Happy New Year Fudge Fans!
We hope you had a wonderful holiday season at the end of last year, and we hope you had some of our fudge to enjoy it! We're excited to announce our new seasonal flavors for the start of the new year! We have a whopping 6 new flavors for the start of the year.
To start, we have 4 new Valentines Flavors that are sure to make you believe in love at first sight!
Chocolate Cherry Amaretto:
A rich and creamy chocolate fudge flavored with cherries and amaretto.
Chocolate Covered Strawberry:
Our delectable strawberry fudge topped with a layer of our rich and creamy chocolate.
Dark Chocolate Cherry:
Our dark chocolate fudge mixed with dried cherries.
Pink Champagne:
A classic drink for special occasions, now in fudge form!
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What is Fudge?
If you ask around, there's some misconception of what Fudge actually is! Is it supposed to be dry? Is it supposed to be creamy? What is it even made of?!! Well we're here to help let you know what's what when it comes to Fudge!
Fudge is a candy that is made from sugar, cream, and butter. While Marshmallows are commonly used to make homemade Fudges, it actually isn't Fudge at all! Real Fudge is a melted mixture of sugar, cream, butter that is heated to the "Softball" stage of candy making. It actually is very similar to Caramel, so much so that the first Fudge was very possibly a mistake batch of Caramel!
But wait, what is "Softball" and how can Fudge and Caramel be similar?!! Well we have the answer! When sugar is cooked it forms a crystalline structure. The larger the crystals are, and the more grainy the candy will become. If you let the crystals get large enough, you will end up with hard candies. The smaller the crystals are, and the creamier and softer the candy will be. This is where Caramels and Fudge fall in. By carefully boiling the sugar mixture to a specific temperature, you can achieve the correct level of crystallization in the sugar! In fact, the first Fudge recipes were Caramel recipes that cooked at a slightly lower temperature!
So Fudge is really quite simple after all! A mixture of sugar, cream, and butter cooked to a specific temperature! Be sure to check out our other editions of Fudge Friday! Goodbye until next week!
]]>The History of Fudge:
Fudge is a treat enjoyed by millions around the world! Its rich and creamy texture has people coming back for more again and again. But where did Fudge come from? The exact origins are unknown, but it's likely that it was first created in the late 19th Century.
The first story tells of a Baltimore Candy Maker that had accidently mis-cooked a batch of Caramel. Upon realizing his mistake, he supposedly said "Oh Fudge" and the name stuck. Whether this story is true or not, it does make for an entertaining history.
The first documented case of Fudge being sold was in 1886 by a Grocery Shop in Maryland. A couple years later at Vassar College in Ploughkeepsie, NY, Emelyn Battersby Hartridge documented making and selling a 30lb batch of Fudge in a local school sale.
However, the history of Fudge may go back even further than the 19th Century! In the early 18th Century, a recipe for a confection appeared in Scotland that closely resembles the earliest Fudge recipes. It was found in The Household Book of Lady Grisell Baillie, and was the formation of Tablet, a Scottish confection similar to Fudge.
The last major milestone of the history of Fudge is 1938, Hollywood California. C. C. Brown's Famous Ice Cream Parlor started selling it's first Hot Fudge Sundaes. After decades of tinkering with Fudge recipes, Clifton Hibbard Brown successfully created a Fudge that was pourable for his Ice Cream. Now this treat can be enjoyed at any time thanks to commercially available Sundae sauces.
Whether Fudge is an old sweet from the highlands, or invented in a American College, we can all agree that it is the sweetest and tastiest treat around! What once started as a simple confection now has exploded! Instead of simple Chocolate and Caramel, you can now get Fudge in a massive assortment of flavors. From Pumpkin, Coffee, Cotton Candy, and just about everything in between, Fudge is the one gift sure to please everyone!
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