Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Fudge is a great treat at any time of year. You may find yourself with extra candy canes at Christmas or be looking for a fun gift for Valentine’s Day. Look no further!
Making Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Fudge
Sometimes you get lucky and someone gives you a whole bunch of boxes of Christmas Peppermint Candy Canes. I was lucky, my friend gave me six boxes of candy someone had given her. She was surprised when I said I wanted it, and she wanted to know what I was going to do with it. I said, “Make Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Fudge, of course!”
Spane was excited to help me because he got the job of breaking up the candy canes into more manageable pieces. First, he did this with his hands, came and showed them to me and I said, “You know, breaking them goes quicker when you use a hammer.” So, he got a hammer, and he started banging away at them. I was washing dishes and didn’t realize he had started, or where he was going with this. I now have little bits of candy cane on the floor in the living room. No big deal, I will vacuum them up. The point is he had a good time, and really felt he was helping.
We made the fudge last night and put it in the refrigerator to firm up. I was thinking of dipping the pieces in chocolate, but I only had unsweetened chocolate. If that happens to you, it’s not a show stopper.
How to Make Dipping Chocolate with Unsweetened Chocolate
I like to melt my chocolate in a double boiler. I also prefer to make my own double boiler by placing a metal bowl above pan half-filled with water. The bowl’s circumference is much larger than the pan, so a) there is no chance of the chocolate falling into the water, and most importantly, b) because of the large circumference, there is little chance of steam getting to the chocolate and making it seize. Once the chocolate has seized, about the only thing it’s good for is breaking up for chocolate chip cookies, or beating the heck out of it to make a Chocolate Ganache.
I found myself in a quandary as I did not have enough semi-sweet chocolate to dip all the fudge, and I didn’t want to waste time going to the store to buy more. It’s actually not a problem, you can add sugar to melted chocolate, and it will be just fine. As a matter of fact, just as in using salted butter gives you little control over saltiness in dishes, using semi-sweet chocolate also gives you limited control over the sweetness of the chocolate. The important thing to remember is that you must use the finest grain pure cane sugar you can get to avoid grittiness. Add the sugar to the melted chocolate, slowly, stirring all the while. Whatever you do, don’t let the sugar liquefy or you’ll just have a mess of seized chocolate. The ratio is about 1/4 cup of sugar to every ounce of unsweetened chocolate. You will have to test it for taste, though, depending on how sweet you want the final product.
Email Me the Recipe
Chocolate-Dipped Peppermint Fudge
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 2 cups mini marshmallows loosely packed
- 1 bag white chocolate chips, 12 ounces
- 1 teaspoon Peppermint extract
- ¼ cup peppermint candy, chopped
Dipping Chocolate
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
- 1 cup Sugar
Instructions
- Have ready a 9×12 inch pan lined with parchment paper and your mise en place.
- 1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 1 teaspoon Peppermint extractIn a medium saucepan, over medium heat, put the butter, peppermint extract, and condensed milk. Stir constantly until the butter is completely incorporated.
- 2 cups mini marshmallows loosely packedTake the pan off the flame. Put the marshmallows in, and stir. Put the pan back on the flame, and stir constantly until all the marshmallows have melted. You should not have any streaks of white.
- 1 bag white chocolate chipsRemove the pan from the flame. Add the chips to the pan, slowly, stirring all the while. Lower the flame and put the pan back on the flame. Stir briskly until all the chocolate is melted and there are no white streaks.
- 1/4 cup peppermint candyImmediately take the pan off the pan and add the candy, stirring constantly.
- Pour the lot into the prepared pan. Allow cooling over night. It may seem as if it is not set, but it will set over night.
- Using the sides of the parchment paper, remove the candy from the pan, and cut into one-inch pieces.
- Make a double boiler by placing a large metal bowl over a pan half-filled with water. Don’t let the bowl touch the water!
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 1 cup SugarMelt the chocolate in the bowl, being careful not to let any steam or water near it. When the chocolate is melted, slowly start adding the sugar. Taste to see if it’s sweet enough, if not, add more sugar. Stir until all the sugar has mixed with the chocolate.
- Melted Chocolate
- Have ready a parchment paper-lined slab of marble, or a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
- Use a small fork to pierce the side of a fudge piece, then swirl it in the chocolate, making sure the shake off the excess. Put it on the parchment, and continue until all the pieces have been dipped.
- Peppermint Fudge Getting a Dip in Chocolate
- Refrigerate until set, then remove to a nice serving plate, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Drip Drying Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Fudge
- If you have left over chocolate, turn it out on to some wax paper, let it harden in the refrigerator, then break it up and store it for another use
- leftover melted chocolate
I’m glad you liked them.