Home > Cooking with Kids Recipes > Christmas Recipes > Easy and Delicious Slow Cooker Fudge
ByCerys ParkerPublished on
A little confession I have a bit of a sweet tooth, especially when it comes to chocolate and one of my favourite chocolate flavoured treats is fudge – but I’ve also been a bit terrified of making any after reading my great-grandmother’s book of everything where temperature is so important to make it successful I threw my hands up and walked away.But, I have a friend who has been making basic fudge for a while and says it is EASY – so I gave it a go and here it is Slow Cooker Fudge Recipe so easy even a 3-year-old can make it.
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Making Fudge in the Slow Cooker
Fudge as I said used to terrify me to cook. All the temperature monitoring it was likely to fail especially in a busy house like ours.
However, discovering that chocolate fudge could be made in the slow cooker and it was so simple that even our 3 year old could make it was a revelation.
It’s turned into our goto gift for teachers at Christmas time and we will either make this simple slow cooker fudge or one of our flavoured favourites. Scroll down and we have more that you can make. I’m partial to the Baileys.
The key to making it in the slow cooker is that you have to stir it every so often once it melts so that it thickens up nicely.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Fudge
We have included affiliate links to ingredients and products to help make this recipe.
For the quantities of ingredients look at the recipe at the bottom these are links to the specific ingredients that we use for our fudge.
Start off by breaking up the chocolate into smaller pieces – you can use any mix of chocolate you want – I love a mix of plain and milk as it makes the fudge a little less sweet but for Christmas, we like to make white chocolate fudge with cranberries in which is a little bit sweeter.
The key is stirring the fudge regularly around about every 10 minutes over the course of the time in the slow cooker.
I use an 8″ square siliconetray lined with greaseproof paper for the fudge to set in. This seems to make the perfect bite-sized portions when cut up.
Watch this Chocolate Orange Fudge Recipe Video and discover the full ingredients at the end and how you can adapt it to make in the slow cooker too!
Shop the Slow Cooker Fudge Recipe
To avoid your meals tasting of the last thing that you cooked I find it really useful to use Slow Cooker Liners – these can be used and then disposed of – reducing washing-up and also meaning that flavours don’t mingle.
I have a large selection of cake tins and baking trays for the slow cooker fudge I like using my Silicone 8inch square tray. As it is much easier to clean up – don’t forget to line it though – although not necessary to stop the fudge sticking this makes it easier to remove the fudge and cut it up without damaging your baking tray.
Slow Cooker Fudge
Cerys Parker
A delicious chocolate fudge made in the slow cooker which is so easy to make.
Cerys is a marine biologist, environmental educator, teacher, mum, and home educator from the UK. She loves getting creative, whether it is with simple and easy crafts and ideas, activities to make learning fun, or delicious recipes that you and your kids can cook together you'll find them all shared here on Rainy Day Mum.
If your fudge turned out super sticky, or it didn't set as it cooled, it probably never got hot enough. This mistake is super easy to avoid if you use a candy thermometer and cook the fudge to the temperature specified in the recipe (usually between 234 and 239°F).
Why won't my 3 ingredient fudge set? This often happens when the condensed milk and chocolate chip mixture isn't hot enough to start. Everything must be completely melted before it is transferred to the pan to cool.
Once a seed crystal forms, it grows bigger and bigger as the fudge cools. A lot of big crystals in fudge makes it grainy. By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals.
Once the fudge reaches soft-ball stage on the candy thermometer, remove from the heat and let the temperature drop to 110°F. Keep that spoon or spatula out of the pot until this happens. If you stir too early in the process, you'll make the sugar crystals too big and end up with grainy fudge.
there is too much leftover water in the syrup and the resulting fudge is soft. To save the fudge, put it in a saucepan with 15 to 30 ml (1 or 2 tbsp.) of 35% cream and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is completely melted. Then let it boil until the thermometer reaches 114 to 115 °C (237 to 239 °F).
How can you fix soft fudge? Put it in a microwave safe bowl that is large enough that it won't boil over. Reheat it to the boiling point and cook for about 3 more minutes. Then you can beat some powdered sugar into it if this doesn't make it set.
If your fudge is soft or runny, it probably didn't come up to a high enough temperature while it was cooking. Put it back into the saucepan and add 1–2 US tbsp (15–30 ml) of 35% fat whipping cream. Stir the fudge as it heats, but only until the sugar in the chocolate is completely melted again.
Options for what you can do with your unset fudge:
OPTION 1) Depending on how runny it is, you can either use it as a frosting for cakes, or a sauce for ice-cream. OPTION 2) Freeze it overnight. Cut it into squares. Cover each square thickly in melted chocolate, ensuring no part of the fudge is exposed.
Add the butter, chocolate, salt, and vanilla and bring the temperature up to 235ºF. Remove from heat. Once the mixture has cooled to 110ºF, mix it with a wooden spoon until it loses the majority of its sheen. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let it cool fully before slicing.
The ratio of chocolate to condensed milk needs to be just right, otherwise you might end up with fudge that is too soft or too hard. Do not freeze the fudge to set it. Best way is to just be patient for a couple hours and set it in the fridge. If your fudge hasn't set, then you've gone wrong somewhere else.
Using a clean spoon, carefully take a little of the syrup and drop it into the bowl of cold water. Leave to cool for a moment then pick up the ball of syrup. If it's pliable, sticky and can be moulded in your fingers easily, it has reached the soft ball stage and the syrup can be used to make fudge and marzipan.
You know it's ready when a small amount of the mixture dropped into a glass of cold water sets into a soft ball that you can lift out with a teaspoon and pinch between your fingers. Turn off the heat and keep stirring for 5 minutes or until the mix starts to thicken a little.
The main reason is that your Fudge has not reached the optimum temperature. If your mixture only reaches 110 or 112 degrees Celsius it will always be soft. That's why we recommend investing in a sugar thermometer. Another reason your Fudge is not setting is that the ratio of liquid to sugar is too high.
Cream of tartar is used in caramel sauces and fudge to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing while cooking. It also prevents cooling sugars from forming brittle crystals, this is why it's the secret ingredient in snickerdoodles!
Introduction: My name is Greg O'Connell, I am a delightful, colorful, talented, kind, lively, modern, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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