Allison Cooks Alton's Good Eats

With having completed Alton’s fudge recipes, I have officially cooked my way through the first 100 episodes of Good Eats. How many recipes has that been? Honestly, I haven’t counted. Fudge is something I have a favorite standby recipe for, which my mom received years ago, handwritten on an index card, from an old woman she met at church. Though I don’t make fudge often, I know which recipe I always reach for. Did Alton’s chocolate fudge recipe dethrone Mom’s? Read on to find out.

Chocolate Fudge

For Alton’s chocolate fudge, butter an 8×8-inch square pan and line it with wax paper. For an easy way to line the pan, place the pan on top of a large piece of wax paper and use a sharp knife to cut the paper diagonally from each corner of the pan. Place the paper in the buttered pan and the corners will magically fold/overlap perfectly, and you can trim any excess with scissors.

Buttered 8×8 placed on wax paper.

Corners of wax paper cut with a sharp knife.

Wax paper placed in buttered pan.

In a two-quart saucepan combine 2 3/4 C sugar, 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, 2 T unsalted butter, 1 T corn syrup (helps to prevent crystal formation), and 1 C half-and-half.

Sugar, chocolate, and butter in pan.

Sugar, chocolate, and butter in pan, along with corn syrup and half-and-half.

Stir the mixture over medium heat until you are certain the sugar has dissolved and the chocolate has melted.

Stirring the mixture to dissolve sugar.

Sugar dissolved and chocolate melted.

Once the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low and place a lid on the pan for three minutes; this helps to remove any crystals that have formed on the sides of the pan.

Lid placed on pan for three minutes.

After three minutes, remove the lid and clamp on a candy thermometer, letting the mixture cook until it reaches 234 degrees; if you have high humidity, Alton says you will want to go a few degrees higher.

Bringing fudge to 234 degrees.

As soon as you hit 234, turn off the heat and add 2 T butter to the top of the pan, but do not stir the mixture. The butter will keep the surface of the fudge from drying out while it cools. Be careful not to agitate the pan at all during the cooling process, as this could cause large sugar crystals to form in your fudge.

Butter added at 234 degrees.

Once your fudge hits 110 degrees, use a wooden spoon to stir it very quickly. Stir the fudge until its surface becomes matte and it falls from the spoon in clumps. Finally, add 1 T vanilla extract and roasted/chopped nuts, if desired; I opted to leave my fudge plain.

Quickly stirring fudge with a wooden spoon.

Spread the fudge into your prepared pan and let it cool at room temperature for two hours. This particular fudge should be stored at room temperature.

Fudge poured into prepped pan.

A piece of Alton’s fudge.

While Alton’s fudge had a very rich chocolate flavor, it lacked the dense creaminess I like in fudge. Instead, this fudge seemed to have a dry, slightly crumbly texture. Some online reviewers complained of this fudge being gritty, but that was not a problem with my fudge. I simply like my fudge to be a bit less dry. Don’t get me wrong… this fudge is certainly good, but it still can’t top my mom’s.

Peanut Butter Fudge

Unfortunately, there is no online link to Alton’s recipe for peanut butter fudge, though there appears to be a video. To make his peanut butter fudge, place two sticks of butter (cut in pieces) and 1 C smooth peanut butter in a large glass bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, poking a few holes in the top to release steam.

Two sticks of butter, cut into pieces and placed in a large glass bowl.

Peanut butter added to butter, and bowl covered with plastic. A few holes were punched in the plastic.

Microwave the butter/peanut butter on high for two minutes. While the bowl is in the microwave, prepare an 8×8-inch pan by buttering it and lining it with wax paper (see chocolate fudge recipe above).

Buttered/lined pan.

After microwaving, remove the plastic and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon.

Peanut butter/butter after microwaving for 2 minutes.

Peanut butter/butter after microwaving for 2 minutes and being stirred.

Cover the bowl with plastic again and microwave for two more minutes on high.

Recovered with plastic and heading back into the microwave for 2 more minutes.

After microwaving for 2 more minutes.

Remove the plastic and stir in 1 t vanilla and 16 ounces of powdered sugar, sifted (I sifted the sugar straight into the bowl).

A teaspoon of vanilla to stir in.

Powdered sugar being sifted in.

Stir the fudge with a wooden spoon until it is dull and thick, and then switch to a potato masher to get the sugar all mixed in.

Fudge after stirring.

Using a potato masher to mix fudge.

Blended fudge, ready to go in pan.

Press the fudge into the lined pan, top it with additional wax paper, and refrigerate for a couple hours, or until set. Store this fudge in the refrigerator.

Fudge, pressed into pan.

Fudge topped with wax paper.

Unfortunately, I somehow never got a photo of a piece of this fudge. If I’m going to go for fudge, I typically reach for chocolate, but Alton’s peanut butter fudge is pretty fantastic. This fudge tastes like the peanut butter filling of a peanut butter cup, and is really quite addictive. Of the two fudge recipes in this episode, this is the one I would surely do again because it is super delicious and very easy to make.