Brown Sugar Eggnog Fudge
As I mentioned in last week’s post, fudge is one of my favorite things. While I have a definite preference for chocolate based fudge flavors, I also like to try and provide a variety that will appeal to a wider audience on my holiday trays – I really want there to be something there for everyone. With five different fudge options in my holiday recipe lineup, I figured one of them could NOT have a chocolate base.
When I was thinking about what that “not chocolate” base might be, my first thought was to maybe create a brown sugar based fudge, inspired by penuche. But, as much as I do enjoy a good penuche fudge, that wasn’t quite hitting the mark for me. One of the things that my family looks forward to every year is when eggnog becomes available in the grocery stores. So I started to think about replacing some portion of the milk and/or cream in a fudge recipe with eggnog. I still wanted to keep a strong brown sugar hit in there as well. After a bit of tinkering and trial and error, I came up with this Brown Sugar Eggnog fudge. This sweet confection captures the traditional seasonal flavor of eggnog in a creamy, soft, slightly caramel-y fudge.
I not only love the flavor and texture of this fudge, but I think it offers a nice visual contrast against all of the chocolate goodies on my holiday trays. Because of the eggnog included in the recipe, this is something I only make for the holiday trays. It has become one of my children’s favorites and I always make sure to reserve some to keep at home for them.
This is another marshmallow based recipe, this time relying on white chocolate, eggnog and nutmeg for the flavor. If you’d like to add some rum, brandy or bourbon, you can leave out the vanilla extract and use about a tablespoon of your spirit of choice. Because white chocolate is very sweet, make sure that you do not forget (or be tempted to omit) the salt in this recipe. If you prefer your eggnog more nutmeg forward, you can increase that to a full teaspoon, or use the sprinkle on top to increase the flavor. Depending on the spice profile of your eggnog, you could also add a bit of cloves (a pinch to 1/8 tsp) or cinnamon (1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon) to bump up the flavor a bit more.
Brown Sugar Eggnog Fudge
Equipment
- sheet pan 9"x13"
- saucepan large
- Electric mixer
- spatula
- measuring cups or kitchen scale
- measuring spoons
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cup packed brown sugar
- 16 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 10 ounce marshmallows
- 1 1/8 cup eggnog
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 16 ounce white chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg plus more for dusting the top of the fudge
Instructions
- Line a 9"x13" inch pan with non-stick foil; set aside.
- In a large, heavy saucepan, combine sugars, butter, eggnog, marshmallows and salt.2 cups sugar, 2 cup packed brown sugar, 16 tablespoon unsalted butter, 10 ounce marshmallows, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/8 cup eggnog
- Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring until a candy thermometer reads 238°F.
- Remove from heat. Using an electric mixer immediately beat in white chocolate, vanilla and nutmeg until well blended. Continue beating while the mixture cools slightly and begins to thicken and hold trails and ridges in the surface for a few seconds.16 ounce white chocolate chips, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pour into the prepared pan, smooth the top and sprinkle ground nutmeg on top.3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Allow to cool and set completely before cutting into squares.
Nutrition
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