Authentic homemade fudge has officially become my Achilles heel. I started out my fudge journey a couple of years ago when I made a quick and easy fudge recipe using sweetened condensed milk. Last year, I thought I would crank things up a notch and make “real” homemade fudge – you know, the kind with the candy thermometer and lots of mixing with a wooden spoon. It took me three tries last winter before I finally managed to turn out a decent batch of chocolate fudge. Then I moved on to an awesome, easy recipe for peanut butter fudge, which is still my favorite. Now that the weather has cooled, I really wanted to whip up a batch of maple-walnut fudge. Again, I tried twice using the “old-fashioned” method and had no success. The first time the fudge didn’t set up and remained a sludge-like mixture, and then the opposite happened – it got way too hard too fast. I took a deep breath. I had run out of patience with having to toss real maple syrup (not cheap) and tons of walnuts (not cheap) into the garbage – twice. So I went on a search for an easy version of maple-walnut fudge. And… ta-da! I have fudge!
I think I need to accept the fact that I will never be an all-world fudge superstar. It’s not my lot in life. And I’m okay with that. I can still make fabulous homemade fudge, it just won’t be the beach boardwalk authentic variety. But variety is the spice of life, right? Sometimes when we admit our shortcomings it frees us to explore alternatives that can be just as good, if not better, than that which we were originally searching for. And this maple-walnut fudge alternative? Absolutely phenomenal. It will totally get you in the mood for fall. And I am celebrating my fudge freedom by embracing easy fudge recipes and all of the wonderful varieties that I can dream up between now and Christmas!
What type of recipe or technique vexes you in the kitchen? I know I can’t be the only one 
One year ago: Pancake Cupcakes with Maple-Bacon Frosting
Two years ago: Chewy, Fudgy Triple-Chocolate Brownies
Four years ago: Hershey’s Best Brownies
Maple-Walnut Fudge
Yield: 64 pieces (about 1 pound)
Prep Time: 45 minutes | Chill Time: 24 hours
2 cups light brown sugar
5 ounces evaporated milk
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon maple flavoring
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts1. Butter an 8×8-inch or 9×9-inch square pan. Line with parchment paper or foil, and butter that; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk and butter. Bring to a full boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat slightly (no lower than medium-low) and boil for an additional 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar, vanilla extract and maple flavoring. Transfer the mixture to a standing mixer (or use a hand mixer) and beat the fudge on medium speed until thick and glossy – about 3 minutes. Fold in the walnuts and pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
4. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Slice the fudge into 1-inch squares and serve. (Fudge can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container.)
Note: You can find the maple flavoring in the baking aisle where the vanilla extracts are.
(Recipe adapted from Tummy Treasure)
Tags: Candy, Fall
I cannot for the life of me make mousseline buttercream. Pretty much anything that involves cooking sugar, I fail. Also, if you’ve never tried it, ladyfingers are SO hard to make. I know my tiramisu turned out amazing buy I could’ve saved hours and energy had I just used pound cake. Ah, the trials of cooking
It’s great that you kept working on making the fudge. I’d say you are a pro at it by looking at this amazingly delicious fudge. Love the idea that it’s maple flavored too…it’s a nice change. The texture of this fudge looks just perfect.
Oh wow! I’ll be making this sometime this fall. Already starred it on my Google reader.
Caramelizing sugar always makes me nervous. I have to watch it like a hawk and there are always lumps!
Also I recently started canning and I always seem to make my pot boil over during the processing time, which makes the water level too low, which freaks me out because if the jars aren’t properly processed I might kill everyone with botulism! (Ok, that was a little dramatic and not very likely, but the boiling over thing is definitely vexing.)
Fudge is so tricky to get right but I think the easy versions taste just as good as the scary candy thermometer versions. This looks the perfect colour and consistency.
I’ve never made fudge, and definitely not using a thermometer. This flavor sounds delicious.
I failed at “no-fail” fudge. Then I found a recipe in Fine Cooking magazine here: http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/creamy-chocolate-fudge.aspx. The first couple of times I made it, it was delicious but never got very firm, even after an hour of beating it with my hand mixer. I decided to try it again, and transferred the mixture to my stand mixer. Somehow, it worked! And it was so wonderful, that twice I ended eating half the pan myself…. that and my other cookie-dough splurges sent me back to Weight Watchers when the Holidays were over. Personally, I don’t care if a recipe is “authentic,” just as long as it tastes good.
