Fudge with chocolate malt balls

This recipe for a classic creamy fudge with chocolate malted balls (Chuckles) is so delicious and worth every calorie.

When deciding what to call this recipe I realised people know these gorgeous melt-in-the-mouth chocolate-covered malt balls by different names. In America they are Whoppers, in the UK they are Maltesers, and in South Africa, they are known as Whispers or Chuckles. Anyway, whatever you call them, they totally rock when added to a classic fudge recipe.

It took a while and a few trials to settle on my favourite fudge recipe which I included in my latest cookbook ‘Sweet’. Here I have added a double dose of vanilla to the recipe, which I didn’t in my book. More recently I have come to adore vanilla-flavoured fudge. I also love fudge with things added to it. It takes away some of the cloying sweetness that it tends to have.

This fudge recipe is buttery and smooth, and you could of course add other things like nuts, chocolate pieces or broken-up shortbread at the final stage if you want to create variations. This fudge is also delicious if broken into small chunks and stirred through vanilla ice cream or frozen yoghurt.

I would have had the full 250 grams of balls to add to the recipe, but due to enthusiastic ‘nibbling’ during the laborious stirring, I had considerably less. I think it’s nice with more.

How to make fudge with chocolate malted balls

I have indicated the exact temperature in the method, as I’ve discovered that a sugar thermometer is an essential tool when doing any kind of sugar work. It takes the guesswork out of fudge making, especially if you are a beginner.

For even more caramel flavour, I have used a combination of demerara sugar and white granulated sugar.

As the fudge is extremely hot – even after 10 minutes of beating off the heat, it will melt the balls, so work quickly, I’m not sure how to get around this as there is a fine line when the fudge hardens to the point where it becomes difficult to spread. I quite liked seeing and tasting the thin strata of chocolate in the fudge, and the malt balls remain nice and crispy.

Be sure to store them in an airtight container as soon as you have cut the pieces. 

This is a labour of love and there is no getting around the constant stirring. I suggest getting friends or family members involved to take off some of the load.

Keep the malted balls out of arm’s reach while stirring, you will want to snack on these.

Recipe – makes about 30 squares

Fudge with chocolate malt balls

A classic fudge recipe with chocolate malted balls (Chuckles, Maltesers)

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 x 385 g can of condensed milk
• 110 g butter
• 250 g granulated white sugar
• 200 g  Demerara sugar
• 140 ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod seed removed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
• 2 cups 250gm chocolate malted puffs
• Line a 20 x 20 cm tin with baking paper.

Instructions

• Add all the ingredients to a pot except the chocolate malted balls and the vanilla extract, and stir over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
• Bring the mixture to a boil, and stir continuously for 15–20 minutes until it has reached 118 ºC on a sugar thermometer.
• Take it off the heat and beat it vigorously for a further 10 or so minutes until it starts to ‘fudge’ on the sides of the pot and becomes very stiff.
• As it starts to stiffen, add the vanilla extract and the malted balls, stir briefly and immediately tip the fudge into the prepared tin, pressing it into the corners and smoothing it out. Leave it to cool and set before removing from the tin and cutting it into squares.

Author: Sam Linsell

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