Today is my husband’s birthday and after the boring shirt and tie, I don’t exactly know what else to get for him. He’s a natural Mr. Gadget and I’m vaguely electronically challenged. His hobbies include, fixing stuff that I tell him is broken – he has the tools for that – reading – he has the computer for that and enjoying nature – we live in the middle of Radnor Lake Park. So from my point of view he’s pretty well set. But the other day – while we were enjoying our minute of cool weather, we were reminiscing about fun stuff we did in the fall when we were children. We both remembered the state fair as one of those childhood pleasures. For me it was mostly because you could pet all the animal in the livestock area and Sammy liked the food, particularly something he called State Fair Fudge. I don’t really remember any fudge and have a pretty clear memory that my parents didn’t let us eat stuff at the fair, being leery, probably reasonably so, about its origins. The description of the fudge was not overly helpful, chocolate, nuts, maybe peanuts, and marshmallows. Hmmm…not much to go one. I have a traditional fudge recipe I’ve tinkered with for years – but that didn’t seem to be the magic one from his childhood. My new goal became to re-create State Fair Fudge for Sammy’s birthday. I love a challenge. Double boiler at the ready, I checked out exotic ingredients like flavored cranberries, fancy chocolates, and even liquors, but in the end I knew what he wanted – chocolate with marshmallows and nuts. Still, it’s always good to have a trick or two up your sleeve. Although my family adores peanut butter, actual peanuts run a distant second to cashews, so I added peanut butter to the chocolate and cashews to the fudge.
Also – milk chocolate is lovely, but bittersweet takes anything chocolate over the top so why not give it a spin. After a couple of minutes of melting in the double boiler (it’s just not as good with a microwave melt), there I was minutes away from a five-ingredient birthday surprise. Well, maybe not five minutes – a brief set-up in the fridge is a good thing. The result was worth the wait. Happy Birthday Sammy – State Fair Fudge is now the official Swor House fudge. Delicious.
Ingredients
12 oz package of milk chocolate chips (any brand you like)
12 oz package of bittersweet chocolate chips
3 cups mini marshmallows
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter (smooth is ok – but I never buy it)
1 ½ cups roughly chopped cashews – or nut of choice. (I used a salted nut – salt and chocolate is yummy – but unsalted is perfectly fine.)
Directions
Line an 8x8 baking dish with parchment or waxed paper.
Put 1½ cups of marshmallows in the bottom of the dish.
In a double boiler, over medium high heat, combine both chocolates and stir to melt.
When the chocolate has melted, add in the peanut butter.
In a large bowl, combine melted ingredients with nuts and 1½ cups of marshmallows.
Stir to combine and pour over the marshmallows in the baking dish. Refrigerate for a couple of hours to firm.
Cut. Taste. Enjoy.
