Thursday, November 8, 2012

Rocky Road Fudge


My freshman year of college I told my mother that I didn't want a birthday cake. I told her that I had eaten a lot of cake in the last few weeks and was sort of over it. She set out to find a birthday appropriate cake alternative. I came home to find a 3 tiered fudge "cake". She had made batches of both chocolate and peanut butter fudge and let them set in cake pans. After popping them out, she stacked them up and stuck several candles in the top layer. There must have been 15 pounds of fudge. Even with the help of many friends I couldn't eat it all. I remember having plastic wrapped chunks of fudge in my freezer for most of the year. So maybe that is why I associate fudge with birthdays. Maybe it's because fudge is so rich and indulgent. Maybe it's because I refuse to let fudge just be fudge and feel compelled to make it even more elaborate.
Yesterday was a friend's birthday, and she is someone who I felt definitely deserved something extra special. Originally I set out to make both rocky road and turtle track fudge, but things didn't quite go as planned. I was trying to mix the marshmallows into the molten fudge by hand and I just wasn't quite quick enough. The fudge was starting to crystalize already, and I knew that I didn't have time to separate it into two bowls to add the different mix-ins. So I just went with rocky road for now. If history could repeat itself, I just would have made the fudge base in halves but now you can learn from my mistakes. Also, I don't have an electric hand mixer, but that would be really useful for this project. My fudge still turned out beautifully and everyone involved was content.

leaves and flours vegan rocky road fudge
Rocky Road Fudge
base veganized from Kraft's Fantasy Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance
2/3 cup full fat coconut milk
12 oz semisweet chocolate
1 bag Dandies, halved
1/2 cup Ricemellow Creme
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Line a 9" square pan with parchment. Chop almonds and half of the dandies into small 1/4" pieces. In a heavy bottomed, large pan combine the sugar, Earth Balance, and coconut milk. Stir continuously over medium heat until it comes to a rolling boil. Allow to boil for 5 minutes. Stir in chocolate, vanilla, Ricemellow creme, and the uncut Dandies. You will need to stir quickly. I highly recommend an electric mixer. Fold in almonds and remaining marshmallows and pour into the pan. I reserved a few marshmallows and almonds for the top to add a little more visual appeal. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing into squares with a sharp knife. It's also best if you can find a knife without indentions on the side. You will get a much prettier cut.

leaves and flours vegan rocky road fudge

I have made this fudge a few times before tweaking the recipes in various ways. One time I made it using 7oz of Smucker's Marshmallow topping, which is chemically vegan. It tasted great, but definitely was a much softer set & had to be kept in the fridge. I have made it with all Dandies. It tastes wonderful and has the same consistency as this batch. I haven't made it using only Ricemellow yet, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I used a mixture because I had a jar of the creme that had been lurking in my fridge for a few months that I wanted to finish and already needed to buy a bag or marshmallows to make the flavor combination I wanted.
I will definitely be revisiting my turtle tracks idea too. I have caramel and pecans just dying to be swirled into fudge. I also wouldn't mind trying a moose tracks version. I am thinking chunks of peanut butter cups mixed in would be really ridiculous?! I should probably just turn all of my favorite ice cream flavors into fudge. Cookie dough? Nutty buddy? A girl can dream.

33 comments:

  1. i had no idea fudge was so . . . simple?
    secret: i have never had fudge i like.
    but if we're talking ice cream flavors— then cake batter fudge sounds great to me ;-)

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  2. All this talk of fudge is making me hungryyy.
    I'm a sucker for chocolate and I'm just so happy you posted this!


    VegCourtesy.blogspot.com

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  3. This fudge looks amazing! Rocky road sounds wonderful!

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  4. I found you through Finding Vegan, and I went through last night and pinned so many of your recipes! Love your blog!

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  5. Earth Balance is not vegan, is there a substitute you recommend?

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    1. Earth Balance is definitely vegan. Their website specifically states "All of our products are plant-based, vegan, made without artificial ingredients or hydrogenated oils, and are free of gluten, lactose and eggs".
      You might be thinking of Smart Balance (which is not vegan)?

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    2. Some Smart Balance is vegan...I think its the Lite with Flax Oil that is vegan (it says it on the side of the tub).

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    3. You can get vegan Smart Balance, too! Just look for the kind that says "vegan" on it. By the way, this fudge looks awesome :)

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  6. I have a bag of Dandies in the cupboard with Rocky Road Fudge written all over them.

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  7. If you went with all Ricemellow, would you estimate an entire cup?

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    1. I just made a batch using all Ricemellow, and I used the whole ten oz container for the same batch size. It worked out perfectly!

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  8. what is rice mellow?

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    1. It's vegan marshmallow creme made from brown rice syrup and soy protein. You can generally find it at Whole Foods and other natural food markets.

      https://www.suzannes-specialties.com/shop.asp?LineID=20

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  9. Do you have to use the ricemallow in this recipe? I was wondering if it mattered if I left it out of the recipe.

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    1. If you left it out, then I would recommend using a bag and a half of Dandies. Just use a full ten oz bag to make the fudge, and then part of the second bag to put inside the fudge in chunks and on top. I think if you didn't replace it with the marshmallows or creme, it might be a little too dry to mix together. You could try adding a little more coconut milk or butter substitute if you were feeling like experimenting, but I do think it would make the fudge set a little softer?

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    2. Thank you for such a fast response!

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  10. It is discouraging to read the list of ingredients and not to be able to understand it :( I wish this was more "nature-based"... Is everyone supposed to know what "Earth Balance" and "Dandies" are? Never heard of them before - and don't feel like looking for it to be honnest, sounds like brands and processed foods..... sigh...

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    1. I have heard this several times before. I am vegan for ethical standards not for health. I am not interested in making sweets that are nature based, but simply indulgent. If you are looking for 'healthy' sweets, this is not the place that you will find them.

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  11. Hi have you tryed to makes these with out the 3 cups sugar.. agave,Dates,Stevia anything other than sugar? im on the vegan process and I seem to have a hard time with vegan recipees that are NSA and flower free ;o?

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    1. I haven't ever tried to make the fudge without sugar. I think it would really change the way the recipe reacted, and it would probably be better to search for refined sugar free recipes to start from. You should check out the blog Fragrant Vanilla Cake!

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  12. I just made this tonight (cooling in the pan on the stovetop now!) and will let you know how it tastes, also post or send a photo if I can...

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  13. Gathering up my ingredients and hope to make these in the next week or so.I have a questions though, is it Powdered Sugar? If Not can you use Floria Crystals...raw sugar?? Thanks.

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    1. It is granulated sugar. I used Florida Crystals. If you use Turbinado, it might take a few more minutes of initial boiling to fully dissolve the sugar, but I think it should still work out.

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  14. Thank you... Florida Crystals it is.

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  15. Thank you for such a delicious recipe! I had trouble finding ricemellow, and took your suggestion of just using extra dandies, it worked great. I made this for my mom who is a fudge fanatic, and she absolutely loved it. :)

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  16. Even that much fudge would not have last long in my freezer....I've got to make this NOW!

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  17. I have no idea what Earth Balance is. Please expand. This looks like a good recipe.

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    1. It's the most common brand of vegan margarine.

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