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Dessert

Marshmallow Fudge

A sweet confection made with brown sugar, cream, chocolate, vanilla, and marshmallows.

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

Marshmallow Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fudge

  1. Combine light brown sugar and cream in a saucepan.

  2. Boil for 20 minutes, stirring briskly.

  3. Remove from heat and fold in chocolate and vanilla.

Add marshmallow and set

  1. Gently fold in marshmallows, cutting them into halves. To cut the marshmallows, wet scissors to prevent sticking.

  2. Pour the mixture into shallow tins and let it cool.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

  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

Light brown sugar
Sweetens the fudge and adds caramel flavour and body as it cooks.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture for a smooth, soft texture.
Chocolate
Adds fat and rich flavour, helping the fudge set smooth.
Marshmallow
Adds sweetness and a soft, chewy texture to the set fudge.

The step that matters

Boiling for 20 minutes while stirring briskly. Boiling evaporates water and concentrates the sugar, which determines how firm the fudge sets. Stirring keeps the sugar from scorching on the bottom of the pan and helps it cook evenly.

“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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