So it turns out that most fudge recipes require a candy thermometer. (See the comments below the post "Beginner's Crepes.") I don't have one of those, which made a great excuse for a trip down the road to Williams-Sonoma.

The trip produced an imitation of an antique candy thermometer for $35, which seemed exorbitant for something that would function perfectly well without the retro styling. So I decided to put off the thermometer purchase, and instead I browsed through the cookbooks for free until I found a thermometer-free fudge recipe that was simple enough to memorize. (It was in the book entitled "Sweet Treats," designed for kids.)

Now, I'm not a big fan of plagiarism, and posting their recipe on my blog would have been WRONG. So I decided to play around with the recipe to make up something of my own.

Leaving Williams-Sonoma, I was almost killed by a Barbie look-alike in a white minivan. Fortunately I managed to dodge her frazzled suburban blitz for the parking lot exit. Surging with adrenaline, I tossed her a gesture of frustrated outrage that I picked up as a Jersey kid. Despite the Georgia/Jersey cultural divide, I think I made myself clear.

So here's the fudge recipe that almost cost me my life: EM Sky's super secret recipe for
CoCoNuFf (Chewy Coconut Nuclear Fudge).

Step One: read through all the rest of the steps ahead of time so you know you have everything you need. That's ALWAYS Step One.

Step Two: line a refrigerator-safe container with tin foil (an 8"x 8" baking pan works nicely, but you could use Tupperware just as easily) and GREASE the tin foil with COOKING OIL. That's to help the fudge come out when it's done.

Step Three: put TWO CUPS of mini marshmallows, and ONE CUP of sweetened coconut together in a bowl. That way when the chocolate is perfectly melted you don't have to mess around with measuring stuff, accidentally letting the chocolate cool and messing up all that melting work.

Step Four: put ONE 12-OUNCE BAG of SEMI-SWEET chocolate chips in a MICROWAVE-SAFE bowl along with ONE 14-OUNCE CAN of SWEETENED, CONDENSED milk. Nuke them in the microwave to melt the chocolate. (That's the nuclear part.) I tried to melt the chocolate by itself, but it didn't go very well. The condensed milk really needs to be in there. This step took a few minutes, nuking the mixture once for 90 seconds and then 30-45 seconds at a time, and I mixed it up in between each heating. You want to MELT the chocolate, but not boil it. The point is to melt it without changing the texture.

Step Five: mix the bowl of mini marshmallows and coconut into the melted chocolate. When it's all mixed together, spread it into the tinfoiled container.

Step Six: top it with some more coconut (or skip that part for a more "traditional" fudge look) and put the mixture in the fridge for about 30 minutes (until it sets--it will take longer if you spread it more thickly in a smaller pan). Then take it out, cut it up, and eat it! (Um, I mean serve it.)

By the way, the fudge doesn't seem to have quite the same consistency as "traditional" fudge. I'm going to refrigerate it overnight to see what happens. At the moment it's a bit gooey, but it still tastes wonderful.

And one last note: substituting some Rice Krispies for some of the marshmallows doesn't work well. The Rice Krispies get all soggy in the melted chocolate and lose their crunch. Trust me, I tried it. I thought it would be really cool to add something crispy, but I'm going to have to think of something else. If you come up with something, let me know.