FUDGE

[Sugarella]

I make fudge a lot and have quite a few concoctions, but I'm looking to make it all much better. Unfortunately all of the recipes I've come across are "quickie" recipes and sickly sweet, but I'd rather do it the slow, old fashioned way, which will not only improve taste & texture but will likely give me more consistent formulas, hopefully. When I was a kid there was a place in Niagara Falls that made the best fudge ever..... not terribly sweet, very tasty, detectable ingredients, smooth and creamy, etc. And you could watch the guy walk quickly around a marble table paddling it with a big wooden spatula. Any ideas where I could learn the old fashioned standard formulas or the correct method?? I've tried looking online but no luck finding the real deal.....

[Bernaise]

Fudge- temperamental fussy to make but worth the effort!

Ingredients:

2 cups of superfine sugar

1 cup of heavy cream

5 tablespoons butter

3 ounces unsweetened choclate (chopped)

1 tablespoon light corn syrup

1\4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanillla extract

Method:

butter an 8-inch square pan. In a heavy 3 quart saucepan whose sides you have buttered, combine te superfine sugar, heavy cream, butter, chocolate, corn syrup and salt. Stirring constantly, bring to a boil over low heat.

When the mixture reaches a boil, cover tightly and continue to cook for 3 minutes(this will help to steam down any sugar crystals that might form on the sides of the pan).

Uncover and pop in the candy thermometer-slowly boil, stir occasionally and wait til it hits 236 degrees.

Put the 236 degree pan of candy in 1-2 inches of COLD water(no ice) pour the vanilla on top but do not stir. wait until the candy reaches 110 degrees, remove from the sink, dry the bottom and beat with a mixer or wooden spoon. Beat until the candy begins to lose its gloss and to offer slight resistance to the mixer. Don't be tempted to overbeat.

Pour the fudge into the buttered pan. Don't scrape the pot-just let what comes out naturally fill the pan -and snack on the rest.

I make a vanilla variation of this and add salted cashew nuts -divine!!!!!

[Sugarella]

A-HA!!! ......I never knew to cool it before beating. DUH! No wonder mine never worked right. Thanks so much.

When the mixture reaches a boil, cover tightly and continue to cook for 3 minutes(this will help to steam down any sugar crystals that might form on the sides of the pan).

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This bit totally confuses me though.... I always thought letting steam in would cause sugar crystals, not help alleviate them. Hmmmm.... Is that why mine sometimes gets gritty bits?

[Bernaise]

re: gritty bits, yes if you introduce any sugar crystals it will seed the fudge or any candy and make it gritty. Steam is bad for melting chocolate, but necessary for candy. Also the corn syrup helps to reduce the crystal problem. With fudge though over mixing is the other culprit.

[Patrick S]

Sugarella,

Egulleteer devinf posted a fantastic peanut butter fudge recipe a while back. I've tried several PB fudge recipes, and none compare to this, IMHO. Its ultra-creamy, and a bit soft. The cooling stage takes a long time, so this is not a quicky recipe. His recipe is as follows:

2 lb. sugar

4 oz. corn syrup

4 oz. milk

12 oz. cream

1 oz. butter

1/2 oz. vanilla extract

3 oz. peanut butter

Combine cream and milk, then take out 8 oz.

Combine sugar, corn syrup and 8 oz. cream/milk. Cook to 230F

Add the butter and slowly add rest of milk/cream. Cook to 236F

Pour onto marble and put peanut butter onto fudge, do not stir. let it cool to 120F

Mix the fudge and peanut butter (I "table" it) until it thickens, then pour into a frame or container before portioning.

[Patrick S]

And here is a vanilla fudge recipe that I have used and like quite a bit.

[Sugarella]

Thanks for the recipes Patrick. That vanilla is quite similar to the one I have already but I needed a good peanut butter one. Yum yum....