Professional-quality fudge is now at your fingertips! Entice your guests with the best homemade fudge. You can even use your microwave! Ah, Fudge is full of delightfully simple and delicious recipes, includingButterscotch Fudge • Swirled Vanilla FudgeCherry Chocolate Fudge • Rocky Road Marshmallow FudgeOr savor related sweets like creamy caramels, nutty nougats, and mouthwatering marshmallows. Plus, when you follow the step-by-step instructions, you’ll discover how simple tempering chocolate can be!Become a master of fudge with Lee Edwards Benning, author of multiple books, including Oh, Fudge!, Better with Buttermilk, and The Cook’s Tales. Her expertise will take you through the history of fudge and teach you the best tips, tools, and ingredients.Don’t wait! Surprise your family and friends now with the sweetest, richest fudge.AN IMPRINT OF CEDAR FORT, INC.www.cedarfort.comwww.ah-fudge-recipes.comUSA $19.99 CAN $22.99ISBN 978-1-4621-1267-8 978146211267851999Ah, Fudge • 12 • Lee Edwards BenningFUDGE: A Healthy Treat with a Long HistoryWho would have thought that letting a buttery, chocolaty confection slide down your throat would be good medicine? It is! It’s the chocolate! Scientists in Sweden, Copenhagen, Finland, Switzerland, and Italy have proven just that. They found that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contains flavonoids, antioxidants, theobro-mine, and other beneficial elements, and it does wonders in reducing cravings for salty and fatty foods. If eaten during pregnancy, chocolates result in less stressful mothers and happier kids. They even cut heart attack rates and fight the onset of diabetes. Ah, fudge! Whoever said medicine had to taste bad? To discover just the opposite, the Aztecs in Mexico didn’t take some six hundred years. Indeed not. They took strange gold-and-red cucumber-shaped pods filled with almond-shaped white or purplish seeds and used them as money. (Four would buy a pumpkin, and one hundred a slave.) Columbus brought some pods back with him, but they were considered mere curi-osities. Hernán Cortés, decades later, discovered what was inside those pods: beans. The Aztecs removed them, ground them, and fermented them, and Cortés’s fellow explorers learned to make a frothy, bitter liquid from those beans. (It is claimed that Montezuma sometimes drank fifty goblets of xocolatl [“bitter water”] a day. We don’t know how large the goblet was, but he certainly had a caffeine fix.)Cortés brought the recipe (and the golden goblet) back to Spain with him. With the addition of some sweetener, perhaps honey, and the newly discovered vanilla, plus some cinnamon and black pepper, the drink became a national obsession. So important did the Spanish consider chocolate that they entrusted the secret of its making to their monasteries, where monks retained absolute control of it for more than a century. Eventually it went north to become part of the marriage potion for the wedding of Spanish princess Maria Theresa to the king of France.The mighty French were no more able to resist the influence of xocolatl than the Spanish. Once it was introduced to the court at Versailles in 1659, the Sun King, Louis XIV, promptly created the position of “royal chocolate maker to the king.” Ah, Fudge • 3But fudge per se was yet to be found, so far as we know, in France, the birthplace of confectionery, the land of spun-sugar confections so heavy they required several stout shoulders to carry them into the feast. Despite their knowledge of marzipan and marshmallows, nougats and pastilles, fondant and caramel (the latter two, father and mother to fudge), it is said that the French did not learn of this most modern and most popular confection from America until the twentieth century. Some say fudge was introduced to Europeans in packages American mothers sent to their doughboy sons during World War II. Though it was a likely contributing factor, there were doubtless other ways that the word about this delicious sweet passed across the Atlantic.But where and when did those mothers get their fudge? Fudge was being made in this country almost as far back as the Civil War. The only written record we have came from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, when Emelyn B. Hartridge (class of 1892) wrote a letter to a beloved history professor in 1921: “Fudge, as I first knew it, was first made in Baltimore by a cousin of a schoolmate of mine. It was sold in 1886 in a grocery store for 40 cents a pound. . . . I secured the recipe and in my first year at Vassar, I made it there—and in 1888, I made 30 pounds for the Senior Auction, its first real introduction to the college, I think.”1Within months of her introduction of the sweet to Vassar, others of the Seven Sisters colleges were making their own versions; for example, Smith College added brown sugar (which we now call “penuche”), Wellesley added marshmallows, and Bryn Mawr concocted a drink called “muggle,” which nobody drinks anymore.In the meantime, the girls at Vassar were setting the recipe for fudge to music (to the tune of that old-time favorite “Smiles”):We love the sight of the fudge-pan bright,We love the sight of the spoon,And better by far than the light of the star,Is the gas, now outshining the moon.Then gather around with whispers profoundFor the bell has rung ten at night,With the transom shut, at our very last cutWe’ll sing to the fudge-pan