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Saturday, November 13, 2010

Bacon Fudge w/ Bacon-Caramel Shards

I refuse to apologize for my love of bacon.  It's something I can't help.  Meaty, salty, smoky strips of goodness.  Me likey.  And you know those chocolate bars studded with bacon?  Well, I've never tried one.  Always meant to, just never ran across one...or took the time to order one.  But I know I'd like it...the combination.  I mean, salty marries sweet?  It's a natural.  So, as soon as Beth Anne rolled out her Bacon Games, I figured it was time for me to make that union at home.  Plus, 'tis the season for fudge...or it will be in the blink of an eye...which meant it was time to start experimenting!  This is one of those quick-fudge methods, which I learned from THE kitchen goddess herself, Nigella Lawson.  But the candied bacon nestled inside...I put that there.  You're welcome.

Bacon Fudge w/ Bacon Caramel Shards
from the kitchen of girlichef
yield: 64 bite sized or 36 two-bite sized pieces

 for the candied bacon:
½ lb. bacon
brown sugar, for dredging

for the fudge:
12 oz. bittersweet or dark chocolate, chips or chopped
14 oz. can sweetened, condensed milk
2 Tbs. butter

Begin by making the candied bacon.  Preheat oven to 400° F.  Dredge both sides of the bacon in brown sugar and lay on a parchment lined sheet tray.
Bake for ~15-20 minutes, or until the bacon is just done and the brown sugar has just set and caramelized.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  I also had some beautiful bacon-flavored caramel on left on my sheet of parchment and thought it would be an awesome addition to the fudge!
Place the chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and butter in a medium pan over medium-low heat.  Stir everything around until the chocolate has melted and everything is melded together in a gorgeous, glossy mass. Remove from heat. Crumble the caramelized bacon and bacon caramel shards into the mixture, reserving a couple of pieces of each for the top, and gently fold them in.  Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper (for easy lifting) and pour the fudge mixture in, scooting it out to the sides if necessary.  Crumble the reserved couple of pieces of bacon & caramel over the top and gently press down.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours, or until set.  Life the fudge out of the pan using the parchment paper.  Cut into squares, ~1" (eight by eight) for perfect one-bite morsels!  Or, if you prefer, go 6 by 6 and get 36 double-bite-sized hunks.  Store in the fridge...or even in the freezer for longer-term storage...can be eaten directly from freezer.
I LOVED the combination of sweet and salty...just as I knew I would.  A marriage made in heaven, indeed.  This is my entry into the very first Bacon Games challenge!  I am also sending this over to Jenn at Cooking Aweigh the Pounds who is hosting BSI (Blogger Secret Ingredient) this week...secret ingredient...Bacon!
TheBaconGames

Would you like to comment?

  1. Three words: I LUV YOU! Oh my goodness, girl! You are trying to make me cry here. I am a huge fan of bacon, and although I've never tried it with fudge, I refuse to believe that is anything but super delicioso!

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  2. Bacon fudge....really? Okay now I'm a big fan of bacon, but I am a little picky about it, because I don't like Canadian bacon which tastes like ham to me and I don't like ham. I also don't like my bacon sweet...no maple bacon for me. I don't like meat or anything that is supposed to be savory sweet. I do like salty and sweet though, love salted caramel and chocolate covered pretzels. So this is a dilemma for me! I still think I would like to try it though. The photo is so tempting! Good job!

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  3. Sweet and savory!. I hear ya..omg unbelievable.

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  4. Lyndsey...oh yeah, salted caramel, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate with bacon...all along the same lines of salty-sweet fabulousness! But yeah, Canadian Bacon is actually ham, so that would explain your aversion to it! I like pig in general, but I'd say give it a try at least once, you never know ;)

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  5. OH my god heather. I cannot even speak...i am simply entranced by this lovely bacony goodness! I totally have to make this stuff soon! Alex

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  6. Heather, you've completed my trifecta (almost, I have to make and try this!) In the last month or so I've tried bacon beer and bacon vodka, and now, soon bacon fudge! I may be in heaven. :)

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  7. OMG woman! LOL< I have to go excercise now~! ha ha

    Looks fan frekin tastic

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  8. I think you used too much bacon.

    ha ha ha ha ha ha, OK, we both know there is no such thing.

    These are awesome nuggets on bacony goodness.

