Vanilla fudge comes together in a festive red, white and blue design – a tie dyed fudge perfect for the 4th of July.
I love being a mom. And I love that I get to work from home. But sometimes, they just don’t mix. My daughter is 3. And whoever said that they are the “terrible twos” must have never had a child who turned 3. Two was a breeze, but the temper tantrums have definitely been in full swing this year.
I was in the kitchen, planning on making some festive fudge. The original plan was to just make a layered fudge – like the Candy Corn Fudge I did a couple of years ago. I had planned on making the layers, then topping the fudge with some fun sprinkles. (That is why there are sprinkles in the ingredient photo – but they didn’t quite make it into the final product!!)
The one thing about this fudge recipe is that you have to work fast. The fudge starts setting up pretty quickly, and if you don’t have everything ready to go, it’s not going to work. I’m making the fudge, mixing the colors, and that is the moment my daughter decides to throw one of her epic tantrums. So there she is, on the kitchen floor, crying and screaming while I’m trying to layer the fudge. I’m so distracted that I don’t make the amount of each color even. I put the red layer down, and that’s when I realize that I didn’t make the mixtures even at all. And the fudge is quickly setting up while I’m trying to attend to my daughter. It’s just not working. I throw the different layers into the pan, frustrated with the whole thing. In all honesty, I thought it was ruined. In a last ditch effort, I grab a knife and swirl the mixtures together, thinking that I couldn’t ruin it any more at this point.
Later, when I went and cut into the fudge, I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, I think I liked this version even better than what I had originally planned! I’m glad to see that a tantrum can turn a recipe right around!!
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- 2½ cups sugar
- ½ cup butter
- 5 oz evaporated milk
- 2 cups marshmallow creme
- 8 oz white chocolate chips
- red and blue food coloring
- (For thinner fudge, use an 8x8-inch baking dish. For a thicker fudge, use an 8x5-inch baking dish.)
- Line a baking dish with foil. Spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large pot, combine the sugar, butter and evaporated milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. When it comes to a boil, stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add in the marshmallow creme and the white chocolate chips. Stir until smooth.
- Divide the mixture into 3 bowls. Tint one red, one blue, and keep the third white. Pour the red fudge into the prepared baking dish, followed by the white fudge, then the blue fudge. Use a knife to drag through the mixture, combining to form the marbled effect. Let cool completely before cutting.
More 4th of July candy creations:
4th of July Chocolate Covered Marshmallows from Mountain Mama Cooks
Homemade Candy Corn from Taste and Tell
Red, White and Blue Candy Apples from Tidy Mom
Fabulous!
Cheers,
Rosa
Love this! Glad the tantrum didn’t ruin it. I would have just ignored my daughter. lol
This is so cool!!! You’re going to be the hit of the 4th of July! 😉
Love the tie dyed look!! So pretty 🙂
These looks wonderful! Any way to replace the marshmallow creme? I don’t live in US and don’t have access to it, but I’m hosting a 4th of July picnic and would really like to make them for that!
@Eeva-Maija, I’m not sure what you could substitute, but I have seen recipes online to make your own marshmallow creme or marshmallow fluff. Not sure how it would work in this recipe since I haven’t tried it, though.
@Deborah, Thanks! I could also find another fudge recipe with ingredients I can get and just divide the mix into three and tint two of them. But thanks for this great idea!
I love how they turned out!
This looks fantastic! Gotta love those happy accidents. 🙂
It’s a big challenge cooking and then blogging with small kids…I always struggle with my youngest. But your fudge turned out looking great!!!
That is so fun! I think it is better swirled than it would be layered too.
Amen to the terrible threes. They were worse than the twos for me as well. (I’m on to the sassy seven’s now.)
The fudge looks delicious btw!
LOL!! I know what you mean about terrible twos vs. “horrible” threes. My first son was an ANGEL up until he turned 3. I suffered migraines EVERY single until he turned 10! 8 is another vicious age. He’s now 26, but now I have another son who is a stubborn, brilliant, independent three year old again. My first son had NOTHING on my second!
Anyway…I digress. These look utterly amazing and I can’t wait for my husband to make them. (He’s the baker, I’m the cook. We balance each other out that way in nearly every aspect of our lives!)
@Tristine, oops, that was every single *day*.
Now Deb, if this doesn’t make you feel patriotic and All American – nothing but having a flag surgically implanted across the irises would. ☺ This is so much fun and simply perfect.
I’m completely love the swirl – it’s fun and a bit chaotic – much like America and children.
I totally agree w/ you about the two’s and three’s – having been through three boys (two grown and one 13) I think I developed names for every age.
Onederful Ones
Terrible Two’s
Tyrannical Threes
Frustrating Fives
Skulduggery Sixes
Shenanigan Sevens
Exasperating Eights
Nuisance Nines
Tetchy Tens…
Yeah there is one for every age… they tend to get better once they graduate. LOL
@Tara @ The Butter Dish, love all of these! But it makes me nervous for her to get older, now!! 🙂
they look awesome and you get mad props for being so creative (with a 3 year old tugging at you!)
