Etsy is a bustling marketplace of talented makers and designers. It’s a great place to find handmade items and an emerging category there is gourmet foods – in particular gourmet sweets and treats.
So how does fudge buying on Etsy work?
Most shops list their fudge by the half-pound or full one-pound bars.
You can search for fudge that’s a specific flavor – maybe original chocolate fudge is your thing or vanilla bean fudge gets your attention?
You can also get samplers – two, three or more fudge flavors.
These are shipped in the same box and are a great way to explore some familiar and new flavors.
Some Etsy stores will offer a bonus 1/2-pound of fudge, which is always something to keep an eye out for!
There are a surprisingly large selection of fudges offered on Etsy and I couldn’t help but try some fudge from one of the shops.
But which?
Farmhouse Fudge is a top seller and has made over 6,900 sales. They’ve also managed to score a 5/5 star rating from more than 2,200 reviews. Buyers RAVE about their fudge in the reviews –
- Best fudge I’ve had of my life
- Yum worth every calorie
- Excellent quality fudge
- Very, very good. Will order again
Their fudge had better be really good with feedback like that!
Their Etsy shop page had several super gourmet fudges – like Caramel Apple Fudge and Pumpkin Praline Fudge. They also offer choose your own fudge combo packs, where you can select your favorite flavors (or potentially favorite flavors!) from a long list and they’ll pack and ship it to you fresh.
I just had to see what all the fuss was about and report back to the Treat Buyer community.
I decided to try the fudge sampler, where you choose two half-pound fudges and get a third fudge of your choice free.
You have got to check out the fudge choices you’re offered. It’s epic!
Farmhouse Fudge Flavors
- Amaretto Chocolate
- Chocolate
- Chocolate Walnut
- Cookies ‘N Cream
- Crème Brulee
- Dark Chocolate
- Dark Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt
- Salted Caramel
- Mint Chocolate Swirl
- Heath English Toffee
- Orange Cream
- Penuche
- Penuche Praline
- Penuche Fudge
- Peanut Butter
- Peanut Butter Chocolate
- Rocky Road
- Chewy Praline
- Vanilla Bean
- Red Velvet
- Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
- Maple
- Tiger Butter
- Turtle
- Birthday Cake
- Milk Chocolate
Seasonal Flavors
- Orange Chocolate
- Caramel Apple
- Apple Pie
- Spiked Apple Cider
- Pumpkin Spice
- Pumpkin Praline
- Pumpkin Praline
- Pumpkin Cheesecake
- Maple Walmnut
- M&M
- Eggnog
- Peppermint Bark
- Sugar Cookie
- Hot Cocoa Salted Caramel
- Rum Raisin
PHEW!
If you were wondering what Penuche fudge is, it’s fudge made from brown sugar instead of white and only flavored with vanilla. Farmhouse Fudge won first place at the Utah State Fair with their Penuche fudge!
Just pick your top THREE flavors and you’ll get fresh gourmet fudge delivered to your home or someone else lucky for under $27.
I chose these fudge flavors:
- Amaretto Chocolate (I love the flavor of maraschino cherry juice, so hoping it’s along those lines?)
- Crème Brulée
- Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
I decided to get some exotic flavors to see how well they’re made into fudge. Have you ever had crème brulée fudge before!? I had to try it.
Shipping
The fudge sampler boxes are shipped FREE with UPS and trackable from beginning to end.
Farmhouse fudge sells and ships it’s goodies year round – in the heat and everything. They say even if the fudge does get warm, it won’t effect the quality – just stick it in the fridge for an hour or two to firm back up.
I placed my order on a Tuesday afternoon. The fudge was shipped the next day, Wednesday, and I received it three days later on Saturday.
It wasn’t warm, but I immediately put the fudge in the fridge as I was planning on taking photos for this review the next day.
You’re not supposed to put fudge in the fridge though!
More on that later…
The box the fudge is mailed in is plain and aside from the address revealing it’s from Farmhouse Fudge, there isn’t anything that identifies what’s inside.
Presentation & Packaging
Inside the shipping box is the neat little fudge box that holds the three half-pound bars of gourmet fudge.
