HOMEMADE COOKIES AND SQUARES
Buttermilk Fudge

Submitted by: Philippa Alderton, Canterbury, CN

• 6 cups sugar
  
• 1-1/3 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (Philippa recommends Ghirardelli®)
  
• 1/4 tsp. salt
  
• 3 cups buttermilk
  
• 1/2 cup (one stick) butter, cut into pats
  
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1. Line a 9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil and butter the foil.
2. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in a large saucepan with a heavy bottom, stirring well, until the cocoa is well mixed with the sugar, and all lumps are broken up.
3. Add buttermilk and turn heat to medium, stirring until the mix is evened out, and you start to feel the heat.

STOP STIRRING, and let heat through, until it boils. Let it heat until approximately 235°F, or soft ball stage.

(NOTE: When you're close, the mixture will darken, and the boiling will change in nature -- slower and thicker.)

1. Turn of the heat, without moving the pot (jarring can hinder the crystallization) and add the butter and the vanilla.
2. Let cool until about 150°F and using a clean (wooden) spoon, start stirring fairly vigorously, avoiding dragging the crystals towards the top of the pan into the mix.
3. When it starts to stiffen, about 120°F, pour quickly into the prepared baking pan and smooth out a bit, and let cool -- NOT in the refrigerator -- it has too much humidity.
4. When it has formed a skin on top, score it into the size of pieces you want to break it into.
5. Let completely cool, then take it and the voil out of the pan, and break, rather than cut, the fudge into squares.

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