2½ cups granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
5 ounce can evaporated milk
7½ ounce jar marshmallow fluff
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or 12-ounces of block chocolate, chopped
1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2/3 cup maraschino cherries, drained, dried, and chopped (see note)
NOTE ON CHERRIES: For 2/3 cup, you’ll need about 25 cherries. (There are about 30 cherries in one 10-ounce jar of maraschino cherries.) To infuse the cherries with liqueur, simply follow Step 1 in previous recipe for Mike Quinn’s Chocolate Cherry Cordials. Just make sure that you drain the cherries well and dry completely on paper towels. You don’t want excess liquid messing up your fudge!
Step 1—Combine ingredients: In a large nonstick saucepan, melt butter (do not let brown or burn). Add the sugar, salt, evaporated milk, and marshmallow fluff. Warm mixture over low heat, stirring until blended.
Step 2—Boil the candy: Bring to a boil over moderate heat. This will take 5-7 minutes. Be careful not to mistake escaping bubbles (from the air in the marshmallow fluff) for a real boil. Continue to boil slowly, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. (This entire step will take about 10 minutes.)
Step 3—Add the flavor: Stir in the chocolate chips or pieces until completely melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Finally, fold in the cherries, making sure (whether they are “spirited” or not) that they’re drained of all liquid and dried on paper towels. Now stir again for two minutes until the mixture is completely smooth. This final stirring is important. Be sure to stir for a full two minutes.
Step 4—Pour and set: Transfer to a 9 × 9-inch pan that’s been buttered or lined with parchment paper to prevent fudge from sticking. Even out the mixture with a dry rubber spatula and allow fudge to cool, uncovered, for at least 2½-3 hours before cutting. DO NOT place the pan in the refrigerator or freezer to speed up the hardening process, or the sugar in the fudge may crystallize and the final texture will be grainy instead of smooth. Simply let your pan sit at room temperature until completely firm. (Also, be sure to keep uncovered. If you put plastic or foil over the pan, the heat will condense liquid into the fudge and ruin it.) After 6-8 hours (or overnight), the fudge will be hard enough to store safely in the fridge without worry of crystallization. Or simply store the fudge in an airtight container in a cool, dry area of your kitchen.
HELPFUL HINT: Mike’s mom could never get her sons to wait more than 2½ hours to start gobbling up the fudge. If you live in a cold, dry climate, this shouldn’t be a problem. But if you’re living in a warm or humid climate, the center of the pan may still be a little soft after such a short time, so take care in removing the fudge squares. A smart way to serve fudge that’s still a little soft—or to give your fudge as a gift—is to place each fudge square in its own little, fluted paper holder. No need to scout out bakery supply stores for pretty paper holders, Mike’s mom recommends using fluted cupcake pan liners sold in most grocery store.
How to Make Candied Orange Peels See photos of this recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com These sweet little strips of crystallized citrus can be a festive addition to after-dinner coffee trays, especially around the holidays. They’re also great flavor enhancers for recipes. Just chop up the strips and add ¼ cup to a favorite cookie, cake, or muffin recipe. Making your own candied peels also gives you a fantastic byproduct. If you follow this recipe, you’ll end up with 2 cups of incredible, citrus-infused syrup that can be used to sweeten iced tea or mix your holiday bar drinks.
The unused fruit can be stored in the freezer in small plastic bags and used to make smoothies. Candied citrus is also delicious with chocolate. Try giving your guests a variety of chocolate experiences to choose from in the serving bowl by dipping some strips in milk chocolate and others in dark or white chocolate. You can even offer different degrees of the chocolate-citrus taste combination—just the tip of the candied strip, half of the strip, or the entire strip.
Makes 70-90 sugared citrus-peel strips
7 average size or 5 very large oranges, navels work best (see note)
6½ cups granulated sugar
Optional holiday flavor ideas: 2 cinnamon sticks or 2 vanilla beans or 2 whole cloves.
Recipe Variation: This recipe will also work with 10 lemons or 5 grapefruit. Always look for citrus with thick skins.
Step 1—Cut and peel: Rinse and dry your fruit, and cut into quarters or eighths. Now gently separate the citrus skins from the fruit inside, taking care not to tear or rip skin. The easiest way to do this is with your fingers, as if you were peeling the fruit to eat it. Make sure to keep the white pith attached to the skin. The final citrus peels should include the white pith. (See my suggestions at the end of this recipe for what to do with the unused fruit.)
Step 2—Boil out the bitterness: Place your citrus peel sections into a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down, and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and repeat. (Boiling two times removes bitterness.)
Step 3—Cook in simple syrup: In a saucepan (nonstick is best), stir 4½ cups of the sugar into 3 cups of cold water. (If using a flavor enhancer like cinnamon sticks, vanilla beans, or cloves, then add to the pot now.) Bring to a boil. Add your citrus peels and turn the heat down to medium. Simmer the peels uncovered for 1 hour. When cooking is done, gently remove citrus strips from saucepan and drain. Keep the liquid! See note below on citrus-flavored bar syrup. Handle your peels with care at this stage. They are still wet and soft, so they can rip easily. (They’ll firm up as they dry.)
Step 4—Cut into strips and roll in sugar: When peels are cool enough to handle, use kitchen sheers to cut them into strips about ¼ inch thick. Roll the strips in the remaining 2 cups of sugar. Use more sugar if you need it.
Step 5—Dry the strips: Preheat the oven to 180°F. Spread the sugar-coated strips in a single layer on cookie sheets. Bake for 60-90 minutes. (Do not try to speed up the drying process by turning up the heat! Keep oven temperature low or you will melt the sugar! Do not leave in oven longer than 90 minutes for the same reason.) Remove from oven and transfer strips to a rack or paper towels to cool to room temperature (another hour at least, but you can allow to dry overnight if you wish). Once completely cool and completely dry, store in an airtight container. (If you store these while they’re still damp, they’ll become soggy and the sugar will begin to melt off. If that happens, simply re-roll in sugar and allow to dry at room temperature overnight before storing again.)
DIPPING IN CHOCOLATE: If you are going to chocolate dip part or all of your citrus strips, make sure they are completely dry first. For advice on properly melting chocolate, see How to Melt Chocolate instruction on page 335.
CITRUS-INFUSED BAR SYRUP: A fantastic byproduct of this recipe is the drained liquid leftover from boiling the peels. Do not discard this liquid. This is a citrus-infused simple syrup that can be used to sweeten iced tea or mix bar drinks. Simply allow the liquid to cool to room temperature, and then transfer it to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator. For mixing into bar drinks, here’s one suggestion: 1 part citrus- infused syrup to 4 parts club soda or seltzer. Serve over ice for a virgin drink or splash in some of your favorite alcohol: I like amaretto, but you can always add something stronger, such as vodka, gin, or (Gardner’s favorite) Caribbean rum!
UNUSED CITRUS FRUIT: The other byproduct of this recipe are sections of unused citrus fruit. Don’t let these go to waste. You can either drop them in a blender for a quick, delicious pint of fresh fruit juice. Or seal them in a plastic bag and store them in the freezer. Whenever you’re in the mood for a fruit smoothie, remove some of the frozen citrus sections and drop them in a blender with a sliced up banana, a bit of
