Origin of Fudge

You'll find no confection as sweet as Christmas Fudge.  Not only is the rich flavor irresistible, but the spirit with which it is produced adds a special quality that can't be surpassed.

Fudge is an American invention:

Some food historians mark February 14, 1886 as the day fudge was invented, but no one really knows for sure.  In fact, fudge wasn't invented at all!  Legend says that it was accidentally discovered when a batch of caramels failed.

When this fortunate accident occurred, many reported that the cook shouted "Oh, Fudge!" which gave this newest sweet treat its name.  At that time, dictionaries defined the word fudge as meaning “nonsense,” and later defined it as “to fabricate or contrive in a careless or blundering manner; bungle.” But even as late as 1849, there’s no mention of fudge in the professional confectionery cookbook published by J.M. Sanderson.

The first evidence of fudge was in a letter written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, then a student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She wrote that a schoolmate’s cousin made fudge in Baltimore (1886) and sold it for 40 cents a pound. After obtaining the recipe in 1888,  she made and sold 30 pounds of fudge for the Vassar Senior Auction. Word quickly spread throughout the other women’s colleges who then developed their own versions of the recipe.

Original fudge recipes were infuriatingly delicate.  They required a crucial diligence about precise measurements, cooking time and constant stirring to develop into perfect fudge.

Out of necessity, home cooks began developing “foolproof”

recipes.  With the inclusion of corn syrup, processing smooth fudge got a lot easier.  Recipes soon substituted the milk or cream with sweetened condensed milk, marshmallow crème, or other ingredients that guaranteed a perfect fudge texture.  While they may have sacrificed a bit of the creamy goodness of the original process,

the ability for everyone to enjoy fudge made it a more than acceptable trade.

Christmas is celebrated with immense zeal and enthusiasm all over the world.  Fudge is one of the most delicious and popular sweets prepared during this time of the year.  Christmas Fudge is a staple of the Christmas festival because of its exceptionally luscious taste. Making the Christmas Fudge is not very difficult and can be prepared at home easily. Some of the most common flavors created for parties and family enjoyment are Chocolate Fudge, Peanut butter fudge, Cinnamon fudge and Candy bar fudge. 

Experimenting with fudge is fun for the whole family to make and a great way to create inexpensive gifts.  Whether you're young or old, everyone loves a smoothe piece of delicious chocolate fudge. There are thousands of free recipes online these days and you may even find one or two for your microwave.

Today's fudge recipes use evaporated milk and perhaps some marshmallow creme to make the process far easier.  So why not test your culinary talents by making the special gift of fudge this Christmas?