Amaretto Fudge with Fresh Cherries

This weekend the Grand Prairie Farmer's Market had a Fudge contest! So I decided to come up with my own fudge recipe to enter :) After a little trial & error I landed on Amaretto Fudge with Fresh Cherries.

I pitted the cherries then cut each half into fourths, this way there is a little nibble of cherry in every bite.

I created my own double broiler using a stovetop safe glass bowl over a medium pot of boiling water.

Sorry this isn't the prettiest picture of fudge, I forgot to take the pic until after some of the fudge had been served.

Amaretto Fudge with Fresh Cherries

3 Cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1 14oz Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 Tbsp Amaretto Liqueur

1 tsp Almond Extract

20 Fresh Sweet Cherries, cut into eighths

Parchment Paper

Place a piece of parchment paper into an 8x8 square pan (don't worry, the parchment won't lay in the pan until the fudge is weighing it down). Put pan to the side until fudge is ready. Pour chocolate chips & condensed milk into double broiler over medium heat & stir until smooth. You can also use a bowl over a medium sized pot of water like in the picture above, just make sure the water is low enough that it is not touching the bottom of the bowl. Once the chocolate is melted & smooth turn off the heat & add in the Amaretto & almond extract. Stir again until completely combined & smooth. Now stir in the cherries until thoroughly incorporated & pour the mixture into parchment lined pan. Refrigerate fudge for 4 hours (it is best to get out of the house to avoid temptation!). Then enjoy!

Here are the judges trying my fudge! This is only the second food contest I have ever entered, but the first contest where I entered my own recipe! I was super excited!

And I won first place!!! I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who made this possible; Thank You God for instilling in me a love for cooking (& unfortunately, a love for eating ;) ), thanks to my Mom, my Meme, my Grandma, my Ma & my God-mother for helping me learn how to cook, thanks to my supportive Hubby who loves to eat what I cook, & thanks to everyone this past week who I "forced" to taste test my fudge. Also, thanks to the judges, I am very glad you enjoyed my fudge!

I can't wait to find more cooking competitions to enter! :)