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Easy Valentines Day Fudge

Ahhh, the season of love. When you combine my favorite color (red) and my favorite shape (a heart) with the taste of rich chocolate you’ve got a perfect combination on so many levels! Valentine’s Day is a great holiday to get creative in the kitchen. It’s a great night to go out, if you remembered to get reservations beforehand, but it can also be a very cozy night at home.

I’ve gathered many heart shaped items over the years and plan to show a few before the big day. They always say “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”, but I think there’s a little bit of truth to that for both men and women!

Valentine Fudge

Today, sweetened condensed fudge is the victim of my heart shaped cookie cutters. Sweetened condensed milk has a pretty long shelf life. Here’s a can of Eagle brand I used with a best by date of 6 months ago. I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but it looks just like new to me.

Fudge with Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe

Steps for Fudge with Sweetened Condensed Milk:

1) Melt 3 cups of chocolate chips with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and a couple shakes (about 1/4t) of salt in a heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring often.

2) Remove from the heat once the texture becomes smooth and soft (no lumps) and then add a teaspoon of vanilla.

3) Line a 9″ pan with waxed paper and pour the melted chocolate in and spread out evenly.

4) Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours.

5) Loosen the edges of the fudge and then lift the waxed paper out of the pan and onto a cutting board (or other work surface) and peel off the waxed paper.

6) Press a heart shaped cookie cutter to make individual servings of quick & easy fudge.

We love this Wilton Nesting Heart Cutter Set because you can make many more hearts out of one pan of fudge, utilizing all different sizes of hearts. They’re cheap to purchase, you can make a creative display with all the different sizes and they take up less storage space neatly nested in your cupboard when stored for next Valentine’s Day!

** TIP: All of the “scrap” fudge (pieces left over after cutting hearts) can be rolled into small balls and then rolled into chopped nuts or cocoa for simple truffles.

The sweetened condensed fudge can be placed on a platter to serve as a group dessert or they can be wrapped individually (maybe with the appropriate conversation hearts) to spread the love.

If you prefer a softer creamier texture sweetened condensed fudge, it can remain covered on the counter for a couple of days. Otherwise, to extend sweetened condensed fudge shelf life you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Have a Happy Valentines Day!

What You Can Do

P.S. We’ve got a few other Valentine recipes, including Valentines Day Rice Krispie Treats. We’ve also got a healthier fudge recipe that’s included in our post of healthy sweets.

To find out how long other foods are good for, please visit the Dairy, Drinks, Fruits, Grains, Proteins, Vegetables and Other sections of Eat By Date or use the search function below.