Everything looked great. No damage, no squished fudge. No melted mess.
The fudge is neatly wrapped in a type of cellophane plastic and it’s very presentable.
Ontop of the fudge was a business card with contact info and storage tips and an invoice if you need to claim the money back for a client purchase or business treat.
After I had stored the shipping box (and fudge inside) in the fridge for 24 hours by accident, I opened the box and read that you’re NOT supposed to store it in the fridge. My thinking was that as it contains dairy it should be kept cool so it doesn’t spoil or melt, but the experts that make the fudge say not to.
I was surprised that the fudge can stay fresh for up to 2.5 months. It has no chance of lasting that long, by the way.
So far, the shipping has been very good. Fast UPS delivery on a Saturday, trackable from beginning to end and the fudge was packed well and arrived in great condition.
The exterior packaging box was discreet and the interior fudge box was clean and undamaged.
Taste
One of the reasons I chose the three flavors from Farmhouse Fudge – amaretto, dark choc raspberry and crème brulée – is to see how well fruits and creams were created in the fudge.
It’s easy to make fudge overly sickly sweet, especially with flavors like crème brulée. It should have a balance of flavors and not just a single one that stands out above the rest.
For dark chocolate raspberry, i’m looking for a deep bold chocolate flavor – it shouldn’t be bitter – but it needs to have some real depth. The raspberry should be juicy and sweet, but not artificially sweet and perhaps just slightly tart.
I wasn’t sure what to expect of the Amaretto Chocolate fudge.
If you’ve never had ameretto before, it’s like an almondy flavor. Like marzipan, if that helps you?
I love maraschino cherries and especially the juice that they come with, so I was hoping it would taste similar to that.
The chocolate shouldn’t be too dark though and overpower the amaretto flavor.
Let’s check out each of the fudges.
Crème Brulée Fudge
Farmhouse Fudge says this is, “a modern take on a traditional classic, crispy caramelized sugar topping and all.”
A funny thing – most people have heard of crème brulée, but I bet you didn’t know it meant burnt cream?
It doesn’t sound quite as fancy now huh..
In it’s simplest form, crème brulée should have a rich custard base that’s topped with a layer of hardened caramelized sugar.
Farmhouse Fudge has done an amazing job of recreating crème brulée in fudge – they even caramelized the sugar on top.
As soon as you first taste the crème brulée fudge a wave of creamy caramel drenches your taste buds, morphing into a sweet vanilla custard with more super deep rich caramelly flavors bursting through.
The creamy caramel custard flavor lingers long after you’re done. It’s excellent and a must try.
You’ll get a half-pound block of fudge. It lasts a long time – you only need a sliver of it to enjoy the full flavors. Any more would be too much at once I think.
There isn’t any weird artificial aftertastes or textures from the Farmhouse Fudge crème brulée, it’s very good from start to finish.
Amaretto Chocolate Fudge
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flavor fudge, but I’m glad I picked it out.
Farmhouse Fudge says this is, “a layer of Amaretto Fudge swirled with a layer of Chocolate Fudge.”
By the way – I realized later that the amaretto chocolate fudge might have been upside down. It still looks yum though!
You can smell the delicious amaretto flavoring as soon as you unwrap the fudge.
Immediately after first tasting the fudge you can pick out the almondy amaretto notes that blend with a semi-sweet chocolate.
This amaretto fudge is less sweet than the rème brulée, and the chocolate has more of a muted taste than milky and creamy. It’s almost like unsweetened chocolate baking powder.
It pairs well with the amaretto, which tends to be a somewhat lighter flavor…it doesn’t really have any deep notes to it. The chocolate compliments it well.
You’re left with a sweet – but definitely not overly sweet – flavor on your tongue that’s pleasant.
You only need to cut off very small pieces of this fudge to enjoy it.
Amaretto Chocolate from Farmhouse Fudge is delicious, it’s got the right amount of amaretto flavor Vs chocolate and has a rich flavor from beginning to end.
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Fudge
I couldn’t help but pick this one out from the huge list of flavors you can choose from. It’s got everything I’m looking for – dark chocolate, raspberry, truffle and fudge!
