cplma@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Lynn M Alford) (03/29/91)
Fudge:
Ingredients:
2 oz. Bitter chocolate (or 6 Tablespoons of cocoa with 2 tablespoons
of oil)
2 cups sugar (fine grained sugar will dissolve fastest)
3/4 cup milk, or cream, or half milk and half cream
(Cream will produce the richest fudge but it is more expensive.)
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup nuts (optional, I *never* use them myself, but you might like
nuts in your fudge.)
a few grains of salt
Useful equipment: a candy thermometer and a marble slab 18' by 18'.
You might be able to make do without these, I haven't tried it. The
marble in particular is useful for cooling the candy quickly.
1. Assemble all materials and utensils; see that hands and nails are
clean.
2. Put chocolate into saucepan and melt over hot (not boiling) water
in another saucepan until free from lumps. If you are using cocoa,
then mix the cocoa and oil thoroughly in the saucepan.
3. Add the 2 cups of sugar very slowly to the chocolate, stirring
well. (With granulated sugar, moisten with 2 tablespoons of
water to help dissolve.)
4. Add 3/4 cup of milk and salt, slowly while stirring.
5. Place saucepan over low heat. (Note, no longer as part of a double-
boiler.)
6. Stir constantly (back and forth, *not* round and round), until the
sugar is entirely dissolved. Bring up to simmering but do not let
boil. (This is *vital*. The sugar must fully dissolve before
you let it go to a boil. If the sugar doesn't dissolve, it will
recrystalise.)
7. Wash down the sides of the saucepan: Have a cup half full of water,
dip the pastry brush in this, shake it a little leaving some of the
water in the brush. Wipe the sides of the saucepan from the top down
to the sugar mixture. (If sugar is standing in grains all up and
down the sides of the saucepan, theses grains will keep your candy
from being smooth because they will cause many other grains to form when
you are working the fudge.)
8. Test your mixture to make sure that there are no grains of sugar left:
Lift your spoon (this should be a wooden spoon), dip your fingers in
cold water and rub over the back of the spoon. You will be able to
feel grains of sugar when you cannot see or hear them. (I know, it
sounds weird but it does work. I wouldn't suggest trying it if you
are using a metal spoon though.)
9. Now increase the heat, and bring your candy to boiling and boil
briskly *without* stirring. (Do not start the boil if there are
any grains of sugar left.)
10. Boil the fudge until it reaches the 232 F degree mark on your
candy thermometer. (The soft ball stage.) You can test the
candy by putting a few drops into cold water. They should form
a soft ball when rolled between the thumb and finger.
11. If your fudge doesn't feel as firm as you would like, boil it
a little longer to 234 or 236. (Here in Queensland, I have to
boil it longer, due to the warm weather.)
12. Before the candy has quite reached the right temperature, sprinkle
a few drops of water on your marble slab.
13. Pour the fudge from the saucepan gently and evenly on to the slab.
Do not let the last of it drip on what is already there. Do not
scrap out the saucepan. (Use scrapings in next batch or in other
ways as they might start crystals forming in the fudge.)
14. Put 1 tablespoon of butter on the fudge, letting it melt on the
hot candy.
15. Let fudge stand on the slab undisturbed until barely warm (not
cold) to the back of the hand. This should not take over 15
minutes.
16. Lay candy bars on sheet of heavy paraffin paper on board or
wooden table, making a rectangle 9 inches by 4 inches.
17. Once cool, work fudge with spatula scraping up and turning the edges
of the fudge over to the center. Continue in this way, working from
the edges to the center and keeping slab and spatula clean.
18. Scrape spatula frequently with a knife, do not add grainy scrapings
to the candy. (Quite frankly, I add these scrapings to the candy, and
I don't think it matters as much as the previous warnings)
19. Soon after beginning to work fudge, pour on 1 teaspoon of best
vanilla extract and continue working.
20. When the fudge seems to be creamy throughout, but *before it
gets firm*, add nuts a few at a time and work in well until all
are added.
21. When fudge gets firm, place between candy bars making it 3/4 inch
thick. After fudge has set, you can cut it into squares.
Well, that's it. After you have made a batch, you can decide if your
equipment will let you make a double batch (ie. did the fudge almost
boil out of the saucepan, or overflow the marble?) My pan is deep
enough to boil a double batch of fudge, but I have to use extra wooden
bars on the marble to restrain it while it cools. A double batch also
needs to be worked longer, but it will last longer too. Just double
the ingredients to make twice as much at a time. Some of the comments
added to the recipe are obviously mine, others added are not as obvious
but still mine. Some belong to the original recipe. My candy bars are
specially made for this job (I don't know where my grandmother got them
from). They are the required 3/4 inch deep, and they are marked off in
inches so it is easy to make the squares. Each has a hook on one end,
that lets you attach them securely to each other.
cplma@marlin.jcu.edu.au