Who doesn’t love chocolate? Especially when you throw some booze in there for good measure…
Some of the ingredients in this recipe might seem a little fancy and funky, but they’re super easy to find!
The demerara sugar was worth its weight in gold. The crunchy, sugary topping on this fudge adds a ton of flavor. I got a pretty good size bag for $9 off
Amazon Prime.
You actually prepare the sugar the night before by mixing it with the vanilla bean and booze, then drying it out in the oven. It’s super easy, so don’t be daunted!
The vanilla bean is a beautiful but expensive addition. The original recipe called for two vanilla beans (they’re about $10 each at my grocery store), so I widdled it down to just one for the sugar and used vanilla extract in the fudge. I wouldn’t use the extract in the sugar, but give it a go if you’re wanting to save the money. Let me know your thoughts!
Sea Salt Flakes
The recipe also calls for sea salt flakes; something you may not have just laying around on the daily. Well, I’d suggest investing in this, too! I use this kind of salt on rolls, as a nice topping on potatoes, and obviously in this recipe. It’s beautiful and pretty inexpensive. I wouldn’t recommend substituting any other salt because the flakiness of the salt makes it so that you don’t use too much. If you used Kosher or table salt, you’d end up way over-salting your fudge! No bueno, mi amigo.
This is the one I have:
Chocolate Fudge with Boozy Sugar
Boozy Sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 cup demerara sugar
2 tbs. bourbon or whiskey
Fudge
Pam for Baking Spray
10 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
10 tbs. (1¼ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 tbs. bourbon or whiskey
1 tbs. light corn syrup
¼ tsp. Morton table salt
1 tbs. vanilla extract
Sea salt flakes
Bourbon Sugar
Preheat oven to 150° or as low as yours will go. Scrape vanilla seeds into a small bowl; stir in demerara sugar and bourbon. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet and let dry out in oven overnight, leaving door slightly ajar. Mixture should feel like demerara sugar again in the morning.
Do Ahead: Store bourbon sugar airtight at room temperature up to 2 months.
Fudge
Line an 8×8” baking dish with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang on 2 sides; lightly coat with nonstick spray. Heat chocolates in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let bowl touch water), stirring occasionally, until almost completely melted. Set aside.
Combine condensed milk, butter, bourbon, corn syrup, and table salt in a small saucepan; add vanilla. Heat over medium until barely hot (same as the chocolate).
Gently stir one quarter of milk mixture into chocolate with a rubber spatula. Add another quarter of milk mixture, folding to incorporate gently.
(At this point, you’re thinking, “It looks horrible,” and, “I did something wrong.” Don’t worry – the fudge will come back together to form the delicious bars of heaven you desire. Just keep stirring and folding).
Continue with remaining milk mixture in 2 additions, stirring vigorously until fudge is very shiny and almost elastic, about 5 minutes. Scrape into prepared pan and smooth top. (There may be some liquid that forms on the outer part of the mixture; this is perfectly okay and will set as it chills in the fridge).
Sprinkle with bourbon sugar and sea salt. Let cool, then cover and chill at least 4 hours.
Turn out fudge onto a cutting board and slice however you wish.
Do Ahead: Fudge can be made 1 week ahead. Wrap tightly and chill.
