No Fail Five Minute Carnation Fudge

No Fail Five Minute Fudge from Carnation is one of my favorite fudge recipes. It is the go-to recipe when I have marshmallows and perhaps half a can of evaporated milk to use up.  Unfortunately, I have managed to ruin this "no fail" recipe a time or two -- usually because I've tried to halve it and make it in a loaf pan.  With this recipe, any changes in equipment, pan size, ingredients, etc. can change the outcome of the recipe. In this case it's best to err on the side of under-cooking rather than over, unless you like grainy fudge.

Five Minute or No Fail Name

This fudge is not to be confused with Eagle Brand's Foolproof Fudge. That recipe is made with 1 can of condensed milk, 3 cups of chocolate chips and a dash of vanilla and involves stirring over heat and pouring the melted chocolate mixture into a lined pan. This fudge requires boiling Carnation evaporated milk (not condensed) with sugar and butter for 5 minutes, then pouring it over marshmallows and chocolate. The Carnation fudge is a little lighter and flakier (though still creamy) than the condensed milk fudge.

Steps for Making Carnation's Fudge

• Line an 8-inch metal pan with foil and grease with some butter.
• Put the vanilla, chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt and bring to a boil. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and pour mixture into the chocolate mixture. Stir well.
• Pour into prepared pan and let set.

Five Minute Fudge Chocolate Chips

For great results, the key is to use darker chocolate chips.  Guittard Semisweet Chips and Ghirardelli Bittersweet chips work really well, as do Nestle's Dark Chocolate Chips, which are less sweet than their regular semisweet.  I've included a few more tips with the recipe and hope that those of you who have failed no-fail recipes will be successful with this one.

Carnation's Updated Recipe

Carnation updated the recipe slightly by adding a little less sugar. They use 1 ½ cups instead of 1 ⅔ cups which this recipe calls for. I still use the 1 ⅔ cup measurement, but will try the reduced sugar version and update when I can.

S'mores Fudge Variation

You already have a bag of marshmallows, so why not make a S'mores version of Five Minute Fudge! Just break up some graham crackers and have about a cup of marshmallows ready. When it's time to pour the fudge into the pan, add the extra marshmallows and broken crackers in as you pour or sprinkle in the pan, pouring fudge over the crackers and marshmallows.

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Recipe

No Fail Five Minute Fudge

Anna

Five Minute Fudge This is how I make Five Minute Fudge. If for some reason it comes out too dry, make it again and knock a minute or two off the boil time. If it's two soft (even so it will still be good), add a minute.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 minutes mins

Total Time 14 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 pieces

Ingredients

 

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups quality semi-sweet chocolate chips** (9 oz)
• 2 cups miniature marshmallows (90 grams)
• ½ cup toasted and chopped walnuts or pecans optional
• 1 ⅔ cup granulated sugar (330 grams)
• ⅔ cup evaporated milk (150 grams)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (28 grams)
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

 

• Line an 8 inch metal pan with foil and grease with some butter.
• Put the vanilla, chocolate chips, marshmallows and nuts in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a heavy 3 quart saucepan, combine the sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt; bring to a rolling boil over medium heat, stirring continuously. Starting when the mixture hits a boil, set the timer for 4 minutes and reduce heat to the lowest temperature at which the mixture will maintain the boil, then boil gently until timer rings.
• Remove from heat and gradually add the boiled mixture to chocolate chip mixture. I do this in thirds rather than all at once -- ⅓ and stir, add ⅓ and stir and ⅓ and stir until smooth.
• Pour into prepared pan. Let sit at room temperature for about an hour, then chill for 4 hours or overnight. Lift from pan and cut into 1-inch squares. Store in refrigerator or freezer in a sealed container.

Notes

**Good quality chips are less likely to seize when you add the hot mixture. I like using Guittard.

After making this recipe as written, I took another shot at making half batch, loaf pan size versions and found that with the half batch, you only need to boil the sugar mixture for 1 minute. Start the timer as soon as it reaches a rolling boil. If you do want to use your candy thermometer, the target should be around 220 degrees F which is much lower than the usual softball stage, but I guess there's carryover cooking because that seems to be the perfect temp for the small batch.

Keyword Creamy Chocolate Fudge

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