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Chocolate Fudge

Chocolate fudge made by mixing sugar, chocolate, cream, butter, and vanilla, then heating and setting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Chocolate Fudge

Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Stir together the sugar and grated chocolate in a bowl until well mixed.

  2. Add the sweet cream and beat until smooth.

  3. Gradually mix in the warm butter.

  4. Transfer the mixture to a porcelain-lined kettle and heat very slowly, ensuring it does not boil for at least 2 hours.

Cook and set

  1. After 2 hours, increase the heat.

  2. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes, or until a small amount forms a soft ball in cold water.

  3. Stir in the vanilla.

  4. Pour the mixture into buttered pans with straight sides.

  5. While still soft, use a knife to mark the fudge 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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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, builds the body and structure of the fudge.
Grated unsweetened chocolate
Supplies the chocolate flavour and fat that give the fudge its richness and dense texture.
Sweet cream
Adds fat and moisture, producing a smoother, creamier texture.
Warm butter
Adds fat for a tender, smooth texture and rich mouthfeel.
Vanilla
Adds aroma that rounds out the chocolate flavour.

The step that matters

Heating slowly without boiling. Heating very slowly and keeping the mixture from boiling for two hours lets the sugar dissolve fully. Undissolved sugar crystals can make the fudge grainy once it cools and sets.

“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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