It’s always so much fun when we can incorporate some Kitchen Science into our lessons. The kids especially love it when that kitchen science involves Candy! So for St. Patrick’s Day we decided it was time for some sweet treats. This was a little out of the box for us, but it turned out amazing! Check out this St. Patrick’s Day Cheesecake Fudge Recipe.
Green Cheesecake Fudge Recipe
What you will discover in this article!
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Fudge is a favourite around here! We started with some basic fudge recipes as we mastered the science but since then we have gone on to create some incredible fudge treats! We’ve made Magical Butterbeer Fudge, Unicorn Fudge, Playdough Fudge, Rainbow Fudge, Valentine’s Day Fudge, Christmas Fudge, and even a 2 ingredient fudge for those times when you need fudge NOW!
That’s one of the things I love about kitchen science, it is so easy to get kids excited about making food, especially treats. And once those passions are ignited their imaginations can go wild! The creations that come out of their brains always amaze and excite me.
Do I have you convinced to do some candy science? Good, let’s get started with this delicious cheesecake fudge recipe.
Cheesecake Fudge Ingredients and Supplies
1 ½ 12-ounce bags of white chocolate chips
1 stick of unsalted butter softened
1-3.4-ounce box of cheesecake flavor instant pudding
1/3 cup milk
3 cups of powdered sugar
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon mint flavored extract
Green food coloring
Gold sprinkles or colored sugar
8×8 baking pan lined with parchment paper
Butter or Cooking spray
1 chopstick or wooden skewer
How to make St. Patrick’s Day Fudge
Grease the pan with butter or a cooking spray (I prefer butter!) and line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Set it aside.
In a medium sized bowl, add the butter and white chocolate chips. Important tip! Always buy the best quality chocolate you can find. It makes all the difference in the world when it comes to the final quality and taste of your fudge!
Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave in 30 second bursts until completely melted and smooth. Stir between each 30 second burst and do not cook for more than 30 seconds at a time. As we learned in our other fudge making lessons, it is very easy to burn sugar.
Stir until smooth.
Mix the salt and mint extract into melted chocolate mixture.
Add the cheesecake pudding mix and milk to a small bowl. Whisk it together until smooth. The consistency will be much thicker than when you usually make pudding.
Fold the pudding mixture into the melted chocolate mixture.
Slowly add in the powdered sugar, about ¾ cup at a time. You can use a hand mixer for this step or a sturdy spoon and put the kids to work. Breaking a sweat while making fudge simply means you can eat a few more pieces when it’s finished!
Continue to add in powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth and completely combined. If it appears too thick, add a tablespoon of milk., If it appears too runny, add 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. You want it nice and thick but still pours.
Adding Luck of the Irish Green & Gold
Separate the mixture evenly into two bowls. Add green food coloring into one of the bowls. Add the colour, 1-2 drops at a time and stir, until you get your desired color.
Now pull out the pan you prepared at the beginning. Using a spoon, alternate adding the green and white fudge mixture into the pan until the bottom of the pan is completely covered. Using a chopstick or wooden skewer, swirl the colours together to create a cool pattern.
Press the gold candy sprinkles into the top of the fudge.
Cover the baking pan with tinfoil and place it in the refrigerator until the fudge is firm. This takes about 1 to 2 hours.
Turn out the fudge carefully out of the pan onto a cutting board. Using a large, sharp knife cut the fudge into 1″ square pieces.
Store in an airtight container.
The Science of Fudge
Candy science is about controlling the formation of crystalline sugar. By working with sugar you can create everything from a hard lollipop or rock candy to the melt in your mouth softness of a creamy fudge. It’s all about how you heat and work the sugars during the making of your candy.
With fudge we want to disrupt the formation of crystals. If we don’t do this successfully our fudge will be grainy.
This fudge recipe is very simple and doesn’t require much control over the crystallization of the sugars. If you feel like making a true fudge and working with those sugar crystals to create the perfect, traditional fudge, go check out our original vanilla and chocolate fudge recipes.
Happy Candy Making! And I hope this St. Patrick’s Day brings the luck of the Irish your way!
More Inspired Learning
Don’t miss out on this free St. Patrick’s Day educational printable pack!
St. Patrick’s Day Cheesecake Fudge Recipe
This St. Patrick's Day Fudge brings the luck of the Irish to your holiday! A unique and tasty treat, this cheesecake fudge recipe melts in the mouth. Includes some fun kitchen science as we learn about sugar crystallization.
Prep Time 45 minutes
Setting Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings 30 pieces
Supplies
- 1.5bags12-ounce bags of white chocolate chipsBuy the highest quality you can find to ensure best flavour in your fudge
- 1 stickUnsalted butter softened
- 1box3.4-ounce box of cheesecake flavor instant pudding
- 1/3cupmilk
- 3cupspowdered sugar
- 1/2tsp sea salt
- 1tspmint extract
- green food colouring
- gold candy sprinkles
Instructions
Grease the pan with butter or a cooking spray (I prefer butter!) and line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Set it aside.
In a medium sized bowl, add the butter and white chocolate chips. Melt it in the microwave in 30 second bursts until completely melted and smooth. Stir between each 30 second burst and do not cook for more than 30 seconds at a time.
Stir until smooth.
Mix the salt and mint extract into melted chocolate mixture.
Add the cheesecake pudding mix and milk to a new mixing bowl. Whisk it together until smooth. The consistency will be much thicker than when you usually make pudding.
Fold the pudding mixture into the melted chocolate mixture.
Slowly add in the powdered sugar, about ¾ cup at a time. You can use a hand mixer for this step or a sturdy spoon.
Continue to add in powdered sugar until the mixture is smooth and completely combined. If it appears too thick, add a tablespoon of milk., If it appears too runny, add 1-2 tablespoons of powdered sugar. You want it nice and thick but still pours.
Separate the mixture evenly into two bowls. Add green food coloring into one of the bowls. Add the colour, 1-2 drops at a time and stir, until you get your desired color.
Now pull out the pan you prepared at the beginning.
Using a spoon, alternate adding the green and white fudge mixture into the pan until the bottom of the pan is completely covered.
Using a chopstick or wooden skewer, swirl the colours together to create a cool pattern.
Press the gold candy sprinkles into the top of the fudge.
Cover the baking pan with tinfoil and place it in the refrigerator until the fudge is firm. This takes about 1 to 2 hours.
Turn out the fudge carefully out of the pan onto a cutting board. Using a large, sharp knife cut the fudge into 1″ square pieces.
Store in an airtight container.
