I suddenly got this brilliant idea that I wanted to make Red Velvet fudge. So I sat down and googled it, hoping for a great, no fail recipe.
Those words are very important to a bad recipe follower like myself.
No such luck.
I couldnt even find a match for ‘red velvet fudge’.
I was totally dejected.
Then it hit me… I could create a recipe!
At the very least, significantly modify an existing one.
I started here, with Martha’s Foolproof Holiday Fudge.
I added food coloring and used white chocolate chips and red cherry flavored chips.
Talk about significant modifications. *snort*
Thing is, this recipe is just not my favorite. It was good, but not mind blowing.
(side by side comparison of the two recipes I made… I love the texture on the second)
So then I found a recipe on allrecipes.com. I read it twenty seven times. I read every comment.
I figured, if I could make a recipe for red velvet fudge, like real red velvet fudge, it would be from this one.
If you ever try this, please let me know what you think!
Happy Holidays!
Red Velvet Fudge
Ingredients
- 2 c white sugar
- 1/4 c cocoa
- 1 c buttermilk
- 3 tbsp. butter
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. red gel food coloring
Instructions
- Using a 5×9 pan (typically same size as banana bread pan, if you want thinner pieces, use 8×8) line pan with wax parchment paper or wax paper.
- Make sure you have some extra on all four sides.
- Combine sugar, cocoa, buttermilk, sweet condensed milk (if you choose to add it), and food coloring in a non stick pan. (I used a big pot) Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, but do not scrape down the sides. (to avoid getting crystallized sugar in fudge)
- Using a well calibrated thermometer, make sure the fudge gets up to 238 degrees.
- Reduce heat and allow fudge to simmer. DO NOT STIR. At all. Like seriously dont even touch the pan.
- Allow fudge to cool to 110 degrees and add butter and vanilla.
- Beat by hand or use electric mixer until fudge loses its sheen. (I used an electric mixer for 20 minutes. Not kidding. Some folks say this stage takes 3-5 minutes.)
- Place in prepared pan and allow to cool, usually 1-2 hours.
- This recipe yielded 25 small squares.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
*Next time I make this I am going to try 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup sweet condensed milk… I think it could handle a little more sweetness!
Happy Note to Share:
I had read that a great way to clean your pot after baking fudge is to add some milk, reheat the pot, then enjoy a wonderfully delicious cup cocoa… or in our case, Red Velvet Hot Cocoa!!
Yes, I really did just say Red Velvet Hot Cocoa. I actually did that and can attest to its wonderfulness!!
I’ll have to try this but the best Red Velvet Fudge I have ever found was at Santa Land in Cherokee North Carolina its going to hard to beat..
this sounds great , I cant wait to try it …….
Made the fudge and it has an absolutely delicious taste! But I had to press it into the pan, and when cut crumbles like sand! Any ideas asto why, I’d love to remake a batch.
Hum…. in my experience too hard fudge means it was over-mixed or that it got too hot. I do apologize for any trouble you had!
was really excited to try this recipe for my upcoming christmas party and i to had a hard time with the recipe my fudge was hardening before i was able to add the butter and vanilla :/ i knew my thermomiter was off by at least 5 but i stopped boiling it at 225. oh well
Sorry Lynn! I have also had issues with fudge when I had a faulty thermometer… so I know how frustrating it can be! My apologies.
Hello. I too had a problem with the whole simmer after it reaches the highest temp. How long do u simmer? I’ve seen other ppl ask this and u are vague.
? I left it for a minute then turned off the burner and had to wait about 45 min for it to get down to 110. Is that normal? Then I stirred the heck outta it for 15 min and poured it into my pan. It did not set up at all. It is like a thick syrup (think hot fudge) after 2 hrs in my fridge!
My thermometer is brand new (this was my 1st fudge ever).
Meagan, once the fudge reaches 238 you begin the cooling process. And yes, this can take 45 minutes. A couple factors in why the fudge may not have set up are temperature and humidity. Did you beat the fudge by hand or use a hand mixer? I mentioned in my recipe that I used my mixer for 20 minutes. If you want, you can use what you have made over ice cream or cakes, like a ganache. You can also make red velvet hot cocoa! SO sorry that things didnt work out for the fudge. My apologies!
How long do u let fudge simmer?
Seems like there is a step missing between 4 and 5…let it simmer on low for how long?
Will the fudge thicken while it’s simmering? I’m making this fudge right now and I’m worried it’s not going to get any thicker! Even if my first batch doesn’t turn out I will make it again and try to figure out what I’m doing wrong with this one…
I’m excited to make this but I am scared that adding the sweeten condensed milk will make it too liquidy and throw off the consistency? Should I add more sugar or something to keep it not too liquid? Thanks
So first time making fudge ever and gave the bottom recipe a try. Overall it turned into fudge, but there were a couple quirks that I could really use some help understanding.
1. I used red gel coloring and even way more than recommended and it still didn’t turn red at all. Any tricks to this? I’ve made red velvet stuff before mixing the cocoa and food coloring before adding it to the other ingredients. Not sure if it would help?
2. The flavor was good but didn’t wow me – I feel it’s the cocoa. Just tasted like the cocoa powder. Any tips here? I’d like to try different chocolate maybe.
3. I got the fudge up to the temp miraculously but the simmer cool down was touch and go, it just wouldn’t decrease in temperature below like 170… In the end it still had a great texture but I gave up waiting for it to cool down all the way. Thoughts?
Lastly, the batch was very small, any tips to scaling it up?
Thanks so much for any tips, again, it set perfectly so id like to try getting the flavor and color perfect.
I had sort of the same issues too Erik, although I can’t really tell you how mine tasted because it never set, I left it in the fridge over night to set but in the morning it was still a pan full of goop. The issues I had with the recipe were that:
1. I will admit… I did add the red food colouring far too late (after I had let it cool down to 110)
2. Yes, I had to use WAY more red colouring than recipe calls for, but I sort of figured this, as I always add way more red than red velvet recipes call for.
3. the ‘sheen’ of the liquid when mixing it after it cooled to 110 NEVER happened (and yes I made note of the twenty minute mix time). The liquid did however become much thicker, so I took this as my signal that it was ready to pour into my prepared pan with wax paper.
4. This recipe calls for red GEL food colouring… I couldn’t find anything that specifically said it was GEL food colouring, just your typical red colouring…
5. I agree with you on the quantity, I DOUBLED mine and it still barely made the amount I wanted (enough for 30). I would suggest doubling, but if you’re making it for a HUGE crowd… you may want to 4X it.
6. You can’t simmer it down to 110, you have to turn the heat off or it just won’t ever get there. This recipe doesn’t explain how long to simmer for which is where you had the trouble with it never going below 170, the recipe didn’t prompt you to turn simmer OFF because that instruction isn’t in there.
Really discouraged by this because it was for a work function and I couldn’t even bring it. I hope I can salvage it later and at least have my family enjoy it… a co-worker trying to cheer me up suggested throwing the goo in with ice and baileys or Kahlua in a blender… I may have to take her suggestion!
If anyone knows the reason for this failing being 1.adding the colouring too late or 2. not having this mystical GEL food colouring or any other reason… please tell me!
I havent tried the recipe yet but gel food coloring is the kind that you use to color icing. It’s in a gel form in little pots usually in the cake decorating department. Not the liquid sort that you find in the baking/spice aisle that you add by drops.
Does the sweet condensed milk replace some of the buttermilk or some of the sugar? Or both?