What is chocolate fudge and how else can you enjoy it?

Chocolate fudge is an incredibly indulgent confectionary – but what is it, and how else can chocolate fudge be enjoyed?

Fudge is a sumptuous treat which can be found anywhere in the UK: whether it’s wrapped up in a little bag in Cornwall, served as a slab at a funfair, or cut up by hand in an artisan confectionery shop, we British just can’t get enough of it. We don’t just settle for the classic flavour, either – flavours such as rocky road, apple pie and more have been reinvented into fudge form.

Chocolate fudge is seen as one of the most popular fudge flavour variations. Of course, that’s no surprise to us: without being too biased, we think chocolate fudge makes perfect sense. But what exactly is chocolate fudge, and is it different to a chocolate fudge cake?

What is fudge?

Fudge is a soft and creamy confectionary, typically made in batches and then cut into individual squares. It is usually made by cooking sugar, butter, cream and milk together, using a sugar thermometer to ensure you achieve a smooth consistency. However, as the world of fudge has rapidly grown, people are constantly looking for new ways to make fudge, without the need to keep a stern eye on a thermometer.

Ingredients such as sweetened condensed milk or marshmallow fluff are being swapped in as a substitute for sugar: this makes the cooking process easier to control, which is why some recipes state you can even make your fudge in the microwave! Adding in chocolate to create chocolate fudge is also an easy way to achieve a velvety consistency: as the melted chocolate cools, it helps to firm up the fudge in the fridge, resulting in a sumptuous, silky chocolate fudge bar.

However, even if you opt to make your fudge the easier way, it is important to keep a close eye on your fudge mixture: the high sugar content makes it prone to burning.

What is the history of fudge ?

Although you might think of Devon or Cornwall as being the birthplace of fudge, this confectionary was actually born overseas in America! The soft, silky fudge with which we’re familiar today originated in America in the late 19th century. Legend has it that fudge earned its name after a ‘fudged’ attempt at making caramel – a mistake which turned out to be more of a mercy. 

Fudge became popularised in the US after female students in women’s colleges started making fudge to sell to other students: a student at Vassar College in New York claimed to have introduced it there in 1888 by selling her own batch at a college auction. After the irresistible taste of fudge became notorious, the trend swept across other female colleges, where women there began to develop their own recipes.

Although we might think that the original recipe of fudge wouldn’t contain any flavouring, there is evidence that chocolate fudge was amongst one of the first types of fudge to be created. In 1893, a letter from a Vassar College student wrote that fudge should contain sugar, chocolate, milk and butter. It seems that chocolate fudge was just as popular then, as it is today (although this is hardly surprising).

How can you enjoy chocolate fudge?

We adore chocolate fudge, which is why we wanted to create our own. The flavours of chocolate fudge are hard to beat: perhaps this is why many bakers try to emulate it in their baking. Chocolate fudge cake is a great example of how you can capture the rich, cocoa caramel notes of chocolate fudge in your baked goods. However, despite the name, a chocolate fudge cake contains no chocolate fudge: instead, it mirrors these flavours by altering the type and quantity of ingredients it uses from that of an ordinary chocolate cake, resulting in an incredibly moist and decadent chocolate fudge cake. 

Love the idea of a chocolate fudge cake, but don’t have the time to bake one for yourself? We’ve recreated a classic chocolate fudge dessert with our Chocolate Fudge Sundae Selector so that you can enjoy the sumptuous flavours of chocolate fudge after dinner, without having to go to the effort of baking a chocolate fudge cake or making the fudge yourself. 

We believe chocolate fudge is a must-try, whether you’re sampling its flavours by cutting into a slice of the most indulgent chocolate fudge cake, or nibbling on the real thing itself. It might have been born out of a mistake, but we couldn’t be more grateful!