This homemade Coffee & Walnut Fudge recipe is far from shy and retiring. It's robust, packed with flavour, and the coffee flavour cuts through the sweetness of the confectionery beautifully. It's a great fudge flavour!
I think it's fair to say that I like making fudge! There's been quite a foray into the world of homemade fudge here in the Only Crumbs Remain kitchen.
And why not when it tastes so good, is relatively easy to make and lends it's self incredibly well to being the carrier for a host of different flavour combinations.
And if that wasn't enough, let me tell you that friends and family will be your bestest friends ever (bestest ever I tell you ?) when you share your creation ..... that's assuming you're prepared to share!
I openly admit that I used to love treating myself to the occasional bag of shop bought mass produced fudge. Invariably I would opt for a vanilla fudge, and yes that shop bought fudge was nice. But since making our own we can honestly say that homemade fudge is far far tastier than the mass produced stuff.
Homemade fudge carries so much flavour! And this homemade Coffee and Walnut Fudge is definitely no exception.This coffee & walnut fudge actually came about by accident. Though don't you just love it when that happens?! I was making the fudge for a friend whom I knew that she'd particularly enjoyed our Double Chocolate Fudge , but not having quite enough light brown muscovado sugar to hand, I chose to make up the quantity with some dark muscovado instead.
Oh boy! That relatively small amount (about 100g) of dark muscovado really gave the fudge a dark deep rich flavour and I noticed the flavour seemed to pick up some coffee notes! Now that set off a chain of thought.
Coffee fudge! Coffee and walnut fudge! Why should that classic flavour combination just be reserved for cake? Ooh, I could imagine how amazingly deep and flavoursome it could be. And so this homemade coffee and walnut fudge was born.
This finished fudge is rich! It's robust. It's flavoursome. It packs a punch. The smooth fudgy texture is punctuated with chopped walnuts, and then finished with a half walnut for good measure, whilst the coffee cuts through the sweetness of the confectionery beautifully. There's a lot to love about this homemade fudge recipe.
The richness of the fudge means that only one piece is required to satisfy any confectionery craving (well, that's the theory!) meaning that there's more to share with friends and family.
And rest assured, if you choose to keep it for yourself, fudge keeps incredibly well for 1-2 weeks when kept in an airtight container, and even up to 3 weeks when the container is stored in the fridge (though do remember to allow it to come back to room temperature to allow the flavours to re-awaken before enjoying it).
So, here's how to make coffee and walnut fudge.
Coffee and Walnut Fudge
Ingredients
- For the Fudge
- 400 ml (14floz) double cream
- 150 ml (¼pt) milk
- 150 g (5oz) butter
- 400 g (14oz) golden caster sugar
- 200 g (7oz) dark muscovado sugar
- 75 g (3oz) milk chocolate broken into small pieces
- 2 tbsp coffee dissolved into 3 tbsp boiling water
- 75 g (3oz) walnuts chopped
To decorate
- 25 walnut halves
Special Equipment
- Large heavy based pan, which holds a volume of at least 3L Digital
- sugar thermometer
- 20cm (8in) square shallow cake tin lined
Instructions
- Lightly grease and fully line a 20cm (8in) square cake tin.
- Place the double cream, milk, butter and sugars into a heavy based pan. Cook over a low heat stirring constantly until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved completely to form a smooth thin mixture.
- Increase the heat under the pan to allow it to come to the boil whilst stirring all of the time. Boil the mixture, whilst continuing to stir, until it reaches 116C / 241F (soft ball stage). Please be careful - the mixture is very hot!
- Once the required temperature has been reached, remove the pan from the heat and leave it undisturbed to cool down to 110C / 230F. This will only take a couple of minutes.
- Stir in the chocolate , then add the coffee and chopped walnuts. Beat the mixture with the wooden spoon vigorously until the mixture begins to thicken and looses its glossy appearance and become more sateen in appearance. You may find that oil is released from the chocolate to begin with but keep beating the mixture, it will gradually re-combine with the fudge.
- Pour the chocolate fudge mixture into the prepared tin. and spread level.
- Neatly position the walnut halves over the top of the fudge gently pushing the walnuts into the fudge.
- Set aside to cool at room temperature for at least three hours to firm up
- Once fully cold and firm remove the fudge from the tin. Use a sharp knife to slice the fudge into bite sized pieces.12. Enjoy!
