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Dessert

Chocolate Fudge

A sweet chocolate confection made by cooking sugar, butter, milk, and chocolate, then cooled and cut into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 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 fudge

  1. In a large pot, combine sugar, butter, milk, and baking chocolate.

  2. Stir briskly over medium heat for 20 minutes.

  3. Add vanilla just before removing from heat.

  4. Beat the mixture until almost cold.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into greased pans and let cool completely.

  2. Once cooled, 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. 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

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it dissolves and cools, helps form the fudge's fine-grained texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel and soft texture.
Milk
Supplies liquid that dissolves the sugar and gives the fudge its creamy body.
Baking chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and fat that contribute to the fudge's richness.

The step that matters

Beat the mixture until almost cold. Beating while the sugar syrup cools forms many tiny sugar crystals, which gives fudge its smooth, creamy texture. Beating too early or too late can leave it grainy or too stiff to pour.

“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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