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Dessert

Chocolate Fudge

A sweet chocolate fudge made with sugar, chocolate, butter, milk, water, salt, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Chocolate Fudge

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 ↓

Chocolate Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Combine sugar, chocolate, butter, milk, water, and salt in a saucepan.

  2. Stir until melted.

  3. Boil while stirring occasionally until the syrup forms a soft ball in cold water.

  4. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Shape the fudge

  1. Let the pan cool until you can touch the bottom of the mixture.

  2. Beat the mixture until stiff and crumbly.

  3. Transfer to a board.

  4. Knead until smooth.

  5. Form into a long roll.

  6. Cut into pieces like oval caramels.

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. 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. Sugar + chocolatetop 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

Granulated sugar
Dissolves into the liquid and forms the sugar structure that sets the fudge as it cools.
Baker's chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and fat that give the fudge its richness.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture in the finished fudge.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that contribute to a creamy texture and flavor.

The step that matters

Let the pan cool before beating. Beating while the syrup is still hot makes large sugar crystals form, so the fudge turns grainy. Cooling until the pan bottom can be touched lets the syrup thicken so it sets smooth when beaten.

“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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