faith saley has a Valentine's Day treat that couldn't be any sweeter this time of year freezing temperatures are nothing unusual in northern Michigan but there's one kitchen that knows a recipe for keeping warm original murdick's fudge has been in operation since 1887 when it first opened its doors on Michigan's Mackinac Island fudge is kind of King in Michigan Bob benser is now the owner I put a little piece of fudge sometimes in my coffee in the morning a little piece of double chocolate fudge you get the sugar the cream cheese so yeah Cafe Mocha type
flavor fudges MacDonald synonymous with Mackinac Island between is self-proclaimed fudge capital the car free Oasis has more than a dozen fudge shops during the summer fudge loving tourists affectionately called fudgies flood the island to meet the demand each shop can make up to 500 pounds a day [Applause] but even when temperatures and tourism cool fudge remains a hot item fudge seems like a natural fit for Valentine's Day we all love chocolates at Valentine's Day right yeah so why not why wouldn't you like fudge that appetite for fudge dates back more than a century pour into
grease pans and mark off into squares so definitely sounds like fudge Joyce White is a food historian we met her at the Maryland Center for history and culture in Baltimore fudge is actually based on a recipe for chocolate caramels which was very very similar what probably happened is that there was someone in Baltimore messed it up fudged it fudge is a word that means you messed up I fudged it or I fudged it yeah nowadays we'd use a different f word to say that right yes by 1888 that Baltimore recipe was passed along to a
student at Vassar College then all women in Poughkeepsie New York Women would make fudge in their dorm rooms doing something against the rules in the late evenings and trying to get away with something not condoned in the rule book at the same time men at Men's colleges were out carousing it was a woman's way of being rebellious you know cooking in the dorm at night Open Flame after hours absolutely nutritious right breaking every rule you know in a way that was still considered ladylike ladylike right yeah soon so-called Vassar fudge ended up at other women's
colleges even making headlines around the country fast forward a century and the recipe for fudge hasn't changed much sugar milk butter and chocolate mixed poured onto a marble slab [Applause] then worked until the mixture solidifies here at original Murdoch's Saint Ignace location veteran fudge maker Carnel Samuels turns the 45-minute process into a 30 pound loaf of fudge I don't know let's grab it so scoop all right right here there you go it's a bush ah look at that you're a good teacher making fudge is certainly harder than it looks but if its history has taught
us anything it's that mistakes can be sweet any way you slice it
