Mrs. Weasley's Fudge

One of the most beautiful elements of the Harry Potter series is that Harry's life is transformed not only by magic, but also by the people he meets along his journey through the wizarding world. Poor, unloved, orphaned Harry is all but adopted by the Weasley family, with Mrs. Molly Weasley protecting him as if he were one of her own.

Mrs. Weasley strikes the perfect balance between formidable matriarch and motherly homemaker, often administering public telling-offs to her sons but with an unmistakable air of domestic, maternal warmth. When Harry and the Weasley boys dismount their brooms after stealing Harry away from the Dursley's during the night, Mrs. Weasley greets them in her typical fashion;

"“Oh, dear,” said George.

Mrs. Weasley came to a halt in front of them, her hands on her

hips, staring from one guilty face to the next. She was wearing a

flowered apron with a wand sticking out of the pocket.

“So,” she said.

“ ’Morning, Mum,” said George, in what he clearly thought was

a jaunty, winning voice.

“Have you any idea how worried I’ve been?” said Mrs. Weasley

in a deadly whisper.

“Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to —”

All three of Mrs. Weasley’s sons were taller than she was, but

they cowered as her rage broke over them.

“Beds empty! No note! Car gone — could have crashed — out of my

mind with worry — did you care? — never, as long as I’ve lived —

you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this

from Bill or Charlie or Percy —”

“Perfect Percy,” muttered Fred.

“YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF

PERCY’S BOOK!” yelled Mrs. Weasley, prodding a finger in Fred’s

chest. “You could have died, you could have been seen, you could

have lost your father his job —”

It seemed to go on for hours. Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself

hoarse before she turned on Harry, who backed away.

“I’m very pleased to see you, Harry, dear,” she said. “Come in

and have some breakfast.”"

(Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter Three - The Burrow)

In her flowery apron, fiercely reprimanding the boys, Mrs. Weasley ends her rant by inviting Harry to have some breakfast. Breakfast, like all meals at the Weasley's, is traditional and hearty and seems to serve one main purpose: comfort. For breakfast he is treated to a mountain of sausages and eggs, and throughout the course of the books Harry samples a wealth of Mrs. Weasley's home cooking. Dishes include stews; rhubarb crumble and custard; lunches of sandwiches and cake; chops and potatoes; breakfasts of porridge, muffins, kippers and toast and marmalade; roast chicken, and onion soup, to name but a few examples. Mrs. Weasley can rarely be found outside of the kitchen (except when she is in child protecting, evil wizard fighting mode) and believes that food really does make you feel better. She once remarked to Harry, "You're looking peaky; you need feeding up" (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), which may well have worked as Harry thinks that Mrs. Weasley "could cook better than anyone he knew" (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince).

Luckily for Harry, Mrs. Weasley's belly-warming cuisine isn't confined to her kitchen. She sends gifts to Hogwarts for Harry and the Weasley clan, which more often than not contain delicious homemade goodies. When spending Christmas at Hogwarts, Harry always receives a generous parcel from Mrs. Weasley, which in his third year consisted of "a dozen home-baked mince pies, some Christmas cake, and a box of nut-brittle" (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), alongside the mandatory hand-knitted jumper. Harry's first Christmas package from Mrs. Weasley contains within it that most satisfyingly sweet of all confectionery - fudge.

I tried my hand at fudge making and thought it appropriate to use my mum's old exercise book full of handwritten recipes that she's picked up over the years (most of which come from a cookery course she attended in the late 70's). Buried between the never-again-attempted 'Apple Normande' and 'Marzipan Roses', I found what I was looking for - 'Simple Fudge'.

I've never made fudge before, nor anything that involves boiling sugar, so needless to say I suffered a few completely avoidable burns. Pro-tip: do not, under any circumstances, taste test the fudge when the mixture is still bubbling.

Following mum's recipe, I put butter, demerara sugar, milk and condensed milk (is this cheating?) in a pan and gently heated until the sugar had dissolved. Then came the utterly terrifying process of boiling the mixture and stirring for a good 20 minutes.

Next, I removed from the heat and stirred for another 15 minutes until the mixture was stiff and my arms aching.

After spooning into a cake tin and leaving to cool and harden, I cut the fudge into rough cubes and enjoyed a few pieces slightly warm, which were absolutely delicious.

                                      

The finished product was something, I think, that Mrs. Weasley, my mum's cookery teacher and I could all be very proud of.