"fudge" news and stories

Soft-serve gets a makeover at upscale ice cream joints. Think spiced cantaloupe topping, balsalmic cherries, a "creamsicle" of white nectarine granita and jasmine tea soft-serve.

The Slow Food movement plans a Labor Day Slow Food Nation festival, to be the "Woodstock" of food festivals. Hope they bring more porta-potties than the original.

The Rutgers Tomato Project brings back the Jersey tomato.

The Minimalist does a no-bake summer cheesecake with blueberries.

Some New Yorkers are apparently unable or unwilling to leave their own neighborhoods for dinner.

Wasabi fudge, lavender caramels, blue cheese truffles.

All it takes to enjoy caramel is a sweet tooth and, fortunately, I happen to have a large one. I say fortunately, because that sweet tooth is what prompted me to try Caramoo caramels at the SF Winter Fancy Foods Show this weekend. The all-natural caramels are loaded with European butter and full-cream milk, hand made in small batches and individually wrapped. They have the unusual property of being delicate and crumbly, so that with each bite the candies almost seem to dissolve on your tongue. It is a sharp contrast to the very commonly found chewy caramels, but a welcome one, as each buttery candy is incredibly satisfying. They come in original and honey flavors. The latter clearly tastes like honey, but I happened to have a slight preference for the classically flavored original.

The company also stocks Caramoo Creme Fudge in Chocolate, Vanilla and Mocha, each of which starts with the same caramel base as the original caramels and ends with a product that is light, creamy and delicious.

Most of the candies seem to be heading towards wholesalers at the moment, but you can easily place an individual order on the company's website.

Joe, at Culinary in the Desert Country, usually does a great job with plating and photographing the recipes that he blogs, in addition to choosing ones that sound promising in the first place. His Snickers Fudge takes the cake, though. Not only does it look perfectly made and far better than a "real" Snickers bar could hope to, but it sounds even more decadent than the popular candy bar. The one significant twist that his recipe offers is that it has peanut butter in several of the layers, adding a distinctive richness to the chocolate layers and the nougat. (Snickers - are you listening?) Normally, making the nougat would be a challenging endeavor for even experienced cooks, but this version is made in part with marshmallow creme - hence the designation of the recipe as fudge - and has a fluffy texture. Salted peanuts are folded into the layer before it is topped of with a thick layer of chewy caramel. Joe points out that the only thing difficult about making these is that you have to wait for each layer to set up before moving on. The actual work is very simple and primarily involves melting and spreading, so this might be a fun thing to make with your kids over the holidays

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The one thing I hate about making candy is having to bend down to try to get a good reading from my candy thermometer. It's not the bending that bothers me, but the fact that I sometimes have to get my face rather close to an extremely hot, bubbling mass of sugar. It's hard enough to get a good reading on a traditional thermometer, trying to angle it in just such a way that you can approximate the temperature, and when you consider the fact that there is usually steam coming out of the pan and fogging the tube, it can be impossible. Unfortunately, more than one batch of fudge has been ruined by inaccurate temperature reading.

The Baker's Catalogue now stocks a digital candy thermometer that takes a precise reading in seconds. You don't have to get close to the sugar and you don't have to squint through fog, either. You can even program it to "beep" when the mixture reaches the desired temperature, or you can have the alarm sound at seven pre-programmed candy stages! It sounds perfect for anyone who wants to try their hand at making candy at home - especially beginners who aren't as confident about hitting their target temperature.

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I don't know that I would go so far as to say that fudge is America's "favorite" candy, since I suspect that plain old chocolate takes the top spot, but fudge is right up there in terms of homemade candies, to be sure. In Oh Fudge!: A Celebration of America's Favorite Candy, you'll find a collection of 300 different recipes for fudge and some very useful information about the history and science behind it. The stories and wit of the author keep the book light and entertaining, while the recipes are appropriate even for people who have never laid eyes on a candy thermometer before. It gives you a great grounding in what you need to know about candy-making, including what to look for in the various stages of cooked sugar and the functions of various ingredients.

With so many recipes, it's hard to believe that there isn't at least one recipe in the book that you will enjoy and, even if you're not a fudge fan, it's a great treat to serve to friends and family at any time during the holidays.

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