eFanzines back online

[gerisullivan]

After being down for pretty much the entire workweek thanks to T1 and MCI problems, eFanzines looks to be back online. You can once again download 59 Minutes of ConFusion, the one-hour one-shot we created last weekend.

I mentally wrote introductory sections of a ConFusion report on the drive to Michigan, and added to them on the drive home. Alas, my energy went into the 1,900+ miles of driving, dealing with a dial-up connection while I was at my dad's before the convention, and shoveling the 10-16" of snow remaining in my driveway when I returned. Then shoveling the next 4.5 inches that fell the next day. And so on.

For now, I'll abbreviate the report to the portion sdn will enjoy most:

Dan Fitzgerald's Fudge
Known in the Fitzgerald Family as Daddy's Fudge

Notes: Daddy says that measurements must be exact (except for the butter), and that timing is critical both in the length of time cooked and the length of time beaten after cooking. Common failure modes are having the fudge "sugar" (which is very grainy and yucky), or not harden (which makes it fudge sauce and yummy over ice cream). This fudge is harder than fudge sold in stores. Daddy says the difference is that store-bought fudge is made with corn syrup. The recipe below is the fudge my dad has been making for all of my life and then some. So the recipe is at least 50 years old, and most likely much older than that. He's 81.

Before you start, butter the dinner plate you're going to pour the fudge onto and the saucepan you're going to cook it in for easy clean-up

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
2 1-oz. squares Baker's semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups sugar -- measure exactly
1 generous tablespoon butter (more in the 1.5-2 tbsp range, actually)
1 capful vanilla (bit more if you use imitation vanilla)

1) Pour milk into saucepan (medium sized, with enough room for the fudge to cook at a rolling boil

2) Shave chocolate into milk, turning burner to medium heat

3) Dissolve chocolate, bringing milk to a boil -- leave at an active simmer
When stirring, scrap bottom of pan, and bottom edge, but not the sides

4) Slowly stir sugar into chocolate milk mix. Stir continually until sugar melts completely.

5) Bring liquid fudge to a boil -- it will boil up, then boil down. When it starts pulling away from the side of the pan, start testing by dropping a bit of the liquid fudge into a bowl of cold water.

6) When test forms a soft "ball" in cold water, remove from heat (Soft ball: Form that you can pinch together and pick up. It holds its form, though it doesn't actually make a round ball.)

7) Add "good size lump of butter" (generous tablespoon, more like 1.5 Tbsp., and Daddy sez 2 Tbsp. won't hurt.)

8) Let it cool another minute or so, then add vanilla.

9) Stir to melt butter (won't all mix w/chocolate)

10) Electric mixer -- beat fudge slowly until butter disappears, then on high. Beat a few to several minutes on high until fudge has some firmness but is still pourable. Monitor continually while beating -- if you beat it too long, you won't be able to get it out of the pan; if you pour it too soon, you'll have flat fudge. (Or you can continue beating it by hand until it's a thickness you want to pour.)

11) Pour fudge onto buttered plate, leave to finish cooling and harden. Cut off as many pieces as you like, then enjoy. Licking the spoon, bowl, and beaters will help time pass while waiting for the fudge to cool. Or use a spatula to remove the entire batch of fudge from the plate and wrap it in plastic wrap, then foil to enjoy later, maybe even by sharing it with others at ConFusion or another convention.

I'm looking forward to trying different kinds of chocolate in future batches. Daddy accidentally made a couple of batches with Baker's unsweetened chocolate (they changed the packaging, which caused him some confusion). It tastes great. I'm betting other baking chocolates will also be yummy. One of the batches I made for ConFusion had cashews stirred into the fudge just before pouring it onto the plate. That worked well, too.

In honor of TrainFusion, the last CD I played on my drive home was Between the Rails: America's Train Songs. It's okay; the music at ConFusion was much, much better. Thanks to all who made it so. And to all who made the rest of the convention rock, too.

Comments

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

My dad showed me his candy thermometer, and said he'd tried to use it, but that doing so didn't work well for him. Which is weird, considering that he spent 35+ years running chemical tests as part of his job keeping a power plant running. I suspect he had his way of making fudge set in place long before he got his first candy thermometer.