Cherry Garcia Fudge is rich, creamy and packed with cherries and chocolate! Delicious fudge recipe made with maraschino cherries, marshmallow cream, white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate.
We love making fudge, especially around the holidays. There are so many easy fudge recipes and fudge is a great gift for family and friends and also makes a great addition to any goody plate! Some fudge recipes require the mixture to come to a certain temperature, but this recipe is made by boiling the ingredients together for a few minutes – no candy thermometers needed!
CHERRY GARCIA FUDGE
This fudge is named after the popular ice cream flavor that is packed with chocolate and cherries. The fudge is made with white chocolate chips, butter, marshmallow cream, sugar, cream and Jello! Adding a little bit of cherry jello makes the cherry flavor in the fudge so much stronger. Add in some chopped maraschino cherries and then dip each piece of fudge in melted semi-sweet chocolate. Drizzle more melted chocolate on top of the fudge and let it set up before serving.
WHY WE THINK YOU WILL LOVE THIS EASY FUDGE RECIPE
This Cherry Garcia Fudge recipe is amazing for lots of reasons!
- It is rich and creamy. This fudge is absolutely delicious – no one will ever know how simple this was to make!
- You can whip up a batch in minutes. You have to wait a little for the fudge to cool and set before slicing, but it only takes about 15 minutes of prep time to make the fudge. The easier, the better!
- Unique flavor for fudge. The consistency of the fudge is just like traditional fudge, but the intense cherry flavor comes from adding cherry Jello and chopped maraschino cherries to the recipe.
Ingredients in Cherry Garcia Fudge
White chocolate chips – You will need a bag of white chocolate chips. You can use 12 ounces of any type of melting wafers or white chocolate that you’d like, but break it up into small pieces (about the size of chocolate chips) before adding to the fudge recipe. You could swap these out with semi-sweet chocolate if you prefer a chocolate fudge, but the fudge will be brown, not a pretty pink! It’ll still be delicious though!
Marshmallow cream – A 7 ounce jar of marshmallow cream helps to add sweetness and creaminess to the fudge.
Butter – Make sure the butter is at room temperature before adding to the other ingredients. Real butter works best.
Sugar – You can’t make fudge without sugar!
Cream – Heavy cream really adds to the creaminess to the fudge.
Cherry jello powder – Just two tablespoons of cherry jello powder creates the perfect cherry flavor!
Maraschino cherries – You will need to drain and quarter the maraschino cherries before adding them to the fudge.
Semi-sweet chocolate chips – You will melt the chocolate chips to dip the bottom of the fudge in and to make a drizzle for the top as well. You can use dark chocolate if you prefer – any type of melting chocolate will work great!
How to make Cherry Garcia Fudge
Line a 9 x 9 square baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Quarter the maraschino cherries, and then let them sit on a paper towel, blotting the tops with another paper towel to remove all excess moisture from the cherries.
MAKE THE FUDGE
In a large mixing bowl, add the white chocolate chips and the mallow cream. Stir with a rubber spatula until fully combined. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, add the butter, sugar and heavy cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir with spatula until fully combined.
Add in the cherry jello and turn the heat down to low/medium. Boil for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Pour the hot jello mixture into the large mixing bowl and whisk until the white chocolate chips are melted.
Add chopped maraschino cherries to mixture.
CHILL & CUT THE FUDGE
Pour into the parchment lined pan and chill 4-6 hours or overnight.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove fudge from pan and cut into 24 squares and place on the cookie sheet.
ADD THE CHOCOLATE
Microwave 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave for 45 seconds. Stir until smooth and melted. (You may have to microwave in additional 10 seconds increments depending on microwave wattage). Dip the bottom of each fudge piece into the melted chocolate and place back on the cookie sheet.
Microwave 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips for 35 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate on top of each fudge piece.
