To my husband’s unconcealed delight, project fudge will require several steps. He, of course, gets to be Chief Poison Tester Quality Control Officer and Destroyer of Evidence in the entirely likely event the initial result is less than perfect.
But everything I’ve read or been told agrees on one thing: especially if you are a novice candy-maker (which I am), a good quality candy thermometer is an absolute necessity. Yes, I have made fudge before, but it has always been the kind that uses marshmallow creme, which is pretty difficult to ruin. You can burn it – one can burn anything, with sufficient talent – but short of that you can’t get large crunchy sugar crystals no matter what you do.
Not so the kind of fudge I’m trying to make now. This stuff could be used to teach a lesson in physical chemistry. And the key is contolling the temperature, both in the cooking and in cooling it before you start beating it. My Aunt Judy might be able to judge by eye when to take the pot off the heat, and by a hand on the side of the pot when it’s time to start beating, but she’s been making fudge for more than 40 years. I haven’t had reason to try doing it the hard way before this.
So I have taken the first necessary baby-step, and acquired a really good candy thermometer. I ordered it online from a store with the delightful name of Kitchen Kaboodle. It was in today’s mail. Next will be a trip to the grocery for cream, which I don’t normally keep on hand. For the first batch (or 2 or 3) I’ll use the regular recipe, until I have the hang of it. Then I’ll start modifying, one variable at a time.
I foresee a lot of fudge in my future. Fortunately for our waistlines, I seldom have trouble giving such things away.
the mere idea of not keeping cream on hand is utterly foreign to me…
You are not lactose intolerant.
I WOULD volunteer for some of the fudge, however, I still have the unpleasant memory of eating 3/4 lb of choc fudge at my mom’s one Saturday when I was FOUR. Amazing how that stays with you, isn’t it?