{recipe} Rainbow Fudge

I saw a recipe for rainbow fudge on Pinterest recently, and knew I had to make it. (For a full-fledged adult in her mid-30s, it turns out I’m pretty into rainbows.) But, I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have a couple of major issues with the original recipe… so I had to do it my own way.

First of all, it drives me crazy when a recipe site asks for an email address to access a recipe. It seems ridiculous considering how many fantastic food sites are out there, both amateur and professional, that don’t require this. Second, a rainbow with no orange? Come on, people. Not cool. Orange is like, one of the best colors. Third, they use liquid food coloring, which not only creates insipid colors but also messes with the texture of the chocolate, by virtue of being a liquid. (Small additional point of irritation- the recipe tells you exactly how many drops of each color to use. Oh. My. Godthatissoridiculous.) And finally, if I’m rainbowing it up, I really like to go for vivid colors, none of this Easter pastel crap. You’re eating what is essentially a colored sugar bomb – why restrain yourself to subdued colors? So this is my take on rainbow fudge.

I considered other color combinations, and really, you could make this however you like- in team colors, flag colors, favorite colors, holiday colors, or what have you. 6 colors makes a really tall fudge so you could certainly make fewer layers if you need fewer colors for your scheme. If you require very specific colors, you can get a wide variety of food colors from Wilton here.

Added bonus of making this recipe: even your dirty dishwasher looks beautiful afterwards.

As to the taste… it’s pretty sweet, and pretty white chocolate-y, but good nonetheless. I made it for my 9-year-old niece’s birthday, and she likes white chocolate and super sweet stuff, so I wasn’t too worried on either count. It’s almost like eating a big piece of candy corn. Since it’s so tall, it’s a good idea to cut small pieces so it doesn’t overwhelm. I think you could even make a half recipe for each layer, because mine was so tall I had to call it “fudgehenge.”

I wouldn’t call this recipe “easy” because it takes a fair amount of time and fiddling around, but it is definitely easy in terms of cooking skills. You make each fudge layer in the microwave, with only 4 ingredients, so it’s not a recipe that requires a lot of technical kitchen skills. If you can microwave, stir, possess a reasonable understanding of what a rainbow looks like, and have a loaf pan, you can make this.

Recipe: Rainbow Fudge

Makes a lot even though it looks like a little. White chocolate chips are easier to use, because you don’t have to chop them, but they don’t melt as smoothly as a bar so I don’t recommend using them. Don’t get any amount of water in the white chocolate mixture, because it can cause the chocolate to seize and harden into lumps. I say this because between colors you’ll need to wash your spatula out – so be sure to fully dry it off with a towel.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 36 oz. chopped white chocolate
  • 3 cups sweetened condensed milk (you’ll need to buy 3 of the 14 oz cans to get 3 cups)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, divided
  • gel or paste food coloring (like this or this)

METHOD:

  • Line a loaf pan tightly with foil. Spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Get out 6 microwave-safe cereal bowls. Into each bowl, put 6 oz. white chocolate, 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk, and 1/4 tsp vanilla extract. Set aside.
  • Put one bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring well after each 30 seconds, until chocolate mixture is smooth and well combined with no lumps. (All microwaves are different but as a point of reference mine took about 90 seconds total.)
  • Add red food coloring and stir very well so there are no white streaks, scraping the sides of the bowl and making sure you get all the way to the bottom. A rubber spatula works well for this.
  • Pour into prepared loaf pan and bang the pan on the counter a few times to settle and even out the layer.
  • Place into the freezer for 20-25 minutes, until hard to the touch.
  • Repeat with remaining bowls, making orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Once the loaf pan and the layers have been in the freezer, the layer will almost immediately start to set, so you need to move quickly with spreading out the mixture and banging it on the counter so it’s not lopsided or lumpy.
  • After the final layer, put it back in the freezer for 2 hours, then move it to the refrigerator to completely set for a couple more hours.
  • When you’re ready to cut it, flip it onto a cutting board and remove the foil. Dip a sharp knife in hot water between cuts and wipe with a towel so the colors don’t smear together. It tastes better at room temperature and holds up pretty well for a few hours; otherwise, refrigerate it to keep.

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44 Responses

  1. amber thomas says:

    Hi, I got to your link through pinterest. I have a question, instead of using a loaf pan that makes the fudge so tall, couldn’t you use a 8X8 square pan?

