By Page Forrest
Managing Editor
On February 12, Chef Denise Ware led a fudge-making class in McClurg. Ware is one of the newest chefs working at Sewanee, having been here since May. She currently works as the sous chef, although her specialty is pastries. Ware trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. The turn out for the class was small, but that ended up being lucky for the participants, who were each able to take home an entire pan of fudge.
Ware set up two stations with all of the ingredients laid out, as well as a boiler, in the cafeteria. She coached the participants through the recipe, which calls for: 1 1⁄2 cups of granulated sugar, 2/3 cup of evaporated milk, 2 tablespoons of butter or margarine, 1⁄4 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of mini marshmallows, 1 1⁄2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 1⁄2 optional cup of chopped pecans or walnuts.
One of the boilers experienced some difficulty during the class, causing one students’ mixture to take much longer than normal to boil. “I don’t know what’s taking so long. Maybe you cursed the pot!” Ware joked. In the end, however, all of the fudge turned out successful and delicious. The students were able to return to McClurg later that afternoon to pick it up. “I really hope to be able to lead more cooking classes in the future,” said Ware. “Maybe more pastries, like a doughnut making class.”