We wanted to exchange gifts with a couple close friends this year, even though we generally give gifts only to family. They have been knitting a lot lately, and we had a hunch they were knitting us presents, so we decided to give them something homemade as well: a giant jar of chicken soup, a not-quite-as-giant jar of pasta sauce, and some homemade fudge.
I had never successfully made fudge before. When I was 13 or 14, I used to attempt it pretty frequently, but I never had a thermometer, so I was always guessing at the temperature, and I never had the patience to wait for the “soft ball stage.” To make fudge, the temperature of your mixture must reach 234 to 240 degrees. At that point, if you drop a bit in cold water, it will form a soft ball. (Here’s a video about it from Epicurious.)
This year, I decided to get serious about fudge-making. First, I tried Alton Brown’s peanut butter fudge recipe, which was praised online as incredibly easy and delicious. Here’s the problem: the recipe is so easy because it’s made in a microwave, and I don’t have a microwave. So I tried to make it over the stove, and it was a complete disaster. The butter, peanut butter and confectioner’s sugar boiled over long before getting to the soft ball stage. (I then tried to salvage the mixture by making cookies, which were possibly the worst cookies ever made. We felt sick after eating a couple of them. Note to self: don’t make cookies with confectioner’s sugar.)
I had more success with a slightly altered version of Paula Deen’s Old-Time Chocolate Fudge recipe. I made a half-batch (in case it, too, turned out to be a disaster) and used a glass banana-bread pan. I added a little more cocoa — instead of two heaping tablespoons, I used three. I also used agave syrup instead of corn syrup, and walnuts instead of pecans. The fudge was amazing. I loved the walnuts, although next time I might toast them a bit first. The mixture achieved a pretty fudge-y texture within about two hours in the fridge, although it didn’t truly reach prime fudginess until the next day. The only problem: as instructed, I buttered the baking dish, which didn’t work that well. The fudge was pretty hard to remove.
I was so excited that I decided to try Emeril’s peanut butter fudge the next day. I cut back a little on the sugar–Paula’s recipe required three cups sugar (1.5 for the half-batch), and Emeril’s required four, so I decided to stick with the lesser amount, since my first batch of fudge was perfectly sweetened. Again I substituted agave syrup for corn syrup, and I used about half of what Emeril recommended. This time, I greased the dish with sesame oil instead of butter.
It tastes great — the peanut butter flavor is very strong, so I could see why Emeril suggested more sugar. The sesame oil was a success. The texture, however, isn’t quite as good as it was in my last batch – it’s a little soft. I think that’s mainly because Emeril’s recipe made more batter, and I used the same banana-bread dish, so the fudge is deeper. The good news? Since it didn’t turn out perfectly, I have to try again.
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December 28, 2008 at 6:20 pm
[...] innovation of the year; a week ago, we gave our friends Phil and Adriana giant jars of homemade chicken soup and pasta sauce, along with some homemade fudge. Both gifts were relatively inexpensive and, most importantly, we [...]