Stimuli

When we were growing up, my sister and I had a specific Christmas baking duty:  Stir The Fudge Pot.

We had a special pot for it and everything: The Fudge Pot. An ancient, heavy-bottomed stock pot — whose bakelite handles had long-since shattered and flaked away; ancient burnt sugar stains flecked the pitted bottom. And a special Fudge Spoon — a warped but very sturdy wooden spoon.

We would stand on chairs, stirring and stirring, while the fudge got thicker and thicker, until our tiny arms were burning. It was only six minutes, but it seemed to take forever. Time stood still and it was the NOWness of the bubbling sugar, and the endless, endless, stirring, that filled my whole frontal lobe.

"Is it time yet?" we would call. "No, four minutes left," Mom would say patiently.

The sugary mixture got darker and darker. Bubbles blatted their way to the surface, one after the other.

Three minutes, two minutes, one minute left. Sweat on our brows, we would whine, "I can't do it!" and suddenly the fudge would be done. Quickly! Quickly! Throw in butter, chocolate and vanilla. Quickly! Stir, stir, stir. Quickly! Pour that stiffening chocolate wonderfulness into the pan. It smelled like some kind of heaven.

The best part? We always got to lick the spoon. Always.

Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge
by Barbara Rogalsky

Ingredients
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 cups granulated sugar
About 20 large marshmallows (5.5 oz)
1/2 cup butter
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, mix together evaporated milk, sugar and marshmallows.
2. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbling and marshmallows begin to melt.
3. Once bubbling, allow turn heat down to just below medium and continue boiling for exactly 6 minutes. Mixture will start to turn golden.
4. Remove from heat and immediately stir in butter, chocolate and vanilla.
5. Pour into an 8 x 8 inch pan lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Chill to firm up in refrigerator. Cut into 1 inch squares, serve at room temperature.

Options
Swap bittersweet chocolate for dark chocolate, mint chocolate, etc. Add different flavorings instead of vanilla, for example, maple or coffee.

by Linda Horn
Blogger at Let Them Eat Cake & Ice Cream and Stimuli Magazine Contributor
Follow Linda on Twitter at @luluhorn