I was meant to be Fudge Two Ways

When I had the original idea for ‘Fudge Two Ways’ I got very excited. The flavours didn’t necessarily match perfectly, but I was going to get two flavours of fudge. One was going to be ‘seasonal’, the other was going to be dark and boozy. Sadly things don’t always go to plan.

I was meant to make peanut butter cookies for my brother a couple of weeks ago - I go through peanut butter phases, the last one being whilst road tripping in the States earlier this year, and now we’re deep in another one - but after a spot of seasonal inspiration those cookies became pumpkin spiced tray cake. When it was enquired if I was going to make said cookies I thought I’d go one better. I wanted to use peanut butter in something (crunchy, not smooth - in case you were wondering), and after a bit of research I came across a pile of recipes for peanut butter fudge - one of which was bright orange and in the shape of pumpkins. It needed to happen.

Why have one kind of fudge though when you can have two? I wanted something chocolatey, something boozy. And although I was using white chocolate in the peanut butter fudge it didn’t quite fit the bill. That’s where dark chocolate fudge with pieces of dried mango and a hint of my chilli creme de cacao came from. Sadly it will be staying as an idea though, as yet it is somewhat lacking in ‘fudginess’ to become a proper recipe.

Yup, we all have off days and this was one of mine. Thankfully they don’t happen all that often, but this was one of them. I couldn’t find a reasonable sized pumpkin cutter (it’s pretty sweet, so small pieces are best) and the red food colouring I was going to use for making the orange more vibrant turned out to be green. Whilst these are a shame, it’s not a deal breaker, so I made the peanut butter one anyway, sticking to the more traditional (but less fun) squares. The dark chocolate, mango and chilli creme de cacao however is a different story and was not so lucky. It simply didn’t set. I suspect I may have been a little heavy handed with the alcohol, but I guess we’ll never know for sure. Well, until I try making it again, of course.

It’s a shame, because the dark chocolate one was going to be my entry for Baking with Spirit (Janine’s boozy challenge) and now I don’t have time to make anything more before the deadline. Since the peanut butter fudge worked though, I will enter it into Dom’s Random Recipe Challenge, as the original recipe came from an online search, which is this month’s theme.

I highly recommend the peanut butter fudge - it’s addictively more-ish; I’ve been using the dark chocolate variety as a type of chocolate spread…

Peanut Butter Fudge

This recipe comes from many places, but the main inspiration was a search that brought me to a blog called the Pairing Knife. This makes a tray approx. 12×12 cm, but only uses half of the tin of condensed milk (since it was meant to be two flavours). Just double the recipe if you’re using the whole tin. I prefer crunchy peanut butter, but it would work equally well with smooth.

Ingredients

1/2 tin of condensed milk (approx. 397g)
100g white chocolate
3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
1/2 tbsp butter

Directions

Get a pan of water and put it on the hob, then put a glass/pyrex bowl on top of the water (ensuring it doesn’t touch), set the water to boil. Whilst it’s getting hotter, line a 12×12 cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Break the chocolate up into little pieces (the smaller they are the quicker they’ll melt) and toss it into the bowl. Wait for it to melt a little bit, and as it starts to become runny add your butter. Once it’s melted add the peanut butter, stir it in and then pour the condensed milk in. Leave to heat through for a couple of minutes, stirring to ensure it’s fully mixed.

Pour into the tray, ensuring it is spread right into the corners. Put in the fridge for at least two hours (preferably over night) and then remove from the tray to slice. I made my squares no more than 5cm², since it’s quite sweet.

Craig (247 Posts)

Edinburgh-dwelling, baking and food-obsessed, twenty-something adventure enthusiast. Runs on liberal amounts of coffee, cheese, cake and gin; bribable with same.