Chocolate Covered Love

I bought a jar of marshmallow cream to make this, so technically it's fantasy fudge, not true fudge. I don't currently have a candy thermometer [although I have one on its way from amazon] so I couldn't make REAL fudge - but this turned out pretty good too.

I absolutely love the flavor of cardamom and I don't have any ground cardamom so I used whole crushed pods and then strained them out at the end. If you put in too much cardamom it can taste kind of soapy, so I was afraid to use too much - but I think I should've used more because there was only a slight aftertaste of cardamom, not enough for my taste. So next time I make this I will definitely use more.

Cardamom-Infused Fantasy Fudge

adapted from Joy of Baking

- one can [5 oz.] evaporated milk

- four tablespoons unsalted butter

- two cups sugar

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- one [7 oz.] jar marshmallow cream

- five crushed green cardamom pods

- two cups [about one bag] of semi-sweet chocolate chips

- one teaspoon vanilla essence*

Line the bottom and sides of a 9x9x2 inch pan [I used a pie dish since I don't have any pans this size and it worked fine] with aluminum foil.

Pour the evaporated milk, butter, sugar, salt, cardamom, and marshmallow cream into a saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes to a boil. 

Adjust the heat and allow mixture to boil for five minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove saucepan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips until smooth. Stir in vanilla extract.

Pour through a strainer - to remove pieces of cardamom - into the foil-lined pan and smooth the top with a knife or spatula.

Let stand at room temperature until cool [this took several hours, so plan accordingly]. Once cooled, remove fudge from pan by lifting out by edges of the foil. Since my fudge was still pretty soft at this point, I put it in the freezer until it was hardened. Then cut the fudge into squares using a sharp knife that has been dipped in hot water. 

You can store the fudge in the refrigerator or freezer, well wrapped, for several months. Let the fudge thaw to room temp, unwrapped, before serving.

*I use vanilla essence as opposed to vanilla extract. Vanilla essence has a lower alcohol content, only about 5 percent instead of 35 percent in most extracts - because of this I can use less since the vanilla taste is stronger. If using vanilla extract, use 1 1/2 teaspoons instead.

Enjoy.