Recipe: Five Minute Fudge {Wreath}

A fudge recipe that is delicious AND doesn’t require the use of a candy thermometer is pretty much the only kind of fudge recipe I make.

A million years ago (thirteen to be exact!), I was in a Supper Club. We would rotate houses and meet once a month over a potluck meal. Sometimes there was a theme, and sometimes it centered around a particular cookbook or cook. I first discovered this recipe for a Five Minute Fudge Wreath when someone brought it to one of our supper club gatherings, and I’ve been making it ever since. In fact, I even taught how to make it in one of my December kids cooking classes.

Although the traditional recipe is for a wreath form and shape, you are certainly not obligated to make it that way. Because why should you miss out on this deliciousness the other eleven months of the year?! Just put it in an 8×8 square pan and it’s all good.

My oldest kid still loves to lick the dregs from a can of sweetened condensed milk, so the fact that this recipe uses it is a bonus! Just a few other ingredients, mix it up, pour it into the pan, decorate, and let it sit.

If you use just the red cherries to decorate it, it would be perfect for Valentine’s Day, and a sweet treat to cut up and distribute to neighbors, teachers, bus drivers, and the like.

Are you familiar with Chunky bars? I swear I lived on them during my teen years, and this recipe reminds me of the taste of Chunky Bars.

So good!

Five-Minute Fudge Wreath

Recipe from Julie, December 2005 Supper Club
Courtesy of Rachael Ray, 30 Minute Meals
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Yield: 32 servings (2 pounds)

• 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate morsels
• 9 ounces (3/4 of a 12-ounce bag) butterscotch morsels
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (8-ounce) can walnut halves (I usually skip)
• 1/2 cup (a couple of handfuls) currants
• 8-inch cake pan, lightly greased with softened butter
• Candied cherries, red and green, for garnish, optional

Place a heavy pot on the stove and preheat it over low heat. Add chips and milk and stir until chips are melted and milk combined. Save the empty condensed milk can. Stir in vanilla and remove fudge from heat. Add nuts and currants and stir in immediately. Cover empty condensed milk can with plastic food wrap and center it in the greased cake pan. Spoon fudge into pan around can, making sure to recenter can if it drifts.

The fudge will set up almost immediately. Garnish can only be added in the first minute or 2 the fudge is in the pan, so work quickly. Decorate your wreath with “holly” made from cut candied red and green cherries. A wreath left plain can be garnished with a pretty fabric bow when serving. Chill covered in the refrigerator and slice fudge very thin when ready to serve, a little goes a long way.