Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge

Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge, this is the best, creamiest chocolate fudge, made the old fashioned way! And only 6 ingredients. The perfect Homemade Chocolate Candy, one everyone will love.

 

I have been a big Candy lover for a long time, especially anything Chocolate such as these Easy Homemade Filled Chocolates or these Italian Chocolate Kisses / Baci.

Old Fashioned Chocolate Fudge is everything a homemade fudge should be, so get your candy thermometer ready.

I have been searching and searching for the chocolate fudge that I had tasted when I was about 8 or 10 years old, if you can believe that! This fudge melted in your mouth and was just a little bit crumbly.

I can remember going to the Christmas Bazaar at the Church on Saturday afternoon with a couple of my school friends. I bought my dime bag of chocolate fudge and I still remember thinking “this is the best Fudge I have ever eaten”.

And when we went back to get another bag, the lady was sold out. A sad day for me!

I think in my quest for “the One”  I tasted fudge from any and all chocolate stores. And unfortunately they were all the creamy types usually made with sweetened condensed milk, just like my Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge or this Easy Walnut Fudge I wanted that crumbly melt in your mouth fudge!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I decided I would google until I discovered my Chocolate Fudge. And discover I did, thanks to Hershey’s, apparently it is their Recipe that gives you that divine fudge.

Recipe Ingredients

• Sugar – granulated
• Cocoa powder – unsweetened dutch processed
• Salt
• Milk – whole/heavy milk
• Butter – I use salted – room temperature

How to make Chocolate Fudge

Line a square pan with buttered parchment paper. In a medium heavy saucepan stir together the sugar, cocoa and salt, then add the milk and stir with a wooden spoon (not a whisk or metal spoon).

Cook over medium heat stirring continuously until mixture starts to boil, a strong boil. Turn heat to low medium and continue to cook without stirring until the correct temperature is reached.

Remove the pot from the heat, add the butter and vanilla. Do not stir. Cool to room temperature. Then beat with a wooden spoon just until mixture begins to lose some of it’s gloss.Spread the fudge quickly in the prepared baking dish and let cool completely, even overnight (at room temperature). Cut it into squares.

Adjusting the Fudge Recipe for High Altitude

To adjust the temperature to your altitude, deduct two degrees from the temperature required for every one thousand feet of altitude above sea level. For example, in this Fudge recipe, if you live 5,000 feet above sea level, you would deduct 10 degrees from 234 degrees.

How to Store Homemade Chocolate Fudge

Wrap the cut pieces in parchment paper or aluminum foil and store in an airtight container or sealable plastic bag. Fudged stored at room temperature can last from 7 – 14 days.

Fudge can also be stored in the refrigerator wrapped and placed in an airtight container. In the fridge fudge will last 2 – 3 weeks.

How to freeze it

Freeze the fudge in a double bag, well wrapped. You can freeze it either in pieces or the whole slab. Fudge will keep for up to 3 months in the freezer.

What to make with fudge

If by chance you have some leftover fudge or for some reason your fudge doesn’t turn out, don’t despair and certainly don’t throw it out! Cut up some fudge add it to some hot milk and stir until smooth and there you have some amazing hot chocolate, maybe the best you have ever had?

Or melt some of the fudge, either in the microwave or over a pot of boiling water and drizzle it over some ice cream or as a ganache on a cake. Hot fudge sauce never tasted so good.

Fudge makes a wonderful gift idea. Wrap it with some transparent wrapping and tie with a bow, or place on a decorative plate or how about place a stick in the middle and make fudge pops!

Can I add Nuts or Peanut Butter

Yes you can add nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, pistachios, peanut butter, mini marshmallows, dried cranberries or even broken candy canes. The best time to add these ingredients is when you add the butter and vanilla. I would also recommend roasting the nuts first to give the best flavor to your fudge.

If you prefer peppermint fudge then substitute the vanilla extract with peppermint extract or even almond or orange.

How to roast nuts

Place nuts in a single layer on an ungreased baking / cookie sheet. Bake in a pre-heated 350F/180C oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until they are golden brown, remove immediately from the pan to a clean bowl to cool.

How to keep your fudge from being gritty or grainy

• Make sure the sugar has dissolved.
• It could be the fudge wasn’t beaten long enough or hard enough.

Does the weather affect fudge?

Yes it does, on a humid day, once the candy has cooled it may start to absorb moisture from the air, so on a humid day the candy will end up being softer than it is supposed to be.

Therefore it is always better to make candy (fudge) on dry sunny days. Although if you have no choice and you must make it on a humid day, then cook it to the highest recommended temperature, which is 237-240F / 114 – 115C.

Cool weather also helps the candy cool faster that way it has a lesser chance of forming crystals.

Why is my fudge soft?

Most of the time the reason is because your fudge has not reached the right temperature, it is very important to use a good candy thermometer for this.

I hope you enjoy this Homemade Chocolate Fudge! And let me know how you like it. Enjoy!

More Chocolate Candy Recipes

• Homemade Chocolate Mint Filled Chocolates
• Chocolate Torrone
• Creamy Old Fashioned Caramel Candies
• Homemade Italian Chocolate Kisses / Baci

Updated from November 18, 2017.