Get ready for the big game by throwing together two ingredients to make some Chocolate Caramel Fudge Footballs. These little treats are easy to decorate with white chocolate laces and will make the perfect snack for your Super Bowl party, tail gating party, or game watching event.
This weekend my husband's favorite team lost because of a bad field goal kick in the last minute of the game, but he kept his spirits up as he snacked on these sweet bite size treats as he watched their defeat.
I was so glad I had gotten these made just before the game began, so he had something sweet to make him smile.
These footballs were pretty simple to make, especially being the fudge is made in the microwave and uses just two ingredients.
The chocolate caramel fudge is simply a combination of milk chocolate and caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk.
Have you tried the new caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk?
I found it at Kroger over the holidays and used it to make some pumpkin magic bars for a party. Even though sweetened condensed milk caramelizes on it's own when baked in magic bars, I fell in love with the enhanced caramel flavor and was excited to try it in other recipes, like fudge.
Over the years, I've made a lot of fudge using sweetened condensed milk and swapping out the caramel variety worked wonders. The fudge had the perfect caramel flavor, was creamy and smooth, and, best of all, was super simple to make.
NOTE: If you can't find you can use my easy caramel fudge recipe which uses caramel ice cream topping instead of caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk. It will work great too!
I suggest using a good quality milk chocolate and chopping it finely so that it melts quickly.
Pour the chopped milk chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Pour the caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk over the chocolate and stir to combine.
Heat on high power for 45 seconds then remove and fold about 10 times. Let the bowl sit for 3 minutes, then fold a few more times.
Heat for 30 more seconds, then let the bowl sit in the microwave for 3 minutes. Remove and fold 10 times. Let sit for 2 more minutes, then stir slowly until melted.
If needed, you can heat for 10 second increments if not all melted.
You don't want to overheat this fudge, or it will get greasy. If that happens, check out my chocolate making tips page to see how to fix greasy modeling chocolate. The same technique applies.
If you choose to use milk chocolate chips which don't melt nearly as easily as a block or bar of chocolate, you may want to give them a head start, by melting them a bit before adding the milk.
Cover the fudge and let it rest for 2 hours.
Scoop out tablespoon sized balls of fudge. Roll into smooth balls then shape into footballs.
I found it easiest to pinch the edges as I rotated the ball of fudge.
Set the football shaped fudge on a parchment lined baking sheet and set in the freezer for 5 minutes so the fudge firms up.
If you want your footballs to have a very realistic look, roll them over a dimpled impression mat. I used a Makin's Texture Sheet which worked great.
I found it best to rock the football from end to end, imprinting a row of dimples on the football. Continue to rock the football over the impression mat adding more rows of dimples.
I made some of my footballs with dimples and some without and even used two different methods to add the laces.
You can add white modeling chocolate laces or pipe on melted white chocolate laces.
If using white modeling chocolate, knead it until pliable then roll it into a thick log. Then insert it into a clay extruder fitted with a small single hole plate. Press out long thin ropes of white modeling chocolate then cut them into inch size pieces along with shorter ¼ inch size pieces. Press one long piece down the center of a football. Lay four smaller pieces across the long piece, pressing them onto the football.
Create a few sets of laces, then attach them to the football. If the modeling chocolate sits for too long the laces could get dry and wont stick to the footballs easily, so just do a few at a time and the laces should stick easily.
If you prefer, you can melt and temper pure white chocolate or just melt some white confectionery coating wafers (candy melts) and pipe the laces onto the footballs. I like using a squeeze-it bottle to make this job easy, but you can use a pastry bag or zip top bag too.
You can see the two different styles of Chocolate Caramel Fudge Footballs pictured above. I personally prefer the ones with the dimples and the modeling chocolate laces, but the smooth footballs with the white chocolate laces look pretty good too. So, the choice is yours.
You can find the tools needed to make these fudge footballs on amazon.com. (commission earned for sales)
If you’d like to have the ultimate guide to working with Candy Clay (modeling chocolate) be sure to get your printed or e-book copy of Candy Clay Creations. This 102 page book is filled with tips and tricks for making and working with candy clay along with 17 step-by-step tutorials for decorating cupcakes, cookies, and more using candy clay. It’s a fantastic resource for anyone who wants to make festively decorated treats.
RELATED: Find dozens of easy fudge recipes at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com.
Chocolate Caramel Fudge Footballs
- Chocolate Caramel Fudge
- 20 ounces milk chocolate finely chopped
- 1 can caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk not Dulce de Leche
- optional pinch of salt
- White Chocolate Laces
- 2 ounces white modeling chocolate
- OR
- 2 ounces melted and tempered white chocolate
- OR
- 2 ounces melted white confectionery coating candy melts
-
Pour finely chopped milk chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.
-
Pour caramel flavored sweetened condensed milk over top.
-
Heat on high power for 45 seconds then remove and fold about 10 times. Let the bowl sit for 3 minutes, then fold a few more times.
-
Heat for 30 more seconds, then let the bowl sit in the microwave for 3 minutes. Remove and fold 10 times. Let sit for 2 more minutes, then stir until melted.
-
If needed, you can heat for 10 second increments if not all melted.
-
Cover the fudge and let it rest for 2 hours.
-
Scoop out tablespoon sized balls of fudge. Roll into smooth balls then shape into footballs.
-
Add white chocolate laces.
If you are looking for more fun food to serve at your Super Bowl party, tailgating party, or game day event, check these out.
Football Pinata Brownie • Yard Line Cupcakes • Chocolate Coca Cola Football Truffles
Football Pizza Cake • Bacon Cheddar Beer Bread Footballs • Football Fries
Super Bowl Chicken Nuggets • Yard Line Oreos • Football Pinata Cake
Mashed Potato Fritter Footballs • Hamburger Footballs • Asiago Rice Cake Footballs
Zucchini Fritter Footballs • Chocolate Chalkboards • Madeira Mushroom Tart Football
Reese's Fudge Footballs • Football Cupcakes • Jalapeno Cornbread Footballs
Football Bread Bowl • Beer Bacon Cheese Dip • Soft Pretzel Footballs
Referee Cake • Ritz Cracker Crunch Footballs • Chocolate Caramel Fudge Footballs
If you want more tailgating or homegating party ideas for the college football season,
be sure to check out my Football Party Food ideas.
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the partiologist
I love using that texture mat to make realistic looking footballs! Your fudge footballs definitely scored the field goal in my book!
Beth
Sure wish I could have scored the field goal for the team! My hubby would have been so happy. 🙂
Lisa@hooplapalooza
oh my goodness i wondered how you got them so realistic looking! now i pretty much don't ever play football but i can totally get into these! major score Beth! :>D
Beth
I just added links to the texture mats. They are great and really helped to make these footballs look realistic. Thanks, Lisa. 🙂
Carol
These are so cute! We should have had these yesterday to help soften the blow. Our favorite team too!
My sister was at the game dressed in 5 layers. 🙂
Beth
My husband only watches one team, and was pretty excited throughout most of the game, but in the end, they lost, and he was bummed. It's hard to watch your fave team lose. Sorry your team lost too!