Deep chocolate raspberry notes are immediately recognizable when you unwrap this fudge. It smells delicious.
As soon as you taste the fudge the raspberry and chocolate blends perfectly together. You can taste the juiciness of the raspberry and the deep rich chocolate that balances it exceptionally well.
Again – like the amaretto – the chocolate has a semi-sweet non-bitter taste, reminiscent of baking chocolate.
The raspberry provides a lot of sweetness on it’s own and I think Farmhouse Fudge did a great job allowing all the unique flavors to shine together.
If you’ve ever tried a Ghiradelli Dark & Raspberry filled square, it’s right on the same path as those. Delish!
You only need a very small piece of this fudge to get an entire MOUTHWAVE of flavor. It lasts a long time.
Value For Money
The total cost, including sales tax to get three half-pound bars of fudge home was $29.01
That breaks down to $9.66 per block of fudge.
Let’s not forget you also get these also:
- Free 3 day shipping to any doorstep
- Gift box
- Customize three fudge flavors (26 permanent flavors & 15 seasonal flavors)
- Gift message can be added free
That’s pretty darn good value if you ask me.
Could I replicate this at my local grocery store or stores nearby?
I don’t think so. With the gift box, hand wrapped fudge and fast to your door delivery, no way.
You can even break this fudge up into smaller gifts if you want.
This is high quality gourmet fudge in perfect half-pound blocks. It doesn’t sound like half a pound is much, but you need very little of the fudge to appreciate the deep, rich flavors. It’s delicious.
They’ll last you for a good while. If you have a family, there will be plenty to share, but I’d encourage you to pick up two samplers so you have enough for later too!
Speaking of lasting – this fudge will stay good and fresh for 8-10 weeks after delivery and can be frozen for an even longer shelf life.
I’m planning on freezing some of the Farmhouse Fudge and maybe unsealing at Christmas for a treat. Secretly, I’m hoping on forgetting it’s even in there so I can discover it later on at some point :).
How does the competition compare to Farmhouse Fudge?
There are a lot of sellers on Etsy offering fudge, so how does Farmhouse Fudge stack up against the others?
- Sweet Shop Hodgenville offers a 2lb fudge sampler for $25.99 + $10.39 shipping (link)
- Two Sisters Candy offers a 1.5lb fudge sampler for $29 + Free shipping (link)
- Z. Cioccolato offers a 4-piece sampler for $24 + Free shipping (link)
- Gabbys Sweets offers a 1lb sampler fudge variety pack for $16.50 + $9.30 shipping (link)
Farmhouse Fudge is about average when it comes to quantity of fudge and cost.
Unfortunately, I can’t speak to the quality of Farmhouse Fudge’s competition yet as I haven’t tried them…yet. I’ll accept that challenge, but it’s gonna be a while because this fudge is eaten in slivers.
Farmhouse Fudge has set the bar high.
Gift Ready
Can you place an order with Farmhouse Fudge and rest easy knowing it will get there in good condition and make a good impression?
I think so.
Farmhouse Fudge ships it’s samplers in plain brown cardboard boxes, with the only indication as to what’s inside being on the address label.
When the recipient opens the shipping box, they’ll see the neat white giftbox with the Farmhouse Fudge logo on the top.
I’d be happy sending this fudge to any of my family, knowing they’ll have a great experience.
Adding a personalized gift note is free, just type it in during checkout and Farmhouse Fudge will include it for free.
You can also choose to add gift wrapping if you want. It’s an extra fee, but small and would really set this fudge up as a perfect gift idea.
Even though gift wrapping is available, it’s not really essential – the gift box the fudge comes in is presentable enough on it’s own, but it would be a nice extra thought if you really want to make an impression.
One idea for an awesome gift would be to buy two or three samplers – a total of 6-9 different fudges to try.
You could cut them up into mini pieces and create the most awesome fudge sampler board ever. Or maybe a big event and your guests can enjoy a fudge sampler for dessert?
Sounds delish to me.
Order now on Farmhouse Fudge’s Etsy Page.
