Oh Fudge!!!

It's amazing how the world's most simplest candy has the most complex taste. I'm talking about fudge - that rich amalgam of cream, butter and cocoa.It brings back good memories (especially if you went down to the Jersey shore every year for vacation). Fudge may not be as exotic as today gourmet chocolates with their wild mix of spices and deep cacao but it's still good. It brings back a simplicity of another era.

The actual origins of fudge are somewhat blurry . No one really knows how it was invented but speculation about it was from someone making a botched version of caramels and exclaiming "Oh fudge!". In 1888 a Vassar student's cousin sold fudge in Baltimore for 40 cents a pound and then gave the recipe to him. Another student, Emelyn Battersby Hartridge got her hands on said recipe and makes thirty pounds of it for an auction at the school. Other colleges soon followed this trend and schools such as Wellesley started to sell it too. The first commerical batch of fudge was made on Mackinac Island Michigan by Murdick's Candy Kitchen. The owners mixed everything on marble slab swhich set the standard for fudge makers all over. Shops all over, especially candy makers in Atlantic City such as James started selling varieties of fudge alongside their world famous salt water taffy.Ice cream shops also jumped on this new craze and around 1900 the hot fudge sundae was born.

Making your own batch is fun and easy to do. Use Miss Battersby Hartidge's recipe to produce the best because you'll get the perfect blend of chocolate and cream. You can add nuts such as walnuts or pecans if you want to. Other extras to add are coconuts and marshmallows for a Rocky Road fudge. Some foodies add mint extract or hazelnut for a more gourmet taste. There are also maple , peanut butter and vanilla fudge you can create however chocolate is the best.

Fudge is fun treat, simple to make but complex in taste.It is the perfect mix of all our favorite tastes rolled into one chunk of sheer perfection.

Emelyn Battersby Hartridge's Orginial recipe (taken from www.the nibble.com)

2 cups granulated white sugar

1 cup whole cream

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate chopped (use bakers chocolatefor this. Either Hershey's or Nestle's is very good).
1 tablespoon butter

Combine sugar and cream and cook over a moderate heat. Add the chcolate when this becomes very hot.Stir constantly.Cook until mixture reaches soft ball stages(about 234-238 degrees Farenheit). Transfer to a buttered tin or pan(a brownie pan would be the best) Cut into squares before fudge completely hardens.
You can add walnuts, pecans or even almonds if you like,to this.