bright.2Ah, Fudge • 34 • Lee Edwards BenningSo popular was fudge that it spread across the country along with the pioneers. One hotbed of fudge-making activity worthy of mention here is Mackinac Island, Michigan. If you have ever stopped off the ferry (in season) or walked across the bridge, you know that the air is redolent with the unmistakable fragrance of fudge.Although the first candy shop opened there in 1887, it wasn’t until the 1900s that fudge became avail-able. Twenty years ago, there were some eleven fudge shops fighting for your dollar. Today there are just as many, including branches. Murdick’s Fudge Kitchen and May’s Candy are the oldest on the island, but com-ing on strong are JoAnn’s Fudge, Ryba’s Fudge, and Kilwins. Although all proclaim they have the original fudge recipe or are the original store (one through the simple expedient of buying the ground the first shop stood on), most old-timers disagree. The general consensus is that only two shops in the area use the original recipe (and that by virtue of inheritance), and neither is on the island but at either end of the bridge over the Straits of Mackinac, in Mackinaw City and St. Ignace.The original shop, opened in 1952 by Jim Marshall and his wife, Oradelle, was called Marshall’s Drift-wood Fudge. At that time, there were just four flavors of fudge. Now, there are as many as twenty-five flavors, in season.By the way, the original way of making fudge was to put the ingredients in a copper tub, heat it to 240 degrees, and then pour it on a cold marble slab (I suspect they cooled it further with an ice pack) surrounded on four sides with hollow metal pieces. Then somebody went to work with a hoe (they had a fancier name than that) and worked that liquid back and forth until it turned to fudge, which could take hours and wasn’t always successful.Now, some say the original recipe can be found in any library. Those on Mackinaw Island disagree. The recipe is as close as anyone can come to approximating the Island’s fudge in a regular kitchen.So where did the name “fudge” come from? Some say from John Russell Lowell’s A Fable for Critics, in which he compared Edgar Allen Poe to a Dickens character, “There comes Poe, with his raven, like Barnaby Rudge, / Three fifths of him genius and two fifths sheer fudge.”3Does it matter where it originated? Fudge is here . . . and fudge is here to stay! And dictionaries now grant it two meanings, quite disparate, but the candy often comes first:FUDGE noun1. A soft rich candy made of sugar, milk, butter, and flavoring.2. Nonsense; humbug.Nothing humbug about fudge. And Joseph Fry didn’t patent it in 1847. Instead, he patented his way Ah, Fudge • 5of mixing melted cacao butter into cocoa powder (along with sugar) to create a paste that could be pressed into a mold. The resulting bar was such a hit that people soon began to think of eating chocolate as well as drinking it, which had become the custom since the introduction of the Aztec drink of the sixteenth century. But Fry’s concoction wasn’t fudge. Not at all! Although the origin of American fudge is rather murky, it is believed to be an accidentally undercooked batch of caramel, thus the exclamation “fudge” or “humbug.” Regardless of the name, the coeds loved it. But what about the butter in it? Isn’t that dangerous to one’s health? Not at all. Butter protects against heart disease (a research project showed that men eating butter ran half the risk of developing heart disease as did those using margarine). It also has strong antitumor effects, giving excellent protection against cancer. What about those saturated fats? Aren’t they bad for us? Quite the contrary—they actually protect against asthma. So as for butter, you haven’t switched, have you?Then there’s all that sugar! It isn’t good for you, is it? Sure is. Sugar is another name for sucrose that becomes glucose. And glucose is essential for us to live. Glucose is our energy. It keeps our body sustaining a regular temperature. Our brain thinks using glucose. Diabetic people end up with poor defenses because of their poor glucose levels. Glucose and its derivative, glucosamine, are essential for muscle formation. Two of our skin’s main components are collagen and elastin—both need glucose and glucosamine to be formed. Without sugar, our skin ages. In fact, without sugar, our body ages much faster. Sugar is good for living, for thinking, and for the regeneration of our bodies. Yet, so many people preach against it.As for the milk in fudge, we all know the benefits of that. So, all in all, fudge is good for you, and the sweetest of those fudges is still chocolate! Unfortunately, most of us aren’t able to eat it regularly since, until now, it has been difficult to buy at retail (because of its short shelf life) and unbelievably difficult to make as the recipes became more and more complicated. In fact, fudge-making became so laborious that many people gave up on it. This has changed in the last five decades. And it did so with the discovery of instant pudding (the patent for its basis was issued in 1970) and then marshmallow creme (it originated in 1910 but didn’t come on strong until after World War II). But it was the microwave, which became available for home use starting in the late 1960s, that made all the difference. Of course back then, and for years afterward, it was simply used for reheating. Cooking with it? No way. But