Cinnamon Chocolate Fudge

Submitted by Stacey Hutchings


Hey ladies! We’re gonna try pictures and commentary and see how it goes—this is NOT required for sharing recipes. Like we said, it’s a work in progress.

If you’ve been reading my email closely, you know that there is a prize for anyone who actually tries to go to Adult Seminary and confirms that it exists. Well, here it is: Chocolate-Cinnamon Fudge. I saw Food TV’s Giada De Laurentiis make this on her show, Giada at Home, and knew I wanted to try it. It looked easy to make and delicious—and it turned out to be exactly that. Here’s the cast of characters:

• Butter, for greasing the pan
• 1(14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound (about 2 cups) bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate chips(recommended:Ghiradelli) see Cook's note at bottom
• 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, at room temperature
• Kosher or flake salt (Optional)
  
  The recipe only calls for the 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips, but I used 1½ cups of those and 1 cup of semi-sweet. I’m just crazy that way.
  
  
  This is what it looks like in my make-shift double-boiler. I suppose you could melt this all together in the microwave, but I have a tendency to get interrupted/distracted while cooking, and things get burned or forgotten easily. If you melt it this way, it all just becomes molten goodness and waits patiently for you to get around to finishing it later. I make chocolate ganache frosting this way too. Please don’t look at my drip pans. I decided a long time ago, I’m ashamed to say, that I had time to cook, or I had time to clean drip pans, but not both. And I’m too [fill in whatever excuse you’d like] to wrap them in foil—life is short, we must pick our battles carefully.
  
  This shows you what the prepared pan looks like and how easily the fudge will come out if you do it that way. If I was a professional food blogger I’d have a picture of the luscious fudge being poured into the pan and close-up stop action footage of each grain of Kosher salt being sprinkled lovingly on top. It was beautiful—really. I just couldn’t figure out how to take the pictures.
  
  I hope you like the fudge, and I hope somebody goes to Adult Seminary and requires me to make it for them. Enjoy!
  
  Directions
  Butter the bottom and sides of an 8 by 8-inch baking pan. Line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper, about 14-inches long and 7-inches wide, allowing the excess to overhang the sides. Set aside.
  
  In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, combine the condensed milk, cinnamon, and vanilla. Stir in the chocolate chips and butter. Put the bowl on a saucepan of barely simmering water and mix until the chocolate chips have melted and the mixture is smooth, about 6 to 8 minutes (mixture will be thick). Using a spatula, scrape the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with salt, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours until firm.
  
  Run a warm knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the fudge. Remove the fudge to a cutting board. Peel off the parchment paper and cut the fudge into 1-inch pieces. Store refrigerated in an airtight container or freeze.
  
  Cook's Note: The fudge can also be made using 1 pound (about 2 1/2 cups) of semisweet chocolate chips.