Dark Chocolate Cherry Fudge (Glacé Cherries)

This fudge requires minimal ingredients and is easy to throw together: the only real time it takes is the two-hour cooling period in the fridge. I like to stir in glacé cherries and a dash of almond extract, but adding in nuts or diced stem ginger instead is also very nice.

dark chocolate, broken into small pieces (500 g)
glacé cherries, chopped, reserve 8 cherries for topping and chop these too (200 g)
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
½ tsp. pure almond extract

Line a 8x8" pan with parchment paper.

Combine the chocolate, condensed milk, almond extract and chopped cherries (minus the reserved cherries) in a heatproof bowl and place over simmering pan of water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.

Stir continuously until all the chocolate has melted.

Working quickly, transfer the chocolate mixture to the prepared pan and even the top with an offset spatula.

Scatter and lightly press in the reserved chopped cherries over the top.

Refrigerate for a minimum of two hours, then remove from fridge and cut into small squares.

Storage:

• Homemade fudge made with condensed milk is quite soft compared to traditional fudge. This means it should be kept in the refrigerator, if left at room temperature it will soften further.
• You can store this lemon fudge in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• You could also store it in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container.