17 Aug Lemon Meringue Fudge

A crunchy shortbread crust, a zesty lemon layer topped with a light, fluffy ‘meringue’. Nope it’s not Lemon Meringue Pie. It’s Fudge. A beautiful combination of all the delicious flavours you would expect from a Lemon Meringue Pie, concentrated into an adorably cute slice of fudge. This is what is known as a dessert mash-up. Two classic desserts merged into one!

I’ll be honest with you, this is not TRUE fudge. True fudge is made with butter, sugar and cream – all boiled together and then beaten to a thick mixture. This is kind of a cheat’s version, using condensed milk and white chocolate. The good news is this means its really quick and easy to make, and no sugar thermometer required.

If you’re wondering how on earth you could achieve a meringue-like texture in fudge, the answer is a very special ingredient – Marshmallow Fluff!  When folded into the fudge mixture it adds a lovely aerated, light texture – just what you’d imagine a meringue version of fudge to be like.

Ingredients:

For the base:
200g shortbread* (2 cups)
80g butter, melted (⅓ cup)

For the lemon fudge layer:
350g white chocolate
260g condensed milk (⅔ of a tin)
2,5ml finely grated lemon zest (½ tsp)
A few drops of lemon extract
A few drops of yellow food colouring

For the meringue layer:
150g white chocolate
130g condensed milk (⅓ of a tin)
250ml Marshmallow Fluff (available at The Chocolate Den or speciality baking stores, or make your own using the recipe below)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm x 20cm tin with foil and grease well. Leave some foil hanging over the edges.
• Use a food processor or rolling pin to crush the biscuits into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and mix well. Press the base into the prepared tin and bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden. Set aside to cool.
• To make the lemon fudge layer, melt the white chocolate and condensed milk together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• When the mixture is melted and smooth, remove from heat and add in the lemon zest, lemon extract and enough food colouring to get a lemon yellow colour. Taste the mixture to make sure it is lemony enough – I needed a whole teaspoon of extract as it wasn’t very strong.
• Pour the lemon fudge over the baked crumb mixture and carefully tilt it to cover the base evenly. Be careful of spreading with a spatula as it will lift up the crumbs. Refrigerate while you make the next layer.
• To make the meringue layer, melt the chocolate and condensed milk together in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, then lightly fold in the Marshmallow Fluff. Don’t mix the mixture too well or you will beat all the air out of it and it will lose its meringue-like quality.
• Working quickly while the mixture is still warm, pour the meringue fudge over the lemon layer and tilt the pan quickly to spread evenly.
• Refrigerate overnight.
• Remove the fudge from the tin by lifting the foil out. Remove the foil and carefully cut your fudge into little slices or squares, wiping your knife clean in-between each slice to avoid messing up the neat layers.

*Instead of shortbread, you can try using Tennis Biscuits for the base. As they are less buttery than shortbread, you will need an additional 20g of melted butter.

Homemade Marshmallow Fluff:

Using an electric or stand mixer, whisk together 2 large egg whites, a pinch of salt, and 1 cup of glucose syrup on high speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture is thick and glossy, and doubled in volume. Sift in 200g (1⅔ cup) icing sugar and add 10ml (2 tsp) vanilla essence. Whisk again until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.