Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge

Peanut Butter Fudge – cubed!

This is the most beautiful peanut butter fudge in the cosmos. The day this fudge first appeared on the scene, whole galaxies turned their suns toward Earth to take a peek at the glory that befell us mere mortals. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how it went down.

Treat bags! I love treat bags! Just the sight of them lifts my spirits.

Last Yule, I was scouring the Interwebs for a peanut butter fudge recipe. I tried Alton Brown‘s recipe, and it fell disappointingly flat: crumbly, too sweet, not particularly creamy. Which makes sense, as his recipe consists of peanut butter and butter melted together and added to powdered sugar. Using this recipe, you’re guaranteed a too-dry, too-sweet mess. Peanut butter fudge should be smooth, rich, dense, and balanced between sweetness and saltiness. It should have passion! It should cry its peanut butter flavour to the stars above!

And it should be eaten like it’s going out of style!

I had chosen Incapability Brown’s fudge recipe because it requires no cooking. At the time, I was quite uncomfortable with the prospect of cooking fudge, because of the many ways things could go wrong. But that first attempt at peanut butter fudge was so lackluster, I looked for a cooked recipe, figuring that the inclusion of some kind of cooked syrup with the peanut butter would yield a creamier texture. And this recipe is the clear winner amongst peanut butter fudge recipes. It’s creamy, smooth, rich, buttery, peanut buttery, sweet, salty, and dense. It has passion! And it owns its peanut butter character. The flavours are wonderfully balanced between the brown sugar syrup, the vanilla, and the salty peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Fudge, with lights from the Yule tree reflected against the table.

It’s so good that no one I’ve shared it with, not even self-proclaimed dessert haters, can stop eating it. I’ve noticed that people eat about eight pieces at a time – which is probably all that their tummies can hold.

The best part about this recipe – aside from the stellar taste and texture! – is that it’s so forgiving, even for novice fudge makers. You can let it boil a few minutes too long, or even a minute or two too short, and the fudge doesn’t seem to mind: It still sets up wonderfully well, and tastes amazing. There are no candy thermometers involved, nor is there any paying attention for soft-ball or hard-ball syrup stages, which can throw even experienced candy makers for a loop sometimes. You bring the sugars, butter, and milk to a boil while stirring constantly; then, once the syrup has started boiling, stop stirring, because stirring the syrup at this stage produces large sugar crystals that wreck the smooth texture of the fudge. Let the syrup boil at a rolling boil for seven minutes, then take the syrup off the heat and stir in marshmallow cream, peanut butter, and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated. Pour into a dish, allow to set, and then slice. And eat. And eat! And eat some more.

Ahhh, blessedly easygoing fudge. No worries about exact temperatures. Just my kind of fudge. 🙂 (Well… and this fudge, too. For those horseback riding, beach walking, white pants-wearing, hair tossing kinds of days.)

I can ride horseback! I can!

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Creamy Peanut Butter Fudge

Yield: Approximately 60 – 80 pieces of fudge (depending on how large or small the fudge is cut)

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
4 cups granulated sugar
12 oz. evaporated milk
7 oz. marshmallow cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
16 oz. peanut butter (commercial brands such as Peter Pan, Jiffy, and so forth work better than natural peanut butter for this recipe)

Method:
Line a 9×13″ dish with aluminum foil. Set aside.

Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and evaporated milk in a 3 or 4 quart saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. When the mixture begins to boil (this took around 20 minutes for me), stop stirring the mixture. Within a minute or two, it will reach a full, rolling boil. When it achieves a full boil, start a timer for 7 minutes and allow the mixture to keep boiling. While the syrup is boiling, do not stir or interfere with it in any way. To do so would cause large sugar crystals to form in the fudge, which would preclude the fudge’s having a creamy texture.

When the 7 minutes have elapsed, remove saucepan from heat and immediately stir in the marshmallow cream. Take care to ensure that all of the marshmallow cream is completely incorporated with the sugar mixture. Stir in the vanilla extract and the peanut butter until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, with no streaks remaining.

Pour mixture into prepared dish and smooth the top. Allow to sit, uncovered, at room temperature until firm enough to cut. (This took around 30 minutes for me.) Cut into 3/4″ to 1″ pieces; this fudge is dense and rich. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, separating each layer of fudge with waxed paper so that the fudge doesn’t stick together.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Chocolate Whiskey Fudge

I’m hot cuz I’m fly. You ain’t cuz you not!

