Edible Christmas Gifts: Chocolate Orange Fudge

Edible Christmas Gifts: Chocolate Orange Fudge

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Made the old fashioned way, this chocolate orange fudge is impossibly creamy, crumbly and just melt in your mouth delicious!

fudge

When it comes to Christmas, I LOVE an edible gift. Give me all the jams, chocolates, fudge, gingerbread. I’m here for it. Being given a gift that you know someone has spent their precious time making is a wonderful thing. And potentially even more so this year, when we haven’t been able to spend much time with our loved ones!

I actually started my edible Christmas gift series back in 2017, when I made salted caramels, candy pretzel rods and strawberry jam. And kicking off the series this year is my chocolate orange fudge. And it’s a corker! Its the creamiest dreamiest fudge I’ve ever made and I’m so happy to share it with you.

A lot of fudge recipes on the internet are made super simply with a tin of condensed milk and not much skill is involved. Now I’m not against that, especially at Christmas time when you have a lot of plates to juggle! Anddd I’m not saying this recipe is super tricky. But.

Sometimes putting in a little time, patience and love is way more rewarding. And in the case of this fudge, the extra effort is moreeee than worth it. Think of it like a risotto. Lots of stirring and patience!

chocolate orange fudge

How to make fudge the old-fashioned way:

So the longer method I’m talking about is referred to as the ‘old-fashioned’ method, but it’s actually only a few simple ingredients.

  • Caster sugar
  • Double cream
  • Unsalted butter
  • Liquid glucose
  • Salt
  • Plus chocolate for this recipe!

However, you do need to follow the recipe carefully and keep the temperature low, no matter how much you’re tempted to crank it up! Otherwise you’ll end up with a completely ruined pan like me 🙁 🙁 Patience is not always my virtue!

You’ll also need a food thermometer, so you can accurately heat the fudge to 116C. If you bake a lot, I really recommend getting one. They’re pretty inexpensive and come in handy in so many bakes! I use this one.

chocolate orange

So how do we make it:

First you want to place all the ingredients (bar the salt and chocolate orange) into a large pan and cook on a low heat until the butter and sugar have melted. Then you want to increase the heat very slightly, and cook until it reaches 116C.

You need to keep the mixture moving constantly, so keep stirring and stirring and stirring. This stage took me 25 minutes, so keep the faith. It will reach 116C, I promise!

Then you need to take the mixture off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes, until it lowers in temperature to 110C. Then stir in the salt and chocolate and pour into a large heat-proof bowl.

At this point, you need to use an electric hand whisk or stand mixer, and whisk until the mixture is thick and the the temperature has reduced to 60C. You could do this by hand, but it will take quite a while and potentially give you arm ache! Actually not potentially, I think it’ll definitely be arm ache central!! So an electric whisk is advised 😉

Then the hard work is over, and all you need to do it pour the mixture into your prepared baking tin and leave to set overnight.

chocolate orange fudge

Chocolate orange fudge is the best kind right??

Fudge made in this way is sooo creamy but also crumbly and just seems to melt in your mouth. There’s also the perfect amount of chocolate orange (it did take me three attempts to get right…!) and ahh I’m just so happy with it! Can you tell!?

So, on with the recipe!

fudge

Edible Christmas Gifts: Chocolate Orange Fudge

Aimee Field
Made the old fashioned way, this chocolate orange fudge is impossibly creamy, crumbly and just melt in your mouth delicious!
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Cooling/Setting Time 8 hours
Total Time 9 hours 25 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine British
Servings 36 Small Squares

Ingredients
  

  • 450 g caster sugar
  • 400 g double cream
  • 50 g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp liquid glucose
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 100 g Terry's chocolate orange

Instructions
 

  • Firstly, line a 8x8inch baking tin and set to one side.
  • Place the sugar, cream, butter and glucose into a large heavy-bottomed sauce pan, and place over a low heat. Stir constantly until the butter and sugar have melted – this will take about 5 minutes and the mixture will feel thinner and look pale yellow in colour.
  • Increase the heat slightly and bring to a very soft rolling boil, stirring all the time. Keep cooking until the mixture reaches 116C on a food thermometer. This will take around 25 minutes and the mixture will be thick, have reduced slightly and be a faint caramel colour. Take off the heat and leave to cool for 5 minutes, until its reduced in temperature to 110C.
  • Whilst the mixture is cooling, chop 50g of the chocolate roughly. Then stir into the cooled mixture with the salt, until fully combined.
  • Pour the mixture into a large heat proof bowl and either, using an electric hand whisk or a stand mixer, beat on a high speed until the mixture has cooled to around 60C. This should take around 10 minutes and it'll be quite thick. Then pour into your lined tin, level out carefully and then cover and leave to set overnight.
  • The next day, cut into 3x3cm squares to make 36 pieces of fudge. Then melt the remaining 50g of chocolate and drizzle over each fudge piece. Leave to set, and then store in air-tight containers or bags.

Notes

Will keep for 2-3 weeks in air-tight containers of boxes. 
Keyword chocolate orange, christmas, christmas gift, fudge, milk chocolate, old-fashioned


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