This slab of dark brown mess doesn’t look very attractive, does it? Unfortunately it is unlikely to last until the morning, when I would have been able to photograph it in a much better light. This, friends, is ‘Jo is thirty chocolate fudge’ – an incredibly decadent and velvety chocolate fudge that is one of those go-to recipes for when you need to ‘take a plate’ of something along to someone’s house. The recipe was given to me a few years ago by a good friend, who made it for her flatmate’s birthday. The plate was consumed almost at the speed of light, and guests were astonished when they were told that one of the main ingredients was melted marshmallows.
Written down, the recipe also comes across as rather unpalatable – but let me assure you that it is *extremely* edible. I took a plate of fudge along to my sister’s birthday afternoon tea today (happy birthday Sarah!) and it was devoured in under 5 minutes. Even by our Mother, who usually avoids anything with dairy in it. I foolishly didn’t take along the entire slab along, however, and now the rest of it is sitting in the fridge quietly whispering “eat me” every ten minutes. And I’m more than happy to oblige…
Even though it says to refrigerate the mixture overnight, it sets incredibly quickly, and today it only had 40 minutes to chill in the fridge before we needed to leave. So, without further ado – here’s the recipe for my favourite fudge. I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like it:
Ingredients:
- 200g marshmallows
- 25g butter
- 1 Tbsp water
- 375g dark chocolate (or half dark & half milk)
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 cup nuts (walnuts & pistachios are my personal favourite)
- Raisins, cherries, dried apricots, lollies etc (today I used dried cranberries, dried apricot pieces & jellybabies)
Method:
1. Place butter, marshmallows and water in a large microwave-proof bowl and cook on high for 3 minutes (stir once or twice as marshmallows melt).
2. Stir in chocolate and cook for 30 second bursts on high until it has all melted, stirring to blend.
3. Add vanilla and mix.
4. Add nuts, lollies etc.
5. Pour into a 20cm square lined tin. Wrap in tin foil and refrigerate overnight.
(I’d add a further caveat too: don’t make it on the eve of the Rugby World Cup Semi Final. I don’t even particuarly like rugby and am currently eating this fudge in a flurry of nerves.)
Tags: chocolate, fudge, marshmallows, sumptuous, velvety
