Pomegranate fudge

 



 

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups granulated sugar


• 1/2 cup POM wonderful 100% pomegranate juice


• 1/3 cup heavy cream (40% milk fat)


• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter


• 2 1/2 cups white chocolate chips


• 1/2 teaspoon LorAnn's pomegranate flavor*


• 7 oz jar marshmallow creme


• a little red and royal blue food coloring

HOW-TO
Line a 9x9 inch pan with foil and coat with a little nonstick spray.

Combine sugar, butter, pomegranate juice and cream into a heavy bottomed sauce pan--once again, recommending non-stick pan for this--and bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and continue to stir for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and grab a wooden spoon. Add the white chocolate chips stirring vigorously until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Add the flavoring, food coloring and marshmallow creme and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your pan and allow to cool for several hours, until firm.

*1/2 teaspoon LorAnn's pomegranate flavor
This is a highly concentrated candy flavoring, found in most baking/candy making supply stores.

---

Alternatively you can cool both of these fudges in your fridge, if like me, you can't wait that long. Large chunks will also freeze well if tightly wrapped for a month or two.

I should also post a quick note on why I am such a fan of nonstick when it comes to my candy making as I continue to recommend it without any word as to why.

The primary reason for my use of a good quality nonstick pan for candy making is that it simply makes my job of keeping the sugar off the sides of the pan so much easier.

Undissolved and crystalized sugar can ruin a batch of candy, making it gritty. This is not grit from a few rogue grains of undissolved sugar in your syrup or a few specks of sugar clinging to the pan, but rather that these grains set off a chain reaction of crystallization in your saturated sugar syrup. The more concentrated the syrup, the easier it can crystalize.

Many candy recipes nowadays include corn syrup or some other form of sugar to help interfere with sugar's crystallization. With fudge, you often see marshmallow creme used because of its hefty payload of corn syrup effects not only the texture and sweetness but guards against gritty fudge.

By combining the marshmallow creme and a non-stick pan for my fudge recipes I don't have to worry about crystallization. Now for some of my recipes will no doubt call for washing down the sides of a pan with a damp pastry brush, but at least for these fudge recipes, you can get your candy without all the effort and anxiety.