A Friend Writes...

Oh, fudge!

News of Velveeta Fudge was shocking to me. And sounded all too delicious. Do continue on, gentle readers.

"I am a child of the easy-preparation meal generation. Yeah, that one, where Swanson TV dinners came in to providence. However, I also am a Midwesterner, where we call our casseroles “hot dishes” and most of those revolved around easy-to-procure processed products from the inner aisles of the grocery. The tuna hot dish had a layer of crushed ruffled potato chips as a crust. Sloppy Joes started with a can or two of Manwich sauce. Bisquick founds its way into a mix of leftover chicken, as in chicken & dumplings. And there was always a brick of Velveeta cheese in the back of the fridge, which could take you from mac & cheese to a Frito chip dip made with RO*TEL tomatoes to classic grilled cheese sammies (sometimes with deli ham slices for a more hearty meal). And Velveeta even made it into dessert. Velveeta fudge. My aunt Carole likes to make this recipe around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Once you get past the fact that there’s a whole lot of yellow-orange processed cheese in this beast, you’ll really like the texture and moistness of this. Most of my extended family loathes walnuts, which is a perfectly good nut, but we prefer pecans. I’ve also made this fudge with chopped honey-roasted peanuts, which adds a salty-sweet profile to the fudge."

Thanks Thom! Check out his website here.

Velveeta Fudge
Ingredients
3/4 lb. (12 oz.) Velveeta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
6 squares Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup
2 pkg. (16 oz. each) powdered sugar (about 8 cups)
1-1/2 cups chopped PLANTERS Pecans
1 tsp. vanilla

Method
Put Velveeta, butter, chocolate and corn syrup in large microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high for 2 min.; stir. Microwave an additional minute; stir until well blended. Add chocolate mixture, in batches, to sugar in large bowl, beating with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended after each addition. Stir in pecans and vanilla. Pour into greased 13x9-inch pan. Smooth top with spatula; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until firm before cutting into 1-inch squares to serve. For longer storage, wrap tightly and freeze up to 2 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight before serving.

Thanks to ireallylikefood.com for the photo.