Microwave fudge

Growing up, I used any excuse possible to make this easy microwave fudge. The recipe, like a hidden treasure, was tucked away on a shelf in the kitchen in a little green flimsy cookbook that my mom brought home from Saudi Arabia.  

You know how neighborhoods or churches get together and make a cookbook that is a composite of all their favorite recipes?  It was that kind of cookbook, except it was from the company apartment complex where my family lived in Udhailiyah (or in Arabic, العضيلية),  Saudi Arabia in the early 1980's. I was just a baby when this cookbook showed up, so I assumed it had always existed, that it was a permanent fixture in our house.  I never questioned where the recipe came from or who submitted it, always assuming that person was gone in the wind, living in another country and sharing her chocolate fudge secret with other people that needed it.  I only knew that it was good and that, like any good and easy dessert, the best part was scrapping the goo off the sides of the bowl with a spatula before it was sinfully washed away.

This fudge has been with me for a very long time, during after school snacks and teenage chocolate cravings, late college nights and grown up potluck parties.  Even after I found out about those pesky food allergies I have, it was still there when I needed it... in a dairy free way. I would make an individual serving size variation of it in a coffee mug, pop it in the microwave and eat it with a spoon, leaning against the kitchen counter, one leg crossed over the other, the microwave door still open and feelings of satisfaction and nostalgia swirling around in my kitchen.

It wasn't until our mother/daughter trip to Paris a few weeks ago that I found out my mom was the one who submitted the fudge recipe to the Arabic compilation cookbook.  She said she found it one day, in the midst of a chocolate craving, in a How-To-Use-A-Microwave cookbook (because this was when microwaves were the new big thing).  So she found this recipe and in the ah-haa! moment that followed when she discovered she had the proper ingredients, she commenced to made The Fudge and bring a Stokley family favorite into this world.

And so, I bestow upon you this recipe for the best and easiest fudge via the Arabic compilation cookbook, "Sahtayn." (said in the Arab world after a meal.  Literally, it means, "to health to you.")  And via my mom. Mind you, I concede that there may be better fudge out there; it is possible.  But in the "Easy and Best"category, or the "Whip it up cuz company's commin" category, or even the "I need chocolate right now, the kind you lick off a spatula" category, this one wins.

Microwave Fudge (vegan)

1/4 cup Cocao powder

1 one lb. box Powdered Sugar (It is important to buy the 1 lb. box or bag.  It is the perfect amount.  If you do not use the box/bag, you will fail.)

1/2 cup or 1 stick of dairy free margarine (Flischmann's Unsalted)*

1/4 cup Soy milk*

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 small bags nut topping, or 2 x 1/3 cups nut topping (optional)
handful of chocolate chips (optional)

*For the original recipe, as you can guess, use regular butter and milk instead.

In a 1.5 qt microwave save bowl, stir sugar, cocao, salt, milk and vanilla together until partially blended (Mixture is too stiff to throughly blend in all of the ingredients).  Place butter over top in center of dish.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes.  Stir vigorously until smooth.    If all butter has not melted in cooking, it will as the mixture is stirred.  An electric mixer may be used.  Blend in 1 bag (1/3 cup) of nuts if using.  Pour into buttered dish. Cover with remaining nut topping and chocolate chips.  Chill at least 1 hour in refrigerator.  This gives the fudge fairies time to bless your fudge with goodness.  Cut into squares. Enjoy!


* use 1/3 cup coco for a richer chocolate flavor.
* For a salty/sweet flavor, add cracked sea salt to the dish before pouring the fudge and again as a topping.  A little goes a long way.