Christmas Fudge Secret Ingredient - Goat Milk

For many people fudge is the candy of the season. For me the best fudge I have made was from goat milk, freshly milked, chilled and made into fudge! Not only was it a yummy way to make use of milk but it also was something many others enjoyed enough to buy at the time, and it even won the fudge competition at the fair!

Place 3 cups sugar and 2/3 cup cocoa powder in a large pan, mixing well and adding 1 ½ cups goat milk and ½ cup butter (real butter works best for taste!). Heat to the 'soft ball' stage, remove from heat and stir in a teaspoon vanilla and a cup of chopped walnuts. You can also stir in ¼ cup peanut butter. Beat by hand until it just begins to lose the glossy look then turn into an 8x8 pan and cool.

This recipe can be altered by leaving out the cocoa and using a cup of peanut butter (chunky or creamy) for peanut butter fudge. You can also use 2-3 baking squares of chocolate instead of the cocoa, depending on how "chocolatey" you like your fudge. I actually preferred this as it eliminated any powder not mixing in and thus eliminated "gritty" taste from incomplete mixing.

Other easy variations - instead of nuts use finely crushed candy canes or peppermint candy. Some put mini marshmallows in the bottom of the pan then pour the fudge over it, which is an easy "rocky road" type fudge. You can also mix in marshmallow cream.

I did find that this recipe doesn't double very well. Perhaps it was just me but I tried doubling with a 9x13 pan and it was still good but in comparison to the smaller batches it just wasn't quite *as* good!

Goat milk is available in stores and depending on your state you may be able to purchase it direct from someone who has goats. If you do this ask about health precautions of the goats and handling of the milk. Goat milk is also available in many grocery stores commercially or (last resort) in the canned form. I have not used the canned milk for fudge as I had a clean milk source straight from the milking pen.

Goats milk fudge is even richer and creamier than many other types of fudge. You can experiment with additions to taste but a plain ol' chocolate with walnuts is a treat for me at Christmas!

Whether you make fudge for home, for gifts or for the company Christmas party it's an easy to make luxury taste to have a plate of creamy fudge available.