Thank Pete it’s Fudge Season(TM)* again! Fudge and heat don’t mix. Well, they do, but as long as the kitchen itself is cool. I dove right into a bottle of Jameson’s Irish Whiskey to kick off Fudge Season(TM)!

Take a moment to ponder the beauty of Jameson’s whiskey with chocolate. Because it’s straight-up beautiful. Every time I make this, I cannot resist having just one more piece, and wind up having about 12 pieces, and then the afternoon passes in a happy haze. No wonder I look forward to Fudge Season(TM)!

It’s funny that I love this recipe so much, because I hate whiskey. I never drink it. I thought whiskey and chocolate would be a waste of chocolate, but I was stunned by how delicious this flavour combination is. I think this recipe provides the perfect balance of whiskey and chocolate, which complement each other brilliantly – the chocolate tastes richer and more complex because of the whiskey, and the whiskey tastes much milder than it would otherwise because of the chocolate – and the silky smooth texture of the fudge allows the interplay of these flavours to take center stage. I am in awe of the velvety texture of this fudge every time I make it. And it’s so easy to make! No cooking of any kind, save for heating up chocolate and butter together. Now, some of the best fudge in the world is achieved via tortuous cooking, but this is that rarest of rarities – an exquisite fudge that requires no cooking! There’s a lot of stirring with a wooden spoon, but who doesn’t love wielding a giant piece of wood? And at the end of it all, the alcohol isn’t cooked out, so this fudge is a lot of fun.

That’s right: You can get hammered on this fudge. Keep that in mind when indulging in it. And use the good stuff! This isn’t like vanilla extract, where cheap booze will do. The character of the whiskey is highly evident in this recipe.

This is why I’m hot!

This fudge tends to set up quickly – within 10 to 15 minutes of pouring it into the dish to set – so I advise working quickly to pour and cut it, because after it sets, it gets a bit hard to cut. Having said that, I have had this fudge take a couple of hours to finish setting. I strongly suspect that the level of humidity in my kitchen affected the setting time. The fudge turned out perfectly either way, so no biggie if it takes a while to set. You can pop it into the refrigerator to speed this process along.

Smooth, rich, velvety, and tasting of luxurious naughtiness: If you’re looking for a boozy fudge for the holidays – and even if you’re not – this is the stuff.

*I felt like using capital letters to announce the start of such a wondrous season. And such a thing as Fudge Season must be trademarked. Don’tcha think? 😉

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Chocolate Whiskey Fudge

Yield: About 50 1″ pieces

Ingredients:
32 oz. (2 lbs.) powdered sugar (no need to sift)
1 cup whiskey (I used Jameson’s Irish Whiskey)
12 oz. chocolate
1 TBS unsalted butter
1 cup chopped nuts or chopped chocolate, optional

Method:
Line a 9×13″ pan with parchment or wax paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl (4 quarts’ capacity or larger – I used an 8 quart bowl, though a 5 quart bowl would have sufficed nicely), stir together the powdered sugar and whisky with a wooden spoon. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat chocolate and butter on medium-low heat until melted and incorporated, stirring frequently to avoid the chocolate sticking to the bottom or burning. As soon as the mixture has melted completely, pour it into the whisky mixture and stir vigorously until completely incorporated. It will be a bit hard to stir, but persevere and it will all combine. Stir in nuts, if using.

Working quickly, pour fudge into prepared pan and smooth to the edges; the fudge will thicken enough to cut within 10 – 15 minutes. If the fudge refuses to be coaxed to the corners of the pan, cover the surface with plastic wrap and press and manipulate the fudge with your hands (separated from touching the fudge directly by the plastic wrap). If the fudge behaved and spread to the corners obediently, cover it with plastic wrap anyway and let it sit at room temperature until hard enough to cut, about 15 minutes. If the fudge takes a while to set, put in the refrigerator and check the fudge’s consistency every 15 minutes or so. It will set!

Once the fudge has set, immediately cut into 1″ squares (the fudge can be a bit hard to cut if left to sit too long).

Store in an airtight container at room temperature, separating layers of fudge with waxed paper so that they don’t stick together.

Source: Adapted from Food.com