Conversation Heart Fudge - A sweet Valentine's Day Candy Recipe

The idea to make conversation hearts out of creamy white fudge came to me last year after I had created my Conversation Heart Cheesecakes and my Sweet Serenity Stones.

I knew by combining the two edible craft ideas, I'd come up with some really sweet-looking Valentine's Day treats.

This idea brewed in my head for months, so when I finally got into the kitchen to make my Conversation Heart Fudge, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and thought I'd be in and out in an hour.

My day didn't go as smoothly as planned.

First, I thought I needed to make 6 individual batches of fudge, so I started by combining 8 ounces of white chocolate chips and ⅓ of a can of sweetened condensed milk. I heated it in the microwave, colored it, then poured the warm fudge into the silicone heart mold, allowed it to cool, froze it, then popped them out.

My first batch of fudge hearts was full of holes and wrinkles - not what I wanted.

I made another batch the same way and made sure I really pressed the warm fudge into the mold. Better, but still full of wrinkles.

During my third attempt, I got distracted by a phone call and the bowl of fudge sat for almost an hour. When I finally got back to work, I had to roll the fudge into balls and press them into the heart mold. I immediately froze them and popped them out 15 minutes later.

They looked practically perfect - as perfect as a conversation heart should be, anyway.

Luckily I was able to salvage all of the hearts I had made earlier in the day. I just kneaded them until smooth and pressed them back into the molds. It's so nice when a recipe gone awry can be saved.

I went through a lot of work to get the desired result. You don't have to! Just follow my recipe below and you'll end up with 36 colorful conversation hearts to share with loved ones this Valentine's Day.

RELATED: Find dozens of easy fudge recipes at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com.

Let's Make Homemade Conversation Hearts

(makes 36 hearts)
fudge recipe adapted from Eagle Brand Creamy White Fudge

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds (24 ounces) finely chopped white chocolate (or chips)
or white confectionery coating

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

pink, green, orange (or mix red and yellow), purple (or mix red and blue), and yellow food coloring
red food coloring

Supplies:

medium saucepan

1 or 2 Wilton Silicone 24 Cavity Heart Molds
clay text embossing set (plastic alphabet stamps) - cleaned and used for food only
small food only paintbrush or pastry brush

Instructions:

Make the white chocolate fudge:

Heat white chocolate or white confectionery coating and sweetened condensed milk in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir frequently until about half of the chocolate or candy coating is melted.

Turn off the heat or remove from stovetop and let sit for two minutes then stir until smooth. The heat from the melted chocolate will help to melt the remaining pieces of chocolate.  If you still have un-melted pieces, set the pan back over low heat for a minute, then repeat.

NOTE:  If you overheat this creamy white fudge, it will become greasy as the cocoa butter may seep out of the chocolate. If that happens, the best way to salvage the fudge is to cool it down by spreading it on marble or granite and kneading it until the cocoa butter mixes back into the fudge.

The cold from the marble or granite will help cool the fudge. Use a plastic bench scraper or spatula to scrape the fudge up off the marble and continually knead it until all the cocoa butter is worked back into the fudge and it is smooth. (This is actually a picture of greasy white modeling chocolate from my Chocolate Making Tips page, but this technique can help save greasy fudge too.)

Another option is to add a tablespoon or two of sweetened condensed milk or cold heavy whipping cream. Once you stir the fudge it will cool down and the cocoa butter should mix back in. This will make your fudge softer, but it will work in a pinch.

Color the white chocolate fudge:

Equally, divide the fudge into six bowls. Stir in food coloring, adding one drop at a time until you get the colors you like. You'll want a bowl of pink, orange, green, yellow, purple, and white. These are traditional conversation heart colors.

You can use grocery store food coloring or any type of candy or frosting coloring you have.

Form the fudge hearts:

Allow the fudge to cool and thicken for 30-60 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can refrigerate the fudge for about 15 minutes.

Scoop the fudge out of the bowl and knead it in your hands until smooth. Pinch off about a tablespoonful and roll it into a ball. Set it in one of the heart cavities in the silicone mold. Press it into the heart cavity flattening it and removing any fudge that doesn't fit in the cavity. Really press down on the fudge, eliminating any air bubbles or holes.

