National Fudge Day

June 16th was National Fudge Day according to The Nibble, an online food magazine about specialty foods. And even though I had everything ready to go yesterday, Bob and I decided we needed to get out of the house and away from computers and stuff. We went to see the Star Trek movie. Yeah, I’m a Trekkie at heart. I think Zachary Quinto makes the PERFECT young Spock. I’ve always enjoyed Quinto’s character of Sylar in Heroes, but now watching him revive the Spock character was just the most entertaining time I’ve had at the theatre for a while, well, other than seeing Angels and Demons.


But enough about me. Let’s talk FUDGE. I’ve grown fond of watching Alton Brown on “Good Eats” on the Food Network show. Recently he had on a segment regarding fudge. I watched, I laughed, I listened to his comprehensive and scientific teachings on his cocoa and fudge research. He’s not only fun to watch but also has a way of teaching you a thing or two about cooking. OK, I was talking about the fudge. I wrote down his recipe for what he considers the best fudge in the whole world. I followed it to the letter using my candy thermometer and the proper size pans and ingredients. Long story short…I’m still waiting for the fudge to set. I’m pretty sure at this point that either I screwed up on one of his instructions, or….?

My plate is lonely. WHERE is the FUDGE???

Being flustered, I prepared a pan of Mexican Chocolate Fudge. I melted, I stirred, I cooled and I waited for the fudge to set, I cut into squares and took a picture (or two) and Alton’s recipe is still not set. If it ever does set, I’ll take a photograph and show it to you.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this recipe of Mexican Chocolate Fudge to commemorate Fudge Day (which was yesterday, while I was at the movies with my honey).

YAY! My plate is not lonely any more. It's got CHOCOLATE Fudge...Mexican Chocolate Fudge!

Mexican Chocolate Fudge
(about.com/candy)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1 disc (3.1 ounces) Mexican chocolate, finely chopped

Preparation:
1. Prepare an 8x8” baking pan by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Combine the marshmallows and chocolate chips in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Place the butter, milk, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until sugar dissolves.
4. Bring the mixture to a boil. Continue to let the candy boil, stirring constantly, for five minutes.
5. Remove from the heat. Stir in the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and vanilla, mixing until well-combined.
6. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top.7. While fudge is still wet, sprinkle the chopped Mexican chocolate on top. Place in the refrigerator to set the fudge. Once set, cut into 1-inch squares to serve.
Look at how creamy and smooth it turned out. Sorry, Alton. But since your recipe STILL has not set completely, I guess I'm King (Queen) of the the (Fudge) Kitchen! :)

For a great bit of reading on the histoy and origin of fudge, go to the Nibble by following this link. It's very interesting.
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Check out a delicious recipe for BBQ Pulled Pork (Crockpot Style). Go to the Mexican American Border Cooking blog for the tasty recipe.






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Interesting Fact:

The Hershey bar was the first candy bar on the market in 1900. By the 1920’s, there were about 40,000 candy bars on the market.