My mom is a master fudge maker. She has a much requested peanut butter fudge recipe that she has adapted from the standard Marshmallow Fluff fare. Last Christmas, I tried to help out in the kitchen by taking over her fudge making duties while she whipped up a pie. It seemed straight forward enough. My mom walked me through what I needed to do and then handed me printed directions. Which I then decided to ignore completely. What I ended up with wasn’t quite a disaster, as any combination of melted peanut butter and sugar is bound to be delicious, but it also wasn’t exactly fudge either, and certainly wasn’t something that we could take to our family gathering. I think I decided on a whim that I could just dump all of the ingredients into the pot together and bring it to a boil, and to this day I have no idea why I decided to do that. I am usually scrupulous about reading through a recipe several times, and following the directions. My mom pitched my attempt and made the recipe again from scratch, while I tried not to look too chagrined. So I was a little wary about this week’s delicious sounding recipe, Velvet Chocolate Walnut Fudge with Olive Oil and Fleur de Sel.
I learned my lesson this time around, and even took the extra step of measuring out all of the ingredients before starting. This recipe is a lot easier than it sounds, considering that the second ingredient is homemade marshmallow cream. I think I overcooked my sugar a tiny bit, it reached the correct temperature much faster than I thought that it would, and before I knew it my thermometer was reading 260 instead of 245. Oops. When I tried pouring it into the whipped egg whites I ended up with marshmallow cream with some glassy shards of hardened sugar. It worried me a bit, but I figure since I was going to be boiling everything again in the sugar and butter mixture, it might work out alright. I also had a bit of trouble getting the fudge mixture to reach 230, it seemed to hang around the 220 mark for a very long time. At the ten minute mark I just decided to go with it and add the chocolate. Thankfully, everything workout out ok. The texture is a bit soft, but a bit of time in the fridge seems to have helped a bit. I don’t think that they are sturdy enough to ship as a holiday gift, but I think that my co-workers will enjoy them tomorrow.
The taste is very sweet, and reminded me a lot of eating cake frosting. I cut my pieces extra small, so I ended up with 24 servings instead of the 16, and the smaller bit is plenty considering how sweet and rich these are. If I made them again, I might add a touch of espresso, and use only dark chocolate, but otherwise they are quite tasty if you are a fan of fudge.
Next week:Chocolate Chip Orange Panettone
Nice job, Liz! Glad it worked out despite the funky temperature. I had similar issues, but mine was a mess TWICE– couldn’t finish my blog post! I hope your co-workers like the fudge. 🙂
I’m so sorry to hear that yours didn’t turn out! There were definitely a couple of moments where I wasn’t sure if mine were going to end well. Especially around the point when I had sugar fused in a lovely trail from my cook top to my mixer haha.
Well done…you’ve redeemed yourself for sure! 🙂
I agree, espresso would be wonderful in this fudge!
Yes, espresso would be nice. I hope you enjoy basking in the glow of your beautiful fudge today!
I’m sorry I missed this one. Sometimes, I think we’re too self-critical because most people will scarf up anything that’s homemade. But I love your story about your mom! I think I’m going to add this fudge to my Christmas baking list. The espresso sounds like a good add.
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