FUDGE!: A Vast Culinary Collection With More Than 200 Delicious, Delectable, And Occasionally Decadent Fudge Recipes!

By Cotter Bass

FUDGE! – Nectar From The Gods

 

The Complete Book of Delectable Fudge Recipes!

 

I have to admit it: I just LOVE fudge!  In fact, I love fudge so much that I decided to write a book about it!  To say this book is a labor of love is an understatement!

 

Following months of research, I assembled more than 200 Delicious, Delectable, and occasionally Decadent fudge recipes, many of them my personal favorites!  After adding a chapter about the History Of Fudge and another chapter revealing Tips & Hints For Making Fabulous Fudge, the book FUDGE! was born!

 

From The Definitive FUDGE! Authority.........

 

FUDGE! proudly presents 15 different chapters of Fudge Recipes, including:

 

A BIT O’ THE SAUCE FUDGE RECIPES (fudge with a kick!)

BRAND NAME FUDGE RECIPES (featuring products from Kraft Foods)

CELEBRITY FUDGE RECIPES (furnished by the likes of George Peppard, Loretta Lynn, Mamie Eisenhower, and others)

CHEESE FUDGE RECIPES

COCONUT FUDGE RECIPES

COFFEE FUDGE RECIPES

COOKIES & CANDY FUDGE RECIPES

EXOTIC FUDGE RECIPES (fudge recipes with a ‘Wow” factor!)

FRUIT FUDGE RECIPES

HEALTHY CHOICE FUDGE RECIPES (for individuals requiring low sugar, low carb, or low fat recipes)

HOLIDAY FUDGE RECIPES (special treats for the Holiday Season)

PEANUT FUDGE BUTTER RECIPES

QUICK & EASY FUDGE RECIPES

SCRUMPTIOUS! FUDGE RECIPES (featuring special and delectable recipes!)

MORE SCRUMPTIOUS! FUDGE RECIPES (you guessed it – more special and delectable recipes!)

 

Just like me, you can make your own delicious fudge at home!  The easy-to-follow Tips & Hints, concise ingredients, and complete recipe directions guarantee your success!

 

Enjoy mouth-watering FUDGE! recipes like:

 

BRANDY ALEXANDER SEASHORE FUDGE

PEPPERMINT PHILADELPHIA FUDGE

THE PRINCESS OF WALES’ FUDGE

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE EUPHORIA FUDGE

PINA COLADA FUDGE ROYALE

RASPBERRY COFFEE FUDGE

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE TURTLE FUDGE

KEY LIME FUDGE

PEACHES-AND-CREAM FUDGE

LOW-CARB MACADAMIA NUT FUDGE

CHRISTMAS BERRY MOCHA FUDGE

PEANUT BUTTER SEASHORE FUDGE

FAMOUS QUICK GOURMET FUDGE

MACKINAC ISLAND CHOCOLATE FUDGE

PENUCHE FUDGE

ROCKY ROAD FUDGE II

WHITE OPERA FUDGE

 

and many, MANY more!

 

Yes, FUDGE! truly is Nectar From The Gods!

 

Order your copy of FUDGE! today! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Jun 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9783743854581

Book preview

FUDGE!

FUDGE!

The Definitive FUDGE! Authority

WITH MORE THAN 200 DELICIOUS, DELECTABLE, AND OCCASIONALLY DECADENT FUDGE RECIPES!

This publication is sold with the understanding that neither the author nor the publisher is rendering legal, medical, accounting, or any other professional counseling. The information contained herein is not intended to replace instructions by trained professionals. For advice regarding legal, medical, accounting, or other issues, readers are advised to consult an attorney, physician, accountant, or other appropriate qualified professional.

Trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement.

The author and publisher disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects that may result from the use or application of the recipes and information within this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher and author.

THE HISTORY OF FUDGE

THE HISTORY OF FUDGE

Before 1886: The exact origin of fudge is not known, but it is said to have originated from a fudged batch of caramels, hence the name fudge.

1886: A Vassar student's cousin sells fudge in Baltimore for 40 cents a pound. This is the first known sale of fudge.

1887: Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, a student at Vassar College, learns of her classmate's cousin and his fudge.

1888: Emelyn Hartridge gets her hands on the fudge recipe and makes 30 pounds of it for the Vassar Senior Auction.

1889: The first fudge shop is opened in Mackinac Island, Michigan. The island eventually becomes famous for its fudge.

1890’s: Murdick's Candy Kitchen on Mackinac Island, Michigan wows visitors by making its fudge on marble slabs, giving their fudge a unique taste and turning the fudge making process into a show.

