Coconut Galliano Fudge

After one success with a departure from a standard recipe, it's easy to keep going and put your personal stamp on variations. That's why I developed this recipe. It was so easy to be creative as long as I kept proportions the same as a standard recipe. I did discover that white chocolate and flavored chocolates made with it were softer than a dark chocolate, so I eliminated butter from most recipes I've developed with white or flavored white chocolate in order to keep the texture firm, only adding it if the chocolate seized during the melting phase.

Ingredients:

18 oz. white chocolate
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 oz. butter
1T coconut extract
2T Galliano liqueur
1C fine shredded coconut
2C walnuts
Sweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

Pour the condensed milk into the double boiler set on medium low heat and add the chocolate. Stir with a wooden or bamboo spoon until the chocolate melts completely, then take it off the heat and stir in the Galliano and coconut extract until it is fully incorporated.

After the Galliano is mixed in, beat the fudge with the spoon until it looks dull and has lost the high gloss of melted chocolate. Add the coconut and walnuts and stir them in so they are evenly distributed throughout the fudge. Pour into a parchment lined baking pan, 9" round or 8X8" square and if you so desire, sprinkle course grated, sweetened coconut on top before putting into the refrigerator to cool down.

Note: the next time I make this, I'll try it without the coconut on top as it did not adhere well.

Minty Road Candy

I'm a big fan of Rocky Road candy, so I put this together during the Christmas holidays primarily because of the colors, but also to see if it had any worth as a new recipe. It was a fun alternative and I'll make it again, perhaps substituting the Guittard chocolate mint chips that are made with milk chocolate, not white chocolate. Either would work.

Ingredients:
1/2 bag of large marshmallows
1 bag of Guittard green mint chocolate chips
1 dozen small crushed peppermint candies (I use canes)
butter

Extra kitchen Equipment:
a pair of scissors (easier to cut the marshmallows)
loaf pan

Directions:

Butter a loaf pan so the chocolate will not stick to the pan when you attempt to remove it. While you are cutting the marshmallows in half and placing them in the buttered pan, heat the chocolate in a double boiler or microwave (in 30 second bursts) to melt it. Stiring will help the melting progress a bit faster. If you are using a bowl over a pot of water, remember that the steam could seize the chocolate, so be careful. After you have the first layer of marshmallows in the pan, pour or spoon some of the melted chocolate on top of them and spread it inbetween the marshmallows. Sprinkle on some of the peppermint candy.

Add a second layer of the marshmallows and more chocolate. Sprinkle another layer of the peppermint and keep repeating the layering until you are out of chocolate (3 layers for me). Let cool and remove from the loaf pan. Cut into modest pieces and serve.

Tutti Frutti Fudge

Sometimes the oddest things are the impetus for creating a new recipe. After carefully breaking candy canes for the top of my mint fudge recipe I realized I had accidentally picked up fruit flavored candy. Who in the heck would do that to a candy cane? I was forced to go to Plan B, as soon as I could think of one. It took all day.

If it was going to be a fruit flavored fudge, dried fruit might work as an additional ingredient to bulk it out, since nuts wouldn't work. I knew I had white chocolate in the house but had forgotten that there also was lemon flavored chocolate. I decided to use dried apricots and cranberries and Peach Schnapps to punch up the fruit flavors, but the lemon was a bonus.


Ingredients:

1 pkg Starburst candy canes
12 oz. Guittard lemon flavored chocolate
6 oz. Guittard white chocolate
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
2T Peach Schnapps
4 oz. dried apricots
4 oz. dried sweetened cranberries

Directions:


Melt the chocolates and condensed milk in a double boiler until they are smooth, then take off heat. Stir in the schnapps until it is fully incorporated into the chocolate mixture. Beat with a wooden spoon until the gloss becomes a bit dull.

Add the fruit and thoroughly mix into the chocolate, then add the crushed candy and stir until all fruit and candy is coated with the chocolate mixture. Place into a parchment lined 8"x8" pan and refrigerate until it is firm enough to cut.

Mint Pistachio Fudge

This was a happy accident. I had planned on adding crushed peppermint candy canes to this recipe but discovered after the chocolate had melted that my candy canes were a fruit flavor and not peppermint at all. Since I had pistachios on hand I threw them in at the last minute instead.

