This delicious delicacy is a staple of many holiday celebrations and family gatherings. But have you ever considered how these three simple ingredients come together to create something so decadent?
How does this concoction get its rich flavor? Where did the original recipe come from? Is it possible to make your own fudge with different flavors or toppings without having to buy store bought ones? The answer is yes! Follow these steps below for some easy instructions on how to make your own 3 ingredient fudge without any fuss!
If you love the idea of making homemade fudge, but have never had a batch turn out right, here’s the worlds easiest 3 ingredient No Fail Fudge!
World’s Easiest Fudge
You’ll Need:
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 16oz can milk chocolate frosting
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine the ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, melting them together until smooth. Pour into a buttered 9″ square pan and cool completely. For thicker fudge use an 8×8 pan instead
If you’re in a hurry, you can refrigerate to help it set quickly.
You can add nuts as desired, and change flavors with different frosting/chip combos!
World’s Easiest Flavor Combos:
Peanut Butter Fudge: use 1 can of Vanilla Frosting, 1 1/4 c. peanut butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract
Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Fudge: use 1 can Chocolate frosting, 1 cup peanut butter chips
Andes Mint Fudge: use 1 tub chocolate frosting, 1 cup mint chips, 1 tsp vanilla
Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge– use 1 tub chocolate frosting, 1 cup cherry chips
Also you can add 1/2- 1 cup chopped nuts to any of the flavors as well
For our Out of Country friends, Canned frosting is frosting that is already prepared and in a small tub at the grocery store. You can view it herefor clarification or to order it if you don’t have it in your area.
The Strange History of Fudge
A favorite sweet treat among children and adults, fudge is a candy that can be made in many different flavors. Now, you might think that fudge first became popular after the turn of the 20th century, but this isn’t true. No one really knows where or when fudge was first created. However, we do know how it came to be known as “fudge.”
The story goes like this: Back in 14th-century England (where many believe fudge originated), cooks frosted and flavored their desserts with honey. These dishes were called “fudges.” Honey was quite expensive at the time (the equivalent of about $13 per pound), so these treats were reserved for special occasions – much like cakes are for birthdays and special events today.
As time went on, English colonists brought this delicacy to North America. In the New World (and in the British colonies), however, sugar was much cheaper than it had been in England; making “fudge” accessible for more people.
Fudge is very simple to make: you mix cocoa powder with sugar and milk or cream until it reaches a creamy consistency. Then, you can add any flavorings you like (nuts, vanilla extract, peppermint oil). As mentioned earlier, this candy started out as a frosting or icing; we still use chocolate and confectioners’ sugar to make fudge frosting today.
In 1817, an American cook named Nancy Johnson published The Frugal Housewife, a cookbook that contained what is believed to be one of the first recipes for fudge. Johnson’s recipe was made with five ingredients: sugar, butter, sweet milk, vanilla extract, and chocolate.
The first documented appearance of the word “fudge” was in 1875. That year, Eliza Leslie included this line in her book Directions for Cookery: “Put a pint of sugar into a smooth saucepan over the fire; stir it constantly till it becomes black… have ready half a pound of … butter … just boiled hard…”
Since this sentence has no reference to anything being frosted or flavored with honey (as many earlier desserts had been), some scholars believe that this is where the word “fudge” comes from.
“Fudge” as we know it, however, started much later than 1875. In the late 1880s and early 1890s, fudge experienced a surge in popularity across America. During this time, home cooks created many different versions of “fudges”; some made with molasses or corn syrup instead of chocolate or honey.
As more and more people began to make fudge at home, they began to sell their creations to neighbors and friends. Fudge-selling became so widespread that newspapers across the country wrote articles about it; one proclaimed: “If there is any enterprise which deserves encouragement it is that of making fudge.”
The first known commercial sale of fudge only took place in 1895, when a woman named Mrs. George Furst started selling her own homemade fudge at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The exact recipe for this first batch of fudge is unknown, but it was said to contain seven ingredients: sugar, unsweetened chocolate, butter, milk, vanilla extract, flour, and salt.
Although there are no specific records of who created the first batch of commercially sold fudge or where they learned how to make it themselves (there were likely many women selling their own versions across the country), we do know that by 1898 there were over 150 different recipes for “Fudge Recipes” published in American newspapers alone – most with slightly different ingredients.
In 1912 another cookbook was released – this one called Fudge-Cookery by Mrs. N.K.M. Lee – which included the author’s own version of fudge with nine ingredients: sugar, chocolate, milk, butter, vanilla extract, cornstarch, anise seed, and salt.
2 Billion Pounds Sold Annually
Today there are over 2 billion pounds of fudge sold every year in America alone – not just at fairs and carnivals but also at restaurants and theme parks across the country (and around the world). It isn’t entirely clear who created this popular dish or where they learned to make it themselves; however, it is clear that once this recipe was shared with others all over the world, it became a part of many cultures’ history.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / Raptorcaptor
World’s Easiest Fudge
Ingredients
- 1 bag Semi-sweet milk chocolate chips
- 1 16 oz can Milk chocolate frosting
- 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Combine the Semi-sweet milk chocolate chips and Milk chocolate frosting in a medium saucepan over medium high heat, melting them together until smooth.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla extract, working quickly.
- Pour into a buttered 9″ square pan and cool completely.
Notes
Flavor Combos:
✔️ Peanut Butter Fudge: use 1 can of Vanilla Frosting, 1 1/4 c. peanut butter, 1 tsp vanilla extract✔️ Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Fudge: use 1 can Chocolate frosting, 1 cup peanut butter chips
✔️ Andes Mint Fudge: use 1 tub chocolate frosting, 1 cup mint chips, 1 tsp vanilla
✔️ Chocolate Covered Cherry Fudge- use 1 tub chocolate frosting, 1 cup cherry chips
If you altered the ingedients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cooking/baking time.
