Saturday, March 6, 2010

Dulce de Leche-Cookies 'n Cream Fudge : A Mouthful



I'll gladly admit it: I love ice cream. I could be really fancy about it and add that my favorite summertime treat used to be blood orange sorbet, but I won't. I'm here to talk about the one you scoop from the tub, and decorate with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles and--obviously--a maraschino cherry. As a child, I had three favorite ice creams, and the fact that I can no longer find two of them makes them even more desirable in my mind. Although, when I get nostalgic, I go over to the ice cream shop approximately one minute away from my apartment and get some Nutella or candied chestnut ice cream. Wait, which place am I talking about? Because I have four distinct ice cream places one minute away. Really.

In any case, my favorite ice creams were the store-brand ones. President's Choice, to be precise. "PC", as insiders call it, is a pretty funny brand--it's Canadian, but some strange bilateral treaty made it available in Jewel grocery stores in the early 1990s. That meant our local Jewel was always stocked with Stracciatela ice cream and, seasonally, Candy Cane ice cream. Unless you hate candy canes--and I know some of you out there do--this is a treat if there ever was one. Just one bite and you'll be screaming "Christmas!" and running around trying to hang stockings up anywhere you can.

Now for the third favorite, which contrary to the second is probably shared by many: Cookies and Cream. The sight of black and white itself in a scoop made me swoon, and even though my preference goes towards cookie dough nowadays, I still hold a soft spot in my heart for Cookies and Cream. Then again, who holds a hard spot in their heart for any kind of ice cream? You would have to be a little strange.

So when I came across this recipe for Cookies and Cream fudge by Sinful Southern Sweets, I pictured a solid version of the ice cream, chewy and delicious. No, I'm not referring to astronaut ice cream, although I loved that too--only chocolate and vanilla however. Strawberry? Not so much.

Back to the fudge: I made it as soon as humanly possible, and something strange happened. I carefully kept the whole mixture on low heat as it cooked, and stirred until my arm almost fell out, but the whole thing sort of caramelized. Sort of disappointed in myself, I decided to taste it only when it was set and ready to be cut into pieces. One taste of this edible marble (don't you agree it looks like marble? I would willingly make a countertop out of it) and I was blown away. This wasn't only cookies and cream: this was cookies and cream with dulce de leche. Best of both worlds, I tell you. I'll make it again, and who knows, maybe it'll come out nice and white. For now, though, I'll keep my hybrid fudge--and suggest someone makes an ice cream flavor out of it.



Cookies and Cream Fudge

18 ounces baker's white chocolate
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 c. coarsely crushed Oreos

In a heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt white chocolate, condensed milk and salt. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture reaches 234 °F. Watch it closely!

Remove from heat and stir in crushed cookies.

Spread into a square or rectangular pan (mine is rectangular but smaller than 9x13) lined with wax paper. Chill until firm.

On a cutting board, peel fudge away from wax paper and cut into bite-sized squares. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for a few days.
Print this post

15 comments:

Ingrid_3Bs said...

You know it would probably be insanely good in vanilla ice cream. Oh, yea baby! :)
~ingrid

Fran said...

As soon as I saw cookies and cream I was sold, and dulce de leche just makes it even better!
I will try this out, thank you :D

Sam said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Paris Food Blague said...

wowza.....fudge and ice cream. this is very exciting.

any good ice cream places in paris to recommend? everyone talks about berthillon, which is good, but i was never very impressed. and that amorino place is so industrial.

i may just have to move to italy.
a bientot
the paris food blague

Lucie said...

Paris food blague: I really enjoy Grom which is rue de Buci--they make amazing nougat ice cream and marron glacé ice cream too. All their ingredients are natural but it's quite pricey... It's the luxury amorino!

Sherry G said...

I just love fudge but have never made it. This would be a great one to try! I really need to make it!!!!

Anna Mullican said...

Haha, I love the story on this one! That looks deliciously decadent! : )

grace said...

i think i might prefer a fudge version to an ice cream--that way, i could take my sweet time savoring every ounce of its decadence. this is a really fantastic creation, lucie--nicely done!

Anonymous said...

This is definitely sinful! But I reckon one (or two) squares of that delish looking fudge would have you quite satisfied! :)

K8teebug said...

Do you have a double boiler? I think that would be better for this recipe. But, not better if you still want that awesome caramel flavor.

K8teebug said...

Do you have a double boiler? I think that would be better for this recipe. But, not better if you still want that awesome caramel flavor.

Lucie said...

Grace: thanks! I have to agree--fudge doesn't melt so you have time to eat the whole pan!

Vicky: I can assure you that 5 or 6 was more like it in my case! It's surprisingly not that decadent when you taste it!

Katy: the thought crossed my mind--do you think it would take longer for the temp to get up to 234 though?

Barbara said...

Anything at all with condensed milk is divine, Lucie. I am going to have to try this little sweet. Is one of those enough to satisfy a sweet tooth?

Lucie said...

Barbara, I'd say one of those is enough to satisfy a tiny sweet tooth, which unfortunately is never my case!

LyB said...

Oh, wow! This is so calling my name! It does look like marble, very beautiful. Certainly a special occasion kind of treat. :)