Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Chocolate Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the mixture
Stir the ingredients until melted, but stop before it begins to boil.
Cook until it reaches the soft-ball stage when tested in cold water.
Remove from the fire.
Cool and set
When cool, stir until thick and creamy.
Pour into a pan and, when cold, cut into squares.
Add chopped nuts just before taking from the fire (optional).
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Nuts | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cocoa + nutstop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together65 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Cocoa + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together548 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-undecalactone (coconut, creamy).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fine granulated sugar
- Provides sweetness and, as it crystallizes, the fudge's firm, sliceable body.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and fat for a smooth, soft texture.
- Baker's chocolate
- Supplies chocolate flavour and fat that help make the fudge rich.
- Cocoa
- Intensifies the chocolate flavour and deepens the colour.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Stop before boiling, then cook to soft-ball stage. Sugar concentration sets the texture. Boiling past the soft-ball point makes the fudge hard, while stirring only after cooling encourages fine crystals for a creamy result.
Swap the cocoa
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream, butter, nuts):
- Pistachiofits better
- Almondfits better
- Filbertfits better
- Cocoathe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, butter, nuts. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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