Sweet mistakes…
While many desserts and sweet treats are the deliberate results of precise crafting, two of the most indulgent sweets in the culinary world were born of delightful accidents; fudge and truffles. Although now honourable members at the confectioner’s bench, these two delicacies were not always a familiar sight at candy stores or the dessert bar.
With uncannily appropriate timing, it was on Valentine’s Day in the late 1800s when fudge first appeared for sale. A batch of French caramels was bubbling on the stovetop of a Baltimore confectioner when his American-sized batch took a turn for the worse. Dismayed at the mess he had made, legend has it that he exclaimed “Oh, fudge!” It wasn’t till he tasted it that he discovered the creation of a new, creamy and rich delight.
This was the world’s first batch of fudge ever and the rest, as they say, is history.
When it comes to truffles, we must lift our hats to a French Pastry Chef, Auguste Escoffier. While mixing up a batch of creamy eclairs just in time for the holiday season in the early 1920’s, Escoffier’s assistant mistakenly poured hot cream into a bowl of chocolate pieces. In an effort to save the ingredients, Escoffier mixed them all together in a creamy ganache. Once cooled he rolled the mixture into balls, then into cocoa powder. Reminding him of the valuable Truffle fungi, he put them out for sale as Chocolate Truffles. Needless to say, they were a success and go down in the extensive records of French patisserie traditions.
Thanks to a versatile base recipe, both of these delicacies are available in an endless array of flavour options and are easily complimented by the addition of nuts, fruits and candy. Their easy snacking properties make them a common street-side sight at popular tourist destinations in some parts of the world, and the process of blending fudge and folding in flavours on a marble slab is a theatrical attraction for visiting sightseers. In the busy tourist town of Mackinac Island, USA, up to ten thousand pounds of fudge is handcrafted per day during the peak tourism season, earning it the title of ‘Fudge Capital of the World’. And, despite its unintentional beginnings, a perfectly crafted French truffle remains one of the most elegant and expensive sweets in the world.
