Colds simply suck!
Everyone in agreement say aye.
But you know what sucks even more? Having a cold while being pregnant. None of my usual choices for medication or relief are an option. Echinacea? Not recommended during pregnancy – too little research. NeoCitran? Big no no. The are no studies in humans but results in animals indicate it could hurt the unborn :/
Ugh…ok. I’ll suffer it through for you little one. So all I can do is get lots of rest, good nutrition (trying myself on a bone broth today), steam inhalation, put ointment on my poor nose that is rubbed sore despite lotion-infused Kleenex. And watch Olympic ice skating.
Ok, maybe not all of these are pure medical advice but they help me get through this phase. Seems like pregnancy makes me an even whinier sick person than usual. Sorry, if you came here just to read about sweet fudge and happiness.
The last time I had such a nasty cold was almost a year ago while we were still traveling in Vietnam. Back there I had to use TP as Kleenex and had a tough time communicating with the pharmacist.
You know what else I did in Vietnam. I made this ridiculously awesome triple-layered fudge. Back then I still had my old point-and-shoot camera but there was this wonderful antique desk in our room that served as my photo backdrop.
Why did it take me so long to post about this fudge? I have no idea.
Well, I made three different fudge varieties while in Vietnam (only so many treats you can make without an oven) and was worried you might be fudged out. Then we returned to Canada and I couldn’t wait to share actual baked goodies with you. Then I got a nice camera and wanted to post only pictures taken with it. Then I thought Christmas time would be great for a decadent triple-layered fudge recipe. But… I got pregnant and was totally out of blogging commission around Christmas.
Anyway, you can see I have no shortage of excuses. You however, my dear friends, have no excuse not to try this fudge. There are 3 layers of awesomeness. We are starting with Mocha Milk Chocolate Fudge at the bottom, creamy Peanut Butter Fudge in the center and Coconut Dark Chocolate Fudge at the top. Something for every flavor preference.
My easy way of making fudge does not require complicated boiling of milk, sugar and butter to a soft-ball stage. Instead I am using sweetened condensed milk and the whole fudge-making process becomes a breeze. There is some cooling time involved between each layer of the fudge to prevent them from melding together.
If for some reason you want to make a full tray of only one flavor, you can simply triple any of the flavor recipes.
- 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk, divided
- 2 tbsp butter, divided
- 5.5 oz (150 g) milk chocolate
- 1 tbsp instant mocha powder or ½ tbsp instant espresso powder (I use Starbucks VIA Ready Brew)
- 4 oz. (110 g) white chocolate
- 2.5 tbsp smooth peanut butter
- 5.5 oz (150 g) dark chocolate
- ½ cup shredded coconut, more for sprinkling
- Line a 8x8 inch baking pan with wax or parchment paper. Leave overhang on all sides for easier lifting out later.
- In a small bowl stir together ⅓ of the can (good ½ cup) of sweetened condensed milk with the instant mocha powder. Heat the mixture up on top of a double-boiler (or in the microwave), stir occasionally until the mocha powder dissolves.
- Add in 1 tbsp of butter and chopped up milk chocolate. Place back on top of a double boiler and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally until the mixture is melted and smooth and has thickened. Pour into prepared pan and chill before adding the next layer - half an hour in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer.
- Heat up peanut butter and ⅓ can (about ½ cup) of sweetened condensed milk on top of double boiler until mixture is combined. Add chopped white chocolate and continue heating and stirring until melted and smooth.
- Pour over chilled milk chocolate layer (has to be somewhat firm and set) and continue chilling.
- Place remaining ⅓ can of sweetened condensed milk, chopped dark chocolate and 1 tbsp butter into a small bowl.
- Heat on top of a double boiler and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Stir occasionally until the mixture is melted and smooth and has thickened. Stir in shredded coconut and pour over set up peanut butter layer. Sprinkle with some more shredded coconut.
- Let the layered fudge set fully in the fridge for at least 2 hours, then cut into 1” pieces.
Hi Regina, this recipe looks incredible! Does the fudge melt at room temperature?
It depends what room temperature is at your house 😉 I made this fudge while living in Vietnam. Tropical heat and humidity made this very soft at room temperature so I kept it in the fridge. But I believe in more moderate climate it will be just fine outside of the fridge.
For a moment, it felt like deja-vous, but then I remembered the other bars you shared while still in SE Asia, had peanut butter! OK, so now that we’ve established that I have not lost my mind (completely)… these sound and look delectable!
Haha…this is one of the reasons I put off posting this recipe for so long. It just looked so much like the Oreo Peanut Butter fudge. But I am glad I finally did. It is out of my draft folder and it was a lot more fun editing the pictures with a newer Photoshop on a screen better than my laptop 🙂
Love all the layers! Gorgeous pictures too!
Thanks so much Mimi. I give all credit to the vintage desk backdrop. Took these pictures a long time ago but maybe I have learnt a thing or two about picture editing since 😉
This looks SOO good!! Oh my, this is an awesome recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Thanks so much for your sweet comment Danielle!