There are times in life where you try something and you fail at it. Miserably. I am no exception to this pattern. One such occurrence occurred in the form of fudge. I was home for a short time, an hour or two, and with the mother unit out of the house I was free to be as evil as I wished. And I wished to make fudge.
But the fudge didn't wish to be made. Things went wrong from the beginning. I needed evaporated milk, and couldn't find any, but after an extensive googling period I found that heavy whipping cream could (probably) be substituted for it. With nothing to lose, I went ahead and added it...through a strainer. It wasn't supposed to go bad yet, but there was a thick layer of yucky milky muck lining the inside of the carton. I took my chances (and didn't tell anyone about it). Hey, I strained it! Following the cream problems, it turned out that the pot I was using, a 3 1/2 quart pot, half a quart larger than the recipe suggested, was far too small for the bubbling brew that threatened menacingly to spew forth from its cauldron. I was forced to turn down the flame, as no amount of stirring could keep the monster back, thus preventing it from completely reaching the desired 236 degree temperature. I went ahead and added the remaining ingredients regardless, because that mercury wasn't going any higher. After pouring it in the pan, I licked the spoon, and although I burned my tongue, it tasted alright, so I burned my tongue a few more times.
And that was it. It tasted alright. It didn't look alright. After hours sitting on a cooling rack, the fudge had the consistency of pudding. I started trying to remove perfectly square pieces with a small cookie spatula and ended up spooning lumpy dollops onto a plate. Not what I was going for. A night in the refrigerator hardened everything up, but I still felt like the fudge was a failure. I had to try again, had to get it right. I had to get it perfect.
About a week later, I was going to see a friend of mine after a long-time-no-see, and we agreed to exchange goodies. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to try the fudge again. Her allergy to nuts made it even more appealing to go for it. (I'm not much of a nut fan.)
This time I was going to do it right. A visit to the grocery store got me the holy evaporated milk, and I switched to a larger, wider pot, with a roomy 5 1/2 quart bowl. I was going to beat this fudge. Pun intended.
Everything seemed to look better, even smell better. I turned the burner about as high as I could stand to get the temperature high enough, fearing a possible overflow, but the bubbling stayed where it was supposed to. Pouring it into the pan to harden, it tasted pretty much the same as before, but I definitely burned my tongue more. Then the moment of truth came. Still slightly warm on the bottom, but it had definitely solidified into a glorious, swirly slab of irresistible chocolate fudge. Here, take a look.
Jealous? |
I couldn't get it out by inverting the pan as would have been simply marvelous, but cutting pieces out worked just fine. I cut them into little cubes that would fit into mini-muffin papers and fit 24 of them into a re-used tissue-lined box from a certain confection shop in Pennsylvania. Check it out.
I really hope I don't get any flack about showing the box, but I won't know if I did something wrong unless someone complains, right? And yes, that's my name on the box. The same name as the (Greek) company. Thought it might add a little charm.
So, I've conquered Wonka's nightmare, at least the beginning of it. The boss level comes when you start gettin' fancy with the flavors and colors. And I don't think grit alone will be enough for that challenge.
4 comments:
You are fearless!
And truly evil....I am still mad at you for making this tempting treat. I think I will change our name to Eve.
Let's just say those tasted as good as they looked! I never knew how much trouble you went over them. I thank you for them! [=
Mmmm, those look delicious! I don't suppose you take requests? I keep seeing these recipes pop up online for key lime pie fudge..... (just don't tell Yaya it was my idea eh?)
Mmmmm... you really are evil. I think you should try yarnbombing next. Much less damaging
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