Minimal Monday, Easy Microwave Fudge

Considering I’m going into my second year as a part-time empty nester, there’s a surprising amount of communication between my two daughters and me. My Skype is constantly on, and like a reassuring umbilical cord it keeps me connected to my girls.

The various sounds and signals are so expressive.  There’s the chirpy little tone that tells me they’re just checking in to text ‘hi’, a string of chirpy little tones when they have so much to say that their fingers can barely keep pace, and the slightly annoying intermittent chirps which mean they’re multi-tasking and don’t have time for my questions.  The insistent bloop – bleeps of a video call usually means they’re missing home. And when a barrage of sounds peals forth from my laptop, followed by my cell phone echoing from the bowels of my purse, I know I’m needed, STAT.

Yesterday my youngest chirpped in from college with a request.  She was in the mood to cook something, but her dorm only has a microwave, no stove or oven.  My first suggestion was microwave fudge.  You can do that, she asked?  Yup, I responded, and copied and pasted a couple of quick links her way. After a few back and forths…she wanted real chocolate, not cocoa powder, no marshmallow, etc…, we came up with the perfect recipe.

About 20 minutes later, another chirp.  Same daughter.  Turns out the basement ‘kitchen’ in the dorm didn’t have foil.  Or the right kind of pan.  And being Sunday night, all the local stores were closed.

My daughter’s college has amazing dining halls.  One of them is directly under her bedroom window.  She has all the food she could ever want.  She can even go and get a pizza, or a cheeseburger and an ice cream shake in the wee hours of the morning.  But all the food in the world can’t take the place of  being able to fix something for yourself when you’re hungry.  There’s something elemental about that.

Easy Microwave Fudge

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz bag) semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter, cut in pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla

• Line a 9×9 inch pan with foil, going in both directions and letting some hang over the edge for easy removal later.  Spray with cooking spray.
• In a large microwave safe bowl put the chocolate, the butter and the condensed milk.
• Microwave on high 1 1/2 minutes.  Remove and stir.
• If the chocolate is not completely melted, put in back in the microwave for another 15 seconds and stir again, letting the residual heat in the bowl finish melting the chocolate.
• When it’s completely smooth, add in the vanilla and nuts and stir to combine.
• Spread into the prepared pan and smooth out the top.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Remove the foil sling from the pan and carefully peel it off the fudge.  Cut into squares with a sharp knife.

I’m going to send her a box of supplies and a batch of this fudge.  Any other good microwave-only ideas?  Let me know and I’ll copy and paste them right over to her.

PS  After I finished this post I came across this article.