Fudge isn’t meant to be made just by chocolatiers; homemade fudge can be easy if you know a few tricks. First, while many recipes call for heavy cream, we found that sweetened condensed milk worked better; it’s stable and won’t separate if overheated. Next, we tackled flavor: Some fudge tastes just like cubes of sugar, but we wanted ours to have intense chocolate flavor. Combining a full pound of semisweet chocolate with a small amount of unsweetened chocolate did the trick. We found that the quality of the chocolate used greatly affected the flavor and texture of the fudge. We prefer Ghirardelli semisweet and unsweetened chocolate in this recipe. Finally, we determined that the addition of walnuts was essential; the crunchy bits of chopped nuts added a crucial textural element. If you prefer, you can use toasted nuts in this recipe. Make sure to remove the fudge from the double boiler before the chocolate is fully melted. If the chocolate stays in the double boiler too long, there’s the possibility of the chocolate separating and producing a greasy fudge. This fudge will become drier in texture the longer it’s stored. Store the fudge, tightly wrapped in plastic, in a cool place for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 3 months. If frozen, allow ample time to let it reach room temperature before cutting. Fudge is great for gifting; to make a double batch, double the amounts of all the ingredients and make the fudge in a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. In step 2, use a large heatproof bowl and Dutch oven containing 4 cups simmering water.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
- 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
- Make foil sling for 8-inch square baking pan by folding 2 long sheets of aluminum foil so each is 8 inches wide. Lay sheets of foil in pan perpendicular to each other, with extra foil hanging over edges of pan. Push foil into corners and up sides of pan, smoothing foil flush to pan. Grease foil.
- Toss chocolates, baking soda, and salt in heatproof bowl until baking soda is evenly distributed. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Set bowl over 4-quart saucepan containing 2 cups simmering water. Stir with rubber spatula until chocolate is almost fully melted and few small pieces remain, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Remove bowl from heat and continue to stir until chocolate is fully melted and mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in walnuts. Transfer fudge to prepared pan and spread in even layer. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Using foil overhang, remove fudge from pan. Cut into squares and serve.