and try again. Surprisingly, my second batch set, but it wasn’t fudgy enough for me. Finally, during my 3rd attempts, I have find that perfect simple recipe.
Here, I will share with you all the tips and tricks to help you master the fudge making process. As always it can’t be reciperemix if I didn’t add a twist to it. Can you guess what the twist is in this recipe? Leave me a comment below.
What is better gift for your family, friends, and loved ones than a box of fudges? This gift idea is perfect for coming holidays. You can even use this to get extra points on Valentine Day. ;)
Ingredients
Espresso
- 1 bag of 12 oz 85% dark chocolate chips (~2 cups)
- 1 14oz can of condensed milk
- 4 small bags of instant espresso (0.07oz or 2grams each), the one with no milk or creamer
- 3 tbsp of butter
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp of vanilla
Directions
If you don’t have a double boiler, create one using a pot and a stainless steel bowl. Choose a pot that is bigger than the bowl. Fill the water up to half the pot, or until it only touches the bottom of the bowl. Make sure to test out the water level beforehand to avoid water from over boiling and spilling out on you as you melt the chocolate.
Set your stove to medium-high heat and bring the water to a vicious boil. Once it boil, reduce the heat to low (about 3 on a scale of 1–6 of a gas stove). This will prevent the water from spilling out on the side and overcooking your chocolate.
Hint: Overheating chocolate will result in thick and lumpy fudge texture, which we DO NOT WANT! Lower the heat as you prepare to melt your chips will give you more control and produce a silky, smooth, and creamy fudge result.
Add in the butter, salt, and vanilla into the mixing bowl that you have heated up on top of your boiling water in a pot. Wait until all the butter is fully melted.
Once the butter completely melted, add the condensed milk and espresso powders. Give it a whisk and add in the chocolate chips.
Wait until the chocolate is a little soften and then stir the batch constantly until all chips are melted. This will help melt all the chips evenly.Remove the mixing bowl with the melted chocolate in it from the pot. Set it aside. Use a spatula, fold in the chocolate until it is super smooth and shiny. You are doing this to help remove any water in the sugar and make it more thick. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.
Once it melted chocolate reaches a thick consistency and has a nice shine, pour it into a greased pan or mold you have prepped and spread it out evenly. Set it aside at room temperature and wait until it is set. This process might requires several hours, so it is best to cover it and let it sit at room temperature overnight.
After it is set overnight, use a pizza cutter to cut them up into tiny cubes. Pizza cutter will help make even pieces with straight edge. Separate them out with a sharp knife. Once your pizza cutter is covered in chocolate, wipe it down with a wet paper towel before continue cutting.
For gift ideas, place a parchment paper down inside a box that has a window. To make it super festive, use decorative parchment paper. Place your fudge squares into the box. Lay them out any way you like, be creative. Cut out a cute label of any shape and add your initial or signature to make it super special and cute.
I used a window cupcake box size 6.25" X 6.25" X 3". You can brought it on Amazon.com for super cheap.
For other flavors, check out my other stories.
Tips and Tricks
- If you have a mold for fudge great. Unfortunately, I do not. Just line your baking sheet with aluminum foil, grease it, and you are set to go. You can make divider like I did by folding your aluminum foil sheet until strip. Try to choose a baking pan that is deep so you can make a thicker fudge.
- For a fancier fudge, feel free to use any fancy chocolate bar for the espresso fudge flavor. Make sure to chop up your chocolate bar into tiny chunks. This will prevent overheating chocolate and reduces the time to melt the chocolate.
- Salt helps balance out the sweet flavor. Try to use sea salt if can. I think it give a deeper flavor than normal salt.
- Make sure that your butter is fully melted prior to adding the chips in. Adding chips beforehand will result in a clumpy fudge.
- To make cute fudge shape, you can always use non stick shapes mold. Just make sure to grease it well with butter.
- When reusing your bowl, make sure to clean it real well between each batches. Wipe it dry, make sure it is dry completely. We do not want our batter to have water in it or it won’t set.
- Do not skip the folding part after the chocolate melted. It will not set and your fudge will be running if you do so.
