cmarchibald
Senior Cook
Good evening everybody. My name is Cory and I am an American living in the Philippines. This is our first Christmas in the Philippines and I got the grand idea of making a tray full of homemade classic Christmas goodies to give away as gifts to our neighbors and friends (along with a dandy bottle of champagne to celebrate the new year).
Christmas cookies I have down pat.....I'm using my own simple peanut butter cookie recipe (PB is a bit of a luxury here so this will be a special treat), and a wonderful recipe I found for soft sugar cookies in Christmas shapes with fun icing designs. Also planning on some gingerbread cookies and conventional candy canes bought at the store (also a luxury item here). I also really really want to make some fudge for everyone.
Now about 10 years ago I made my first ever batch of fudge from a recipe I found online called "Easy 5 minute fudge". I didn't know diddly about fudge-making and this one seemed simple enough. Turns out the fudge was FLAWLESS and a huge hit. However, 8 moves and 4 computers later, like a dummy I lost that recipe. Now I've spent the last couple years trying to recreate that magic and without success.
The other day I tried this recipe I found online (shown below), it had all the elements I remembered before so I thought it might work. Only problem was you can't buy chocolate chips here (seriously, you can't, unless you shop in specialty stores in Manila). So I was making this with baking chocolate instead....the kind you buy in big bars.
The fudge tasted great, but the texture was ALL wrong. Instead of being smooth it was chewy. My husband had no complaints and neither did the neighborhood kids I fed it to, but really I want to do better. Please tell me what I did wrong and how I can make it right. Give me a different recipe altogether if that's what I need to do. I'm not afraid to make it totally from scratch, I have all the necessary components (I think) and I do have a candy thermometer.
A few important notes, please take this into consideration before making your suggestions:
1) I cannot get chocolate chips here, period. So recipes that call for this cannot be used, or will require a substitute. What I can get are bars of imported dutch bakers chocolate in varying flavors from unsweetened to belgian chocolate to special dark chocolate.
2) I cannot get miniature marshmallows here, but I can get jumbo marshmallows. I also cannot get marshmallow fluff, I've seen a lot of fudge recipes that call for one of these items but it simply isn't available to me.
3) I cannot get any kind of nuts here except peanuts and cashews. Seriously, no other kind of nut at all.
Here's the recipe I used that turned out chewy:
Foolproof Chocolate Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
Directions
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.
Cory in Tarlac City, Philippines
Christmas cookies I have down pat.....I'm using my own simple peanut butter cookie recipe (PB is a bit of a luxury here so this will be a special treat), and a wonderful recipe I found for soft sugar cookies in Christmas shapes with fun icing designs. Also planning on some gingerbread cookies and conventional candy canes bought at the store (also a luxury item here). I also really really want to make some fudge for everyone.
Now about 10 years ago I made my first ever batch of fudge from a recipe I found online called "Easy 5 minute fudge". I didn't know diddly about fudge-making and this one seemed simple enough. Turns out the fudge was FLAWLESS and a huge hit. However, 8 moves and 4 computers later, like a dummy I lost that recipe. Now I've spent the last couple years trying to recreate that magic and without success.
The other day I tried this recipe I found online (shown below), it had all the elements I remembered before so I thought it might work. Only problem was you can't buy chocolate chips here (seriously, you can't, unless you shop in specialty stores in Manila). So I was making this with baking chocolate instead....the kind you buy in big bars.
The fudge tasted great, but the texture was ALL wrong. Instead of being smooth it was chewy. My husband had no complaints and neither did the neighborhood kids I fed it to, but really I want to do better. Please tell me what I did wrong and how I can make it right. Give me a different recipe altogether if that's what I need to do. I'm not afraid to make it totally from scratch, I have all the necessary components (I think) and I do have a candy thermometer.
A few important notes, please take this into consideration before making your suggestions:
1) I cannot get chocolate chips here, period. So recipes that call for this cannot be used, or will require a substitute. What I can get are bars of imported dutch bakers chocolate in varying flavors from unsweetened to belgian chocolate to special dark chocolate.
2) I cannot get miniature marshmallows here, but I can get jumbo marshmallows. I also cannot get marshmallow fluff, I've seen a lot of fudge recipes that call for one of these items but it simply isn't available to me.
3) I cannot get any kind of nuts here except peanuts and cashews. Seriously, no other kind of nut at all.
Here's the recipe I used that turned out chewy:
Foolproof Chocolate Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com
Ingredients
- 3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
- Dash salt
- 3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
- In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt. Remove from heat; stir in nuts (optional) and vanilla.
- Spread evenly into wax-paper-lined 8- or 9-inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm.
- Life fudge out of pan and place onto cutting board; peel off paper and cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator.
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.
Cory in Tarlac City, Philippines
