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This White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge is made with sweetened condensed milk and dried cranberries! With beautiful Christmas colors, this super easy and quick dessert is a great treat for the busy holiday season!
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How to make easy white chocolate fudge
The best white chocolate cranberry fudge
Get the Recipe
So I’m doing something new today and I’m totally excited about it – fudge! And I’m starting off easy with this White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge. White chocolate and cranberries are easily one of the best holiday flavor combinations, so having a quick treat to put together is a must.
Plus, I wanted to make it a little extra special with it being the holidays and all and I added some sparkling sugar to the top. it takes this Easy White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge and turns it into SPARKLING white chocolate cranberry fudge. And who doesn’t love a little sparkle at the holidays?! It makes this fudge would perfect for gifting or for holiday dessert trays.
How to make easy white chocolate fudge
One of the best things about this fudge is how easy it is to put together. With only 5 ingredients, plus some sprinkles, it keeps things nice and simple. All you need is a bowl, a 9×9 inch pan lined with parchment paper and your microwave.
Start off by adding the white chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk to a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave them for one minute, then stir to combine and let the residual heat do as much of the melting as it can. If it needs another 30 seconds or so, go ahead and heat it some more, then stir it until it’s melted.
Once melted, add the vanilla extract, cranberries and a pinch of salt. Use a spatula to combine everything and then quickly pour into the prepared pan. Add the sparkling sugar sprinkles, if you want to use them, and press them into the top of the fudge.
Let the fudge cool to room temperature before cutting into squares. You could also let it cool in the fridge to speed up the process, but it doesn’t have to be refrigerated.
The best white chocolate cranberry fudge
This Easy White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge is so simple to put together and tastes great! It’s smooth and creamy and plenty sweet! The tart pop of the cranberries is perfectly refreshing and cuts the sweetness down just enough. It’s such a perfect pair and festive fudge to try!
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Author:Lindsay
Prep Time:10 minutes
Cook Time:1 minute
Total Time:11 minutes
Yield:20-25 pieces
Category:Dessert
Method:No Bake
Cuisine:American
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Description
This White Chocolate Cranberry Fudge is made with sweetened condensed milk and dried cranberries! It’s a super easy & quick dessert with Christmas colors!
1. Line a 9×9 square pan with parchment paper that covers the sides of the pan. 2. Place the white chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in a large bowl and microwave for one minute. Stir well to combine and allow the heat to melt the chocolate chips. If needed, microwave for another 30 seconds or so, until the chocolate is completely smooth. 3. Stir in the vanilla extract, dried cranberries and salt, then quickly transfer the mixture to the lined pan and spread evenly. 4. Top the fudge with some sparkling sugar sprinkles, if you’d like to include them, and press them down into the top of the fudge. 5. Let the fudge cool completely to room temperature before cutting into squares. You could also refrigerate it until it’s cool. 6. Cut the fudge and store in an air tight container. Fudge can be stored at either room temperature or the fridge.
Once a seed crystal forms, it grows bigger and bigger as the fudge cools. A lot of big crystals in fudge makes it grainy. By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals.
The main reason is that your Fudge has not reached the optimum temperature. If your mixture only reaches 110 or 112 degrees Celsius it will always be soft. That's why we recommend investing in a sugar thermometer. Another reason your Fudge is not setting is that the ratio of liquid to sugar is too high.
If your fudge doesn't firm up after a few hours, you either have too high an amount of liquid to sugar, or your mixture hasn't reached the soft-ball stage. Using a candy thermometer can help home cooks avoid this problem.
So, the key to smooth yet firm fudge, pralines, and fondant is to first bring the mixture to a high enough concentration and then let it cool off somewhat before starting to stir. And once you do start to stir, stir fanatically and without stopping for the finest, creamiest texture.
You have to control two temperatures to make successful fudge: the cooking temperature AND the temperature at which the mixture cools before stirring to make it crystallize. Confectionery experiments have shown that the ideal cooking temperature for fudge is around 114 to 115 °C (237 to 239 °F).
Stir the ingredients to dissolve the sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. If your recipe uses milk, stirring will keep the mixture from curdling. But once it reaches about 236–238 degrees F/113–114 degrees C (the "soft-ball" stage), do not stir it or even shake the pan.
If there is too much evaporation, when the cooking time is too long, there will not be enough water left in the fudge and it will be too hard. Conversely, if the cooking time is too brief and there is not enough evaporation, too much water will remain and the fudge will be too soft.
If your fudge is tough, hard, or grainy, then you may have made one of several mistakes: You may have overcooked it, beaten it too long, or neglected to cool it to the proper temperature.
It's softer in texture too. Why didn't my fudge set? It wasn't chilled long enough or your measurements are inaccurate and you have accidentally added too much condensed milk.
Why is my fudge not setting? It sounds like your fudge simply wasn't heated enough. ... If it's overcooked (resulting in grainy fudge) or undercooked (resulting in poor setting) all you really need to do is add a bit of cream, reheat the fudge to the target temperature, and let it set again.
If your fudge turned out super sticky, or it didn't set as it cooled, it probably never got hot enough. This mistake is super easy to avoid if you use a candy thermometer and cook the fudge to the temperature specified in the recipe (usually between 234 and 239°F).
OPTION 3) Sieve together some powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and gradually work this into your unset fudge until it reaches the consistency of dough, then roll out and cut into squares, or shape into balls and then roll in powdered sugar (roll the balls in icing sugar, not yourself).
If it's overcooked (resulting in grainy fudge) or undercooked (resulting in poor setting) all you really need to do is add a bit of cream, reheat the fudge to the target temperature, and let it set again.
Don't panic if your fudge is grainy, nothing is lost it just requires some more work. Pop the grainy fudge back into the pan along with some water and a little cream and melt the fudge back down to a liquid and re-boil it to temperature.
It is important to stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to thicken and its surface starts to look dull or matte. Now is the time to stop beating and pour the fudge into a mould. Another tip: Do not scrape the sides of the pan or the spoon used for stirring.
Cream of tartar is used in caramel sauces and fudge to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing while cooking. It also prevents cooling sugars from forming brittle crystals, this is why it's the secret ingredient in snickerdoodles!
The ingredients for fudge are combined and cooked to 234 degrees, cooled to 110 degrees without stirring, then beaten until creamy. Candy that isn't cooked long enough will end up too soft; overcooking makes fudge crumbly or hard.
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