Chocolate Fudge (NYT)

All candy-making is about preventing crystallization,” said Michael Chu, an engineer based in Austin, Tex., who writes about his kitchen experiments online at Cooking for Engineers. Mr. Chu’s chocolate fudge recipe, of which this is an adaptation, has the pleasantly cakey, almost sandy texture desirable in fudge, which can be tricky to achieve using milk and butter. He uses condensed milk to reduce the ingredients in the fudge to a mere three (salt is optional) and to eliminate the dreaded step of cooking the sugar syrup to the soft-ball stage. The manufacturing process has already done that work for you.

4 Tbsp. (½ stick) butter
1 lb semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (454 g)
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (300 mL)
⅛ tsp. sea salt, optional
½ cup almonds, pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts, chopped, optional

Butter an 8" square baking pan. Line with parchment or wax paper, letting edges of paper hang over sides of pan.

In the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl set over (not resting in) simmering water, combine all ingredients except nuts. Mix just until melted and well combined. The mixture should be heated as little as possible.

Remove and mix in nuts, if using.

Scrape mixture into prepared pan. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours or overnight. Lift fudge on paper out of pan and use a large knife to cut into squares.

Makes 16 (2") squares.

How to Store Fudge Made with Condensed Milk:

• Homemade fudge made with condensed milk is quite soft compared to traditional fudge. This means it should be kept in the refrigerator, if left at room temperature it will soften further.
• You can store this lemon fudge in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
• You could also store it in the freezer for up to 3 months in an airtight container.