1900’s: By this time people came up with the idea of undercooking fudge so they could pour it over ice cream. This is how the hot fudge sundae is born.

1906: C.C. Browns, an ice cream parlor in Hollywood, is officially credited with inventing the hot fudge sundae.

1950’s: A fudge recipe that uses evaporated milk and requires less cooking is introduced. It is called Mamie's Fudge or White House Fudge and is rumored to have been invented by Mamie Eisenhower.

FUDGE LORE . . . .

The invention of fudge is commonly attributed to privileged Ivy League college girls - quite a turn from most foods generated in the dawning years of the 20th century! It is quite likely that the enterprising co-eds found alternative ways to melt store -bought chocolate/cocoa (Baker's, Hershey's), adding whatever ingredients they had on hand to approximate the semi-soft, delicious confections they tasted on family holiday. Their concoctions probably tasted pretty good.

While the history of sweet compact confections (with or without nuts) is ancient, the fudge we Americans enjoy today (especially of the chocolate variety) is a relative newcomer.

American confectioners introduced modern fudge to resort-area vacationers in the 1880’s. Mackinac Island (Michigan) is particularly known for this confection. Early recipes for homemade fudge are more closely related to early 20th century (cake icing) confections. One of the primary differences between professional and amateur fudge is the equipment. Professionals employed huge marble tables to work their confections into the right consistency. Home cooks (and Ivy League co-eds) simply poured their mixed ingredients directly into baking pans and let them cool.

Food historians define fudge as "a semi soft candy made from butter, sugar, and various flavorings, the most usual being chocolate, vanilla, and maple. Fudge was first made in New England women's colleges. The origins of the term are obscure. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests it may be a variant of an older word, fadge, meaning to fit pieces together. Since around 1833, the word fudge had been used to describe a hoax or cheat, and by mid-century Oh, fudge! was a fairly innocuous expletive. It has long been speculated that American college women, using candy making as an excuse to stay up late at night, applied the then- current meaning to the new candy. The word fudge as a candy first appeared in print in 1896, and by 1908 was commonly associated with women’s colleges, as in Wellesley Fudge. Divinity fudge, with egg whites and (sometimes) candied cherries, came along about 1910 and was especially popular during the holidays. The name probably referred to its divine flavor.

The Irish recipe for fadge makes an apple potato cake. It was traditionally served on the feast of Samhain (Halloween).

The derivation of the name fudge and the origins of the sweet are both obscure. Fudge, as we now believe, seems to have traveled east to Britain from North America. Anecdotal evidence links it to women's colleges in the late nineteenth century, and most early recipes include chocolate. It is possible that Scottish migrants took the idea of a milk-based tablet to North America. Whether these were influenced by fudge-like mixtures of brown sugar and nuts from Creole cuisine of the southern states is unclear. Fudge appears to have been taken up by confectioners and large companies some years later. Skuse, who collected formulae, including North American ones, did not include one for fudge in the early editions of his Confectoners Handbook, but recipes first appear in British books in the first decade of this century.

Fudge, which denotes a sort of soft, somewhat toffee -like sweet made by boiling together sugar, butter, and milk, is a mystery word. It first appeared in the USA at the end of the nineteenth century when it was used for a kind of chocolate bonbon', and by 1902 the journal The Queen was recording that the greatest stunt among college students is to make fudge.

Most recipes are not invented - they evolve. Compare this recipe for chocolate caramel with those below for fudge:

Chocolate Caramels (1884)

One cup of molasses, half a cup of sugar, one quarter of a pound of chocolate, cut fine, half a cup of milk, and one heaping tablespoonful of butter. Boil all together, stirring all the time. When it hardens in cold water, pour into shallow pans, as it cools cut in small squares.

Boston Cooking School Cook Book, Mrs. D. A. Lincoln, Dover Publications, 1884 (p. 390)

Here are two of the earliest recipes for homemade fudge:

Fudges (1893)

Four cups granulated sugar; one cup cream; one cup water; one-half cake chocolate; one-half cup butter. Cook until it just holds together, then add two teaspoonfuls extract of vanilla and pour into pans, not buttered. When cool enough to bear finger in, stir it until it no longer runs. It should not grain, but be smooth. Cut into squares. Favorite Dishes: A Columbian Autograph Souvenir Cookery Book, Carrie V. Schulman, facsimile edition, University of Illinois Press, 2001 (p. 197)

Fudge (1903)

