Trio of Microwave Fudge
White Chocolate Marshmallow Creme Fudge Recipe
I am continuing to collect recipes for desserts that can be made in the microwave, and this week, I decided to try a trio of fudge - chocolate, peanut butter, and white chocolate marshmallow creme. The three recipes are actually very different, but all of them rely on the microwave to “cook” the fudge.
The first microwave fudge I made is actually called never-fail fudge, but white chocolate marshmallow creme fudge sounds a lot better. This fudge was the most difficult (if microwaving can be difficult) to make and also took the longest. I mixed granulated sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and marshmallow creme (or marshmallow fluff) in a glass bowl and microwaved it for 3 minutes. I then stirred it well to mix everything together. All of the mixing for these recipes takes a couple minutes, just as a regular fudge recipe requires. I continued to microwave the mixture for another 3 minutes, until the mixture started to boil. >>I then put the microwave on 50% power and boiled the mixture for 5 minutes. Keep an eye on the fudge during this process, as it may boil over. After it boiled for 5 minutes, the mixture turned a very light golden color. I removed the dish from the microwave and stirred in white chocolate chips until they melted. I’m sure semi-sweet or any type of chocolate chip would be good, and nuts could also be added at this point. I poured the fudge (it was pretty thin right now) into a greased 8×8 pan and let it cool for about 30 minutes before I put it in the refrigerator to cool completely.
After I completed the white chocolate marshmallow creme fudge, I moved on to the classic chocolate fudge. The recipe is very simple and quick. I started by mixing powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt with milk and vanilla. The milk didn’t absorb all of the cocoa and sugar, but I mixed it as well as I could and then topped it with a cube of butter. I microwaved the mixture on high for 2 minutes and then stirred it for a few minutes until the fudge was smooth. I then spread it into another 8×8 pan (this fudge was much thicker) and placed it in the refrigerator to cool.
I made the Alton Brown’s peanut butter fudge last. This was also a simple recipe, and 
on his show, Good Eats, it’s actually a recipe he created so kids could make fudge on their own. I microwaved butter and peanut butter on high for 2 minutes, stirred it very well, and microwaved on high for another 2 minutes. I then mixed in powdered sugar and vanilla until the fudge was smooth. I spooned the fudge (this was definitely the thickest of the 3) into another 8×8 pan, this one lined with waxed paper, and placed a second piece of wax paper directly on top of the fudge. I put the pan in the refrigerator to cool with the others.
After about 2 hours, I removed the fudge from the refrigerator and began to cut them into pieces. All of these fudge recipes suggest different serving sizes and could yield anywhere from 30 to 64 pieces. The peanut butter fudge was about 2 inches thick, so I cut the pieces smaller. The chocolate fudge was only about an inch thick, so those pieces I cut bigger. The white chocolate marshmallow creme fudge was somewhere in between. It all depends who and what you are making fudge for how big the pieces should be.
I let the fudge adapt to room temperature before tasting, and was actually quite surprised by the results. The white chocolate marshmallow creme fudge had a 
fantastic taste. It was sweet from the marshmallow creme, but the white chocolate flavor cut through the sweetness and created a wonderful combination. Unfortunately, the fudge had a grainy texture and it was a little on the soft side. So although the flavor was good, the texture was definitely not fudge like. I tasted the peanut butter fudge next, which also had great flavor. There was no mistaking that it was peanut butter fudge. The down side of this fudge was that it was a little on the dry side and lacked the creaminess of fudge. Last was the chocolate fudge. I loved the chocolateness of this fudge. It wasn’t overly sweet, but more of a dark chocolate flavor. The chocolate fudge also had the proper fudge texture. It was very smooth and creamy. I think the chocolate fudge and the white chocolate marshmallow fudge were both a little too soft, but we do live in a very warm climate and storing them in the refrigerator seemed to remedy that problem.
Seth and I both agreed that the chocolate fudge was the best out of the three. It was so smooth, it won hands down. I think that fudge is best left to the stove top though, where the results are much richer and more consistent.