Skip to main content
Dessert

Chocolate Fudge

Chocolate fudge made with sugar, chocolate, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
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 fudge

  1. Melt the chocolate and stir it into the milk and sugar.

  2. Add the butter and do not stir after the mixture begins to boil.

  3. When it forms a soft ball in cold water, remove from heat.

  4. Add the vanilla extract and beat until creamy.

Set and cut

  1. Spread onto a buttered dish.

  2. 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.

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. Milk + buttertop 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

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, when boiled, builds the sugar structure that sets the fudge.
Chocolate
Supplies the chocolate flavor and fat that give the fudge its richness.
Milk
Dissolves the sugar and adds moisture and creaminess to the fudge.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Do not stir after the mixture begins to boil. Stirring once the syrup boils can trigger early sugar crystallization, producing a grainy rather than smooth fudge. Letting it boil undisturbed keeps the crystals small and the texture creamy.

“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.

More chocolate fudge recipes

Cake 10Frosting 5 See all 85 →

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate Drop CookiesChocolate Drop Cookies50 recipes