Random question…the little pics with recipes on your sidebar…did you use a widget for those or a plugin? I am NOT able to do anything tricky, at all on my site but would love to install something like that myself, and not have to go thru my design guy every time I want to rotate them!
Way to embrace the silver lining Deborah! These are just gorgeous and I love how they turned out. And I’m with you…it was the same here for both of my kids. The two’s were a breeze…three’s not so much. Fortunately once we’re almost to four now. 😉
Seems like her temper tantrum worked out for the best! I agree…I like this even more than the layers!
I love the swirls, the fudge turned out perfectly!
What a great idea, I love this! And the terrible three’s are definitely where it’s at, they need to change all the literature 🙂
This is beautiful, love it!! And hang in there, it’s the terrible three’s that you will look back on one day together and tell stories about! I miss those days…
I love the way it turned out! It looks really cool.
My husband and I laugh all the time about the terrible twos. Babies and toddlers have nothing on kids as they get older. Eight, nine, ten, and eleven….MAJOR DRAMA. My 11 year old had a massive melt down this morning screaming and crying and carrying on about how her eye hurt and she couldn’t go the gym with me. As if I really wanted to go to the gym in the first place…ha ha.
Threes and fours are so much worse than the twos. Be prepared for lots more of this (fantastic) fudge in your future, because you’ll probably never get a chance for neat, even layers again. 😉
I love the swirled, tie-dye look better than perfect layers… because even without anyone throwing a tantrum, my layers are never quite perfect! Turned out beautifully!
I think it looks beautiful! So patriotic! Eden has been going through a I’m not going to listen phase which sucks since I’m stuck in bed with a rib fracture 🙁 I wish I could be in my kitchen. I miss it so much!
I LOVE this! Are the ones pictured the thicker version? They look amazing either way! 🙂
@Christina, yes – I did the thicker version.
@Deborah, Thanks!! 🙂
How fun and festive!!!
I like that the layers weren’t even. I think it looks great! Sometimes when you don’t expect things to work out, they end up working perfectly.
Substitute for Marshmallow Creme : Just use the same weight in marshmallows. Seven ounces of marshmallow creme equals 22 large marshmallows. Use a scale if you have mini marshmallows.
how festive! and with marshmallow fluff and white chocolate, it’s sure to be scrumptious too!
Beeeee-oootiful!!!
How brilliant! This sounds delicious and looks amazing. I hope you’ll add this to my Patriotic Project Parade going on through July 4th.
http://www.itsybitsypaperblog.com/2012/06/patriotic-project-parade-linky-party.html
I absolutely love the tie-dyed effect and can see so many different colors working here!
It turned out completely awesome! Great job! I love it, pinned.
These are just awesome!! I’m making some tomorrow!! I added you to my patriotic treats roundup! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
I made these for a celebration that I attended on the 4th. They looked awesome, but the taste was off. I would reduce the amount of sugar if I were to do this again, but I would likely just do the affect with a different vanilla fudge recipe.
@Karin, sorry you didn’t love the taste! I’m guessing it’s the white chocolate – it’s not for everyone. I’m glad they looked good, though! 🙂
Sorry to sound dense, but how do you drag the knife through? In a straight line, swirls or what? I’m assuming you do this after all of the colors are in the pan. I sure do wish you had a youtube tutorial or step by step pic’s, at leasst for the dragging part 😀
thanks for the awesome idea
Cherie
@cherie, yes, you do this after all of the colors are in the pan. You just take the knife and stick it in, through all of the layers, and drag it, kind of like you are mixing it. Sorry I don’t have step by steps – I ended up doing it as a last ditch effort to save the fudge, and didn’t know how much I’d end up liking it!
@cherie, here is a picture tutorial I did for Betty Crocker. The recipe is different, but the method is the same. You can see how to do the dragging!
http://www.bettycrocker.com/tips/tipslibrary/cooking-tips/how-to-make-tie-dyed-fudge
@Deborah,
Thanks!
omg, these look just like my patriotic marshmallows, they would look together so great!
This fudge is so beautiful! Love the bright colors!
I’ve always said the “Terrible Twos” lasted for 2 terrible years! They start at 18 months and linger on to 3 1/2!
Love the fudge! Will definitely try it this year.
Can I use different colors for other holidays?
Yes – feel free to change it up with any colors!
Hi, I’m new to your site and have discovered this recipe, I don’t live in America, I can get marshmellow fluff at my supermarket, is this the same as marshmellow creme, I would really love to try this recipe.
Hi Emma – marshmallow fluff should work just fine!
Thankyou so much, I shall buy some fluff today.
How much food coloring does one use??
I used a gel paste and just mixed in enough until it was the shade I wanted. I didn’t measure it, but just used a small amount and added more if I wanted more color.
The fudge recipe looks great! I can’t wait to try it! My question….can I use liquid food coloring or does it have to be the paste kind!
Thanks so much!!!
I’m not sure if liquid food coloring would work or not, to be honest. It might make the chocolate seize up, but I would suggest making a small portion and testing it first. Good luck!
Hi there, wonderful idea! I tried this recipe and it just seemed to set. What could I have done wrong? Also, I only found 8oz cams of Evaporated milk.