"4 ounces of chocolate

2 cups of sugar

1 teaspoonful of vanilla

1/2 cup of milk

1 rounding tablespoonful of butter

Put the sugar, butter, chocolate and milk in a saucepan over the fire until thoroughly melted. Boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture hardens when dropped into cold water; take from the fire, add the vanilla, and turn quickly out to cool. When cold, cut into squares." Mrs. Rorer's New Cook Book, Sarah Tyson Rorer, Arnold and Company, 1902 (p. 629)

The Candy Cook Book, Alice Bradley, Little Brown, 1929 has an entire chapter devoted to fudges. The introduction reads:

The name fudge is applied to a large group of candies made of sugar boiled with water, milk, or cream, from 230 degrees F. To 238 degrees F., and stirred or workd with a paddle until candy becomes firm. If stirred while still hot, the resulting candy is coarse and granular. To prevent this, the syrup should be cooled in the saucepan in which it is cooked, or poured out upon a marble slab, platter, or agate tray that has been slightly moistened with a piece of wet cheesecloth. It should not be disturbed until cool. It should then be stirred with a wooden spoon, or worked with a spatula forward and lifting up the mass, turning it over and bringing it back, until the whole begins to get stiff. At this stage, turn into a pan, or, better still, leave the candy between bars on wax paper on a board, regulating the size of the open space according to the amount of candy and the thickness desired.

[NOTE: this book contains recipes for fudge including chocolate, cocoa, sour cream, chocolate acorns, chocolate Brazil nut, chocolate marshmallow, chocolate walnut, condensed milk, cream nut, plum pudding, sultana, caramel, coconut, coconut cream, coffee, coffee coconut, fruit, ginger, marshmallow, maple marshmallow, maple chocolate, maple nut, praline, maple cream, walnut maple, pecan maple, orange, peanut butter, raisin, raspberry, vanilla, nut, vanilla opera, rainbow, maraschino opera, orange flower opera, pistachio, orange opera, Genessee, brown sugar (penuche), fig penuche, fruit penuche, marshmallow penuche, pecan penuche, peanut penuche, Postum penuche (with instant Postum cereal), raisin penuche, double fudge I, double fudge II, divinity, sea foam, Grapenuts divinity (also a cereal), cream mints, cherry puffs, nut puffs, and pineapple puffs.]

OPERA FUDGE - Opera fudge is one of many delicious culinary specialties connected with Lebanon, PA. This fondant candy is a seasonal treat, traditionally made from Thanksgiving to Easter (it melts in the hotter months). In other parts of the country these candies are called opera drops (Boston), opera creams (Cincinnati), French creams, grand opera creams (Cincinnati), and opera caramels.

WHY OPERA? - There are several theories explaining why these candies are connected to the opera, none of them conclusive. Experts aren’t sure why it's called opera fudge but they don’t think it has anything to do with fat ladies, at least not the singing kind. Rather, they generally conclude that it's because it's real rich fudge. The opera is something rich - at the top - like opera fudge.

Opera drops were chocolates with vanilla cream filling, kind of conical, haystack shaped. You would by them during intermission at the opera. There was a British brand called Between the Acts that you could buy at Bailey's in Boston.

A variety of fondant which had cream among its ingredients was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries under the name Opera Caramels.

"VANILLA OPERA FUDGE

2 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/8 teaspoon cream of tarter

Put sugar and cream in a saucepan, stir until it dissolves, add cream of tartar, and boil, stirring carefully to prevent burning, to 238 degrees F., or until candy forms a soft ball when tried in cold water. Move thermometer often, that candy many not burn underneath. Pour on marble slab, agate tray, or large platter, which has been slightly moistened with a damp cloth, and leave until cool. With broad spatula or butter paddle work the candy back and forth until it becomes creamy. It may take some time, but it will surely change at last if it was boiled to the right temperature. Cover with a damp cloth for half an hour, then add vanilla, working it well with the hands. Press into a small shallow box lined with wax paper, let stand to harden, then cut in squares. Other flavors may be used instead of vanilla, and the candy be tinted with color paste to correspond. Sometimes the fudge is divided into several portions, each flavored and colored differently, and pressed into a box of thin layers, then cut in squares when hard. Or each portion may be packed separately to give more variety when arranged on a bonbon dish." The Candy Book, Alice Bradley (Little Brown, 1929 (p. 67)

HALVA - Food historians tell us halva (halvah, hulwa) is an ancient confection originating in the Middle East and is a generic name for a hugely varied range of confections derived from the sweet Arabic root hulw, made in the Middle East, Central Asia, and India. In 7th century Arabia, the word meant a paste of dates kneaded with milk. By the 9th century, possibly by assimilating the ancient Persian sweetmeat afroshag, it had acquired a meaning of wheat flour or semolina, cooked by frying or toasting and