Dark Fudge Secret

Stirring the chocolate, filled the kitchen with a rich aroma.  I had placed the dark bitter chocolate in the sugar, butter, and milk mixture to melt and I was visualizing the perfect fudge.  Finally, I discovered the secret to making fudge smooth.  Sugar crystallizes, so the key is to have only small sugar grains, not huge sugar grains that make the fudge gritty.

    Cover the saucepan for two - three minutes just after the mixture starts to heat.  Steam washes the sugar crystals down the inside of the pan.  I envisioned all those big sugar crystals running for their life.

    Final secret, after it reaches that soft ball stage of 234 degrees ( I like to drop a bit of the mixture in cold water to see it form a tiny ball instead of using a candy thermometer), leave it alone.  Don’t stir, jostle, or shake.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait.  You don’t want to stir because stirring helps the little sugar crystals attach to each other and form large sugar crystals which makes gritty fudge.  When its cool (110 degrees), then stir and beat it to death.

    I produced the creamy fudge to my family.

    “Mom, it doesn’t taste like homemade fudge. It’s smooth!”

    Let me know if you want the recipe.  You can choose.  Smooth or gritty.  Fudge is believed to have been created first in the Eastern USA in the 1800’s by someone who was trying to make caramels.