I recently made a discovery about fudge: the deliciousness to effort ratio is VERY high. Huh?!? I mean that for all of the deliciousness that a good piece of fudge brings, the effort needed to make it is very low.

Some friends of mine hosted a taco night the other night and I wanted to make a quick and easy dessert to share. I rifled through my pantry for inspiration and found a can of sweetened condensed milk with a recipe on it. A fudge recipe. A super easy fudge recipe, at that. The recipe had three ingredients and four steps; I was sold. I decided to spice up the recipe by adding cinnamon to it and calling it “Mexican Chocolate Fudge.” The perfect taco night dessert.

The fudge turned out delicious but we all agreed that it was more of a mix between fudge and truffles. But it worked for us. If you’ve ever made fudge before, you probably know that many fudges are made with more ingredients than what I’ve listed below, such as butter, marshmallows, and sugar. The fudge recipe listed here is much firmer than other fudges, which can be a bit soft or gooey, but this firmness makes the fudge very rich so you just need a small bit to feel satisfied.

Mexican Chocolate Fudge
Makes 64 small pieces of fudge

3 cups (18 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons Saigon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with wax paper.

Combine chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Warm over lowest possible heat, stirring until smooth, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Spread evenly into prepared baking pan. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove wax paper. Cut into 64 pieces.
Note: The pieces of fudge will be small, but if they were any bigger the richness of the fudge would make you sick when you ate it!

These bite size treats are fat-free and super low in calories, so they are a great way to get a little bit of sweetness without going overboard! They can be eaten alone as a light dessert, or used to decorate your favorite cakes or cupcakes.

Recipe:

(adapted from www.marthastewart.com)

Instructions:

Place whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in a heatproof mixer bowl set over a bot of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer. Attach to mixer. Whisk on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form and mixture is cool, about 10 minutes. Whisk in vanilla. Use immediately

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Fit pastry bag with coupler and star tip, and fill with meringue. Pipe 1″ stars onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until meringue is dry by not brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool on parchment on wire racks.

Nutritional Information (per star):

Calories: 35

Fat: 0.0g

Saturated Fat: 0.0 g

Carbohydrates: 8.4 g

Protein: 0.6 g