So. The Christmas adverts have started. There are Christmas lights in (some) city streets. Christmas cakes are being baked, Christmas lists are being made, some people even have their shopping sorted already! (Not me, I leave it ’til the last minute every. Single. Year.) .
But some people aren’t impressed with these developments. I mean, it’s not even December yet! And the adverts aren’t in the spirit of Christmas, they’re just there to make you panic and spend money. And are those Christmas street lights really necessary? YES. YES THEY ARE. You big humbug.
Whether you’re feeling Christmassy already or not, this is the recipe for you. If you’re a humbug, this’ll help you get in the Christmas mood. And if you’re just bursting with how much you love Christmas, this will only make it better! Because this tastes like gingerbread (VERY Christmassy), it’s fudge (QUITE Christmassy), it’s chocolatey (NOT PARTICULARLY Christmassy) and you can put it in teeny, tiny Santa cases (SO CHRISTMASSY YOUR HEAD JUST EXPLODED). Yeah, I wasn’t making my point very well there for a moment but then I saved it with the power of Santa cases.
Did I mention that this fudge is really easy? It uses the same basic recipe as my Maltesers fudge but it has a yummy ginger-white-chocolate-golden-syrup-black-treacle (as you can see, it’s really healthy too) topping.
The flavour combination in this recipe was inspired by Hotel Chocolat’s Nibbly Noel bar which I am currently giving away. You can enter to win until Sunday 27th so get over there and follow the instructions!
Gingerbread chocolate fudge
A Cafe Lula recipe
Makes 81 (!) one-inch square pieces
Ingredients:
250g dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids)
150g milk chocolate (around 30% cocoa solids)
397g tin condensed milk
150g white chocolate
50g golden syrup (or use corn syrup)
25g black treacle (molasses)
1/2 tsp ginger puree (I used Bart’s ginger in sunflower oil)
2-4 tbsp (30-60ml) double (heavy) cream
Note: the sugars in the condensed milk, black treacle and golden syrup will get very hot if over too high a heat, which can cause the chocolate to seize. Heat the different mixtures very, very gently and be patient! Ok, let’s start…
Line a 23cm/9-inch square tin with baking paper or clingfilm.
Put the white chocolate, golden syrup and black treacle in a small saucepan and heat very gently over a very low heat, stirring occasionally until the white chocolate has melted and the mixture is well combined. You may find that the mixture splits, but don’t worry, the cream will sort it out. Remove from the heat and stir in the ginger puree and the cream. I used all 4 tbsp of cream which gave a gooey topping. Add 2 tbsp of the cream first and beat in, then add the other two 1 tbsp at a time if you want to. You may like the consistency with just 2 or 3 tbsp so don’t feel like you need to add them all. If your mixture did split and you’re finding it’s not coming together when adding the cream, get the electric handwhisk out and give it a beating. This’ll sort it out! Set aside.
Put 200g of the dark chocolate into a small saucepan with half the condensed milk. Put the milk chocolate and remaining 50g dark chocolate in another small saucepan with the other half of the condensed milk. Set both pans over a very low heat and stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and both pans have a smooth mixture. The mixture should stick to itself.
Drop large spoonfuls of the dark and milk chocolate into the tin until all the mixture is used up. Use a spatula to push the mixture into the corners of the tin and to smooth it so that it is all of equal thickness. Pour the white chocolate mixture on top and level with a spatula.
Put in the fridge to set for a couple of hours or overnight, then remove from the tin and cut into 1-inch squares. Eat and sing some Christmas songs!
Cafe Lula 
Looks great and definitely very festive. Must try your Malteser version!
Thanks! The Malteser version is gorgeous, if I do say so myself 🙂
This. Sounds. Lush.
Now on to-do list for Sunday!!
Let me know how it turns out!
Holy moly, I must try this! That sounds divine – and your pictures are gorgeous, too 🙂
Thank you! If you do try it let me know what you think 🙂
I’m saving this recipe to make soon. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent, let me know what you think!
Omg, this is my favorite holiday treat of the season I’ve seen! I know it’s early in the season still, but these are so creative and I can only imagine how yummy they are!
Thank you! What a nice comment 🙂 I did think about holding off posting this until it was nearer to Christmas but I just couldn’t wait, hehe.
Yum-there is no doubt that this is a heavenly treat. You do have quite an array of tasty ingredients in these. Also I like the easy preparation, most fudge you have to use a temperature thermometer when cooking and then have to beat it forever. Great recipe!
Thanks! I love cheat’s fudge. I made proper fudge once with a thermometer and it was a right faff.
This fudge looks heavenly! I will have to keep this recipe for a Christmas baking day with my nephews. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! It tastes even better 🙂 Let me know what you think if you make it!
Oh, what a fantastic fudge. If you have your inspiration from Hotel Chocolat then it must be amazing stuff. I have their cookbook and love it. Wow, it looks so good and gooey.
Their 101 best loved chocolate recipes one? I have it and it’s beautiful but I haven’t made anything from it yet. I should probably change that this weekend!
This is the perfect fudge for the holidays! It looks delicious!
Thank you!
Yum! I love fudge and am going through a slight gingerbread obsession at the moment so this is absolutely perfect. Great for Christmas presents too 🙂
Me too, I have made a very long list of gingerbread recipe ideas I want to try!
Sounds yum! I am so happy that gingerbread season is here. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Me too, gingerbread is one of my favourites. For the next month I intend to add it to EVERYTHING 🙂
Oh, this looks delicious! I’m one of those that’s finished my Christmas shopping so I can avoid the crazy stores….but I still have to finish wrapping. They’ll all be mailed and/or ready to go by the day after Thanksgiving!
…which will leave me plenty of time to make this fudge!
Wow, well done! Every year I intend to get my butt in gear and be really organised buying presents but it never happens, hehe.
Let me know what you think if you do make it!
This sounds soooooo good. I love the chocolate/ginger combo 🙂
Thanks! It took me a while to discover that ginger and chocolate go really well together, glad I have now 🙂
This is a real treat! Absolutely delicious.
Thanks 🙂
Ooh yes I’m all about fudge this year for Christmas too! This flavour sounds lovely!
Just gorgeous. I’m such a sucker for Christmas. Even found myself crying in the John Lewis ad the other day. Shocker.
Haha, I am a huge sucker for Christmas but I do not understand the effect this advert is having on everyone! Not that I can talk, really. I was crying at work reading about Endal the dog the other day. Thankfully, no-one noticed!
This is definitely going on my “must make” list for Christmas! This flavor sounds incredible! 🙂
These brownies should not be allowed to be made – they look sinfully delicious!
This recipe looks so tasty! I tried to pin it to Pinterest so that I’ll remember to try it, but for some reason Pinterest won’t recognize the image. Boo. I will, however, share it on Facebook!
It is tasty! I hope you enjoy it 😀
How annoying! It is working for me now, must have been a Pinterest error 🙂
Julia, I have no idea how you stay so skinny! This fudge looks naughty.
Did you just call me skinny? Well, you’re officially my new favourite person! 😀