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Chocolate Fudge (C milk evaporated milk is very)
2/3 C milk (evaporated milk is very good) 2 C granulated sugar 3 level T cocoa 2 T syrup Boil without stirring until it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water. Remove from fire, add a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of vanilla and beat until thick and creamy. Two or three tablespoons of marshmallow creme added when candy is taken from fire makes it softer and more creamy.
Mrs. Dorothy Boyd.
A standard soft-ball fudge, written for cooks who knew the cold-water test by feel. A candy thermometer removes the only real guesswork.
- The hinge: do not stir, and let it cool before beatingStirring a boiling sugar syrup seeds large crystals and gives grainy fudge. The recipe says so for the boil, but the same applies afterward: for the smoothest texture, let the pan sit undisturbed until it drops to about 110F before beating in the butter and vanilla.
- Soft ball in numbers234-240F on a candy thermometer. At sea level, 236F is a reliable target; subtract roughly 1 degree for every 500 feet of elevation.
- Syrup"Syrup" here most likely means light corn syrup, widely available in American kitchens from the early twentieth century. It acts as an interfering agent that blocks crystal growth as well as sweetening; maple syrup will not behave the same way.
- CocoaUnsweetened natural cocoa powder. Three level tablespoons is a modest amount; whisk it into the dry sugar before adding the milk or it will float in lumps.
- Evaporated milkThe parenthetical note is worth following. Evaporated milk has more concentrated protein and sugar and gives a richer fudge, and it is more stable against curdling than fresh whole milk.
- Pan and scorchingUse a heavy saucepan at least three times the volume of the mixture — it climbs when it boils. Medium heat throughout; sugar and milk together catch quickly on a thin pan.
- Marshmallow cremeStill sold in jars. Two or three tablespoons folded in off the heat softens the set and makes the fudge forgiving if you slightly overshoot the temperature.
- Yield and finishingRoughly a pound of candy. Pour into a buttered 8x4 loaf pan or a small square pan while it is still glossy and just beginning to lose its shine, and score into squares before it sets hard.
Fudge belongs to the American cooking-school era: the earliest documented batches are generally traced to women's colleges in the 1880s and 1890s, where students made it on chafing dishes, and the sweet spread rapidly through community and church cookbooks like this one. The nod to evaporated milk and to marshmallow creme dates the entry to the twentieth century, when both were shelf staples and both were being marketed for exactly this kind of home confection.