Alice in the Kitchen

A Very Redneck Christmas – Velveeta Fudge

I asked Matt’s roommates recently if they had ever eaten (or even heard of) Velveeta fudge.  Their responses were, not surprisingly, overwhelmingly skeptical.

Not that I can blame them.  When I first heard about “Velveeta Fudge” I remember thinking that it sounded pretty disgusting – a regular fudge made with Velveeta cheese?  Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud to be a redneck, but really?  Fudge made with Velveeta?  We’re not too poor to make real fudge… are we?

But let’s be honest.  I’m not above trying it.  And this Christmas seemed like the perfect occasion, especially in light of the fact that my dad will eat just about anything, so it probably wouldn’t go to waste.

The ingredients were simple: Velveeta, butter, powdered sugar, and cocoa.  But I’m not a huge fan of plain fudge, so I also bought some dried cherries to throw in the fudge, along with some extra pecans we had at the house.

So we begin.  Melting the butter with the Velveeta was easy enough, but it didn’t really look “smooth” as the recipe suggested that it might.  Perhaps the problem was that I didn’t stir “continuously,” as was also suggested in the recipe.

So after this mix got all melted together, I added some vanilla, the cherries, and the pecans, and ended up with this:

At this point, I was fairly doubtful that the Velveeta Fudge was going to be edible.  But I pressed on.  Now I stirred the mixture above into 2 pounds of powdered sugar and 1/2 cup of cocoa:

And then pressed the mixture above into a lightly greased 11×7 pan:

And put it into the fridge to chill.

Later we sliced it, and we ended up with:

drumroll please…..

some REALLY delicious fudge!  It was smooth and light and creamy, just like fudge should be – and there was no hint of a cheese flavor.

So I’m happy to have been the test kitchen for you – Velveeta Fudge is a winner!  The recipe on the Velveeta website is quite a bit more complicated than the recipe I used, so I can only vouch for the one below, and it’s very easy.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, sliced
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped nuts, pecans, walnuts
• 2 (16-ounce) boxes confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

Directions

Spray lightly the bottom of a 9×9 or 11×7 pan.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the cheese and butter together, stirring constantly until smooth.  Remove from heat and add the vanilla and nuts (and the cherries if you so choose!)

In a large bowl mix together the sugar and cocoa.  Pour the cheese mixture into the sugar and cocoa mixture and stir until completely mixed.

Using your hands, remove candy from bowl and press evenly and firmly into pan.

Chill and cut!  Enjoy!!