Learn Everything You Need To Know To Make Gooey, Soft And Airy Fudge: Quick Dessert Recipes

With three basic ingredients — sugar, butter and milk — fudge is a chewy, gooey dessert that originated in the US and enjoys global appeal today. It's easy to make and light and airy to eat, not causing too much heaviness in the stomach. For this reason, it's also hard to stop eating once you've started. But we don't really see a problem there. So here’s everything you need to know to make this recipe yourself. Remember to pay special attention to the measurements and other details, and you're good to go.

Ingredients:

• 600 g granulated sugar
• 65 g cocoa (unsweetened dutch processed)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 350 ml whole milk
• 60 g butter (salted, room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Line a baking pan with greased parchment paper. Set aside.

In a pan, add the sugar, cocoa powder and salt and mix well. Then add the milk and stir it all together while it cooks over medium heat. After about 10 minutes of cooking, the mixture will start to boil. Then turn the heat on low and continue to cool. Don't stir now.

Then remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla. Again, do not stir. Set aside so it can cool to room temperature. Then beat with a whisk until everything is evenly incorporated.

Now pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let it cool completely. If you have the time, cover it and leave it out at room temperature overnight.

Then cut into squares and serve cool.

Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 weeks or in the fridge for 4 weeks. You can also wrap it tightly and freeze it for 3 months.

Notes, tips and tricks:

When cooking in the pan, rub butter all around the pan, especially the sides, so that all of the sugar is evenly cooked. If the sugar is left uncooked, it will become grainy and spoil the final texture of the fudge. So remember to grease the pan. And when you're cooking, do not scrape the sides of the pan with your spoon. Let the butter stay on there throughout the cooking process.

If your fudge is too soft, that means it hasn't reached the right temperature and cooked enough. If you have a kitchen thermometer, best to use that. If not, just cook it some more and keep a sharp eye on how its consistency is changing.

Remember that the weather where you are cooking is also going to affect your fudge. If you cook on a dry, sunny day, you have the best chance of success. If you cook on a humid day, best to turn up the heat and cook on the highest setting, because otherwise the fudge will absorb the moisture from the air and become too soft.

If your fudge is grainy, it could mean one of two things. Either the sugar hasn't had a chance to fully dissolve, or the initial mixture has not mixed properly, and wasn't beaten for long enough.

You can add any flavors and toppings to this fudge. Think chopped nuts like almond slices or pistachio slices, toppings like grated coconut or chocolate chips, berries like strawberry or blueberry, fresh fruit slices like apple or banana, chocolate sauce or peanut butter, any jam or fruit compote, or even any flavored ice cream or whipped cream. As for flavors, instead of vanilla, you can add other extracts like lemon, orange, rose extract, peppermint extract, or any other flavor of your choice. You can also tweak the toppings according to the flavor you're going with.

You can easily double or halve the recipe depending on how much you want.

If you’ve made too much, there are plenty of things you can do with leftover fudge. You can add some fudge to hot milk and mix it together, to have the best hot chocolate of your life. Or, you can melt some fudge on the stove or in the microwave, and drizzle it over cake or ice cream as an amazing chocolate ganache. You can also shape it as cake pops and place them on sticks and create a fudge bouquet. Or you can place it on a decorative platter and offer it as a gift to a loved one.