things change. Now, if you combine instant pudding and marshmallow creme and the microwave, you’ll discover why fudge-making has become simpler and simpler. In fact, most of the recipes contained herein—about 95 percent—are either microwavable to begin with or can be converted to a microwave recipe (instructions given).On the Internet you can find countless recipes for fudge, of which a fraction are for microwaveable ones that promise fast, no-fail results. Unfortunately, in most cases that isn’t true. 6 • Lee Edwards BenningAh, Fudge! to the rescue. These recipes are tried and true if you follow certain instructions. For example, your candy thermometer, no matter how much you paid for it, is only a guide. (Jeremiah Carber, a “candy man,” told me all thermometers register at least two degrees off!) So, don’t rely on one for the right tempera-ture for fudge. And the wattage of the microwave changes everything (see page 11). Note that the altitude at which you live matters too: the higher you are above sea level, the quicker the fudge will come in. So increase liquid by one to three tablespoons at higher altitudes. Even the humidity in the atmosphere will affect the cooking of fudge, and despite air-conditioning and home heat, you can’t really control it. Your best bet is to make fudge on a low-humidity day.Whether you are one of the 73 percent of young Americans who eat candy at least once daily, or among the 26 percent who eat it once a month, here’s your guide to fast and easy fudge-making. Don’t worry about that other one percent who say they don’t ever eat it. . . . They probably don’t know what they’re missing.NOTES:1. December 11, 1921, Vassar College Libraries Archives and Special Collections, Vassar College.2. “A Song of the Fudge-Pan,” Vassar Miscellany 24, no. 8 (1894): 397.3. James Russell Lowell, A Fable for Critics (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1848).Ah, Fudge • 31Prepare an 8×8 dish by lining it from one side to the other with aluminum foil, allowing for 2-inch overlaps. Spray dish with cooking spray, but turn on its side to mop up any grease that settles in bot-tom of dish. Have aluminum foil piece next to microwave on which to set your wooden spoon. Pre-warm your candy thermometer. Have 3 small cups of cold water handy to double-check for soft-ball stage. Fill sink with 3–4 inches of cold water.Place butter in a 2-quart microwavable measuring cup and micro-wave on high for 1 minute or until melted. Add sugar and milk and mix well. Microwave for 3–5 minutes, stirring after 3. Continue mi-crowaving until mixture begins to rise up and boil. Test for soft-ball stage (see page 16). If not ready, stir well, scraping down side of cup, and continue microwaving at 30-second intervals, testing for soft-ball stage after each interval. (Don’t forget to wash your thermome-ter.) Once it reaches the soft-ball stage, let it stand for 2 minutes and then transfer to the sink. Add chocolate and marshmallow creme. Stir until melted (you may need to use whisk to combine.) Add nuts and vanilla and mix well. Pour mixture into prepared dish; spread to cover bottom of dish. Cool completely. Use foil to remove fudge. Discard foil if you wish, and cut into servings. Refrigerate until cold. Can store in refrigerator in airtight container.¾ cup butter 3 cups granulated sugar, processed in food processor (or use a little over 1 lb. superfine)1 (5-oz.) can evaporated milk (about 2/3 cup) (do not use sweetened condensed milk)2 squares semisweet chocolate, chopped or smashed1 (7-oz.) jar marshmallow creme1 cup chopped walnuts (you can buy them this way)1 tsp. vanilla extractNEVER-FAIL CHOCOLATE FUDGEAh, Fudge • 31Ah, Fudge • 67Now when the girls at Smith College heard about Vassar College’s success with fudge (remember, Vassar sold thirty pounds at auction), they determined to come up with their own version. We call it penuche, panocha, or a whole raft of other names. They’re all the same—a brown sugar fudge.Prepare an 8×8 or 5×9 pan by lining it from side to side with alu-minum foil, allowing for 2-inch overlaps. Spray pan with cooking spray, but turn it on its side to mop up any grease that settles in bottom of pan. Keep 3 cups of cold water handy to double-check for soft-ball stage. Fill sink with 3–4 inches of cold water as well. Get out a small heavy saucepan and a pan thermometer, making sure it doesn’t reach the bottom of pan. Get out a heavy saucepan and pan candy thermometer.Melt butter in heavy saucepan on medium heat, adding pan ther-mometer but making sure it doesn’t reach the bottom of the pan. Add sugars, molasses, and cream. Then bring mixture to a boil, stir-ring constantly. Add chocolate and continue boiling and stirring un-til thermometer reaches 232 degrees. Start testing for soft-ball stage with your cups of cold water. When mixture reaches the soft-ball stage, remove from heat and place in sink. Add vanilla extract (and optional nuts). Stir gently until mixture fudges. Then pour mixture into prepared pan. Score the fudge. Let cool at room temperature or chill in refrigerator.Cut fudge into squares.¼ cup butter1 cup granulated sugar, processed in food processor (or use super-fine)1 cup light or dark brown sugar¼ cup molasses—go light on this, especially if you use dark brown sugar½ cup cream2 squares semisweet chocolate1½ tsp. vanilla extract½ cup peanuts (optional)SMITH FUDGEAh, Fudge • 67Next >