I don’t have any problems in the kitchen, I leave all the harder techniques to someone else
I saw the final version had maple flavoring, do you think it could have been the syrup in the earlier ones that was giving you problems?
I love a good fudge recipe in my life. Yum!
Ohh yes..there is nothing better than homemade fudge!!! this looks WONDERFUL!
I have issues with anything that requires a candy thermometer it seems; fudge and certain candies are just out of my reach. Sometimes I wonder if it is my old thermometer, or maybe it’s just my impatience and problem with following directions!
Either way, I eat my mom’s candies, and I make easy fudges to get around it
You didn’t need to toss the first trial that didn’t set up….. Keep it in the frig and warm it up to pour over ice cream…..or maybe spice cake! (I have to wonder what would happen if you poured it over the top of a cake and broiled it a bit!) Indeed, pure maple syrup is a thing to be respected! Looks like one more thing to put on my fundraiser “baking” list now!
‘Traditional’ Fudge is my kitchen nemesis. I can’t count the number of failed batches, but it’s in the neighborhood of 1 good batch to every 4-5 failed batches. Yet, I keep trying to perfect it. I did start using a stand mixer to do the beating, which has improved the process quite a bit, but determining if the day is too humid or not is still hard to determine. The fact is, nothing beats the creamy texture of traditional fudge. Now if I could just find a way to match the flavor of my favorite ‘coastal’ fudge. I’ve spoken to a number of fudge makers that sell their goodies along the Oregon Coast and none will reveal their secret ingredients – particularly the type of chocolate they use. While I’ve been able (only a few times) to match the texture, I still can’t seem to match the taste. I can’t wait to try this maple fudge though (sans walnuts for me) it sounds really good.
Being 100% Italian, this pains me to even write it but I am a complete failure at making homemade pasta and gnocchi. Turns out dense and heavy every time, not like the tissue paper-thin ribbons Nonna tossed together in a matter of minutes. It’s the stuff of my dreams and the first meal I’m ordering when I see her again in the next life.
P.S. Fudge looks amazing. Might have to muscle its way onto a Christmas cookie tray.
This flavor combo is my favorite fudge. I usually pick up a piece or two every time I visit a local store and always have the best of intentions to savor it for a couple of days. Usually it’s gone by the time I arrive home.
I’ve tried macarons and while not a total failure; adding high altitude to their already finicky needs makes that effort both a lot of work and a gamble as to results. Combined with the fact that they just don’t do that much for me…well, I’m in a decidedly non-macaron place and I’m OK with that.
What is the deal with Macarons? I’ve never truly enjoyed them, but suddenly they’re everywhere. And, I know I’m not the only one from my informal polls
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I agree – I made them once and have eaten them at a couple of higher-end bakeries and they do absolutely nothing for me. I’d rather have a big chocolate chip cookie or piece of cheesecake
That sounds great. I love the flavor of maple. And it’s always better when you make it yourself. Nice and fresh!
Yummy, can’t wait to make this! This is my first year using a gas stove (my electrical one always caramelized things unevenly) so I’m hoping I’ll have better fudge luck this Christmas.
Well we are very grateful that you tried and tried again and came up with an easier version of maple walnut fudge…this stuff looks insanely delicious and just screams fall…!
Thank you for sharing your love/hate relationship with fudge. I too was able to make the kind with condensed milk and then failed at making old-fashioned. This recipe sounds good, I may have to try my hand at fudge again.
I’ve only ever made fudge using sweetened condensed milk as I’m too chicken to try another method and I’ve never tried to make maple walnut fudge. Your recipe and the look of this fudge makes me think that I should.
This is my mother’s favorite flavor of fudge….maybe I’ll be a good daughter and make her some this weekend….
Creme Brulee. I’ve tried to make it twice and my custard came out lumpy both times. This and souflees. Argh! Despite the difficulties you had, this fudge looks delicious anyway!
Over the years I have tried to make fudge and finally gave up after my latest failed attempt a couple of months ago (it was great as a cake frosting). I may have to try again with this recipe.
I love fudge and I love maple, but I’m so allergic to walnuts. If I make it myself I’d omit. But last time I made fudge it was totally grainy – what did I do wrong!? I’m going to try again!
I’m going to try this-I needed a flavor variation from the Chocolate I typically make (easy method only over here). Pies vex me. I’m just not that great at them. Occasionally the family requests them and they stay right here, in the family.
yum! that looks delicious.
This sounds amazing! I’ve never made fudge myself but I think I might have to now!
