Rainbow Paddle Pop Fudge

When I was growing up, one of my favourite ice creams were Rainbow Paddle Pops. Those of you in Australia, or anywhere else that sells Streets ice cream will recognise these. Multi-coloured, creamy iced treats on a popsicle, with a super sweet flavour that you couldn't quite identify (according to the wrapper it's meant to be caramel flavoured). I was addicted to them. I seemed to have an unhealthy obsession with all blue coloured foods. A few years ago they took the blue out of the rainbow paddle pop ice creams, so there's no 'artificial colouring'. Whateverrr. It's not the same without the blue. Now I buy banana paddle pops instead :P

I felt like making fudge. I was just going to do a regular caramel fudge, but then I remembered that rainbow paddle pops are caramel fudge flavoured anyway! So much more fun right? Rainbow popsicle caramel fudge! I simply replaced the brown sugar in the original recipe with caster sugar so that the colour was a little lighter and then added some chocolate food colouring and swirled it together in a brownie pan. There's a very close resemblance to the original rainbow paddle pops (I had to include the blue of course), but I had trouble finding a picture of one to show you.

The fudge is smooth and creamy, though it had a stronger flavour from the white chocolate rather than a caramel flavour. I think next time I might replace half the caster sugar with brown sugar to give it a little more flavour. But it was still fabulous. According to the people who tasted it, the fudge was good because it wasn't too sweet, unlike some fudges which can be sickly sweet. Though I wouldn't encourage you to eat too much of it in one go...I had some for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning bouncing around.

As pretty as the rainbow coloured swirls of fudge looked as it set in the brownie pan, it didn't look like a rainbow paddle pop until I cut it into these shapes and stuck into on to the paddle pop sticks. I cut the sticks in half and they were the perfect size, and used a piece of cut out plastic as a stencil for the fudge shapes. It was simple and effective and now I am rather pleased with myself. Especially after the disappointments in my previous post!

Rainbow Popsicle Fudge
(adapted from this Caramel Fudge recipe, makes 15-20)
1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup caster sugar (replace with firmly packed brown sugar for a stronger caramel flavour)
125g butter, chopped
2 tbsp liquid glucose
1 1/2 tbsp golden syrup
200g good-quality white cooking chocolate, chopped
Blue, pink, purple & yellow food colouring (I used powdered food colouring for chocolate from The Essential Ingredient)
Popsicle sticks, cut in half

Line a 17x27cm slice/brownie tin (or an 8-inch square baking pan), allowing a 2cm overhang over two ends. Place condensed milk, sugar, butter, glucose and golden syrup in a medium sized heavy based saucepan on medium heat and stir continuously with a rubber spatula until it starts to boil. (It is hard to stop the mixture from burning on the base, if you can't be bothered with the vigorous stirring then try the microwave heating method in the original recipe. If you get some burnt bits in your mixture, simply strain it before continuing) Reduce the heat to slow and continue to stir over heat for another 5-6 minutes until it is thick.

Add white chocolate to hot mixture and stir until the chocolat melts. Split mixture into 4 equal portions and add powdered food colouring. Dollop spoonfuls of mixture together in the prepared pan, using a flat bladed knife to swirl the colours together in the pan. Smooth surface with a spatula and stand at room temperature for 3 hours. Chill in the fridge uncovered overnight or until set. Remove from the fridge, lift out of pan using the ends of baking paper and cut out popsicle shapes using a sharp knife (mine were approximately 4cmx6cm in size). Insert popsicle sticks into the bottom of each piece of fudge. If there is any moisture on the surface, use a piece of baking paper or a paper towel to remove it. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

I'm be heading off on a 3 week holiday so the blog might be a bit quiet until the end of the month. I'm on my way to Adelaide and then Malaysia for my brother's wedding! Congratulations bro & M! Very excited for them (and also looking forward to pigging out in KL). If I get the chance I might post updates of the food I'm enjoying on my holiday, check back here or on twitter. I hope my awesome readers won't abandon me completely, promise I'll be back and baking up a storm in a month!