Chocolate Fudge

adapted from Dec 2009/Jan 2010 Fine Cooking magazine
makes twenty-five 1 1/2″ pieces

3 3/4 cups (845 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (355 ml) heavy cream
4 ounces (112 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons (45 ml) light corn syrup
3  tablespoons (42 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut up into cubes
1 tsp (5 grams) salt

1. In a high-sided sauce pan or pot, boil cream, sugar, chopped chocolate and light corn syrup.

2. Stir ‘em up gently over medium heat until completely dissolved.

3. Keep the heat on and top the pot off with a lid for a couple of minutes. This will create steam inside which will condense and roll down the sides of the pot and wash away any sugar crystals that may have formed.

4. Clip a candy thermometer to the side, being careful not to let the mercury bulb touch the bottom (this may give a false reading.) Do not stir any more at this point or face the wrath of unwanted sugar crystal growth. Bring the mix up to 236F-238F degrees. This gets the sugar to what’s called soft ball stage and keeps the fudge at the right consistency once it’s cooled and sliced.

5. While the fudge is coming up to temperature, get your pan ready. Grab an 8″ x 8″ pan and line it with foil. You can oil or butter the inside but I’m lazy and simply spritzed it with cooking spray.

6. Once the fudge comes to the proper temperature, turn off the heat and throw in the butter. Do not stir it in. Again, this may cause unwanted crystals to form. The butter will melt and pool over the top. Let it sit there peacefully until the temperature drops to 110 degrees F (about an hour).

7. Once cooled to 110F, start beating on high. At first it will be glossy, but after few minutes of beating, it will become lighter in color and opaque. (If the fudge is too warm when you start beating, the sugar crystals may get too fat. If the mix is too cool, the paddles may start to smoke up from the batter’s stiffness. Mine did. If that happens, turn on the heat to low for 30 seconds to re-warm the mix just enough for the batter to get through.)

8. Keep beating until the ripples hold their shape, and you can start to see the bottom of the pan through the trails left by the beaters, about 10 minutes.

9. Pour into the prepared pan. Now comes the hard part: the waiting. Let this set up completely, at least 2 hours (or over night.)

10. Invert on to a cutting board, and cut into squares.


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