Rich Sugar-Free Refrigerator Fudge

Note: This article was posted as part of The Frugal LowCarber’s ChocolateFest 2012. For more great recipes and ideas, see the main ChocolateFest page!

The minute I realized my carb counts were high enough, I went searching the web for a good sugar-free fudge recipe. I wound up disappointed.

It seemed that all the recipes that popped up either

• relied on sugar-free instant pudding for the thickener; or
• relied on flour or cornstarch; or
• plagiarized this diabetic fudge recipe.

Of course the flour and so forth wouldn’t do. And if I was going to go out and buy instant pudding, what was the point of turning it into something else? Why not just…make pudding?

So I tried the legitimate-looking version of the diabetic fudge.

And I could barely taste the chocolate.

Apparently”regular” homemade fudge recipes are primarily sugar; the chocolate is almost an afterthought. So I imagine the cookbook authors have created something that gives about as much chocolate flavor as “regular” homemade fudge.

But I had been eating dark chocolate for years before I went low carb. I decided we needed a little more imagination here!

It turned out to be a very easy “tweak.” I used their amounts of sweetener as a proportions guideline and went from there. The result? A fudge that emphasizes the chocolate instead of the other stuff.

Sugar-free, gluten-free, chocolate…and easy. What more could you want?

Well, how about a variation? I have successfully substituted cocoa powder for up to two ounces of the baking chocolate. (No need to add the extra fat.)

Rich Sugar-Free Refrigerator Fudge

Ingredients

• 16 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• Sweetener equal to 1 & 1/2 cups sugar. Try one of these:
• 1& 1/2 tsp liquid stevia, OR
• 1 tsp liquid stevia and 12 packets stevia/erythritol blend, OR
• your favorite!
• 5 – 6 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate, melted
• (optional) Another half-ounce of baking chocolate, melted, for garnish

Directions

1. Use the biggest mixing bowl you’ve got: cream cheese flies all over the place when you take a mixer to it!
2. Put the cream cheese in the bowl and beat until fluffy. (If some of it climbs the sides of the bowl, stop and scrape it down with a spoon or rubber spatula.)
3. Stir in the sweetener, then mix well.
4. Add the 5 – 6 ounces of melted chocolate. Stir, then mix until well blended. You will need to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times to get everything mixed in.
5. Spread the batter in a loaf pan or a large plastic storage container. (Using metal can help the fudge harden faster.) Cover and place in the refrigerator for 3 – 4 hours, or until hardened.
6. Cut into 16 – 32 pieces, and drizzle with more melted chocolate if desired.
7. Store in refrigerator.

Yield: 16 – 32 pieces of fudge.

Nutritional Information: For the 5 ounces of chocolate version, each of 32 pieces contains approximately 1.7 g carbohydrates, 0.7 g fiber, 1.0 g net carbs, 1.6 g protein, 7.2 g fat, and 71 calories.