Easy-to-make “College Fudge,” a women’s colleges legacy

Four simple ingredients and minimal effort create rich, delicious fudge. Recipe and multiple variations below.

I WAS TODAY YEARS OLD WHEN I FOUND OUT HOW EASY IT IS TO MAKE FUDGE. Really, I had no idea. I thought it was an ornate process requiring marble slabs, special molds and spatulas, numerous ingredients and long hours. Turns out, none of that is the case.

At its most basic, fudge requires only four humble ingredients: chocolate chips, condensed milk, vanilla extract and salt. For equipment, you just need a double boiler (preferred) or heavy-bottomed saucepan, or even a microwave oven (least preferred).

My mind was also blown by several online recipes that talked about the historical significance of fudge in women’s colleges. Fudge seemed to appear, under that name, for the first time, at Vassar College in the late 1880s, introduced by a student named Emelyn Battersby Hartridge. By the 1890s, young women at schools like Vassar and Wellesley were frequently making fudge in their rooms. This usually happened in secret, to avoid the censure of administrators. Fudge, in those days, was so closely associated with women’s schools that the earliest written recipes call it “College Fudge.”

In 1897, the New York Tribune said fudge was best “when a dozen or more girls are congregated in a room, sitting on sofa cushions spread out on the floor in a mystic circle around an alcohol stove, from which the odor of ‘fudge’ rises like incense.” I am assured by numerous sources that fudge is still indelibly linked to college women and how rewarding and fun and bond-building it was to knock it together right in the dorm.  I knew none of this. And, in the interest of full disclosure, the only recipe I recall fixing in my college dorm involved grape Kool-Aid and vodka.

Here’s our modern take on “College Fudge.” The original was full of butter, for one thing—newer versions are not. This basic recipe is absolutely everywhere online and it is so easy and so fast that, like me, you will ask yourself how you went all this time without knowing it. It can be multiplied (or cut in half). It is enormously variable—see the Kitchen Notes for some suggestions. As with any dish with just a few ingredients, quality is all—use the good stuff. If you are using an unfamiliar brand or a cut-rate brand, check the ingredients to make sure you are using actual chocolate and not some weird imitation.

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College Fudge

Four simple ingredients and minimal effort create rich, delicious fudge.

Course Dessert

Ingredients

• 12- ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk, about 14 ounces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• First, prepare an 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over the edges of the pan. I used two sheets, so that the paper covered all the sides of the pan with a couple of inches extra all around. Set the pan aside.
• Put the chocolate chips and the condensed milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan or the top of a double boiler. Heat gently over a low flame, stirring, just until the chips melt into the milk—it will be very thick and the consistency should be uniform.
• Turn off the heat. Stir in the vanilla and salt.
• Scrape the fudge into the prepared pan and spread it evenly. Cover the top of the pan with foil, not touching the fudge, and put it in the fridge until it is mostly (ideally, not entirely) set, about two hours.
• Lift the fudge out of the pan, using the parchment paper, and put it on a plate. Cut the fudge into cubes—whatever size you prefer. That's it. Store the fudge in the refrigerator.

Kitchen Notes

Quality matters. With so few ingredients, use the good stuff. For this, we used Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips and Eagle brand condensed milk.

Equipment matters. The gentlest way to melt the chocolate is in a double boiler, putting a layer of boiling water between the chocolate and the heat source. Next best is a heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat. Some recipes recommend microwaving the chocolate, but we don't—it's too easy to overheat the chocolate, causing it to become thick and lumpy.

So many variations. Here are some flavor variations, each based on using semi-sweet chocolate chips. Yes, if you prefer, you may use milk chocolate chips, and you may also be interested in exploring variations on white chocolate chips.

• Spicy fudge: add 1/2 to 1-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.
• Rocky road fudge: add 2/3 cup mini marshmallows and 1 cup chopped walnuts,  Garnish with coarse sea salt.
• Peppermint fudge: crush candy canes to make about 1/2 cup. Stir in 1/3 cup of the crushed candy, and garnish the top with the rest.
• Cherry fudge: add 1/3 cup finely chopped candied cherries; instead of vanilla, use almond extract.
• Orange fudge: instead of vanilla, add 1/4 teaspoon orange extract.