Easy Milk Chocolate Fudge

How to make easy Milk Chocolate Fudge

                       

                     My li'l one is a fussy eater. Off late, he's started to like chocolate with no frills. I wanted to make chocolate fudge with nuts; but he will only eat plain chocolate fudge. You can guess the rest of the story here. I cut the fudge into tiny bite sized pieces, since we were having couple of friends over. I like tiny pieces of the sweet stuff, so I don't have to finish eating a large piece of something, just coz' I bit into it. Plus, we can always get seconds. So here's a recipe that you can whip up in under 30 minutes plus the setting time. Sharing this one with my friends over at CCC# 33: June -- Week 4.

Ingredients: 

3/4th cup of sugar (I used raw cane sugar)

1 can (13 oz) of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup, unsalted butter

1 tsp, pure vanilla extract

4 oz (2/3rd cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips or grated chocolate

1/4 cup of your favorite nuts, chopped (Optional)

Stove Top Method:

• Grease a 7-inch square  cake pan & line with wax/parchment paper..
• Mix the sugar, condensed milk & butter in a heavy pan. Heat gently on low heat (for about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts completely & the mixture is smooth. 

• Bring the mixture to a boil on low-medium heat, stirring frequently and boil until a small amount of the mixture dropped into a cup of cold water forms into a soft ball (or until it registers 240̊ F on a sugar thermometer)
•  Remove pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla, chocolate chips & nuts (if you are using). Stir/beat vigorously until the mixture is smooth & creamy.

• Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan and spread evenly by tapping the pan or using a spatula. Let set completely, or chill until firm for a couple of hours, before cutting into squares.
• Store in an airtight container in a cool place & enjoy.

Notes:

• I added pecans as a topping to half of the fudge & made the other half plain chocolate fudge.
• Keep a close watch & take extra care during step 3, so you don't miss the soft ball stage. Keep the heat on a simmer, just to be safe.
• If you like, you can use dark/bitter chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet to make it more chocolatey & bitter sweet.
• The recipe from The cook's encyclopedia of chocolate - Christine McFadden & Christine France calls for 1 cup of sugar. I have used only 3/4th cup of sugar coz' I did not want it to be too sweet.