The Best Spiced Fudge Recipe

Friends, get to know this spiced fudge recipe, and I promise you will come to truly understand that yes, you can make fudge without a jar of marshmallow fluff.

Making real fudge is best done on a day with low humidity, so wait for a nice sunny, cool day, grab your thermometer, and get ready to make some delicious homemade fudge.

For a more traditional fudge, you may like my recipe for creamy cocoa fudge with nuts. And for ease of browsing, you can find all my candy recipes in one place. Thank you so much for visiting!

I might make a couple of enemies around here with my next statement, so get ready: 

I think that fudge made with marshmallow fluff is Cheating.

Fudge is all about achieving a very singular texture through

• temperature and
• crystallization control

The only safety nets one should have when making fudge are 1)a thermometer and 2)a little bit of corn syrup to hedge ones’ bets.

Why You Should Make This Recipe

• This is a large batch recipe and will yield dozens upon dozens of pieces of fudge (228 pieces if you cut them the way I did), making it perfect for gift giving.
• The smoky spices make this fudge a little bit different from the ordinary.
• I give you step by step instructions with as many tips as I can to ensure you meet with success.

The Importance of Temperature

This fudge is based on one that I used to make at the restaurant for mignardises (think mints that come with the check but fancier).

I had always thought that that fudge was a little bit too hard, and now I know why.

I had always used my (not so) trusty candy thermometer, and when I used the same one when making this fudge and then checked its accuracy with my (very) trusty Thermapen, I realized the candy thermometer runs about 5-7 degrees cool.

That might  sound like Not A Lot, but when working with sugar, it can be the difference between soft ball and hard ball, or hard ball and soft crack.

So while I thought I was cooking the candy to the soft ball stage, I was really reaching the hard ball stage.

How to Make Spiced Fudge

Ingredients and Substitutions

• granulated sugar: Use a name brand cane sugar here. The melting of and recrystallizing of the sugar is what gives the fudge a creamy mouthfeel, so make sure you’re using great sugar.
• half and half: Provides milk solids, liquid to dissolve the sugar, and milk sugars. As the mixture cooks, the milk solids in the dairy will caramelize yielding a more complex flavor than just sugar alone can
• corn syrup: You don’t need much, but the liquid sugar can keep the granulated sugar from recrystallizing too quickly and ending up with gritty fudge
• semi-sweet chocolate: provides all the chocolate flavor for the fudge
• kosher salt: You’ll use a fair bit in this recipe. The extra salt helps to bring out the spices.
• ground cinnamon: You may omit for a more traditional chocolate fudge flavor profile, but cinnamon goes beautifully with chocolate (see this Mexican hot chocolate pie)
• adobo sauce: from a can of jalapenos in adobo. You could also use ground chipotle pepper instead. Feel free to omit if you want a traditional fudge rather than spicy spiced fudge
• ancho chile powder: or use your favorite chilli powder or even a little bit of cayenne. And like the cinnamon and adobo sauce, you may omit this entirely
• unsalted butter: fat carries flavor, so the butter helps to carry all the deliciously spicy fudge flavor. It also provides extra body and creamy mouthfeel when set
• vanilla extract: rounds out all the flavors

Extra Additions/Variations

To make a traditional nut fudge, leave out the spices (or leave them in), and add 2 cups of toasted nut halves or or chopped nuts. Stir them in right before you pour the fudge into your pans.

Other additions include coarsely crushed espresso beans, coffee beans, or cocoa nibs

How to Make It

• Butter the bottoms of your pans. Line them with parchment or magical Reynolds nonstick foil cut to fit the bottom of the pan and up the two sides. Apply a very thin coat of butter to the paper or foil. Set aside.
• Cut the butter into pieces and measure the vanilla. Set aside.
• Weigh the sugar, half and half, corn syrup and chocolate into a large pot (I used my 5-quart Dutch oven).
• Stir in the salt (go a little light to begin with, and then add more if you need it) and spices/adobo sauce.
• Stir until all the chocolate has melted. Taste it before it gets too hot, and adjust salt/spices as necessary until you love it.
• Continue stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.
• Slap the lid on the pot and let boil for three minutes to wash any Errant Sugar Crystals off the sides of the pot.
• Remove the lid and let boil until the mixture reaches 236F. Take it to 240-242F if you’d like a firmer fudge. I like mine a little softer, so there you go. It only took about twelve minutes for the mixture to reach 236F, so watch it carefully. If you don’t have a Thermapen I strongly urge you to get one. They are Exceedingly Responsive and Accurate, which is very important when working with sugar.

• When the mixture has reached 236F, turn off the heat and move the pan of bubbling fudge off of the burner. Put the butter and vanilla in, but don’t stir it in.
• Let the mixture cool until it’s about 115F.

• Start to beat the fudge with a wooden spoon. Stir and stir.
• Once the fudge gets very thick and turns from a shiny gloss to a satiny gloss (about 105F or so), pour into prepared pans and let set up for several hours.

Slicing the Fudge

The easiest way I’ve found to cut fudge is out of the pan.

1. First, cover a cutting board with plastic wrap (or use a plastic cutting board).
2. Loosen the slab of fudge from the pan with a small offset spatula and lift it out with the overhanging foil. Place it face-down on the board and peel off the foil.
3. Slice into even pieces with a sharp knife.

Equipment You May Need

When making a large batch of fudge, you’ll need a good, heavy Dutch oven. Mine holds 5 quarts and is a good size for this amount of fudge.

A good instant read thermometer is a must. I linked to Thermapen above, and LavaTools also makes an excellent one.

I avoid the clip-on candy thermometers as they are not always very accurate.

Pro Tips for Making Spiced Fudge

Make fudge on a day with low humidity. Sugar is notoriously finicky when it comes to moisture, so hedge your bets by making spiced fudge on a nice, dry, sunny day.

Remember these two temperatures:

1. Cook the fudge to 236F. Take it to 240F for a slightly firmer candy.
2. Cool to 115F before starting to stir.

You will be rewarded with creamy, dreamy spiced fudge.

When you line your pans with nonstick foil, be sure to cut enough foil to allow it to overhang two sides of the pan. These foil overhangs act as handles and let you easily pick the fudge up and out of the pan.

NOTE: with a large batch like this, it could take up to 2 hours for your fudge to cool to stirring temperatures. If you make a smaller batch, it will take less time.

Take its temperature with your trusty instant-read thermometer every so often and more frequently as it closes in on the magic 115F.

Q & A

Questions?

If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.

Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.

If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.

Serving Suggestions

Serve fudge alone as a little something spicy and sweet alongside a cup of tea or coffee.

But it would also make a nice addition to a holiday cookie tray.

Consider adding a couple of different types of cookies of varying shapes and colors.

These walnut shortbread cookies are cut in little squares. Add a couple of round raspberry shortbread sandwich cookies, along with wedges of chocolate chocolate chip shortbread.

And for the gluten-free folks, add a few of these chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies or these gluten-free gingerbread linzer cookies.

More Delicious Food Gift Ideas

Nothing says love like a homemade gift made with love.

You can give any of the above-mentioned cookies as gifts, or consider summer tomato jam, a tangy cranberry ketchup, or spiced plum chutney.

If your friends are jam fans, consider making the unexpected jam: apricot raspberry jam would make a lovely gift as would blueberry bourbon jam.

A Note About Measurements

My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.

For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.

I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.

This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.

Love This Spiced Fudge? Please Rate and Review!

Enjoy the spiced fudge, friends, and share–the recipe makes a lot!

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Take care, y’all.