Dried Raspberries Give Homemade Fudge A Satisfying Tartness

Despite having a simple, straightforward recipe, the taste of fudge is anything but. The sweet treat is sinfully silky, melting into your mouth with each bite with an unrivaled richness. But when fudge has a plain chocolate flavor, it can be quite one-note, which is why dried raspberries are a welcome addition.

Raspberries deliver a fruity tartness to cut through the richness of the fudge while bringing an interesting textural difference with its chewiness. In her dark chocolate raspberry fudge, recipe developer Michelle McGlinn opts for freeze-dried raspberries, which have a light, crisp texture. Still, they give the dark chocolate fudge a bit of airiness from both the texture and light zest.

If you prefer the chewiness of regular dried raspberries, they make a delicious addition to the fudge. Chop them up to add as a topping to the fudge as it sets or fold them into the batter. Though McGlinn filled the fudge with a raspberry filling, dried berries bring pockets of fruitiness to the fudge. The technique works especially well with dark chocolate but is equally as good with milk or white chocolate.

A kin to raspberries, strawberries are a superb additive for the sweet treat, especially classic fudge. Strawberries and chocolate will forever be an iconic combination, with the berries and fudge being a creative take on it. The dried version of the berries concentrates their sweet flavor into a candy-like treat that makes a chewy topping for fudge. Dried strawberries can be quite large, so finely chop them before placing them on top of the fudge or folding them into the batter.

While blueberries can also be used for fudge, they're more tart in comparison to juicy strawberries, so they're best used with a fudge that's saccharine. This 4-ingredient salted caramel fudge is buttery and rich, perfect for the acidity of blueberries, especially if the tartness has been emphasized by drying them. Since the sea salt acts as the topping for the salted caramel fudge, the dried blueberries can be placed in the batter or crushed into a fine powder to accompany the salt.

Old-fashioned peanut butter fudge also has a slightly salty flavor, although it's mostly sweet thanks to the addition of white chocolate. To amp up the sweetness even more, add blackberries into the mix. Opt for freeze-dried blackberries to use as a powdered topping that will stick to the melted peanut butter drizzled on top of the fudge.