chocolate-peanut butter fudge

Fudge. I really love fudge. I'm partial to simple flavors - usually just chocolate (no nuts!). Fudge should be creamy and about as sweet as you can stand without your teeth actually hurting. It shouldn't be gritty, and it should have be soft but have enough body that it's not a smushy mess. Fudge is what I gravitate toward in any old-fashioned candy store. Now that I think about it, I often buy some as a special treat on vacation.

I really don't know what more there is to say about fudge except that I'm sometimes seized with the drive to make it (holiday time is usually a good excuse) and I make cheater's fudge. Yep. The recipe on the back of the marshmallow fluff jar. With all the sugar. And the fluff.* And it's darn good, my friend. I could try harder - and use a candy thermometer - and it would probably taste good - but I really, truly, like this recipe, and it's easy, and you should go make some right now.

I was planning to make simple, two-layer fudge: peanut butter on the bottom and chocolate on the top. But I didn't move fast enough, and the chocolate was thicker than the peanut butter, so it kind of blobbed on top and just sat there. I decided to swirl it, which looked pretty (and tasted fine), but I really had been looking forward to that clean visual distinction between the two flavors. Oh well, guess I'll have to try again!

Isn't that a pretty swirl? I couldn't stop taking pictures of it.

I'm not kidding that it's easy to make. The only gripe I have is that it was hard to evenly divide the hot sugar mixture among the two bowls with the chocolate and peanut butter chips. Next time, I might measure it or do it in two batches, but I couldn't be bothered to dirty another pot last night. I also thought of doing two separate batches, but that would've made a 9x13 pan, and that just seemed excessive. Here's the recipe, which I adapted slightly from Culinary in the Desert; it's the same concept as the fluff Fantasy Fudge, but the proportions actually are a little different, so credit where it's due.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Fudge

Makes an 8" square pan - about 36 squares

1 cup (6 ounces) peanut butter chips

1 cup (6 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips

2 cups (14 ounces) sugar

1 7-ounces jar marshmallow fluff

3/4 cup (6 ounces) evaporated milk

1/2 stick (2 ounces) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Line an 8" square pan with tinfoil and spray with cooking spray.

Place peanut butter chips in one medium, heat-proof bowl, and chocolate chips in another.

In a 3-quart saucepan, stir together sugar, marshmallow fluff, evaporated milk, and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Continue boiling and stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately, but carefully, stir in vanilla. Mixture will foam up!

Quickly pour half the hot sugar mixture into each bowl. Stir the peanut butter mixture until the chips are all melted and everything is incorporated and smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. Repeat with the chocolate. If it doesn't spread, either decide not to worry about it or use a butter knife in a figure-eight pattern to swirl the chocolate and peanut butter mixtures together.

Let sit at room temperature until it is completely cool, and then cut into small squares. This stuff is very rich and very sweet, so small squares are just fine!

*True story: Josh came into the kitchen last night while I was making the fudge, so the empty jar of fluff was next to the stove. I had just finished making marshmallows and they were sitting out to dry. He saw the jar, put two and two together... and actually thought I had used the marshmallow fluff to make marshmallows. Now, that's just cheating. I'm not above using the recipe on the back of the jar, but at least I transformed that ingredient into something else! I'll post about the marshmallows soon - I really did make those from scratch.

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