Red Velvet Fudge

It's funny how our tastes change over time. Like, how I used to love those mixed licorice candies more than life itself, and I was so incredibly excited to find them at the store the other day. You know what? They sort of taste like over-sweetened rubber.

Maybe it's the change of countries, but these days I like my chocolate dark, my coffee black and my candies not super sweet.

So when I saw this absolutely genius idea for making red velvet fudge from one of the blogs I love to stalk read, I was thrilled to see that it doesn't require marshmallow creme or condensed milk or those other super sweet unobtainable-in-Israel ingredients. (condensed milk we have, marshmallow creme is always questionable)

What you do need in making this recipe is a lot of faith. Faith that adding so much red food coloring is both 1) good for you and 2) will not stain your teeth irreparably.

Faith that the fudge will in fact cool down to the proper temperature even though you've been waiting for half an hour and cursing yourself for buying the pans that retain heat extra well.

Maybe it's just that I've been watching too much True Blood lately, but I felt like I was beating congealed blood in a mixer. Is that gross? Yes, it probably is.

I think next time I'll use a bit less food coloring than the recipe calls for- maybe Israeli food coloring is also different. Although if you're of the Halloween-celebrating persuasion, maybe it's your kind of fudge.

But I must say that it came out nice and smooth, not too sweet, and with the traditional red velvet hint of chocolate. And there's something childishly fun about eating something that's so shockingly red.

Recipe here in case you missed it above. I used half and half instead of milk (with 1 T vinegar to make fake buttermilk) and I highly recommend it.