Like I mentioned in my last blog post, the weather here has me waxing nostalgic about Autumn in New England. Well, since that post we've had no shortage of fall-like weather here in The Netherlands. For instance, the other day I was wearing a sweatshirt and a jacket. In July. The end of July.
My lust for certain confections hasn't waned so I decided to do something about it. Today I made fudge for the first time. Now, a couple of years ago I was at a candy counter here in Holland and ran across something that looked like fudge. It was even labeled "fudge." My heart began to race and I began to salivate a bit as I ordered a piece. Sadly, it wasn't even close to the fudge I've enjoyed my entire life. I'm not sure what it was exactly, but the taste was vile. For the past few years I've had to settle for annual trips to the Old Country Store in Mansfield, MA for my fudge fix. The OCS has the best fudge I've ever had, and, according to my late grandmother (who worked there as a teenager), my very first piece of fudge came from there.
http://www.oldcountrystoreonline.com/
Making perfect fudge the old fashioned way requires a candy thermometer. I don't have one so I figured I could make do with a regular meat thermometer. That was a mistake. Fudge needs to be heated up to 242 degrees F in order for the sugar to properly dissolve.
My fudge, while actually very delicious, came out slightly grainy because it wasn't heated up to the proper temperature. All in all, I'm pleased with the results and I'm going to continue to experiment with different kinds of fudge. Rocky road, penuche, vanilla, maple, cookies and cream, dark chocolate with M&Ms, peanut butter with chocolate ganache. Oh yes. I know what people are getting from me for Christmas this year.
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