Ingredients:
12 oz. Guittard Mint chips
6 oz. guittard white chocolate
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 cups pistachio nuts

Directions:

As with the other fudge recipes, combine the chocolate and sweetened, condensed milk in a double boiler over a low heat and stir until melted. After the chocolate has completely melted, take it off the heat and beat with a wooden spoon until the shine becomes dull, then add nuts and stir long enough to evenly distribute them. Pour into a parchment lined 8"x8" square pan and chill in the refrigerator to stiffen befor cutting into small squares.

Kahlua Walnut Chocolate Fudge

After making the Amaretto Pecan Fudge with the milk chocolate I was ready for a foray into the use of semi sweet chocolate. A friend once told me that the richest brownies use instant coffee, so Kahlua seemed the perfect liqueur to pair with the chocolate.

Ingredients:
3C semisweet chocolate
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 oz. sweet butter
2T Kahlua
2C chopped walnuts

Directions:
Melt the chocolate, butter and condensed milk in a double boiler over medium low heat. As you stir it with a wooden or bamboo spoon, look for it to thicken and separate from the pan after it has melted completely. If this doesn't happen, you will have a very soft fudge that will have to be coated with cocoa powder in order to be handled and to keep it from sticking to the plate. As soon as you have the thicker stage achieved, take the fudge off the heat and stir in the Kahlua, beating it until it gets a satin finish, a bit duller than the bright shine of melted chocolate. Stir in nuts, incorporate well, then place in an 8"x8" buttered pan or one that has been lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until cooled, then cut into squares, plate and serve.

Chocolate Mint Fudge with Peppermint Bark Topping

Amaretto Pecan Fudge

Ingredients:
18 oz. milk chocolate
1 can sweetened, condensed milk
1/2 cube sweet butter
2T bitter almond extract
1 1/2C whole pecans

Special Equipment:
Double boiler or microwave

Directions:
Place the chopped chocolate in the double boiler that is over a medium low heat. Add the condensed milk and butter and stir with a wooden or bamboo spoon until it has melted completely. If you're using a microwave, melt on medium in short 30 second bursts repeatedly until the mixture is completely incorporated. When the fudge thickens, take it off the heat and add the almond extract. Beat with the spoon until it looks more opaque and has less shine. Then add the pecans and place in an 8"x8" or 9"x9" buttered pan or one that is covered in parchment paper. Cool in the refrigerator and cut into 1" squares.

Rocky Road Candy

Although I did not have a recipe, I wanted to duplicate the best thing my mother ever made (besides the chicken and dumplings she made one time only, when I was about 8 years old. I have been longing for it ever since). I doubt she had a recipe either. She most likely tried to duplicate the See's Candy version, but I always liked her version best...more chocolate.


Ingredients:
Milk chocolate
1 bag large marshmallows
chopped walnuts
butter

Notes:
I have not listed amounts of ingredients since I have never measured them. For a single loaf pan, you will probably use less than the whole bag of marshmallows. The only ingredient that limits this recipe is the amount of chocolate. I usually buy chocolate in bulk pieces and buy the largest piece I can find. Any specific amount of an ingredient should be determined by your own taste preferences.

Special Equipment:
Double boiler

Directions:

If you choose slab chocolate you must chop it for easier, faster melting. I see no reason not to use chips if available. Keep the water level low on the double boiler, as common cooking technique dictates that the top pan not touch the water. I have also read that the water should be simmering rather than boiling.

As you are waiting for the chocolate to melt, cut the marshmallows in half and place them in a buttered loaf pan. I keep scissors in the kitchen and find them to be the best tool for this particular job. Sprinkle on as many chopped nuts as appeals to you.

As soon as the chocolate melts, pour a portion of it over the marshmallows and nuts. What is a portion? Enough to partially cover the pan contents and drip onto the bottom of the loaf pan. Add a second layer of marshmallows and nuts, then cover them completely with the remaining chocolate and scatter more nuts on top.

There will be some gaps which are fine. If they were filled with chocolate the candy would be too dense. After the chocolate solidifies (placing in the refridgerator helps speed the process) take the Rocky Road from the loaf pan and cut it into bite size pieces.