Two great tastes that taste great together

[jducoeur]

One of the motives behind msmemory's and my perambulations around Cape Cod yesterday was to confirm the horrifying news: Coach and Four, her favorite source of fudge, has apparently gone out of business. *Sigh*. So over lunch, we agreed that it's time for us to learn how to make fudge. After sufficient experiments, we can hopefully figure out how to make it just right for her; besides, it gives me a new foodstuff to experiment with.

Which brings us to my boss. She's wandering around today with a can she just got from a Little Tiny Distillery in Scotland, full of Scotch Fudge. I'm just finishing a tiny square of it now, and it's luscious: enough Scotch flavor to really come through without being completely overpowering.

So I now have a fun project for sometime. First, figure out how to make basic chocolate fudge. Then, start playing with the alternatives and adulterants. Scotch fudge clearly works, which implies that there are lots of liquid flavorings worth playing with. I mean, the Espresso fudge is probably worth the project all by itself...

Comments

[tpau]

Alton brown had a good fudge show and soem recepies on foodtv.com

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Fudge is all technique (and good ingredients), so you may benefit either from some silly TV show, or a short class of some kind or another at a cooking school or other practical arts program.

Then you can continue and become a Chocolatiere!

(Of course, this entire plan will become diametrically opposed to your newfound desire to keep the damned weight off... :-)

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

He's a fan of Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen. I rather expect they've done testing on several different fudge lines over the years.

On the other hand, there are many different sorts of fudge. Our family likes a relatively hard product compared to what one usually finds. We affectionately call it Chocolate Sugar, but it is actualy planar, not granular.

America's Test Kitchen

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

One of the best shows on actually cooking I have ever seen. As compared to "food porn" shows like Iron Chef, or whatever. Good choice.

I haven't made fudge in so many years.... probably has something to do with not eating it anymore. (:-)

Re: America's Test Kitchen

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Iron chef isn't porn. It's more like some kind of cheesy sport, though, than a cooking show. Mud wrestling, perhaps.

Re: America's Test Kitchen

[ian-gunn.livejournal.com]

Did you see the american version with Shatner playing host? It was worth it for a few minutes at least for the sheer over the top cheesiness of it.

Re: America's Test Kitchen

[jducoeur]

ATK is one of the two really worthwhile food shows I know, the other being Good Eats. ATK is better for pure focused recipes (as is Cook's Illustrated, which I have totally fallen for). Good Eats -- well, probably isn't quite as good as ATK in any practical sense, but it's better than any *other* cooking show I know, and is a hell of a lot of fun. Foodertainment that manages to be genuinely informative along the way...

Re: America's Test Kitchen

[zachkessin.livejournal.com]

The Good eats fugdge episode was quite good. I haven't tried it yet due to a diet (and a non working oven) but it sure looks good.

[jducoeur]

There is that. I'm hoping I can limit myself to small batches, and give most of it away. Fudge, fortunately, is one of those foods that I actually appreciate most in small quantities...

[mikekn]

Mmm...Scotch Fudge!

I picked up a can a few years ago at a used book store on the way home from 12th Night (same place I found a copy of the 2nd edition of Salaamallah's book). They had several different brands there, but I've not run across it since then. Hmm...time for a google search.

[dsrtao]

Abby's top secret fudge recipe has been delivered via email. Good luck.

My current project: orange liqueur. Bottled Saturday. We'll see how it is in a few months.

[qarylla.livejournal.com]

Fudge is an incredibly easy dessert to make. I have done up to four different batches in a matter of an hour or two with a wide variety of flavors.

The key for liquid ingredients seems to be that you must add it in midway through boiling the sugar mixture and then wait for the temperature to go the rest of the way up.

If you want any of my recipes, let me know and I will send them your way. (some might still be online. I should check.)

[jducoeur]

Ah -- useful tip on the liquids. I'll have to see how that interacts with Scotch and similar alcohols.

And yes, I'd love to get recipes. Thanks!

[mayica.livejournal.com]

I experimented with fudge making a few year back, and discovered that you can alter the amount of chocolate in a classic fudge recipe pretty freely. (This was classic sugar-syrup, cook to 236 degrees, beaten fudge -- it's called Wellesley fudge sometimes.) It'll change the texture a bit, but still work. A typical recipe for an 8" pan (ie, 2 cups of sugar) called for 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate; you can add 1 to 4 more ounces of semi/bittersweet, and it'll still work. It'll just get more chocolaty, which isn't a problem!


The basic formula I used(I started with one from CookWise, a great kitchen chemistry book, and increased the chocolate) is
1 tbsp butter, for greasing the pan
2 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup (prevents sugar crystals from forming. yea chemistry)
2 tbsp butter
2/3 cup half&half (or milk, or light cream -- but then I'd leave out the butter.)
2 oz unsweetened chocolate -- use good stuff, not Bakers. It'll make all the difference in the world. I like Callebaut, which Whole Foods carries.
1-2 oz semi sweet choc (or more -- see above.)
1 tsp vanilla (or 1-2 tbsp liquor)
Pinch salt

Grease 8" square pan well with butter.
Heat chocolate, sugar, half&half, and corn syrup in heavy pan over medium-low heat, scraping bottom gently with wooden (or silicon) spatula. Boil gently, stirring, until mixture reaches 236 degrees on a candy thermometer. DO NOT stir or shake; take off heat.

Drop 2 tbsp butter on top, but do not stir. Allow to cool to 130 degrees. Add vanilla and salt and beat vigorously (w/ wooden spoon) until fudge begins to los its shine and a small amount dropped from a spoon holds its shape -- i think this take about 1 minute. Pour or knead and press (if necessary) into greased pan.

Unfortunately, the Cook's Illustrated folks have a great fudge sauce recipe, but no fudge. (You can search their website

(Hi -- I'm Jessica, by the way. Apologies for the pedantic note above; I tend to get that way about my cooking.)

[jducoeur]

Howdy! And thanks for the recipe -- it helps to clarify the basic principles involved. I really hadn't grasped that fudge is, at its heart, basically candy. Should be interesting: I've done very little candy work before...

[mayica.livejournal.com]

Hi back to you! There are lots of quick fudge recipes; they tend to use marshmallows (or marshmallow sauce), so the candy-making part is, effectively, already done for you. I wanted more control over the flavors, so went for classic fudge. This is about as simple as candy making gets (not that I've done much of it); 236 deg. is about the lowest temp you ever use in candying things. It's kind of fun; just be sure to use a larger pan than you think you need, 'cause there will be a lot of bubbling.

_Cookwise_, by Shirley Corriher the book I adapted this recipe from, is one of these neat kitchen chemistry books, which talks about what's going on and why the recipe calls for certain things. If you want a primer before starting to play with candy, hers is really nice for please-tell-me-why types.