Chill for 1 hour to allow the chocolate to harden. Serve the fudge or keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Cherry Garcia Fudge
Ingredients
- 12 oz bag white chocolate chips
- 7 oz jar of marshmallow cream
- ¾ cup of butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ¾ heavy cream
- 2 tbsp cherry jello
- 1 cup of maraschino cherries drained and quartered
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line a 9 x 9 square baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Quarter the maraschino cherries, and then let them sit on a paper towel, blotting the tops with another paper towel to remove all excess moisture from the cherries.
- MAKE THE FUDGE: In a large mixing bowl, add the white chocolate chips and the mallow cream. Stir with a rubber spatula until fully combined. Set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, add the butter, sugar and heavy cream. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stir with spatula until fully combined.
- Add in the cherry jello and turn the heat down to low/medium. Boil for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
- Pour the hot jello mixture into the large mixing bowl and whisk until the white chocolate chips are melted.
- Add chopped maraschino cherries to mixture.
- CHILL & CUT THE FUDGE: Pour into the parchment lined pan and chill 4-6 hours or overnight.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Remove fudge from pan and cut into 24 squares and place on the cookie sheet.
- ADD THE CHOCOLATE: Microwave 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave for 45 seconds. Stir until smooth and melted. (You may have to microwave in additional 10 seconds increments depending on microwave wattage). Dip the bottom of each fudge piece into the melted chocolate and place back on the cookie sheet.
- Microwave 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips for 35 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate on top of each fudge piece.
- Chill for 1 hour to allow the chocolate to harden. Serve the fudge or keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Nutrition
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WHEN TO SERVE FUDGE
There is absolutely no wrong time for fudge! While fudge is mostly seen gifted and served up around the Christmas holidays and in cookie exchanges, it does just as well being served up for Valentine’s day and anniversaries too. You can serve it up any night of the week or as a simple weekend treat, fudge deserves to be enjoyed all year long!
HOW LONG IS FUDGE GOOD FOR?
Keep your fudge squares in a closed, airtight container and place it in the fridge for up to 1 week. You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. I do not recommend keeping it out at room temperature for too long (more than 2 hours) at a time, it starts to soften up and the consistency gets a bit messy.
CAN YOU FREEZE FUDGE?
Yes, after the candy has completely set, you can safely freeze it in an airtight container for up to 3 months. I like to cut the fudge into squares and then wrap each one in plastic wrap before putting them all in a container or ziplock bag. This way, the fudge doesn’t stick together and it’s easy to grab one piece out at a time…any time you need a sweet treat. Each piece only takes a few minutes at room temperature to thaw out. Although the fudge is pretty yummy frozen too.
MORE FUDGE RECIPES YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE:
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- EASY FUDGE RECIPE
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- EASY CHERRY CHOCOLATE FUDGE
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Cherry Garcia Fudge is rich, creamy and packed with cherries and chocolate! Delicious fudge recipe made with maraschino cherries, marshmallow cream, white chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate.
Jess S says
The flavor is fantastic, but for some reason, it still won’t set up and firm up. I made it last night, put it in the fridge overnight and it’s still gooey. I followed directions to a T. Not sure why it won’t harden.
Nellie says
Sounds like maybe you need to boil the mixture a little longer next time?
Wann A. Massa says
I agree with Jess S. It will not set completely. It also sticks to the parchment paper and has to be scraped off. I couldn’t pick up the individual pieces to dip the bottom in the melted chocolate, so I spread it over the top and put it back in the fridge. I will try later to invert it on another piece of parchment so I can drizzle the chocolate on the other side.
I actually boiled it a bit longer than the 5 minutes it says to do. It seems that the least set parts are around the cherries. Maybe the “juice” remaining on the cherries interacted with it somehow? Maybe they should be rinsed and patted dry before adding.
Otherwise it tastes great. I plan on freezing it in single portions to make it last. But I probably won’t make it again.
Nellie says
I would recommend patting the cherries dry with a paper towel to remove any excess moisture. I’ll go ahead and add that to the recipe. The fudge should definitely set up, but it does take at least 4-6 hours – I usually let it set up overnight.