Fudge

Fudge is one of the recipes that I've had to make multiple times before I got it right. Fudge is like a risotto, but harder to make, and requiring more patience. It's tons of fun.

Star with sugar, chocolate, butter, half and half, and corn syrup in a saucepan. 

The corn syrup helps prevent the sugar from crystalizing prematurely. Heat until everything is melted. And my this I mean, it's not gritty any more. Stir, and stir, and stir and stir. Then test it. Then stir some more. Once all the sugar is melted, bring the whole lot of it to a boil. This will be kind of terrifying.

It's a seething mass of boiling sugar and chocolate. Also, there's not a lot of water in this, so it will get hotter than 212F. Put in a candy thermometer and cook until you're at 235F. Remove from the heat, stir in the remaining butter and vanilla extract, and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the fudge to a buttered 9x9 pan, and let cool.

Cut the fudge and serve.

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups of sugar

1 package (four ounces) of chocolate

3 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of half-and-half

1 tablespoon of light corn syrup

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Melt chocolate, half of the butter, half-and-half, corn syrup, and sugar in a saucepan. 

2. Stir and stir and stir until it is all dissolved and not at all gritty.

3. Bring everything to a boil and insert a candy thermometer, bringing it to 235F.

4. Remove from the heat, add the rest of the butter and vanilla extract.

6. Let cool for 10 minutes, and pour out into a 9x9 buttered pan.

7. Cool and serve.

Comments

[Molly]

This looks really good, but I must admit that I am a little scared of burning the boiling sugar. I think the word you use is "terrifying." :-)

[Ben]

Molly,

I was more talking about the visual of boiling sugar and chocolate than the prospect of burning it. I wouldn't be very concerned with that. Once you hit a boil, turn the heat down and you won't run much of a risk.

All that being said, this was my least favorite recipe of the year thus far. Without a doubt. It's hard, and with out the better taste or joy that I got from a lot of the other recipes.