You know it’s Christmas when peppermint-flavoured EVERYTHING comes out. And that’s the same for me. Although, at least so far I’ve given you cranberry and orange, ginger and molasses, truffles, and other gift ideas.

But these. These are pure indulgence, that you really do not need much of at one time. Bite-sized morsels of pleasure/sin, so it really is about moderation with these.

While browsing the internet for an easy-to-make fudge recipe, there was a startling variety of setting times. This is mostly to do with altitude, humidity, and your fridge settings. Mine, here in humid Hong Kong took nearly 24 hours to be at a consistency that I would consider “fudge”, and even then if it was out of the fridge for more than 5 minutes, it would start to get very soft and very sticky. So if you are making this, and plan to serve it, leave it in the fridge up until the last minute to bring out to the guests (or to eat yourself).

You have to be careful with this recipe, and make sure you use a bain-marie or double boiler, so as to not overcook/burn the chocolate. In theory, you can use any chocolate you like, but given the sweetness of the condensed milk, and the volumes of liquid used compared to cocoa, I would use 70% dark if you can. Plus, the dark chocolate goes really well with the peppermint candy canes.

So, if you want some delicious chocolate fudge this Christmas, look no further.

Ingredients

227 grams dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
400 grams sweetened condensed milk
21 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 candy canes, crushed/chopped

1. Line a pyrex dish or baking tray with reusable baking paper, making sure that it comes up the sides (so that you can use these edges to remove the fudge from the tray later).
2. In a large heatproof bowl, add the chocolate, condensed milk, butter, and vanilla extract.
3. Fill a small saucepan about 1/4 full with water, and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to barely a simmer, and place the bowl of chocolate over the pan. Stir frequently, until the chocolate has all melted and the mixture is completely smooth.
4. The mixture will be very thick and gloopy, so be warned.
5. Pour/scrape the mixture into your prepared baking tray, sprinkle the candy canes over the top and place in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. I would recommend doing this overnight. If you’re in Hong Kong, you may want to place the fudge in the freezer overnight to set quicker, as it took mine 24 hours in the fridge for me to be happy.
6. Remove the fudge from the tray, and using a very sharp knife, slice the fudge into squares.
7. Enjoy immediately, or place in the fridge/freezer in an air-tight container, for up to a month.