Notes
- Remember, this is incredibly hot! Stir the syrup slowly carefully so as to avoid splashing yourself.
- When heating the mixture and waiting for it to reach 116C (241F) it will feel as though the temperature is stuck at around 104C (220F) for ages. Be patient and keep stirring, it will eventually move and will then increase fairly rapidly.
Keep the fudge in an airtight container. It will be good for 1-2 weeks at room temperature but will last for up to 3 weeks if stored in the fridge.
Kate - Gluten Free Alchemist
This sounds gorgeous. I am a huge coffee lover so this would be gone a flash. It certainly wouldn't last 3 weeks! x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
It doesn't last long in our house either.
Jo Allison / Jo's Kitchen Larder
This fudge looks amazing and coffee and walnut makes for such a gorgeous and grown up flavour combination (kids will keep away so there will be more for the adults). I'll just have to make it!
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
Do make it its fab but haha the kids will only keep away until they too grow to like it too. sadly now I find myself competing with my kids (not kids anymore) for the coffee flavoured cakes and sweets.
Chloe Edges
I am absolutely obsessed with Coffee Cake and Coffee Buttercream. And I'm obsessed with fudge. So why on earth have I never made coffee fudge before?! No excuses now...
Lou | Crumbs and Corkscrews
Absolutely loving this fudge for the coffee, unfortunately I can't have walnuts... boo! But my Mother-in-Law does and she'd love this recipe. Bookmarking for Mother's Day treats 🙂
Sylvie
My goodness, these fudges look SO attractive right now!! I cannot go past any coffee flavoured dessert, but the walnuts are really what seals the deal here. Yum!!
Kat BakingExplorer
What delicious looking bites! I agree - homemade is better, thanks for linking up to #TreatPetite
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Homemade definitely rocks,
Angela x
Corina
It sounds like a lovely fudge and such a lucky accident too! If I made it I'd definitely have plenty for myself too as Mr Searchingforspice doesn't like anything flavoured with coffee! Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
I love it when little things like that happen and set off a chain of thought. I have to admit Corina, Mr E & I aren't massic coffee drinkers but we both found it was really good in the fudge. Smelt amazing too as it cooked!
You're welcome, it's a great linky,
Angela x
Kate Glutenfreealchemist
Coffee and walnut is such a classic and amazing pairing..... I imagine this fudge to be divine! Your photos are amazing too. x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou so much Kate 🙂 It really is such a classic combo isn't it 🙂
Angela x
Charlotte Oates
This fudge looks and sounds amazing Angela - I love coffee and walnut! I'm loving your pictures for this too, beautiful x
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou so much Charlotte, that really means a lot coming from you especially as your images are absolutely stunning 🙂 It really is very tastey Charlotte, and that's coming from somebody who ordinarily isn't fond of coffee and walnut but it just seemed such a great flavour combo not to try. Hubby took the lions share of it to work to share with his colleagues and it went down incredibly well - the box was very soon empty!
Thanks for your lovely comment Charlotte,
Angela x
Monika Dabrowski
What a successful 'accidental' dessert! Looks amazing, pinning it for later as I am trying to eat lean this week:)
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Aw thankyou Monika, I love those happy little 'aacidents'! Yeah, it's certainly not diet food - definitely more of a treat 😉
Angela x
Anca
It looks amazing, I like how you placed the walnuts on top, in rows.
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Thankyou Anca - the neat little rows of walnuts meant the fudge pieces could be cut neatly so that each portion had a walnut half ontop (it also allowed me to scratch my slight OCD tendencies!)
Angela x
Jacqueline Bellefontaine
I dont believe this fudge will last 3 weeks, no one but no one could resist it that long surely! Seriously you already had me drooling on twitter. Now I have read the post its all i can do not to go to the kitchen and make a batch right now! Although I would probably use pecans as i have a bit of a thing for them at the moment. Don't you just love it when a recipe is born like this , Im sure its going to be very popular. Thank you for sharing on #CookBlogShare
Angela - Only Crumbs Remain
Hahaha, indeed! Mr E took the lion's share of it into the office after it was made and it didn't last long at all - they loved it! He was back with the empty container that evening when ordinarily there will be a few pieces left until the following day! Ooh I like the idea of using pecans in it Jacqueline, that's a nut I ought to use more often.
Thanks for your lovely comments,
Angela x