So I made a total of 9 different types of fudge this xmas. Its the first time I’ve ever made fudge, I tend to do things until I can do them really well. Of the 9 trays only 5 actually set up and worked, so my friends and family all received peanut butter chocolate, chocolate, pomegranate, funfetti, and orange. I was left with gloopy trays filled with oreo, chocolate peppermint, lemon and pumpkin fudge.
My first thought was that there must be a way to recover fudge that didn’t set all the way, there were actually a few articles about how to fix bad fudge – I headed in and failed miserably at this. Essentially I think the theory may work for recipes in which the last stage of the recipe is to heat to the soft-ball stage, BUT when the recipe heats first and then adds in a bunch of stuff (like marshmallow fluff) after removing the heat – its impossible to go backwards.
I poured my melty fudge into mason jars and let them sit for a couple days while I consulted my elders (Nana) on what to do to with the mess, I just couldn’t bring myself to waste THAT much sugar, chocolate, etc… Nana’s suggestion was to make ice cream toppings.
Today I attacked the chocolate peppermint while the kids napped. I adapted a recipe for syrup from the Ball website to get processing time and heated the fudge to boiling to mimic the same temp/conditions of the recipe. To get the correct consistency for the fudge sauce I added about 3/4 cup of soymilk and very slowly heated the mixture to try to make the whole thing more smooth and allow the peppermint chunks time to melt.
I extended the processing time from 10 to more like 15min just to make sure there was time for all of the air to escape from the jars. To my good fortune the last of the jars came out of the pot JUST as the kids woke up and all of the lids popped within 30 seconds.To finish it all off I added cute little labels to the jars and packed them neatly away until I can deliver them to friends and family (there is no way we can eat 8 jars of hot fudge anytime soon). I’m going to wait on the others for now, I’m still a little unsure if I want to can them up or just use them as icing on a bunt cake or something, I’m sure I’ll come up with a practical use for them in the next couple of weeks.
manicrabbit 