Recipe: White Chocolate Candy Cane Fudge

This recipe isn't a healthy one - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make it! 

Whilst I love healthy eating, I'm also a huge advocate for healthy balance. We eat incredibly healthy meals and love creating healthy recipes - but we also eat ice cream and chocolate and I currently have a candy cane stash in my snack drawer (Aldi has gluten free and artificial nasty free candy canes, if you're looking - they're also really yum).

At Christmas time, most of our food is actually really healthy as we celebrate Christmas in summer. We have fresh ham, delicious salads, roasted turkey and chicken - but we also have decadent additions like my Mum's Christmas Pudding and sweet treats like this Candy Cane Fudge (which I am loving). 

I've been seeing too much about "Christmas Guilt" and I want you to scrap that idea altogether. This Christmas, I want you to think about Christmas balance, rather than guilt. You can enjoy a slice of Christmas Pudding, a piece of fudge and some of your favourite Christmas traditions because, you know what? Christmas happens once a year. Would you rather remember yourself sulking at the dinner table because you won't let yourself enjoy the food - or remember how much fun you had with your family? I don't know about you, but I'd choose my family. 

Celebrating Christmas with allergies can be tricky. I can't eat a lot of the foods my family does, but that just means we've had to add some new delicious dishes to our Christmas table - and this Candy Cane fudge is one Christmas recipe I've been adoring! It's also one of the simplest recipes ever as it uses just three ingredients!

So you want the recipe, right? Well here it is!

White Chocolate Candy Cane Fudge makes about 36 squares 

 a gluten free recipe that whilst not healthy in the traditional sense - is healthy for your mind and all about balance!

250g/8.8 oz white chocolate (We use Whittaker's as it's gluten free)

4-6 large candy canes, crushed 

290g/10 oz sweetened condensed milk* (see notes)

First, crush your candy canes by place them in a ziplock bag and crushing them using a rolling pin or the flat side of a meat mallet. 

Line a 8x8" baking pan with baking paper.

Take out a medium saucepan and fill with about an inch of water. Heat over a high heat until it just starts to simmer and turn the heat down to low. 

Add your chocolate and condensed milk to a heatproof mixing bowl and place on top of the saucepan, making sure the water isn't touching the bottom of the bowl. 

Melt the chocolate over a low heat, stirring continuously and taking straight off the heat once everything is melted and smooth. 

Mix through your crushed candy canes and pour into your tin.

Place into the fridge until set and then slice into pieces. 

The fudge will keep fresh in the fridge for a couple of weeks and will keep for months if stored in the freezer.

*We tested this recipe with both regular sweetened condensed milk and skim sweetened condensed milk. Both versions work, however, the regular condensed milk definitely works better. If you make this with skim condensed milk, you'll have a softer fudge that will need to be kept in the freezer (it'll melt and go gooey if you leave it out) whilst the regular version we kept in the fridge and it was also fine to sit out for a while.

But tell me, what's your favourite Christmas treat?

Also, be sure to share your tips for enjoying a balanced Christmas in the comments below - you may just help out another reader in need!

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