Old Fashioned Fudge

All my life I've been making the type of homemade fudge with marshmallow creme and chocolate chips. It's pretty delicious and addictive but it requires ingredients that I don't always have on hand and the texture just doesn't compare to real fudge. Real fudge consists of just sugar, cocoa, milk, a bit of butter and a splash of vanilla. If done correctly, those simple ingredients will yield you a dreamy creamy chocolatey fudge similar to the ones you see being made on the marble slabs at the county fair. It may seem easy but homemade old fashioned fudge is almost like French macarons- it takes practice and can be very finicky. You boil the first few ingredients up until a certain temperature and then add the rest and beat like crazy until it starts to thicken. Getting it up to the right temperature and beating the mixture is very time consuming and tiring. If you do attempt it and get it right though, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

I used my electric hand mixer to beat the fudge instead of a wooden spoon. It took about 10+ minutes for it to start losing its sheen - and then my electric mixer broke. I had been having some problems with it and of all times, it decided to die on me while I was in the middle of this very important step. I patted the fudge into the pan anyway and because it was underbeaten, it was just a little too soft to cut into firm pieces. I decided to turn them into truffles by scooping what was in the pan into little balls, freezing them (so they would hold their shape) and then dipping them in chocolate. They ended up being very very sweet, rich and delicious- a very good spin on a classic truffle.

Old Fashioned Fudge

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1. Grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan. Set aside.
2. Combine sugar, cocoa and milk in a large pot with high sides. The mixture will eventually bubble up and almost triple in size. Stir to blend, then bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat, simmer and DO NOT STIR.
3. Place candy thermometer in pan and cook until temperature reaches 238 degrees F(114 degrees C). This could take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Don't rush it.
4. Remove from heat. Add butter or margarine and vanilla extract. Beat like mad with a wooden spoon until the fudge loses its sheen*. DO NOT UNDER BEAT or else fudge won't set up.
5. Pour into prepared pan and let cool. Cut into about 60 squares.

* I used an electric mixer here instead- I have no idea how one would be able to do it with a wooden spoon! It was tiring even with the mixer!