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Dessert

Fudge Filling

A chocolate fudge filling made with unsweetened chocolate, sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla.

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

Fudge Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, combine the chocolate, sugar, milk, and butter.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Boil for 4 minutes while stirring continuously.

  4. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

  5. Stir in the vanilla.

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. 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. Chocolate + sugartop 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

Unsweetened chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and rich colour of the fudge.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and, when boiled, helps set it into a smooth fudge texture.
Milk
Dissolves the sugar and adds moisture and creaminess to the fudge.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and richer mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Boil for 4 minutes while stirring continuously. Boiling concentrates the sugar so the fudge sets firm when cooled. Constant stirring prevents sugar from scorching on the pan bottom and keeps crystals from forming unevenly, which would leave the filling grainy.

“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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