Recipe: Bourbon Fudge

Recipe for Bourbon Fudge

While I love bourbon balls, the time and effort they require left me looking for an alternative to getting my bourbon & chocolate fix on.  This recipes nails that.  Typically takes less than 30 minutes to make, couple hours to set (I often let set overnight), and you’re ready to cut.  Significantly less effort, but just as delicious!

Ingredients
10 oz semisweet chocolate
10 oz dark chocolate
1/4 cup of bourbon*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
14 oz of condensed milk (1 can)
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1/4 tsp salt
Coarse salt for topping (if desired)

* As to the choice of bourbon, the flavor here carries through more than the bourbon balls for whatever reason.  I like to use something around 100 proof, like Jim Beam Distiller’s cut or any bottled-in-bond.

1. Grease (or spray with non-stick cooking spray) an 8×8 pan or a 9×13 pan, depending upon if you want more (but less thick) pieces or not (I tend to go with the 9×13 myself).  Line the pan with parchment paper, pushing the paper down so it sticks as much as possible (it won’t fill the corners neatly, that’s OK).

2.  Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, stirring until it is smooth and completely melted.  Add the butter and condensed milk, continuing to stir and fold until it is well integrated (usually a couple of minutes).  It will become very thick!  Turn off the heat.

3.  Pour in the bourbon, vanilla extract, and salt, stirring until it is mixed well.  Once mixed, pour into the paper-lined pan.  If you want to top with salt (I use coarse kosher salt usually), sprinkle a little of that over the top.

4.  Place pan in the fridge to let set, typically a couple of hours (but can be left overnight).

5. When ready to cut, remove pan and turn it upside down over a cutting board.  Gently pull on the outer edges of the parchment paper to free the fudge.  Using a large knife, cut into desired size chunks (I usually go with about a 1 inch square).  The outer edges tend to taper off, so I’ll usually set those aside (nothing wrong with them, but I prefer to set out for serving the squares, and eat the edges myself later!)

When searching for a bourbon fudge recipe, they seemed to run the gambit.  Not being a professional or experienced candy maker, I wanted to avoid those that got really technical (the minute they mention “softball”, they lost me).  Honestly, this one looked like one of the easiest, so I decided to try it first, and I haven’t tried any of the more challenging ones.

I’ve tried different chocolates (100% dark, using milk chocolate rather than semisweet, etc), but really like this 50/50 ratio.  I have also tried peanut butter chips – and that was a fail (for whatever reason, it wasn’t as firm, and the bourbon flavor was just lost; the result wasn’t a total waste if you like peanut butter fudge, but not nearly as good).  I’ve also tried adjusting the ratios a bit (adding more chocolate and more bourbon), but hadn’t found that to be better either.  Now a nice twist is to substitute Grand Marnier in place of the bourbon and orange extract in place of the vanilla extract (if you like that sorta thing).

Also like the bourbon balls, the end result gets better over time.  Give them a week or two (or three) in the fridge, and the bourbon flavor really intensifies.  If you’ve got folks who really like bourbon, I’d plan ahead and do these 2 weeks ahead of time.  Now on a plate these take up a lot of space, but here’s a storage tip: parchment paper and stacking (see photo below).

Cheers!
Gary