(in)courage guest post, and Salted Caramel Fudge, oh my!

On a completely unrelated note, I have bought into this whole salted-caramel trend, hook, line and sinker. In fact, I’m hoping it’s not a trend, but a new tradition! Anyway, I was in that half-awake, half-asleep state of mind the other night and had a vision of this recipe. It is definitely more realistic and attainable than other “visions” I have had during this state- think lavender, bedazzled charcoal grills. Yeah.

Anyway, I made it the next night and was not one bit sorry. Well, the part of me that is mostly refraining from sugar is sorry, but I have so far been able to restrain myself to small, tiny bits. 🙂 I loved it so much I texted my friend Nikki and said, “I made salted caramel fudge. It is my life.” That is a line we have borrowed from The Pioneer Woman.

Anyway, let’s make this stuff shall we!

I just made a standard fudge to start. Feel free to use your favorite recipe. I didn’t think to take pictures this early in the process; please forgive this oversight.

Here is my recipe, though:
Melt 12 ounces chocolate (I used Ghiradelli candy-making chocolate this time) with 1/2 stick of REAL butter (this is not the time to pull out the margarine, folks) in a double boiler (I used a glass bowl over a medium sauce pan- works fine), along with a 5 ounce can of evaporated milk. Once melted, continue cooking for about five minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, add 1/2 jar of marshmallow creme and a tsp of vanilla.

Pour into a glass, rectangle baking dish and let set- at least four hours.

Here is the fudge in the dish:

It’s not that pretty, but that’s okay, it’s about to get covered up with caramel!

I just learned to make homemade caramel last Christmas, and I am a huge fan! I wanted the fudge and caramel to be separate layers, instead of mixing it together. I was able to achieve that by letting the fudge completely set before adding the caramel.

(1.) Melt one stick of butter (again, the real thing) with one cup of brown sugar and one cup of white sugar and 1/8 tsp of salt.  Bring to a boil and boil for 4 minutes, boiling constantly. Turn off the heat and add one tsp. baking soda. The caramel will sort of bubble up, so be careful!

(2.) Spoon the caramel over the hardened fudge. Refrain from dipping your fingers in the whole thing- it’s tempting! (The hot caramel will re-melt the fudge a bit, so don’t cut it yet.)

(3.) This is the layered look I was going for. Let the caramel harden over night, in the fridge if you like.

(4.) I sprinkled Kosher salt over half and lightly pressed it in. Some people don’t go for the salty-sweet combo- it’s a phenomenon I can’t explain. 🙂

Enjoy! But not too much- cause then you’ll need to Move It Move It even more. 🙂 Share with your friends- or better yet, share with your enemies and make new friends!

This picture doesn’t do it justice. (If anyone wants to buy me a good camera for Christmas, I would love you forever! ;)) Even my son- who doesn’t like chocolate- loved it. (that’s a pan of Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls in the background. Mmmmmm, I’m in full Christmas baking mode!)

Happy weekend!