Treat Day Wednesday–Homemade Fudge

Nope not the easy, but oh so tasty, condensed milk kind.  The get down and dirty, throw your back into it, homemade fudge!

Ever been to an outlet mall? Don’t lie, I know you have.  Or to the mall?  Where they have those chocolate stores that sell fudge and there some guy making the big slab of it on a big slab of marble in the front window.  Well that’s this weeks inspiration.

Last week while in Florida we hit the Premium Outlets in Ellenton.  That’s where, if you follow on Facebook, I got my sick deal on a Coach bag for 69.99.  Got it at Saks Off 5th, where there wasn’t a line to get into, unlike the Coach store.  Anyway, I digress!  There is a Tillman’s there and the girls just love to watch them make fudge.

Now I’ve made fudge before but the cheater kind.  And it’s good, but I’ve always wanted to try to do what the guys in the funky hats do!

So I found a recipe and gave it a whirl.  And it’s sooooo tasty.  In fact it’s so tasty that after the girls get their pieces it’s going to Rob’s work tomorrow.  I’m going to be good if it kills me!

I made a half batch and as you can see, it’s a good size piece and that’s after Rob and I partook in some after the kids went to bed last night.

Now it’s a bit granular but I think with practice I could get that creaminess that good fudge has.  But for now, I’ll keep trying new things for Treat Day.

Recipe: Chocolate Fudge (adapted from Group Recipes.com)

• 4 cups sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup butter
• Dash of salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup good chocolate chips
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. On your marble counter, place ice cubes and let sit to cool top.
2. Combine sugar, cream, corn syrup, butter, salt and chocolate in heavy bottom sauce pan.
3. Once combined put over medium heat and stir using mini circles until mixture comes to a boil.
4. When it comes to a boil, stop stirring and using a pastry brush and the water to wash down sides of pan. 
5. Keep boiling without stirring until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (240 F).
6. Remove ice from counter and wipe water off with hand.  Leaving counter wet.
7. Pour mixture onto counter, slowly, without scraping the pan.  Any sugar from the sides can turn the mixture into sugar.
8. Let mixture cool and when warm to the touch, start mixing with palette knife.  Add 1 tsp vanilla.  The mixture should lose it’s gloss and start to harden the more you knead it.
9. It’ll take a while, but it’ll go hard.  Kind of like all of a sudden.  I think I turned my head and looked back and it was done, but had been kneading for 10 minutes before it happened.
10. Transfer to Ziploc bag and continue to knead until smooth.
11. Place fudge on smooth surface and use a rolling pin to smooth to desired thickness.
12. Let sit for an hour and enjoy!

So there you have it.  Homemade Fudge.  In a pinch the condensed milk kind is the bomb, but if you are trying to impress, roll up your sleeves and give it a go!

Thanks for looking!

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