Tiger King Fudge
Millions have been captivated by the Netflix documentary train wreck that no one can look away from, Tiger King. The cast of characters, the beautiful animals, and larger than life plot lines have everyone glued to the screen. After my binge session, I was inspired to create something as dramatic as what I had just watched, Tiger King fudge.
Tiger King fudge is a soft and creamy orange base, with a chocolate fudge ripple. Whether you go full “Joe Exotic” style with tiger print, or a more traditional marbled or layered fudge, this candy will quickly become your favorite!
Fudge is an incredibly diverse candy. There are endless colors, flavors, and mix-in options, but I had never seen an intentionally patterned fudge. Heading into our 4th week of quarantine, I figured solving this problem was a great way to spend a few days!
Cooking The Fudge…
I started with my favorite fudge recipe, inspired by one of my most trusted resources, Taste of Home. The base can also be found in my Springtime Confetti Fudge Cups. I love this recipe because it’s firm enough to hold together, but the texture is super creamy.
When cooking fudge, the sugar needs to be completely melted, but not so much that it is rock hard, crumbly, or re-crystalizes. This is called the soft ball stage of cooking sugar.
This can be tested by pouring a few drops of the boiling liquid into a cup of cold water. When it balls up between your fingers within the water, then flattens when you pull it above water, you’ve achieved soft ball stage!
Boiling the sugar mixture for a specific amount of time is often used in fudge recipes. However, the most precise way is by the sugar mixture reaching between 235 and 245 degrees on a candy thermometer.
Shaping the fudge…
One challenge I faced for this project was the pattern. I tried dragging, digging, swirling and every other method I could think of. The one I was successful with is far from traditional, but effective nonetheless!
To start, I created and printed out a tiger pattern template. I cut it so it fit inside the pan, on top of the cooled fudge. With a sharp paring knife, I traced the outside of the black lines, pressingly down slightly to imprint in the fudge.
Next, I took the thick end of my cake tester/releaser tool, and followed the indentations I made with the knife, pushing down into the fudge, to make shaped wells.
Finally, I re-heated the chocolate portion that I had set aside earlier, to a pipable consistency – about 15 seconds. When piping, be sure the tip of your piping bag is down inside the hole, not on top. That ensures the hole is filled from the bottom, avoiding empty caves within the fudge.
After chilling in the fridge for about 15 minutes, I took a small piece of parchment paper and pressed down all over the surface, flattening and smoothing. Voila! Tiger print fudge!
Traditional (Tiger-free) Fudge Patterns…
If you’re here because orange and chocolate fudge sound like a dreamy combination (it is!), here’s what you can do. Pour the orange base in the pan, chill, then spread the chocolate portion on top, or drizzle it on in a zig zag pattern.
For marbled fudge, pour in the orange base, then immediatly dollop the chocolate portion around the pan, pulling a knife through, around and back and forth to swirl the flavors together.
I don’t know what is true in this show, who fed their husbands to the tigers, or who paid who to do what, but I do know that any excuse to make fudge is fine by me! With another episode being released tomorrow (4/12/20), there’s never been a better time to try something new!
Share your creation of this Tiger King fudge with our Facebook cooking community!
Do you like the exotic animal print, or do you prefer traditional layers or marbling? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Tiger King Fudge
Ingredients
ORANGE PORTION
- 420 g sugar
- 116 g heavy cream
- 113 g butter
- 168 g white chocolate chips
- 143 g marshmallow cream
- 5 g orange extract
- 12 drops yellow food coloring
- 5 drops orange food coloring
CHOCOLATE PORTION
- 96 g unflavored, uncolored fudge mixture
- 38 g semi sweet chocolate chips
- 19 g heavy cream
Instructions
- Line 9×9 baking pan with parchment paper
- In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, heavy cream and butter.
- Cook and stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, and comes to a rolling boil.
- Boil for 4 minutes, or until 235-245 degrees on candy thermometer.
- Remove from heat and stir in white chocolate chips and marshmallow cream until completely smooth.
- Add semi sweet chocolate chips and 2nd heavy cream amount to small bowl
- Stir in white chocolate base amount to chocolate chips and heavy cream; set aside
- Add coloring and flavoring to orange base portion, stirring until completely combined.
FOR TIGER PRINT FUDGE*
- Pour into pan, cover and chill in refrigerator for about 45 minutes
- Place trimmed tiger pattern paper template on top of chilled – but not set – fudge, and trace with a sharp knife, pressing down to make indentations.
- Follow the indentions with cake tester and releaser tool (or something similar). Press/poke down to make wells.
- Reheat chocolate portion for about 15 seconds and place in piping bag.
- Keeping tip of piping bag down inside wells, fill holes with chocolate fudge.
- Chill 15 minutes in refrigerator. With a small piece of parchment paper, pat down gently to smooth chocolate mixture. Chill 4 hours or until set.
FOR MARBLED FUDGE
- Pour all of orange mixture into prepared pan.
- Immediately dollop chocolate mixture through pan, and use a thin knife to pull and swirl chocolate through orange mixture.
- Chill 4 hours or until set
FOR LAYERED FUDGE
- Pour all of orange mixture into prepared pan and chill 1 hour.
- Reheat chocolate fudge portion and drizzle or spread over chilled orange portion. Chill 4 hours or until set.
This is amazing hahaha Tiger King really had an effect on all of us. I will definitely pin this.
Day, thanks for stopping by! I hope you have some fun with this, I know I did! 😉
OMG! This looks amazing. I’ve never made fudge before so maybe I should start smaller….but this is calling my name.
Rachel – (awesome name, btw ;)) If this is your first go at fudge, don’t worry about the tiger pattern. Make the orange fudge, then drizzle the chocolate over it, and it’ll be perfect! Good luck, let us know how it goes!