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Kamis, 04 Desember 2008

Making Fudge in the CrockPot


Day 339.

You can't make fudge in a crockpot. I've tried. Twice.

It just doesn't work.

I'm pretty disappointed.

When I started this year, I took it for granted that I'd be able to make fudge (a few different kinds!) in the crockpot. I even dreamt about it (I'm thinking this sounds weird, but I dream and day dream a lot---so it's really not weird if you know me. Eh. I guess maybe it is a bit weird. Whatever.)

We make fudge every year in our house, and it always works----but that's because Adam does it and he follows the directions and uses a candy thermometer. I hate following directions. But I also am quite bummed about this soupy fudge that I just fed to the garbage disposal.

Again.

Out of the 13 flops I've had this year, this one is the toughest for me. I really wanted this to work.

sigh.

I did find a totally awesome fudge recipe board, however: Skaarup Fudge.

Here's the Maple Ginger Fudge I was hoping would work:

--4 cups sugar (Baker's Sugar is great because the fine granules melt easily)
--1/2 cup butter
--3/4 cup maple syrup
--1 cup milk
--1 cup mini marshmallows
--1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
--1 tsp vanilla extract
--1/4 tsp ground ginger

Instead of cooking this in the crockpot, cook it on the stove. Stir it around until it forms threads and reaches whatever temperature fudge is supposed to reach that evidently can't be reached in the crockpot.

Pour it into a prepared 9 x 9 pan (line your pan with parchment paper or Release foil. Pam doesn't seem to work well enough on fudge.)

Let it sit on the counter for about an hour to cool, then cool completely in the refgrigerator before cutting into 1-inch cubes.

The chocolate fudge recipe we always use is on the back of the jar of marshmallow fluff.

The Verdict.

I am so impressed with my kids. They've really put up with a lot this year, and have had a great sense of humor about the whole thing. They kept checking on the fudge not setting in the refrigerator, and reset the microwave timer a bunch of times so they could keep tabs. My seven-year-old told me, "the cooking science just didn't work, mom," and my four-year-old simply asked for a spoon. The reason the above picture is streaky is because we ate a bunch of the marshmallow that floated to the top.

My fingers are crossed that this is the last flop for the year.

other candy and fun snacks that DO work:
rice krispie treats
rocky road candy
peanut not-brittle candy
cracker jacks
nuts and bolts snack mix
chex mix