Crazy Cooking Challenge: Cappuccino Fudge

Here we are, Crazy Cooking Challenge #2 already!! This month's challenge was to find the ultimate fudge recipe. What a delightful hunt! I have never made fudge before, so it was a bit of an experiment for me as well. Because this was my first time, after drooling over many decadent looking squares, I decided on a rather simple fudge, but as I am sure you will agree, it suits ME to a tee.

If you do not know by now, I am a bit of a coffee nut. Coffee snob. Connoisseur. Whatever. You get the idea. I like coffee. My kitchen fairly swims in it. Take a look at the previous post about Coffee and Cream Drops. See any clues?
Now that we've established (again) my infatuation with glossy brown beans (that includes cocoa beans!), we can move on to the delicious creation I concocted in my kitchen which included both. Cappuccino Fudge. It really was a snap to make- Annie wasn't kidding when she said it was simple. I really thought fudge would be more complicated than this (and maybe some are), but it was easy and turned out fantastic, so my confidence in fudge making is definitely bolstered to try something harder next time!

The first step is to line a pan with foil (hint: this makes for very easy removal later!).

Good old trusty foil.

Next, move over to your stove top! Another thing I like about this is it really only dirties one pot. Start with some marshmallow cream...this stuff is harder to get into the pan then you might think! It is SO sticky! Add instant coffee powder, sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt and heavy whipping cream. Annie's recipe only called for 1 tsp of instant coffee, but after reading some of the comments on her blog I decided I wanted to make sure it had a real distinct coffee flavor. So I put in a whole tablespoon.

Mix it all together until it's nice and smooth (I used a whisk for this part), while heating it over medium heat.

Once it really begins to boil, keep it there and turn on the timer! Here comes the tedious part: keep stirring while it boils for 5 whole minutes.

Then take it off the heat and stir in a bag of chocolate chips till they are melted and the mixture is creamy and smooth again. Pour the whole thing into your nice foil-lined pan and smooth it out.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours before you cut and devour!! Or. Share with your friends. Your favorite friends. Special treats are only for special friends, right?

This fudge tasted exactly as I hoped against hope that it would. A perfect marriage of coffee and rich chocolate. It was firm and the texture was smooth and it sliced beautiful into darling little squares.

If you want to get fancy, you could do like I did and serve each topped with a fine dusting of coffee powder (or cinnamon) and a whole coffee bean. Any way you slice it, this fudge is a perfect holiday indulgence your friends will love you for.

Cappuccino Fudge
(printable version)

by Annie's Eats (with tweaks)

makes about 36 squares

1 jar marshmallow cream (7 oz)

1/2 cup sugar

2/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup butter

1 TB instant coffee powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1 (12 oz) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Line an 8” square baking pan with aluminum foil; set aside.

 In a 2 qt. saucepan, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, cream, butter, coffee powder, cinnamon and salt.

 Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Continue to boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 

Stir in chocolate chips until smooth. 

Pour into prepared pan. 

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. 

Place on cutting board and cut into 36 squares.

Source: Annie's Eats