X-Mas Dinner Aftermath

The Christmas dinner was a huge success! Everything was cooked perfectly and everybody ate everything, and had seconds! I don't have any pictures from the day, or the prep the day before since my roommate and I were a bit preoccupied, but one of our buddies took a lot of pictures to make up for it. I'm figuring it's in the 200+ range, including Triffle prep the night before. I'll put some of them up when I see his copies up in the book of face.

An issue now of course, is leftovers. I've been snacking on the extra roast potatoes for the last day or two since they taste great cold, and the leftover Triffle was my breakfast the day after dinner. I was able to use the extra egg whites from the Triffle and some of the leftover panko broccoli to make a really mice scrambled egg breakfast this morning. Real easy too, just flash the broccoli in some olive oil over medium heat and pour in the egg whites. Already had the garlic in it!

To celebrate the end of the Christmas dinner, I decided to make another mess in the kitchen and attempt to make fudge for the first time! I found this great recipe by Andrew Lewis of Up Craft fame, featured on the Craftzine website. Not only was the recipe for regular vanilla and chocolate fudge, he includes variations for chili chocolate fudge, whiskey and rum! I decided to try the rum fudge as a present to some of my friends this year. The original recipe can be found here!

Rum Fudge:
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup of evaporated milk
8 tbsp of unsalted butter
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
4 tbsp rum

Directions:

Step 1: Put all of the ingredients into a large saucepan, with the exception of the rum, whiskey, and vanilla essence, if you are using it.

Step 2: Fill a bowl with cold water and place it near to the stove. You will need this water later on.

Step 3: Bring the saucepan slowly to the boil, stirring the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon. Boiling the mixture too quickly can cause the sugar in the mixture to stick and burn, so take it slow and steady.

Step 4: Keep the mixture at a steady boil, stirring all the time. If you stop stirring even for a few seconds, the mixture will stick to the pan and start to burn.

Step 5: After a while, the mixture will start to thicken and will leave a thin, glossy coating on the back of a wooden spoon. You may also notice that the boiling becomes slightly less vigorous, with fewer bubbles on the surface of the mixture. These are both signs that the fudge is almost cooked, and it usually takes between 10 and 30 minutes of boiling time to reach this stage.

Step 6: Test the consistency of the fudge by dripping a small amount of it into a bowl of cold water. If the mixture forms a soft ball or tear-drop shape as soon as it hits the water, then the mixture is cooked and can be removed from the heat.

Step 7: If you are using vanilla essence or rum, stir it in now. Be aware that the boiling temperature of the rum is lower than the boiling temperature of the sugar, so it will boil as soon as you add it to the fudge mixture. Make sure there are no naked flames nearby that could ignite the alcohol vapors.

Step 8: Allow the fudge mixture to cool for 5 minutes, and then begin beating air into it with a wooden spoon. Continue beating until the texture of the fudge becomes slightly grainy and stiff. This will take approximately 20 minutes, and the exercise will do wonders for your tennis serve.

SAFETY NOTE: In case you are wondering why I do not recommend using an electric beater to do this job, it is because at this stage of the fudge making process, you are essentially working with molten sugar. An electric beater can easily throw molten sugar out of the mixing bowl, resulting in serious burns.

If you choose to ignore the risk of serious burns (and take sensible precautions against molten, airborne confectionery), you will find that an electric beater will take about 5 minutes to whip the fudge to a much lighter consistency than is possible with a wooden spoon. (Take heed to this warning! Fudge seems to retain heat for a very long period of time and can still burn after being long removed from a heat source)

Step 9: Line a suitably sized baking tray with parchment paper, and pour the fudge mixture in. Let the mixture cool, and then divide into bite-sized pieces. It is easiest to cut the fudge into squares while it is still slightly warm, and then wait for it to cool completely before turning the pieces out onto a plate.

If your fudge doesn't set solid, there is no need to panic. You can just pop it back into a saucepan, boil it for a few more minutes, and then repeat steps 8 and 9.

After the fudge had been sitting in the baking tray for about a half hour I put the whole thing in the fridge to aid with the setting up. I am really happy with my first fudge attempt, it came out really well and tastes amazing! This is coming from someone who isn't a huge fan of rum too! I'm sure my friends will be quite happy.