CHOCOLATE COVERED CHERRY FUDGE FOR GIFT GIVING

This recipe for fudge is one of my favorites and most requested.

My husband, Frank, especially loves this confection.

When I make it with maraschino cherries, wherever the cherries land in the chocolate, they lend a bit of a syrupy texture to the chocolate, somewhat like a chocolate covered cherry!

Delicious and easy, you’ll want to make several batches of this.

The recipes I’m sharing today are from my book Gifts without Ribbons: Homemade Love.

And I love the versatility of this – don’t like cherries?

Or like dried cherries or cranberries? You decide what to put in the fudge. Or leave it plain! Here are some suggestions:

Add about 1 cup of any of your favorites:

Well drained and chopped or halved maraschino cherries
Chopped toasted nuts, unsalted
Mini Marshmallows
Candied cherries, red and green, chopped
Salted peanuts, chopped
Raisins
Soy nuts
Sunflower or pumpkin seeds
(If you add both peanuts or other nuts and raisins, you get a delicious rendition of the “Chunky” chocolate candy that a lot of us enjoyed as a kid – remember the jingle: “Chunky, what a chunk of chocolate!”

1 can, 14 oz, condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
4 oz German chocolate, cut up
Optional ingredients: see above
2 teaspoons vanilla

To make regular fudge:

Line an 8x8 pan with foil, letting foil hang over sides, and spray the foil. Set aside. In heavy pan bring milk to a boil. Add chocolates and cook on low until melted. Add rest of ingredients.

Stir to blend and pour into prepared pan, leaving top bumpy. Let chill in refrigerator until hard, pop fudge out of pan and cut into squares.

To make personal pan fudge:

Use nonstick mini bakeware like I am using today from our Anolon line, available at Macy’s. Spray the inside of each with vegetable nonstick spray. Pour fudge in, leaving top bumpy. Follow directions above for chilling and removing.

To make fudge “ornaments”:

Spray inside of your favorite ornament cookie cutter, like the ones I’m using today from our Copper Cookie Cutter line, also available at Macy’s. Lay on a piece of sprayed foil. Carefully pour fudge into cookie cutter, again leaving top bumpy if you like. Follow directions above for chilling and removing.