I made a double batch of fudge, so there are 12 pink and 12 orange hearts, you should have 6 of each color if you use the recipe above.

Place the filled mold in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

Remove fudge hearts from the freezer and turn the mold upside down, pressing on the backside of the mold allowing the hearts to fall out. If they don't come out nicely, put them back in the freezer for a few more minutes. If these fudge hearts are left in the freezer for too long, they will get sticky as condensation will adhere to them, so don't let them freeze much more than a total of 20 minutes.

Wash and dry the mold and repeat the process with the remaining colors of fudge.

Turn the fudge hearts into conversation hearts:

Create conversation heart phrases using the letters from a clay text embossing set. I used Walnut Hollow's Clay Embossing Set, but any small alphabet stamps should work just be sure to lay out the letters in a mirror image of what will be printed.

Brush red food coloring over the letter stamps.

Press the first word of your conversation heart phrase onto the top part of your fudge hearts. Press down so that the letters imprint into the fudge

Press the second word of your conversation heart phrase onto the bottom part of your fudge hearts making sure the whole word fits.

Use a nice variety of phrases on your conversation heart fudge. You can add whatever phrases you like, just be aware that only 4 letters will fit across each heart. Don't worry if your letters look a bit smudged, as that is really what many conversation hearts look like anyway.

If you don't have or don't want to buy the embossing letters, you can use a food coloring marker to add your sweet messages to your conversation heart fudge.

Store your Conversation Heart Fudge in an airtight container for up to a few weeks:

Items used to create this project are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales).

There are two other sets, but these have fancier letters, so if you use them your hearts won't look as identical to real conversation hearts. They are less expensive, however.

Print

Conversation Heart Fudge

Prep Time

1 hr

Cook Time

15 mins

 

Brightly colored heart-shaped fudge imprinted with sweet Valentine's Day messages. This Conversation Heart Fudge can be personalized for your loved ones.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: candy, conversation hearts, decorated fudge, fudge, white chocolate

Servings: 36

Author: Beth

Ingredients

• 24 ounces finely chopped white chocolate (or chips) or white confectionery coating
• 14 ounces (1 can) sweetened condensed milk
• pink, green, orange (or mix red and yellow), purple (or mix red and blue), and yellow food coloring
• red food coloring

Instructions

Make the white chocolate fudge

1. Heat white chocolate or white confectionery coating and sweetened condensed milk in a medium saucepan over low heat.

   Stir frequently until about half of the chocolate or candy coating is melted.

   Turn off the heat or remove from stove top and let sit for two minutes then stir until smooth. The heat from the melted chocolate will help to melt the remaining pieces of chocolate.  If you still have un-melted pieces, set the pan back over low heat for a minute, then repeat.

2. Equally, divide the fudge into six bowls and color each bowl a different conversation heart color.

3. Allow the fudge to cool and thicken for 30-60 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you can refrigerate the fudge for about 15 minutes.

4. Scoop the fudge out of the bowl and knead it in your hands until smooth.

   Pinch off about a tablespoonful and roll it into a ball.

   Set it in one of the heart cavities in the silicone mold.

5. Press it into the heart cavity flattening it and removing any fudge that doesn't fit in the cavity. Really press down on the fudge, eliminating any air bubbles or holes.

6. Place the filled mold in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

7. Remove fudge hearts from the freezer and turn the mold upside down, pressing on the backside of the mold allowing the hearts to fall out.

8. Press letter stamps into the fudge hearts creating your conversation heart phrases like "be mine" or "true love."

9. Brush red food coloring over the letter stamps.

10. Alternately, you can draw on the phrases using a food coloring marker or paint them on using red food coloring and a paintbrush.

11. Let the fudge dry for about an hour before packaging.

Recipe Notes

Store your Conversation Heart Fudge in an airtight container for up to a few weeks.

Be sure to allow the fudge to cool, then roll it into a ball and press it into the mold. If you pour the warm fudge into your molds, you may end up with lots of air bubbles. 

• Author
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Beth

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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