I made fudge!
Proper fudge!
This is not such a grand achievement, I know, but wait until you hear why this is such a big thing for me.
I was 12 the last time I made fudge. Proper fudge, I mean, you know, fudge that has never seen a tin of condensed milk (I’ve made plenty of that kind of fudge over the years – that fudge is safe fudge!).
I was 12 and I was standing over a pan of boiling sugar syrup waiting patiently for when it looked like it was ready to try the soft ball test. My grown up self is rather impressed that my 12 year old self knew what the soft ball test was. You know, you drop a bit of the molten fudge into a glass of cold water and then roll it in between your fingers to test if it’s at the right consistency.
It was ready.
I was that eager to taste the fudge I’d made so I popped that little soft ball of fudge into my mouth.
It promptly stuck to a giant silver filling in the back of my mouth and pulled it right out.
Oh the nauseous stomach inducing horror!
Back in Canada in the early 90’s dental treatment was free for children up until the age of 12. After that you had to pay, and regular readers will know I’ve made no effort to hide the fact that I grew up in poverty in a single parent household. There was no money for dental treatment. That, and the fact I was terrified of the dentist, so I don’t even know if I told my mother that I’d just lost a filling. I just ignored it.
I ignored it for nine years.
Not one of my most intelligent moves, I know, but the fear of the dentist and his needle was strong, and then there was the money issue.
Eventually the pain became that unbearable I went to see a dentist. A different dentist, one I was told was very gentle and kind. She filled that gaping hole in the back of my mouth but she said it was really large and there was a 50-50 chance it wouldn’t work.
That filling lasted for five years until one night, completely out of the blue, I experienced the most agonising searing pain I have ever, ever had.
I’ve had three children. I know pain.
It turned out that the nerve was dying. I had to wait an entire weekend in absolute agony while my dentist gave me a course of antibiotics as he thought I had an abscess. The antibiotics did nothing. It was the nerve. I was in that much pain I just begged for him to pull the tooth out to make it stop hurting.
So yes. That’s what happened the last time I made fudge. I’ve avoided making it ever since, until recently, now that I own a SuperFast Thermapen® 4 digital thermometer that takes less than 3 seconds to read temperature.
This classic fruit and nut chocolate fudge recipe is adapted from one found on The Kitchn website – I doubled the cocoa powder (I like a proper chocolate flavour) and added some coarsely chopped raw almonds and some sultanas.
On the whole I’m really rather impressed with it! It’s melt-in-the-mouth smooth with a delicious rich chocolate flavour. My kids were rather impressed with it too. Win! I will be experimenting a lot more now with fudge flavours. Watch this space!
Classic Fruit & Nut Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
- 500 grams granulated sugar
- 50 grams cocoa powder
- 0.5 tsp sea salt
- 225 ml full fat milk
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tsp Madagascar bourbon vanilla bean paste
- 50 grams almonds coarsely chopped
- 50 grams sultanas
Instructions
- Measure the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and milk and pour into a heavy bottomed saucepan.
- Bring to the boil over a medium-low heat, stirring very occasionally. Keep the heat low so you don't burn the mixture.
- After the mixture has been boiling for about eight minutes start to check the temperature. When it reaches 112.7 C/ 235 F it is ready.
- Meanwhile, lightly grease a dish - I used a 4 x 9 inch silicone bread pan.
- Fill your sink with a few inches of cold water.
- When the fudge has reached the desired temperature carefully place the pan into the sink of cold water and beat in the butter and vanilla. Continue to beat until the fudge begins to thicken.
- Stir in the fruit and nuts and spoon into your prepared dish.
- Leave to set at room temperature for an hour before cutting into small squares.
Click here to view the nutritional information for this recipe.
OTHER FUDGE RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
Baileys, Pistachio & Cranberry Fudge by Foodie Quine
Vodka Chilli Truffle Fudge by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary
Vanilla Penda by Gujarati Girl
Cadbury Creme Egg Fudge by Fuss Free Flavours
S’mores Chocolate Fudge by Kerry Cooks
With thanks to Thermapen for the SuperFast Thermapen® 4 digital thermometer RRP £60 and to The White Company for the gorgeous mini lidded cake stand RRP £35. This is not a paid post and all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own.
Daydream adventurer. Expat Canadian. Foodie. Calls Shetland home, for now. One eye is always on the horizon.
