OK, I know. Christmas is long gone, but I’ve been busy and just discovered that I hadn’t posted this recipe as planned. But to be truthful, I might never have posted this recipe because, well, frankly, I couldn’t keep from sneaking pieces of this fudge while it was a resident in my refrigerator. So I interrogated Mr. C. to see if he really liked the fudge. Yes! Would he enjoy eating it in the future? Yes! Darn. I was hoping he would say it wasn’t really that good and I could throw the recipe away. But my conscience got the better of me and now you too have an easy to prepare and delicious way to add unnecessary calories to your diet at Christmas time. (Sorry, but I realized I just didn’t care to be the only person sneaking into the refrigerator in the middle of the night while everyone else was dreaming of sugar plums!)

Which led to – what the heck is a sugar plum anyway? Well, as it turns out, sugar plums are a combination of dried fruit, nuts, sugar, honey, salt, and seeds (anise, caraway, fennel, cardamom) rolled into a sugar coated ball. Yikes! I had no idea and no, I am not going to try making them. So don’t be looking at my blog for how to make these old-fashioned Christmas treats. Go somewhere else for that recipe. Unless of course you make them yourself and they truly taste better than I envision. Then please send me the recipe and if need be, I will apologize profusely to whichever deity you choose.

But until then, I just don’t get how caraway, fennel, anise, and cardamom seeds would work with dried fruit and nuts.  In the meantime, I’m going to stick with this easy, 5 ingredient candy for pleasant dreams that persist in dancing through my wee little head! I might even start thinking of the dance of the sugar plum fairies as the dance of the white chocolate fudge. With my new found knowledge, that makes a lot more sense! Till next time – adieu.

• 1 c. salted pistachios 
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 20 oz. good white chocolate, roughly chopped (and no, white baking chips are not a substitute)
• 3 T. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• ¾ c. dried cranberries

Place the pistachios on a sheet pan and toast in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 8 minutes. Remove from oven, cool, and roughly chop.

Lightly grease an 8×8-inch baking pan. Line the pan with parchment paper, allowing the excess paper to hang over the sides; set aside.

In a large, glass bowl combine the sweetened condensed milk, white chocolate, and butter. Place the bowl in your microwave and heat the ingredients over medium heat until the white chocolate has melted and the mixture is completely smooth, about 8 minutes. Stir often during the process.

Fold in the pistachios and dried cranberries. The mixture will be quite thick. Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before cutting.

Gently run a butter knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the parchment paper. Remove the candy and transfer to a cutting board. Peel off parchment paper, then slice the fudge into small pieces. Serve at once or store in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Serve at room temperature.