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  9. I just read something about chocolate covered bacon strips, and I thought, "interesting, I might want to try it" but then you post this, and I'm thinking "oh, yeah, I want a piece." Amazing, Heather!

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  10. I love salty and sweet and this looks wonderful. I make fudge every Christmas and you know one of this year's batches will have some bacon. I mentioned in one of my posts that when I was in my 20's and didn't care what I ate, I used to strategically top a candy bar with potato chips...to get my sweet/salty fix. :-)

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  11. I must try this. This is totally new to me. I am really curious now.

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  12. Why do you have to apologize? Absolutely no reason to!

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  13. You are killing me with this. It's everything I've ever wanted and more. Bless you.

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  14. Okay, so I don't eat meat, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate how pretty these are. And you shouldn't apologize for your love of bacon. ;-)

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  15. I'm thinking of doing chocolate covered bacon, you know!

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  16. Hells YES! We love this bacon bar World Market carries.........you really made a delicious snack here.

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  17. You know I am soooo all over this one! Fabulousa girlichef! fantastic!

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  18. Oh, sweet, salty, smoky deliciousness... I wish you were here!

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  19. OH MY GOSH! Bacon and fudge. My two most favorite things in the whole world.

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  20. I have been wanting to try chocolate covered bacon, but fudge takes it to a whole new level! Amazing!

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  21. Bacon & fudge???Never thought thz 2 cud be clubbed!! But no doubt it was delicious like all ur recipes ;)

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  22. Bacon, chocolate and caramel! The chubby godsare smiling - they win. Who could resist?

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  23. Fudge and bacon? Oh my, oh my. You sure know how to get my tastebuds going! I can only imagine how great that salty, crispy bacon tastes with that creamy fudge. Thank you for sharing. I'm hoping that your week is full of joy.

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  24. I've yet to try bacon & chocolate together. It will gladly be going on my to-do list! :D

    Nice post Heather.

    Carmen

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  25. BACON! this is glorious heather, truly the two best ingredients in the world combined. i actually made a bacon dessert today, such a fun combo. this looks wonderful!

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  26. No apologies needed! :)

    Looks really good! Like REALLY good!
    ~ingrid

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  27. This is so wrong on so many levels but holy cow does it look GOOD! You should enter this for the BSI Bacon this week, she's doing it for 2 weeks at a time.

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  28. Looks like there must be bacon in the air because I just made a bacon-studded sweet myself. Your bacon caramel looks amazing, I'll just take a pound of that, please, as my holiday present :)

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  29. Heather - I am speechless - doesn't happen often. I am always in awe of what you make but this seriously is the craziest most delicious sounding fudge ever. ever. ever. dang girl you are awesome!

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  30. On my--as a lover of the Mo's Bacon Bar from Vosges I gotta say that your fudge completely outdoes it! It looks amazing--I am drooling right now. Great job!

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  31. Fabulous recipe! I stand behind my theory that everything is better with bacon. ;)

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  32. *cue the music* because this looks fantastic! Two favorite ingredients - bacon and chocolate;-)

    I'm thinking that Beth will be more than pleased.

    P.S. Loved that you used Nigella's base recipe. I make that one all the time.

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  33. You had me at bacon. I love bacon and chocolate. Really what there to not like about this? :)

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  34. Don't you dare apologize for loving such an awesome culinary treat :)

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  35. I don't always love sweet and salty, but I do love sweet and savory. And my favorite combination is sweet bacon. oh my!

    You can buy those chocolate bars at World Market but they're about $6 a bar. Why not make your own chocolate/caramelized bacon bark? I'm sure it'd be much better anyway!

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  36. What a amazing idea - my mouth is absolutely watering! I would never have thought to put bacon in fudge, but it looks like a marriage made in heaven.

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  37. OH MY GAWD this is fabulous! I just had my first chocolate bacon bar and loved it. This is amazing!

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  38. Ok, I've been away from my computer for a few days so I didn't get to look at this until just now...and OH MY HELL!!!
    I think I may weep....seriously....because I don't have any of this in front of me right now....You're pure evil....
    Thanks for submitting to The Bacon Games!

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  39. Dear Heather,
    please come visit me.
    Bring bacon fudge.
    Love,
    Natashya

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  40. holy crap i really adore BACON!

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  41. OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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