While I experiment in the kitchen all of the time, fudge is not something I've ever tried. Paging through their new Star Wars cookbook (yes, they have two Star Wars cookbooks), the kiddos found a recipe for May the Fudge Be With You, and insisted we try it. In the recipe, it talks about stirring the fudge until it goes from glossy to dull, but I had no idea what that meant or how long it would take. I stirred it for a minute or two, and then poured it into the pan.
Now that I know better, it is not a surprise that the fudge never set, and while tasty, it had a grainy texture.
A short time later, Joanna mentioned Celia's tutorial on fudge, and I decided to try it. Celia actually has two tutorials; I studied them both, but tried the chocolate recipe.
With Celia's detailed, helpful instructions and pictures, it became very clear why my first attempt didn't turn out, and I finally realized what it means for fudge to "snap" and turn from glossy to dull. Clearly I didn't mix for nearly long enough. And clearly I was not patient enough.
Happily, it worked! Thanks, Celia. :) I can now make a delicious and creamy fudge, and I can't wait to try other flavors.
I use a recipe from Fine Cooking that has you use a hand mixer. I need to figure out if I can stir it in my stand mixer at the end instead, because it takes a long time & my arm gets tired. Though not as tired as the time I made it totally by hand--not doing that again. =)
ReplyDeleteWow...fudge...oh, boy! lol I am certain Mark and Matt would be all over this one. I liked reading about your experiences with it...maybe I should try to make some this Christmas as well...experience is always a good thing to get me motivated with making something with chocolate.
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