Five-ingredient fudge, an ideal Easter recipe for wee kitchen helpers

I had no intention of writing about fudge this week. I’d been thinking about writing another Foodie Awards follow-up, like last week’s ode to burgers, but my editor wanted an Easter feature.

I thought it would be fun to find a local maker doing Easter bread. Greek, Italian, Portuguese … one of those pretty, braided brioche numbers with the brightly colored Easter eggs baked in.

“You should make one,” my boyfriend, a proficient baker, said. “It’s easy.”

“You should make one,” I batted back. “Also, a pizza.”

We laughed. Neither of us was making Easter bread this year. And unfortunately, no one I reached out to around the city seemed to be doing so, either.

“We get ours from church,” one potential source for Greek tsoureki told me. “I think they get it from Hellas Bakery in Tarpon.”

Solid sourcing, of course. But not local, so no bueno. Time was ticking. And that’s the thing: It is for all of us. And in myriad ways.

My kids are older now, but when they were little, few things were more fun than working together on a recipe that afforded them a shot at being truly independent. Something that required neither fire nor knives. Something that would taste just fine even if it didn’t look perfect. Something with yummy ingredients — colorful, textural — that we could snack on while making it.

And so, when I spotted this 5-Ingredient Rocky Road Fudge  recipe on the Taste.com.au site, with its pastel palette and contrasting chocolates, I knew I’d found the perfect sweet for both ease of preparation and memories made in the kitchen.

You’ll notice that the package and pan sizing are a bit off for an American kitchen, but it’s easy enough to make do.

Using standard-sized cans of condensed milk (a little more than the measurements in the recipe) as the foundation, I simply upped each ingredient a bit to match.

With things like the marshmallows and nuts, it’s even easier. Just eyeball the mix-ins to where you want them. As for the harder-to-find ingredients like the “marshmallow noodles,” you can either source them online or, as I did, just find a reasonable sub, like the Lucky Charms marshmallows I dug out of the Easter display at Target.

This recipe came together well in a 9×13 pan, but I might even use a couple of smaller 8x8s or deep, round cake pans for a thicker, more graphic result. I’d also probably opt for dark chocolate instead of milk, a nice bitter one to better balance the sweetness of the white.

Either way, cut into strips and squares, the golden-brown nuts and colorful marshmallows give this treat a beautiful, nougat-like look that’s super appealing and sure to be a point of pride and accomplishment for parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and even older siblings, but especially for the little hands that helped melt, mix and pour it.

Five-Ingredient Rocky Road Fudge

Recipe by Kim Coverdale and Liz Macri, courtesy Taste.com.au (taste.com.au/recipes/5-ingredient-rocky-road-fudge-recipe/f91s16w0?r=baking/wuds0hfn)

Ingredients

• Two 180 grams blocks white chocolate, chopped
• Two 395-gram cans sweetened condensed milk
• 130 grams packet honey and sea salt roasted peanuts
• 1/2 x 280-gram packet marshmallow noodles, cut into 2 centimeter lengths (I used Lucky Charms’ marshmallows and diced up about 1/3 of them.)
• 350g block milk chocolate, chopped

Instructions

1. Grease an 18-centimeter x 28-centimeter slice pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, extending paper 2 centimeters above edges of pan.
2. Place white chocolate and 1 can condensed milk in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) for 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds or until melted and smooth. Add peanuts and marshmallows. Stir to combine. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Smooth surface. Refrigerate.
3. Meanwhile, place the remaining condensed milk and the milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100%) for 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, or until melted and smooth. Carefully spoon mixture over white chocolate layer and gently smooth surface. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm. Serve.

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