DEATH BY CHOCOLATE Fudge: Grace the Hit Mom’s Fast Fudge from Kathleen Marple Kalb by Ang Pompano

ANG POMPANO: I'm thrilled to welcome my good friend Kathleen Marple Kalb (aka Nikki Knight) today! I love the concept behind her new book, Hound of the Bonnevilles. It’s clever, original, and just the right mix of danger and fun. She’s also sharing her irresistible fudge recipe, because let’s face it, there’s nothing quite as comforting as a good piece of fudge… especially after an assassination. Be sure to leave a comment at the end to be entered in today’s drawing! 

Welcome, Kathleen!

Hi there! I’m Kathleen Marple Kalb, aka Nikki Knight. Many thanks to Ang Pompano of Blue Palmetto Detective Agency and Reluctant Food Critics Mysteries fame for inviting me today! I’ll be sharing a fudge recipe with a fun backstory.

Nikki’s amateur sleuth Grace Adair draws from my own experience as a suburban mom with an unusual part-time profession. Grace’s side hustle, though, is significantly more challenging than my job as a weekend and fill-in anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio: she’s an assassin.

Specifically, she’s a member of a 700-year-old order of lady poisoners sacred to the Archangel Gabriel who remove evil men…for a price. While Grace and her sisters are very good at hiding in plain sight, somehow her life as a full-time mom and part-time lawyer keeps pushing her close to disaster, forcing her to use her special knowledge to catch far less ethical killers. She always ends up having to protect her secret life, her family, and her friends, all while juggling the school run, part-time legal work, and the PTA.

Want to meet Grace? Read all the way to the end and enter the giveaway – two commenters get an e-copy of her latest adventure: Hound of the Bonnevilles, in which her defense of an accused black widow puts her crosswise with the sisterhood, right in the middle of the holiday season and Scotchie the Giant Dog’s annual war with lawn art.

Whenever Grace completes a commission, she lights a candle and prays for the soul of the predator she’s removed…and then she makes fudge! Grace uses her grandmother’s copper pan and real old-fashioned recipe, relaxing in the Zen of the cooking and stirring. 

Out here in real life, I’m not killing people (except on the page!) and I’m a lot more interested in the finished fudge than the process of making it. So, I make a classic three-ingredient fudge that takes only a few minutes and can be customized just about any way that strikes your fancy. A quick note: this recipe works fine with store-brand chocolate and condensed milk, as you’ll see, but the measurements are critical, so double-check in this era of “shrink-flation!”

Ingredients:

12 ounces semisweet chocolate morsels

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk  

1 tsp vanilla extract

Optional:

¼ - ½ cup nuts, broken pretzels, candy-coated chocolate buttons, matzoh bits, etc.

Steps:

Butter 8 X 8 inch square pan. Line with waxed paper. 

If using nuts or other inclusions, sprinkle half on the bottom and reserve the rest.

Place chocolate morsels in microwave-safe bowl. Melt very carefully, starting with 30 seconds on high, then adding ten seconds at a time, stirring at each pause. Stop before chocolate is fully melted. Stir chocolate to completely melt.

Pour and fold condensed milk and vanilla extract into chocolate, making sure to mix thoroughly.

Turn fudge out into pan, spreading into one smooth, even layer.

If using, sprinkle reserved additions on top. 

Cool at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. 

With a knife, mark fudge in squares. (1 inch is traditional, but I won’t judge if you go bigger!)

Cool completely in the refrigerator.

When cold and set, use wax paper to remove fudge from pan, cut through marks, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. 

Makes about 16 1-inch pieces.

Special note: the fudge is on a plate designed by my grandfather, a serious mystery fan, who worked his way up from the floor to vice president of a glass company. He would enjoy Grace…and her fudge! 

Do you have a dish or treat you make to relax? Tell me in the comments and enter the giveaway! Two commenters win. 

Grace’s current adventure, Hound of the Bonnevilles: (A Grace "the Hit Mom" Mystery 2) is out now from Keylight Books and available HERE. Her next one, Murder on the Sea Otter Express, is due in February. 

If you’d like to connect with me – and Nikki –you can follow us here: Instagram or check my website: www.kathleenmarplekalb.com

Kathleen Marple Kalb/Nikki Knight is an Author/Anchor/Mom…not in that order. An award-winning weekend anchor at New York’s 1010 WINS Radio, she writes mysteries, historical and contemporary, long and short, including the Grace the Hit Mom series at Keylight Books, and the Ella Shane series at Level Best Books. She and her family live in a Connecticut house owned by a large calico cat.