Chocolate Marmite Caramel Fudge

Let me start by saying this is not a sponsored post.  Last week, I saw Johanna's Vegemite Fudge and found myself drooling over it, suddenly wanting to make it with the our British alternative of Marmite.  I was just going to bookmark it and come back to it, but greed got the better of me, plus I had all the ingredients to hand and I was at home waiting patiently for the Boiler man to service our boiler.  So as soon as he left, I pulled out all the ingredients I needed to make these morsels of temptation in my own home.

I couldn't wait to try them.  As soon as we had our dinner in the evening, I sliced them carefully and popped one in my mouth and wow.  Its unusual for sure - sweet and savoury, but we both loved umami aspect of them.  

We had so much of the Chocolate Marmite Caramel Fudge that there was no way we would be able to finish them off between us.  The following day D took some into his workplace and I took some into mine the following week when I returned back to work after some annual leave.  Loads of people at work were wary of marmite - snugging their noses, nevertheless they were tempted by the combination and tried them.  Even those who disliked Marmite loved them, one even described it as 'beefy chocolate' which made me smile.  I even tempted a colleague who was on a diet to take a piece, she was bowled over by it too.  I also took some over to my brothers house, one of my nieces tried a tiny bite and said yuk, the other had a bite and said yum.  Are you going to finish your piece off ?she asks her sister No she responded,  well I will finish it off for you then, they are too good not to eat!   Need I say more. 

I have to say I am terrible for following the recipe as I melted 300g condensed milk and 300 dark chocolate at the same time.  Johanna melts 180g milk with 200g and comes back later to melt the remaining 120g milk with 100g chocolate.  I didn't have to worry, in a cack handed way I was able to salvage this as I had two tins the same size and was able to lift the cooked chocolate slab onto the caramel filling. Thank goodness, but Johanna advises that she was able to reheat the mixture too and I will do this next time for sure avoiding the use of two tins*.  In her recipe, Johanna had advised that she could have easily doubled her 1/2 teaspoon Vegemite to 1 teaspoon, I did this and had a quick taste.  I could hardly taste the Marmite as the caramel sweetness was overwhelming, so Yes, I added another teaspoon. Boom. I liked it, no I LOVED it.  

My freezer was turned off by accident a couple of weeks back,  I won't name names but its been out of action since as we have decided to give it a thorough deep clean.  We threw away the little we had it it like frozen peas, filo pastry and ice-cream.  The point I making in a round about way is that my refrigerated version of the caramel was oozing it delicious gooeyness even though I tried my best not to squash it whilst slicing it.  Its not a bad thing really - but when you want nice neat slices for a photograph (likes Johanna's gorgeous Vegemite Caramel Chocolate Fudge), then its not always desired, but hey I am not complaining , they were good, really good. 

I am sharing this with Tin and Thyme for February We Should Cocoa Challenge; Honest Mummy for Tasty Tuesdays; and Treat Petite for hosted by Cakeyboi, The Baking Explorer and United Cakedom. THIS IS NOT A SPONSORED BLOG POST. 

I think this recipe will be very easy to veganize, especially with the availability of coconut condensed milk, so I will be given the vegan version a go too as I had a colleague at work who really wanted to try these, but was of course unable too. 
Other Marmite recipes on my blog
Marmite Brown Rice
Marmite Roast Potatoes
Marmite Stew

Chocolate Fudge with Marmite Caramel
Scarcely, Barely adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
For the chocolate Fudge
300g condensed milk
300g dark chocolate bars, broken into bits
For the Marmite Caramel Filling
100g condensed mil
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoons golden caster sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons Marmite
Method
Line 2 x square tins measuring  (See note above*)
Melt the chocolate and condensed milk and stir to combine well.
Spread evenly between the two tins and allow to chill in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes.
For the Marmite Caramel
Place all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring now and again.
Reduce heat to low and simmer fro 5 minutes or so, still stirring.
Test the texture using the cold saucepan method, if it is soft and chewy, its ready - this should not take more than 10 minutes.
Set aside to cool for up to 5 minutes.
Carefully with a spatula scrape the mixture that will have begun to thicken over one of the tins with the set chocolate mixture.  
Place in fridge freezer  and allow to cool for up to an hour, maybe less.
Remove from the fridge and carefully transfer the cooled chocolate mixture from the other tin on top of the Marmite fudge.  Gently press down.  (See note above*)
Return to fridge for a few hours, before removing and slicing with a sharp clean knife into bite size pieces. Johanna advises to wipe the knife between each cut to keep the slices neat, I so agree.