As one walks into Fudge Patch, a bustling shop that sells many different types of the confection, a friendly staffer offers a greeting and a taste of chocolate fudge, the shop’s bestselling flavour.  

Why chocolate as the welcome bite? 

“Because people go along with what they like already and people like chocolate,” says Shannon Hodgins, a staffer at the shop. 

The Fudge Patch, a six-year-old shop in the middle of busy Greenwich Market, does not measure its success by the amount of chocolate-flavoured confectionery it sells but by the satisfaction of its customers. It is one of the very few fudge businesses in the UK to only sell vegan versions.  

“It was a happy improvement with the added bonus of being nice and warm,” says Raef Commissar as he slices fudge on a side table to the right of the counter on a busy afternoon. All the while, Commissar greets shoppers and offers samples of different flavours. 

Vegan fudge started as an experiment, says Commissar or as he termed it, “a happy accident”, but it ended up tasting so good, that they decided to make it all vegan. This meant Fudge Patch could play its part in preserving the environment.

So, is their “real” fudge really fudge, considering it is not made with butter, milk, or whipping cream? Owner Patch Hyde, who has been making fudge for over 25 years, says there are only about 20 businesses in the country that make real fudge. Hodgins says, “dairy has its own flavour,” and so we prefer a “clean” taste. Plant milks do not, like dairy products, have a unique taste, which can overpower the taste of the fudge. That said, not all plant milks are equal, and almond has a unique and overpowering flavour. While most are deemed good for the environment, there is a reason hemp milk became the winner for all the Fudge Patch’s creations except one – coconut cream. 

With coconut cream fudge, Commissar explained, the customer wants to “taste the coconut flavour.” 

Commissar said they had tried different plant milks such as oat and rice, but hemp milk’s lack of flavour made it the winner. They decided it would blend best with other ingredients.  

But it was more than plant milks’ lack of flavour that made them ideal for fudge. Hodgins notes that some contain traces of different allergens like gluten. 

“There was no rule,” she says, “it was what we thought was a good fit.”  

They know what works when customers sample the various flavours of fudge for free.

Of course, there are times that the fudge doesn’t turn out quite right. But there is a remedy: “you can melt it down (into a sauce),” says Hodgins.

So, is there much fun in making fudge? “It is like a pretty rhythmic…quite peaceful process; when it goes right!” says Hodgins.