Rachel says
Oh my goodness, just when my sugar craving is at an all time high, I read this!
Becky wilkinson says
This looks so delicious! I am a new baker of cheats fudge (condensed milk…who knew it was so easy!) I don’t think I would dare make it this way! I loovvee baking but I must admit I’m a bit of a wimp in the kitchen!
Gem Cook says
I’ve got to make these for my family. Thank you for sharing.
I love reading your blogs.
Keep up the amazing work.
Someone's Mum (Danielle) says
Oh Goodness! I don’t think I would be brave enough to face fudge again if that had happened to me! I also really, really hate the dentist. I must say though, this looks like a pretty awesome recipe to return to fudge with. It looks sooo delicious!
Heather Haigh says
My hubby is a big fan of fudge and we both love fruit and nut — I must have a go at this.
Jessica McDonnell says
I love fruit and nut chocolate and this recipe looks yummy!
Rhian Westbury says
Wow this fudge looks seriously amazing, I’ve actually never tried making my own before x
Ickle Pickle says
Ouch – there is nothing quite like tooth ache – and I have had four children! This fudge looks absolutely delicious. Kaz x
Angela Milnes says
This recipe looks yummy 🙂 I’ve never made home made fruit and nut fudge but imagine it would be a big hit!
Anosa says
I am a huge chocolate fudge lover but never tried it like this both but it does look really delicious. Thanks for the recipe
Miss Kitty Kaos says
This looks so so good I love fudge but have never had it like this before x
Jessica says
Fudge! I love the taste as it melts in the mouth smoothly. Heavenly feeeling. 🙂
Tanya Brannan says
What a fabulous recipe! It looks so easy, yet so tasty! Thank you for sharing it, I have already passed it on to a couple of friends!
Zoë IKIWN says
Oh my word, it’s impressive that you ever tried to make and eat fudge again after that happened to your tooth! This does look so delicious though, I love vanilla fudge and haven’t actually tried any of the chocolate variety…. yet…. something tells me this will be changing very soon 🙂 x
Hannah says
I have never made anything like this but I will have to give it a try!
Stella says
OMG!! I could eat all of these. Chocolate/Fruit/Nut fudge cake sounds right up my street
Sarahjane says
After that traumatic story I am surprised you can stand to look at fudge! This recipe looks amazing, I’ll have to give it a go for my next cake Friday at work! 🙂
Leanne says
This is so spooky as I was contemplating making some fudge this weekend! Now I have a recipe to follow!
Ana De- Jesus says
Well hello gorgeous how did you know it was my birthday lol! Just kidding but I love fruit and nut fudge.
Johanna GGG says
ouch – I am not sure I have ever made fudge that has not seen condensed milk! unfortuantely I have had some bad experiences with dentists and tooth pain so I feel your pain (though at least I haven’t had dental treatment ath has given me a black eye like my partner). The fudge looks lovely – I was interested to talk to the people making fudge in the fudge kitchen in royal mil when we were in edinburgh a few months back and being told that the stiring is important to make it creamy rather than sugary!
Melanie Edjourian says
I love making fudge, probably because i love eating it. This sounds fabulous. Need a taste tester?????
nicol says
ive never made fudge but ive seen fudge being made when i was in york! it looks so delish
Emma says
Yum! These have got my stomach rumbling. Chocolate fudge is one of my favourite desserts.
Olivia says
This looks so insanely good and although I don’t like nuts on their own I bet they’d taste lovely in this <3
Agata says
I am off my chocolate lately but I have to admit this looks totally delicious!
Angela Milnes says
Well this looks delicious. i have had one piece of chocolate in ten weeks and this is making me crave more!
Sarah Bailey says
Oh my goodness YES PLEASE! I have to admit I am a total fudge addict and this sounds amazing. x
Life as Mum says
This sounds very interesting and looks so delicious.
Rachel says
There are times when I want to reach through the screen and grab food, like now, this sounds just divine x
solange says
I was given a fudge kit for christmas some time ago. The whole process looked so terrifying that I never gave it a go. So with your history, I really admire your fudge making.
Nikki says
This sounds delicious! I love anything that has nuts in it 🙂
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
I haven’t made fudge since I was about 12 too, and it was in a school cooking class. We eat a lot of it at Christmas time though, so maybe I will try making it myself next time.