Traditional Chocolate Fudge, With A Spicy Kick…
There is a cool trick to make this fudge spicy. A trick I learned years ago from a baker using vanilla beans…but I’m doing the trick with habaneros and ghost peppers instead….secret steps revealed below!
Making fudge can be tricky and I have definitely botched a few batches myself before finally getting it right. I have described a few tricks that I have learned from my mistakes below as well as how to adjust for altitude for the softball cooking stage temperature.
Ingredients:
3 c sugar
2/3 c cocoa powder
1-1/2 c milk (1-2/3 for high altitude)
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 c butter, unsalted
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
Pinch cinnamon
5 chili peppers, I used 3 habanero and 2 ghost peppers (Carolina reapers, serrano and jalapeño peppers are also great)
Tools needed:
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Small stock pot
Measuring cups and spoons
Wooden spoon
Parchment paper
Square cake pan or baking dish
Rubber spatula
Sheet pan
How to make it:
Rinse the peppers under cold running water, let air dry on clean kitchen towel.
The cool trick to make this fudge spicy is as follows:
Rough chop the peppers. I don’t remove the seeds, but you can if you choose to do so. You can also halve the peppers if desired. Stems removed of course.
This step will take a few days, so you will need to get this going 5-7 days prior to you wanting to make the fudge. In a mixing bowl, add the sugar and peppers. Toss the sugar with the peppers to evenly coat and place both the sugar and chopped peppers in a jar or other glass container. Let sit at room temperature for 5-7 days to infuse the sugar with the pepper. This sugar will have a nice heat to it from the capsaicin in the peppers. Stir the sugar and the peppers daily keeping the peppers under the sugar. Sugar acts as a preservative, so don’t worry about the peppers going bad.
After the sugar and peppers had time to hang out for a few days, dump the sugar out onto a sheet pan. Remove the peppers, do not discard. I found that spreading the sugar out on a sheet pan flat with a rubber spatula and letting it air dry for 1 hour really helps the sugar have less moisture. This will help you get better results at a proper setting fudge in the end.
The peppers that were sitting in the sugar are great when boiled in simple syrup (which is equal parts sugar and water) for 5 or so minutes. Strain the peppers from the syrup and toss around in some sugar, let cool. These “candied” peppers are great as a garnish for your fudge and eaten as is! That simple syrup is now spiced up too and ready for all types of things!
Now, let’s make some fudge!
In your stock pot, mix sugar with the cocoa powder with your wooden spoon breaking up any clumps. Stir in the milk, put on your burner set to medium heat continuing to stir. Bring to a boil and STOP STIRRING. Set your candy thermometer up at this point. Reduce heat to medium low and keep on a simmer. Bring to softball stage (see table below), this may take 10-15 minutes so keep an eye on it! Turn off heat and place in butter, pinch salt, pinch cinnamon and vanilla extract. STILL NO STIRRING. Cool to 140, THEN start to beat the fudge with your wooden spoon until it starts to loose it’s shine and is still slightly pourable. This can take about 3-5 minutes. Pour into your parchment lined container to cool the rest of the way. Cool minimum 2 hours before cutting into square pieces. This will keep at room temperature, no refrigeration is required.
The following is a description of how to adjust for altitude when making your fudge since it is technically a candy making process.
Soft Ball Stage at sea level: 234 F to 240 F
Water boils at 212. F at sea level.
Subtract boiling point of water at sea level and your boiling point of water for your altitude. That number gets subtracted from the middle number for softball stage to get your temperature target.
EX: For me, I live at 5000 ft. 212 minus 202 equals equals 10 degrees.
10 degrees subtracted from 237 is 227, which is my target softball temperature for my altitude. Normally I go 225 , which is lower on the spectrum of temperature.
Boiling Point of Water
Altitude in feet / Degrees
500 ft 211
1000 ft 210
2000 ft 208
3000 ft 206
4000 ft 204
5000 ft 202
6000 ft 200
7000 ft 198
***At some altitudes, the water will boil at 202.6 (at 5000 ft for example). I’m not worried about the decimal since there is a 6 degree f temperature window that the temperature can fall into for the softball stage. I suggest going with the lowest number first when making it, no higher than the middle point.
For me, water boils at 202 f. There is 9 degree difference, therefore I go with 225-228. I found that going with 225 f for my altitude gives me the best results. The most important part of making fudge is knowing when to stop beating it. Though necessary for good sugar crystallization, over beating it will cause your fudge to be grainy. Beat the fudge just before it starts to lose its shine and the butter is mixed in thoroughly.
Happy Cooking
Logan
