Vegan Fudge

 

I always forget about fudge until the holiday season.  And then I make tons of it :) I thought fudge was so good, because it used real butter and milk.  I was wrong!  It’s all about the chocolate!  I use Earth Balance vegan butter, homemade rice milk, and unrefined sugar to replace the animal derived ingredients in in an old recipe. Tastes exactly the same as when I made it non-vegan in the past.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cup sugar
¼ TSP salt
4 oz unsweetened chocolate (or ½ CUP powder)
1 TBSP corn syrup
1 CUP rice milk
2 TBSP vegan butter
1 TSP vanilla

Using a wooden spoon, mix the sugar and salt together; then add the chocolate, corn syrup and milk.  Turn the heat to low and mix until everything dissolves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let the mixture heat up until it reaches between 234-240°F.  Stir as little as possible, the chocolate will boil over so use a large pot.

 

(If you don’t have a thermometer you can test the fudge by dropping a little in a glass of cold water.  When it’s ready it will be firm enough to form a soft ball.)

 

Add the vegan butter to the fudge and remove from heat.  Do not stir the butter in until the fudge cools to about 110°F (I usually just wait until I can easily touch the outside of the pot).

 

 

 

Add the vanilla and stir vigorously until the fudge loses its glossy finish and looks more matte.  Pour into a butter pan and let sit at room temperature until hardened.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some fudge repair tips I found in an old cookbook:

To soften fudge: knead with hand until it becomes smooth, and then flatten into pan

To stiffen fudge:  add ¼ CUP milk, stir, heat to proper temperature, beat and pour.

Wish I had known those tricks before; the main thing with fudge is getting it to that perfect temperature.  But even mistake fudge can usually be used for something.  If the mixture doesn’t get hot enough it doesn’t solidify, but it’s great as a fudge sauce for other desserts.  If you heat the fudge over the 240°, it gets too stiff and brittle, but can be used as chocolate shavings in desserts and hot drinks.  You can’t go wrong!