Fudge Frenzy
The black and white cookies from the bakery down the street still taunt me at night. In my dreams I’m nine and I’m licking off the white half of the cookie. I love the smooth texture and the hint of lemon that bursts onto my tongue as it plays with the icing. My brothers always loved the chocolate part. In fact I think it is fair to say that I was in the minority in preferring the white part – but the lucky minority. Because everybody else liked the chocolate part I got to trade my chocolate for their white. There was nothing like the feeling of scoring someone else’s white half!
When my oldest son was diagnosed with his egg allergy the first thing I learned to make was an eggless black-and-white cookie. I found that I was able to replace the egg with the Ener-G egg replacer without affecting the texture of the soft white base of the cookie. I used to bake them almost weekly. I loved sharing this treasure of my childhood with my children.
My daughter’s celiac disease marked the end of black and white cookies for me and my kids. I knew I couldn’t replace both the egg and the wheat flour without affecting the consistency of the cookie. I shuddered to think of my precious black-and-white with the wrong consistency. But last week when I made that chocolate fudge recipe (see my blog) my mind started to reel. Perhaps I could make a white counterpart and create a gluten-free, egg-free version of the black-and-white. It would be black-and-white fudge!
The chocolate fudge was hard on the outside – almost like a chocolate bar, so I decided the white part would be creamy. I found a creamy chocolate fudge recipe that I could easily convert to white chocolate fudge. I made the white chocolate fudge and poured it onto a frozen chocolate fudge that I had in the freezer. I then put the black and white fudge into the refrigerator and silently prayed to the gluten-free gods that this would turn out well. That night would be the test.
Later that night we were all sitting around the kitchen table and I brought out my black and white fudge. I handed everyone small pieces and sat back to watch the results. The kids loved it immediately, which didn’t really come as a surprise. It was my husband that worried me. He looked it over long and hard, extending my suffering as long as he possibly can, and he took a bite of the chocolate part. He sat and contemplated it for a while (why did I marry this lunatic?), and he took a bite of the white. After a minute he started to nod his head as if to say, “yep, you did it. You finally made something that is worthy of my delicate palate.” “Eat both together,” I prompted, and he complied. “So?” I asked. “This is really good!” he exclaimed, almost as surprised as I was. I tried some and I loved it!!! The chocolate part was a great base because it’s more solid than the white. It was almost like a chocolate crust…but much fudgier. The white part was rich and creamy, like a thick white icing.
Because of its richness, you have to wash it down with water as opposed to soda or juice (although my kids washed it down with coke of course). And it had a ton of sugar (I made the mistake of giving it to my kids before bedtime), so a few days later I created a version with less sugar that turned out just as good:
Chocolate fudge “crust”
3 C. Powdered sugar
1/3 C. cocoa
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C. rice or soy milk
1 3/4 Tbl. vanilla
1/3 C. margarine
stir sugar, cocoa, salt, rice milk, and vanilla until partially blended.
Place margarine on top of mixture and put in microwave for 2 minutes.
Stir until smooth and pour into greased pan.
Let fudge harden in refrigerator before pouring on the topping.
Creamy white chocolate fudge topping
1/2 C. vanilla rice or soy milk
3/4 C. sugar
1/4 C. margarine
1/2 C. white chocolate chips
Pour rice/soy milk and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.
Bring to a boil for seven minutes stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add margarine and the white chocolate chips.
Stir mixture until smooth and creamy.
Pour over hardened chocolate fudge “crust,” and place in refrigerator for a few hours.
Enjoy!
Psst – If you haven’t already taken our gluten-free poll – take it now! http://www.jensglutenfreeblog.com/gluten-free-polls/gluten-free-super-site/
4 Responsesto “Fudge Frenzy”
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What is the point of using rice or soy milk if you are using white chocolate chips? Don’t those have milk in them?
I use dairy-free white chocolate chips. They are a little bit more difficult to find. Check out some of the vegan sites for white chocolate chips (just make sure they are gluten-free).
Thanks Jen.
Gluten Free Soy Sonia.
I still worried and thinking … that we can make the collective celiac Paea get “Celiac Law”?
Cree that celiacs in the USA, would join the claim?
Celiac patients are aware of the need for the law? a correct labeling? of gluten-free menus in schools, workplaces?
As we use more than three million undiagnosed patients (!) Needed medical protocol …
Thanks Jen, forgive the long message.
with affection
sonia gluten free
Does anyone know of any wheat/gluten free coking classes around the NYC Metropolitan area?
Please respond.