Our daughter has a lake place where we gather in the summer. I had an idea to create vanilla fudge with a fun patriotic flair. And I have to share that when I looked up vanilla fudge, most of the results were for the psychedelic rock band from the 1960s.
That made me laugh, thinking back to when I asked my future son-in-law if he liked meatloaf, and he said he loved his music. I can be so uncool. This is not that vanilla fudge.
A lot of fun, time, and energy goes into thinking about, planning, and making the weekend food we enjoy there!
We love spending time with our grandkids in the summer. Some of our most cherished memories were holiday weekends at the lake, beginning when they were tiny. The youngest one of the six is going to be a sophomore in high school this fall!
We always have a good time making mealtimes there special. I decided it would be fun to jazz up this easy vanilla fudge and make it into “firecracker fudge.”
I found the easiest vanilla fudge recipe you can make in the microwave with just white baking chips, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla. Then, I added some strawberry Pop Rocks candy to the fudge for fun little flavor explosions when you eat it.
Before it was set, I topped the fudge with colorful red, white, and blue sprinkles to make it look happy and festive! Because more is always more when it comes to summer holidays, I planted tiny flags in the little fudge mountain on my vintage blue plate!
Boom! We’re ready for Memorial Day, Flag Day, and the Fourth of July!
Begin by lining a nine-inch square pan with parchment or wax paper. If you leave some paper hanging over the edge of the pan, you can lift out the fudge in one piece. This method makes it easy to cut the fudge into squares.
You only need a few ingredients to make this vanilla fudge. To create this flavorful candy, you will need a fourteen-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk and a tablespoon of vanilla. You cannot substitute evaporated milk or cream for the sweetened condensed milk in this recipe.
You can use either white chocolate or white baking chips. However, if you use pure white chocolate, you will need to increase the amount slightly. Here’s some helpful information about the differences between white chocolate and white baking chips.
Put the chips and sweetened condensed milk in a microwave-safe bowl. I love using my Pampered Chef Batter Bowl for jobs like this. The handle and pouring spout make this little bowl so easy to use.
Microwave the chips and milk at 70% power for 90 seconds and let it rest for a couple of minutes for the residual heat to work. Stir the mixture briskly, and if the chips are still not completely melted, microwave the bowl for another thirty seconds and stir.
Stir in one tablespoon of vanilla. Use clear vanilla if you want your fudge to be the whitest possible color. Now, fold two tablespoons of Pop Rocks candy into the fudge and stir well so everything is well combined. Pour it into the lined pan.
Quickly add your desired sprinkles while the fudge is still soft and has not set up. Then refrigerate the fudge for a fewl hours until it is completely firm.
Lift the whole square of hardened fudge out of the pan and cut it into small squares. I used a bench scraper because it works better than dragging a knife through the fudge. I cut the pan into 36 little squares because it is sweet and rich. A small bite is enough to satisfy almost anyone’s sweet tooth!
This fudge would be fun to decorate for fall or Christmas with seasonally appropriate sprinkles, too!!
This is a super easy fudge recipe you can make in your microwave. Here, we jazzed it up for summer with pop rocks and festive sprinkles.
We love spending weekends with family, at the lake, or anywhere else. Here are three of our favorite summertime recipes: Alabama White Barbecue Sauce, Amish Macaroni Salad, and Peanut Buster Parfait Dessert.
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If you haven't already, please look for me on Facebook and Pinterest. I share easy, delicious, family-friendly recipes there every week!
Love, GB (Betty Streff)
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