Five min. Fudge

The nice thing about chocolate is it's delicious no matter how it's served.  Or is it just me? And to think I really prefer savory/salty things over sweet any day - so why fudge do you ask?  I'll tell you why!

If you're on Facebook with me, you know I've been obsessed with Marshmallows  lately - the most recent incarnation being a 'red velvet' version, designed to mimic red velvet cake with it's slight cocoa flavor, bright red color and white outer coat.

Combine a fat fluffy marshmallow with hot cocoa and you get yourself a warm melty treat that makes a winter blizzard (we've had three this year so far) look like a sparkly day!

But instant cocoa, while not bad, could be improved upon, and after a little poking around online, I found a couple examples of hot chocolate on a stick!  I had to try making a batch!

Things you'll need;

A batch of marshmallows - whatever flavor you want Marshmallows ;

For the fudge (based on the recipe from Nigella Lawson) ;

• 14oz of semi sweet chocolate broken up into small pieces (or chips)- I actually use half semi sweet, half unsweetened for the hot-cocoa-on-a-stick, as the marshmallows are mostly sugar, and there's no one readily available to peel me off of the ceiling.
• 14 oz (one can) sweetened condensed milk 
• 2tbsp Butter
• scant 1/4 cup heavy cream (by scant, I mean don't feel compelled to fill the cup to brimming, it can be a bit under quarter cup.  Skip this if you intend to eat rather than drink the chocolate, it's here to make it easier to melt when making hot cocoa.)

In a heavy bottom pot over medium low heat, dump everything in the pot.  Now stir;

It's going to look messy.  Keep going;

The whole mess will suddenly become a glossy fudge paste - you might find it difficult to keep your fingers out of it.  (wouldn't recommend it, you're on the stove, it's going to be hot.  Just saying.)
Turn off the heat - all the bits may not be entirely melted but that's OK you're going to keep stirring until it's all smooth and all the chunks are melted.  Leaving the heat on here is a bad idea as you'll find the chocolate burns rather easily and becomes grainy.  Not pretty.

Dump the whole mass into a pan that you've sprayed with non stick cooking spray - you'll thank me for this later.  If you want to shape the fudge you'll want to let it cool to room temperature, cut it into even portions and dip in cocoa powder then shape;

The cocoa powder makes them easier to handle and keeps them from sticking to one another.  Alternately you can cut the fudge into squares and skip the dusting of powder.

For the hot chocolate on a stick, use a lollipop stick or popsicle stick to skewer one large marshmallow along with one piece of fudge.  Heat milk (not water) until it's steaming - do not boil.  Add the fudge and stir until melted, then top with a marshmallow!

These make great gifts;

Enjoy!!