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Dessert

Marshmallow Fudge

A chocolate fudge made with marshmallows, sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Marshmallow Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fudge

  1. Mix the grated chocolate, sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan.

  2. Place the saucepan over low heat until the mixture begins to boil.

  3. Let it boil hard for five minutes.

  4. Just before removing from heat, beat in a few marshmallows.

  5. After removing from heat, add the vanilla and beat until it begins to cream.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into buttered pans and cut into squares.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it dissolves and cooks, the structure that sets the fudge.
Milk
Adds moisture and dissolves the sugar into a smooth, liquid base for boiling.
Grated chocolate
Supplies the chocolate flavour and fat that give the fudge its richness.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, softer texture and richer flavour.
Marshmallows
Add sweetness and softness, helping the fudge stay creamy.

The step that matters

Let it boil hard for five minutes. Boiling concentrates the sugar so the fudge sets firm when cooled. Too short a boil leaves it soft and runny, while too long makes it hard and grainy.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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