  2. Lora says:

    “Fudgehenge” ha ha ha. Love it! This is blow away fantastic. Fabulous job.

  3. Hilary says:

    Oh god, this looks seriously amazing! I also have an obsession with rainbow baking (seriously, my oven sometimes looks like a Kindergarten classroom), so this is the perfect thing for me. I’m going to make this soon and I’ll let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the recipe!

  4. Hilary says:

    PS: here are a few of my favourite gel food colouring creations, in case you want to see them. I agree – liquid food colouring just isn’t the same! Go bright or go home!

    http://hilarymakes.com/2011/04/07/psychedelicakes/

    http://hilarymakes.com/2011/03/07/america-the-brave-cake-aka-christines-birthday-cake/

    http://hilarymakes.com/2011/07/09/tie-dye-cookies-an-ode-to-gel-food-colouring/

  5. Jamie says:

    Oh wow! This fudge is so pretty and I bet it’s very delish! What a great St. Patrick’s Day treat this would make.. I hope it’s okay, I’ve featured your bright and beautiful fudge on a St. Patrick’s Day colorful and creative foods hub here:

    http://jamiebrock.hubpages.com/hub/Colorful-and-Creative-Food-Ideas-for-St-Patricks-Day

    Thanks for sharing!

  6. Amy says:

    Thanks for much! Saw the other recipe where you had to sign in and all and then did a Google search hoping someone would just post the recipe without all the hoops to go through to get it. Thank you got being so generous! And thanks for the color tips too. I agree…bright rainbows with all the colors are best 🙂

  7. The internet is really evil … or is it my cravings? And just when I’ve been ordered to watch my weight. Anyway, I’d certainly like to try this with diabetic white chocolate (yikes!) and hope it turns out just as good.
    Thanks for the recipe.

  8. Terra says:

    Oh this is gorgeous! I love how creative this beautiful fudge is! So happy I happened to find you, your site is beautiful:-) Take care, Terra

  9. Sanjeeta kk says:

    Lovely..gonna share it on my fb page right now!

  10. Kelli says:

    I saw that same recipe, but I refused to enter my email too:) I’m so glad you posted this because I really want to make this for St. Patty’s Day this week!

  11. Jennifer says:

    I saw the other recipe, and it would not let me sign up to get it. So, I went hunting for a different one. Yours looks way better, and who does make a rainbow without orange?!

  12. Rainbowdust7 says:

    You actually made me laugh out loud :*)

  13. Renae says:

    I just cut into this after making it last night. I left it in the freezer overnight and put in the refrigerator in the morning. It has had plenty of time to set, but just hasn’t hardened to fudge consistency. 🙁 where could I have gone wrong? It looks awesome, and tastes delicious, but it is too soft.

  14. Renae says:

    Hi Karen, I think I may have used too much condensed milk. I bought 3 cans, and used half a can in each colour. The cans are 395grams (14Oz), but I put half a can, instead of half a cup. It was more like 2/3cup of condensed milk. That must be why it isn’t holding its shape. Too much condensed milk/not enough white choc to balance it out.

    Regardless, I gave some for my friends to take home. And they all love it, even though it melts your fingers and is gooey. Lol.

  15. Love it! That’s so pretty – I can see using thin slices to decorate a rainbow birthday cake… the wheels are turning!

  16. Seriously I sniggered when you said that even your dishwasher looked beautiful and Fudgehenge – I love it! I often wonder if I too have a rainbow obsession – perhaps it’s the Irish madness within, but thanks for this because it surely put some colour back in my day today after the heavens opened and I thought I would have to build an ark because of the deluge of rain in UK!

  17. Val Scott says:

    Thanks for the recipe…I’ve got a friend having a “Disco” themed birthday party. My thought is to take the finished block cut it in slices and then use small cookie cutters to make fun pieces. I’ll freeze the leftover pieces for “sprinkles” on future iced projects.

  18. Elena Shetty says:

    I love how simple the ingredients are. It’s kind of relief. Because, i’m getting confuse and messing all the time when it comes to complicated thing. I truly love this rainbow fudge. An inspirational recipe you can tell.

  19. Love it! That’s so pretty. Thank you.

  20. I made this last night it set good except the first layer is there a certain white chocolate to use

    • Karen says:

      I don’t have a particular brand of chocolate to recommend. Maybe you put too much food coloring in? Or it was too warm? That could affect the setting.

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