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Dessert

Fudge

A chocolate fudge made by boiling sugar, milk, butter, and chocolate, then cooling and cutting into squares.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fudge

  1. Combine milk, sugar, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes.

  3. Add chocolate and continue boiling for 5 minutes.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

  5. Beat the mixture until cool and thick enough to pour.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into a buttered dish and cut into squares once 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. 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

Granulated sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it dissolves and crystallizes, sets the fudge's firm texture.
Milk
Supplies liquid that dissolves the sugar and gives the fudge a creamy, softer body.
Chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and fat that contributes to the fudge's smooth richness.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and a softer bite.

The step that matters

Beat the mixture until cool and thick enough to pour. Beating while the sugar syrup cools encourages fine crystals to form, giving smooth fudge. Beating too early or too late can make it grainy or stop it setting properly.

“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 fudge recipes

Chocolate 85Maple 38Cake 30Marshmallow 18Divinity 15Peanut Butter 13 See all 48 →

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