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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Paddle

I think I am in love!
Fudge 1 001

My friend has just started an Etsy shop selling hand crafted, wooden cooking utensils. He has been in carpentry for about 20 years now and specializes in gorgeous custom cabinets. Now he has started this side business of making utensils. I am trying to talk him into starting up a dutch oven cooking blog. He and his wife are dutch oven pros and I think they really should share some of that info in blogdom. I have only used my dutch oven a few times because, honestly, it intimidates me. I would love some tutorials for dutch oven basics and them maybe some of the fabulously awesome things you can cook with them.
He mainly makes dutch oven tools right now (which are simply marvelous I might add).

Now I need to let you in on a little secret part of my life. I made fudge. Big deal you say? I made fudge from my grandmother's recipe which is over 100 years old. This is old school fudge like you get from specialty candy houses that is made on marble slabs and cooked slowly and carefully to the right temperature which is reached when it smells right, sounds right and does the right thing when dropped into cold water. Thermometers are for novices. Then you cool this pot of chocolaty goodness and poor it onto a large marble slab. You cool it there and then start stirring it and forcing the sugar crystal to for in a very delicate pattern.
The resulting fudge is pure indulgence. I think it should be a sin it is so good but am really glad it isn't or I would be is so much trouble.
I have been making this fudge for 20 years now since I was in my early teens. I have used many different tools in that time. Each tool offering different qualities but none really doing the job like I had hopped. I have made a kind of quest of finding the perfect fudge making tool and have finally found it. I asked my friend if he could come up with a fudge paddle (not telling him how much was riding on this attempt). I gave him a few details about how the fudge is made, what tools I had used in the past, some of the disappointing features of them all and some of their finer points. He asked a few questions and went to work. That afternoon he dropped off this beauty.

sample bars 010
I have to admit I was skeptical at first. It is HUGE. It measures 5 1/4 inches wide and almost 24 inches tall. I think the largest utensil I had used in fudge making was just over 12 inches tall. This also has an angled blade. I had only ever used straight bladed tools. Well I got a chance yesterday afternoon to give it a try. I usually only make this fudge at Christmas (for obvious consumption reasons). I have to say again....
I am in Love!
If asked right now what one kitchen tool I would save in a house fire, it would be this one! It is everything I have ever looked for in a potential fudge paddle. The angled blade makes it much easier to scrap and fold the fudge. The long handle made it easier for me to reach the whole batch of fudge without having to over extend my reach. Love that. Also, the handle is very long and curved on the end making easy to swivel back and forth so I can stir and scrape the fudge from the right or left. That was an unexpected bonus. Thanks you!! Love that feature.
My oldest son watched me as I made the fudge (he usually does). He commented on how much quicker the fudge turning went and that the new paddle seemed so much easier for me to use. I thought that was cool that he noticed the difference.
Here are some shots of the paddle at work.
Fudge 011
Fudge 027
This makes making fudge so easy I just might have to start selling it in my etsy shop. What do you think?
Sorry this recipe is very old and has been in the family for a couple of generations and I am not at liberty to divulge the recipe yet.
Sorry!

9 comments:

CC said...

Oh yum..more than yum, it's so unladylike to say I am almost drooling, so I won't say that. Forget I brought it up. It never happened..Can I have the pan please to scoop out the last bits of goodness??? Oh yummmmmmmm !!!!!!!!!!
Your candy looks more than wonderful and the paddle is just gorgeous. What a wonderful friend to have made you this one of a kind tool.I know it's very special to you..

Lucy said...

Thank you! I am affraid that drooling is a side effect of the this fudge. One sad note about the paddle (sad for my kids but very happy for me) is that it doesn't leave much behind on the marble slab. They get to clean of the tidbits left and sadly there weren't any. I was impressed.

Deb @ PaperTurtle said...

I love the look of the handmade wooden kitchen tools...REALLY love the look of that amazing fudge. My mouth is watering!!! If you can't share the recipe, do let us know when you post it in your shop! :o)

All the places you love said...

I remember eating this fudge when I was a child. Mom kept it rolled in wax paper in the freezer. When we were very very good we she would cut off a little piece for each of us. We weren't good that often. Now I can't eat the stuff. I've been blessed with an allergy to chocolate. Life isn't fair!

jojoebi-designs said...

yummy yum yum!

I hope you don't mind, I have added one of your tutorials to my 100+ fat quarter tutorials post, thank you for sharing :o)
jo
http://jojoebi.blogspot.com/2010/02/fabric-swap-100-fat-quarter-tutorials.html

GlowWorm said...

Perhaps even I, who am candy-making retarded, could be successfull with such a lovely tool/

Sam said...

woah - you weren't joking when you said it was a big paddle!!!! that fudge looks oh-so-yummy - I'd buy it!! But only in very very small quantities cos I am trying this strange thing called a calorie controlled diet!! ;-)

UK lass in US said...

Looks delicious. I get confused as American fudge / caramel / toffee etc. all seem to be completely different from the English versions, so I never know what I'm going to get. Does American fudge always have chocolate in?

Oh, almost forgot - you asked what fabric I used for that doll. It is flannel.

Heather said...

I don't want the recipe (as I have a great one)...but I *am* intrigued by the paddling process...I had never heard of cooling and mixing the fudge in this manner. I've always used a hand mixer.

Could you elaborate a teensy bit? Pretty please? :P

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