I’m not even going to pretend that there are any health-related redeeming qualities to this out of this world fudge – and you shouldn’t either. But whereas most fudge simply makes my teeth ache with its overwhelming, cloying sweetness my fudge is rich and decadent with a wonderful pure dark chocolate taste. It took me several years of trial an error to get just the right balance. Unlike plain dark chocolate, which I love, this is undoubtedly fudge, with that special fudge mouth-feel. When my son was younger he didn’t like nuts so I left them out, but my preference is to include them. I leave it to you to decide if you want to include them or not.

Because my fudge is so rich, I either need to think ahead and make it a couple of weeks before I wish to serve it so it will “cure” a bit and harden up which makes cutting it easier OR it will need to be refrigerated. The only problem with the latter is you will lose the sheen of the chocolate. The taste will not be affected. If you can store it in a dark, cool place and manage not to eat it, I definitely recommend that method. I did actually take a “test” piece last night and it was dreamy, but still a bit soft for best serving. Either way, it is a slightly more sophisticated take on fudge.

Lisa’s Fudge

Yield: It will entirely depend on how you cut your pieces, but it is quite rich, so I would keep them small. I wouldn’t think getting 36 pieces is out of the realm of possibility, but there is no judgment here, so if you only get 12 I promise not to tell.

Ingredients

1.5 cups of granulated white sugar

2 Tablespoons Devonshire cream or Mascarpone

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate (about 64% cacao)

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

1 jar Marshmallow crème/fluff (about 7 ounces – a little more or less won’t matter)

4 oz. unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons strong coffee

1 cup walnuts, broken into good sized pieces

Directions

1. Generously grease an 8-inch square pan with either butter or cooking spray
2. In a heavy-bottomed medium pot, bring the first 6 ingredients to a boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally
3. As soon as it begins to boil, stir constantly and boil for 5 minutes.
4. After 5 minutes of boiling, turn off the heat and stir through the last 4 ingredients. When everything is well combined, pour the mixture into the prepared pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once it has completely cooled, cover the pan and put in a cool dark place. Try to forget about it until you are ready to cut your pieces. Then cut and place your pieces in paper or foil candy cups and store in a tin.

Mine isn’t totally ready to cut yet so my photo is only of the fudge in the pan. When I have it cut, I’ll add a photo later. But I know that some of you might want to have this for the holidays, so I want to get this recipe out there now.