Paula Deen has a wonderful recipe using – of all things – Velveeta cheese – but it is to die for and I don’t think you can screw it up (unless you misread the recipe like I did the first time and put in twice the amount of velveeta that you were supposed to – it was rather gooey and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why until I went step by step over it and realized that I had a much larger block of Velveeta than the recipe and that half of it was waaaay too much) Anyway, check it out – no one that I have served it to could tell that it was made with Velveeta – they loved it!!!
Love that you don’t need a candy thermometer for this! And, looks like we are on the same fudge wavelength this week, ha!
I just made maple walnut fudge last night! Yours look amazing. Fudge is definitely not my cup of tea either. But it sure does taste good!
I still fail at piping cupcakes! I don’t know what my problem is; I have the right tips, I’ve read the tutorials… It kills me.
I am so making this recipe before the end of the year!
Boy do I love fudge. This looks so good. Thanks for the recipe. I may just try it.
I have the darndest times with pralines! I’ve tried like twenty recipes trying to find ones that taste like the ones from the candy shop on River Street up in Savannah, but nothing doing. I’m a big fan of cheater fudge recipes myself – some of them are so darn good why bother with the hard stuff?!
Do you realize I am trying to watch what I eat? Now this weekend, I’ll be watching these go in my mouth! They look delish!!! Thanks for the recipe! Wonder if they’ll make it if I ship them? My Mom LOVES Maple Walnut Fudge!!
I dunno, this looks pretty delicious! I spent a summer perfecting caramels. I bet I tried 20 different recipes. You know which one was the best one? The easy “cheater” recipe! The others were too chewy and stuck to your teeth! This one was soft and buttery….figures!
This fudge looks delicious and I love the flavor combo of maple and walnut!
Kind of licking the computer screen right now!
My father is one of those blessed freaks of nature that can make fudge with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. It’s amazing. I’m going to have to share this recipe with him and see if I can talk him into trying it.
I do suppose I will have to make this now that I’ve seen it! I’ve been dying for fudge and promised myself that I would treat myself to some on vacation…well, vacation was cancelled by tropical storm Irene so I am still need to fufill my fudge craving. This will surely do the trick!!
*I still need…* Hate it when you see a mistake AFTER you’ve hit submit!!
Every once in a while, I feel the urge to (try and) make fudge. Occassionally I do get a decent batch, but mostly it comes out hard and crumbly. Fortunately hard and crumbly fudge is still good sprinkled over ice cream.
Pie Crusts! Sweet Tartlet dough no problem, but a regular pie crust not so much. Go figure. Your fudge looks delicious and I’m sure I’ll be trying it.
Perfect or not, I have to say that this fudge looks pretty darn good! My kids are looking over my shoulder, asking me when I’m going to make it.
So delicious. I adore maple walnut. It’s the Canadian blood in me.
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
Yum! I am making this tonight. I can never resist fudge.
My goodness, I wish I could have access to your garbage can! =) I don’t mean to be critical (except in a constructive way), but there’s nearly always something creative to be done with basic ingredients that didn’t quite work the way they were supposed to. If nothing else, dump the mess into a quart of cream, let it sit, stir until dissolved (or use a blender), and make ice cream out of it. The flavorings, sugar, nuts, etc. supply all that is necessary in addition to the cream.
As you can guess, it hurts me to see unspoiled food thrown away. I had a super-frugal mom who was raised by my super-super-frugal grandma who was deeply affected by the depression. Frugality skills have almost been lost in this generation, but I think we’re all going to need them again in our lifetime, and it’s going to be difficult for some who have no idea how to start. I don’t see how people can buy food with their hard-earned money and then throw it away while it’s still edible. But I’ll stop now! Hopefully that wasn’t too much.
Made this the other night. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good! Taste just as good if not better then my favorite candy shop.
Just made this! I used real maple syrup and pecans – delicious! Beyond delicious! I cannot wait until it actually sets up so I can have a real taste!
I’d love to make this for Thanksgiving. Are there any substitutes for the maple flavoring? I live in the UK and we can’t get maple flavor here. Could I use maple syrup?
Hi Hannah, You could use maple syrup, although the flavor won’t be quite as concentrated.
If the fudge dosnt pour does the mean I cooked it too long? It seemed to cool while mixing it
Well, if the fudge ended up completely solid before you got it into the pan, then I would say you cooked it too long. But sometimes fudge gets a little thick, so you have to spread it into the pan, it doesn’t necessarily have to be pourable.