Fudge Ring from Safeway Holiday Recipes

I was asked to try making a Safeway holiday recipe of my choice this weekend.  I decided to try out three of their recipes!  I love our local Safeway, and not just because my husband used to work there 😉  (Yesterday was his last day!  Woo-hoo!)  Although I’m getting reimbursed for my ingredients for these three posts, I am only doing this because I shop at Safeway and Eric and I both enjoyed these dishes.  Check out Lemon Dill Marinated Shrimp and Gingerbread Cookies.

The next recipe I made was the fudge ring…that’s right…FUDGE RING!!!!

How could I not make this beautiful bounty of chocolate sweetness?  You’ve got milk chocolate, butterscotch chips, m&ms and Oreos.  Sign me up!

I couldn’t believe how simple this was to make.  Fudge is one of the few sweets I’ll make myself sick eating, but I’ve never made it myself before.  This recipe is so simple and so fast to make.  You basically mix for about 5-10 minutes, pour and refrigerate.  It’s so pretty it will make everyone “ooh!” and “ahhh!”.

All your ingredients should be on the baking aisle.  I was there the week of Thanksgiving and it was so funny, they had a courtesy clerk just hanging out in the aisle for all the poor lost husbands sent to buy baking supplies for their busily cooking wives.  (Eric found all the ingredients with no problems).  I love Safeway’s customer service, it’s often the reason I choose to shop there rather than another grocery store I shall not name because, well, I’m nice.

The recipe has a cool technique of using a round cake pan covered with saran wrap and the empty sweetened condensed milk can to make the center ring.  The recipe suggests an extra pair of hands and Eric was working so I used a small jello mold instead.  It worked fine but I can see the advantage to the method used in the recipe.  I sprinkled m&ms in the bottom of the mold rather than sprinkling them on top of the fudge.  This meant they got kind of cracked as the fudge hardened.

I also saran wrapped the whole inside of the mold (which was good because I never would have gotten the fudge out otherwise!).  This meant that the top had all the funny saran wrap lines instead of the bottom.  No one complained about it, but I notice these things.  If you don’t have a second pair of hands to help hold the empty can down, I suggest finding something heavy to weight it down with.

This recipe is DELICIOUS, and I have a feeling it will be requested year after year at every potluck.

Holiday Fudge Ring

makes 2 lbs

Ingredients

1 (12-oz.) package milk chocolate morsels
1 cup butterscotch morsels
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Butter
1 1/4 cups candy-coated chocolate pieces
1/2 cup coarsely crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies (about 5 cookies)

Instructions

Combine first 3 ingredients in a saucepan, reserving condensed milk can. Cook over medium-low heat until all morsels melt, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Cool slightly (about 15 minutes).

Meanwhile, grease an 8″ round cake pan or springform pan with butter. Line pan with 2 pieces of plastic wrap, overlapping edges and smoothing out any wrinkles. Wrap empty condensed milk can with aluminum foil, smoothing out wrinkles; place in center of cake pan.

Stir 1 cup candies and crushed cookies into fudge; spread fudge in cake pan, holding can firmly in center. (A second pair of hands is a big help here.) Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup chocolate candies over fudge, gently pressing candies into fudge. Cover and chill until firm (about 2 to 3 hours).

To unmold, carefully loosen edges with a sharp knife, and remove can from center of fudge. Carefully invert fudge onto a plate. Invert again on a serving plate or cardboard cake round for gift giving. Cut fudge into thin slices to serve.

Note: For an easy gift giving “platter,” deliver on a cardboard cake round covered with holiday wrapping paper.

Copyright 2008 Oxmoor House

Approximate cost/serving: This fudge is rich!  So a serving is really WAY smaller than the piece I cut in the top photo.  The cost of the fudge ring was about $4.30 and can easily provide dessert for 40-50 people at a potluck.  That means around 10 cents a serving!

Vegetarian/gluten free: Yes to vegetarian.  For gluten free you’ll have to skip the Oreos or make your own, and double check the butterscotch chips packaging, some have gluten but not all.