She knew the measurements by heart. Her arm reached intuitively into cupboards and hidey-holes fishing out ingredients out of sight but never mind. She was like a spook; floating hither and thither—a blur of business. Measuring, grinding, stirring, cracking, whisking and pouring. Ouma’s grandchildren were coming today and she was making the treat they loved; that she had made for her own children. The smell of chocolate percolated the air and ouma smiled. This was family. Baking and sharing. Love—in the sweetest and most delectable of treats. Ouma style.
At least…this is how I imagine it going down. I didn’t have an ouma but I did have a granny, who made other things but nothing like chocolate Marie Biscuit fudge. Ouma’s granddaughter – also my best friend at school – learnt the secret of the matriarch’s cooking and would share pieces of her homemade choc-MB-fudge with me, and our other gal pals. To the point that we were ordering batches of the stuff. It came tightly wrapped in foil and a glint from the inside of our friend’s bag would have us throwing cash at her and begging for another fix.
And the recipe was always a secret.
Many years, five children and a new continent later – staring out into the garden of my North London rental and wondering about the friends of my youth – I thought…chocolate Marie Biscuit fudge. I attacked Google with shameless desperation; holding the keyboard ransom as my fingers drew blood in search of fudgy-chocolatey-stuff-from-South-Africa, until I found what seemed to be the most logical recipe—a South African ouma’s favourite, as it turns out.
I made it. I ate it. I loved it. And wallowed shamelessly in a barrel of bottomless nostalgia—a favourite past time of mine (as my friends will know). Now I shall share it.
You may know chocolate Marie Biscuit fudge by another name (my children call it “Ju-Ju” Fudge: I think that I may have been telling them what I was eating with a mouth full of it and all that came out was Ju-Ju…so Ju-Ju it is) but here it is…tasting just like Johannesburg, 1995—like childhood. Like home.
CHOCOLATE MARIE BISCUIT FUDGE RECIPE
Ingredients
- 300g Marie Biscuits (or 1 packet of Rich Tea Biscuits)
- 2 medium eggs (or one large egg) although I prefer just one medium egg (can’t say why other than made this way, it tastes more like how I remember it).
- 250g butter
- 100ml cocoa
- 500g icing sugar
- 1tsp vanilla essence
Directions
- Crush biscuits.
- Whisk eggs and set aside.
- Melt butter in a pot on low heat.
- Add cocoa, icing, vanilla and eggs to melted butter and whisk together (for smooth consistency).
- Cook chocolate mixture on 2 minutes on a medium heat.
- Mix biscuits and chocolate together.
- Spread mixture in a flat dish lined with baking paper.
- Cut into squares.
- Set for 2 hours in the fridge (store at room temperature—it tastes best this way).
Then eat it. (Share if you like but don’t feel obliged.)
It’s like you’ve died and gone to heaven, or in the words of Leon Schuster, ‘Soos ‘n engel het op jou tong gepiepie.’
Author & Storyteller: Andrea Zanin
Andrea is a writer, wife, mother and dreamer; also the author of this website. She moved to London in 2006 to earn £s, travel, see bands and buy 24-up Dr Martens—which she did, and then ended up staying. Andrea lives in North London with her husband (also a Saffa) and five children. She loves this grand old city but misses her home and wishes her children could say “lekker” (like a South African) and knew what a “khoki” is.
