Published January 1, 2007.
Classic fudge is frustrating and completely unpredictable. After months of tests, we've reimagined this recipe to make it utterly reliable—and surprisingly simple.
Traditional fudge—with its slightly grainy texture but melt-in-your-mouth creaminess—is anything but easy. At a minimum, it needs a cool, dry kitchen, a precise digital thermometer, and a hefty amount of muscle.
We wanted a fudge preparation technique that yielded a forgiving recipe that didn’t require ideal conditions.
We first experimented with classic "easy" substitutes such as marshmallow cream (Fluff) and sweetened condensed milk. The Fluff required precise timing, and even when it worked, the result was more like a chewy candy bar than fudge. Initially, the condensed milk gave us a texture more like frosting and was too sweet. But by adding a little unsweetened chocolate, we both lessened the sugary intensity and boosted the chocolate flavor. To make the texture firmer and lighter, we found that a little baking soda reacted with the acids in the chocolate, altering the fudge pH, which made the fudge drier and firmer. We reached perfect density when we added 1 cup of chopped walnuts.
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