It took some time to make another recipe and write this post. I’ve been organizing the recipe cards, sorting them into categories, taking pictures of all of them, and taking inventory of the recipe titles. I want to make sure I note what recipes I’ve done and what recipes I still have to try out. I’ve also struggled a bit in feeling like I’m not writing enough for this blog and people will lose interest. When I first started this, I guess I didn’t take into account how much planning and prep work I would want to do for it. My other concern is how to add more content to this blog. I don’t just want to share the recipes and declare them good. I want to make sure things have context, that people understand why things are done the way they are. But how to do that without boring the reading or myself? The blogger’s dilemma, perhaps.
Anyway, on to the recipe.
Hershey’s Cocoa Fudge (Foolproof)
1/2 cup cocoa, 3 cups sugar, 1/4 teasp salt, 1 1/2 cups milk, 4 1/4 tablespoons butter, 1 tsp. vanilla
Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt. Add milk and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Cook until a small amount forms a soft ball in cold water. Remove from fire. Add butter. Cool to lukewarm. Add vanilla. Beat until thick. Pour into buttered pan.
I followed the recipe carefully, mixing the sugar, cocoa, salt, and milk in a sauce pot and warmed it over a medium high flame. I made sure to watch it carefully, so the sugar wouldn’t burn and so it wouldn’t boil over. I actually had to transfer the mixture to a larger sauce pot partway through the recipe, because it foamed up a lot at first and was nearly boiling over. I’d say it took about fifteen to twenty minutes of boiling and stirring on a medium high heat before it forms a ball (or at least holds its shape) when some is put into cold water. Once it reached that point, I cut the butter into smaller pieces and dropped them in carefully. Once the butter was in, the mixture took on this really glossy sheen to it! I then mixed in the vanilla and stirred well for a few moments so it all mixed together. I poured the mixture into my pan (that I had lined with parchment paper and rubbed with butter), and let it cool in the fridge overnight.
The history of fudge is shrouded in mystery. It seems no one person can be credited with inventing it; it was likely the result of someone making a mistake when cooking caramels. The earliest known recipe for fudge is from 1888, written by Emelyn Hartridge of Vassar College in Pennsylvania. The making of fudge became popular at women’s colleges, with students making it in large batches. Since its creation, fudge has become wildly popular in the United States and the UK, usually found in tourist trap shops. It’s easy to make a lot of it, and it’s a customizable candy, with endless flavors to choose from. It’s usually soft, with a melt in your mouth texture, dry enough to be stacked into pyramids or piled into barrels at shops around the country.
Caramel is another classic candy, one that is much older than fudge, but with the same murky origins. Its origins could be in the 1600s, as sugar, and experimentation with it, became more widespread. Over time, milk and butter were included in the cooking process, creating the soft and chewy caramel candy that is so popular today.
It seems the line between fudge and caramel is rather thin. Both sweet treats have similar ingredients and cooking methods. Both of them are popular across the world. Other recipes for fudge that I looked at did mention getting the mixture to the soft ball stage, and then making sure to whip the mixture vigorously to add air to it and make it fluffy. It seems that when I made this recipe, I did not whip the mixture enough after adding the vanilla. Not enough air got into the mixture then, which made the texture soft and chewy, not as dry and fluffy as fudge usually is. Maybe the recipe isn’t as foolproof as it claims.
On the other hand, I’ve never made fudge before, so I might not have known what to look for. While I may have “fudged” this recipe, I still ended up with some yummy chocolate caramels that I’m excited to share with my family and friends. And isn’t that what candy making (and cooking) is all about?
Sources used:
Reid, Robert. “The Curious Case of Fudge.” National Geographic, 2015. https://www.whitakerschocolates.com/blogs/blog/who-invented-caramel
Whitaker, Gemma. “Who Invented Caramel?” Whitaker’s Chocolates, 2025. https://www.whitakerschocolates.com/blogs/blog/who-invented-caramel
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