Title: Oh, Fudge!
Description: Angeal makes chocolate fudge on his day off. With kupo nut butter. Mmmmm, fudge.
Characters: Angeal Hewley, Zack Fair, Kunsel, Sephiroth, Genesis Rhapsodos
Tags: Fluff. Humor. Slice of Life. Sephiroth is a chocoholic. So is Genesis, though he doesn't admit it.
Pairings: None
Oh, Fudge!
By Tiffany Park
In the late afternoon of his day off, Angeal rubbed his hands idly on his blue jeans while he eyed the ingredients on his kitchen counter. Sugar, baking chocolate bars, milk, corn syrup, salt, butter, vanilla, kupo nut butter... He double-checked his mother's recipe, verifying that he'd readied all the ingredients. It was an old-fashioned recipe and didn't require anything that wasn't usually in his pantry. Well, except for the chocolate, which was a premium brand he'd specially purchased that morning right after his morning run. He'd learned that quality chocolate produced significantly nicer results.
He rarely made candy, but sometimes...well, sometimes, a man just had to satisfy a craving. And the best fudge demanded excellent chocolate!
He put a plain white bib apron on over his tee shirt and jeans, then rooted around in his organized cupboards for his two-quart saucepan and set it on the stove. From a drawer he retrieved a candy thermometer, measuring cups and spoons, and a wooden spoon for stirring. Two square pans, a seven-inch and a three-inch, joined the ingredients on the counter. He buttered both generously and set them aside.
Angeal had a methodology for cooking. He liked having everything at hand before he began, especially when making chocolate fudge. Once the candy got going, you needed to pay attention to the cooking process, or the result would be dry, hard, and unpleasantly crumbly.
Everyone assumed he was a health freak, and in general, they weren't wrong. He didn't deny it. He jogged every morning, spent innumerable hours at the gym honing his strength and physique, trained in both armed and unarmed combat each day. He kept up with his professional studies, as well: military tactics and strategy, operational doctrine, defense policies, management theory and practice, legal responsibilities, professional ethics, and a number of other topics. Often his student Zack joined him for some part of the physical and mental training that Angeal judged within the teenager's capabilities.
A SOLDIER's life wasn't just swords, magic, and mako enhancements. The lifestyle required dedication and hard work. Even just a portion of Angeal's workouts and studies supplied important elements of Zack's education.
Naturally, food was a big part of that. Food was fuel. It provided energy and nutrients to build muscle, bone, connective tissues, blood, neural pathways—basically, everything. It powered the brain, kept a man sharp. Diet could make or break a person, even a SOLDIER. Recently, Angeal had caught Zack in the cafeteria with no fewer than seven empty pudding cups among the ravaged scraps remaining on his lunch tray. Zack needed to learn about healthy nutrition, and Angeal considered it good mentoring to instill positive eating habits in his student.
None of which meant that a treat once in a while was a bad thing, pudding cups aside. Food was fuel, but it was a pleasure, too. Moderation was the key to all things, most especially sweets.
However, Angeal knew from experience that, when it came to chocolate fudge, moderation only rarely relied on his own powers of self-control.
After attaching the candy thermometer to the saucepan, he measured and added the sugar, milk, corn syrup, salt, and chocolate, and set the burner to a medium heat level. Just a little on the low side. He didn't want to cook it too fast and ruin the batch.
He used the wooden spoon to stir the mixture for a while, watching while the sugar dissolved and the chocolate melted into dark brown swirls. When the ingredients were bubbling and starting to blend together he dipped in a teaspoon. After blowing on the liquid to cool it down enough, he put the spoon in his mouth and tasted it.
Perfect. Now it just had to cook to the "soft ball" temperature on the candy thermometer.
The batch would soon get to the most critical stage of the process. It would take some time to boil enough, but he daren't take his eyes off it for too long and needed to stir fairly often, lest it scorch on the pan bottom or boil too long.
Naturally, at that moment his doorbell rang.
He ignored it rather than risk ruining his fudge.
A voice called from the other side of the door, "Hey, Angeal, are you in there? I came to get those books you promised me!"
Zack. With excellent timing, as always, Angeal thought wryly. There was no ignoring him.
Angeal had forgotten the arrangements he'd made to supply Zack with some more advanced study material. He checked his candy thermometer and made a judgement call: he had some time before the temperature climbed enough for the cooking process to be complete. He could afford a short distraction.
"Come on in, Zack!" he yelled from the kitchen. "It's unlocked!"
He heard the front door open and, judging by the footsteps and low voices, two people entered.
Two?
"I don't know if it's okay, Zack—" said an unidentified male voice.
Zack replied, "It's no problem, Kuns. We won't be here long. He wouldn't want you hanging around all by your lonesome out in the hall."
"No, Zack, I really don't think—"
Sounded like the dithering could go on for quite a while. Angeal decided to interrupt before it got too tiresome. "I'm in the kitchen." He only raised his voice a little.
Two young men immediately joined him, Zack and another Second Class wearing a helmet. "Hi, Angeal, nice apron," said Zack with a jaunty little salute. "Whatcha making? Smells great in here!"
"Introduce me to your friend, Zack," Angeal said patiently. "It's only courteous." He continued stirring his boiling fudge.
"Wha—? Oh." Zack looked a little abashed at the reminder. "Angeal, this is Kunsel. Kuns, Angeal."
Despite the helmet covering the top half of his face, Kunsel managed to appear exasperated at the rather casual and thoughtless introduction to a First Class SOLDIER and superior. "Sir, I apologize for barging in uninvite—"
"Oh, hey, is that chocolate?" Zack burst out, hanging over the stove and inhaling deeply. "Man, I love chocolate. How about a taste, Angeal? Just a taste? Please, pretty please?""
"It's fudge, and yes, you can have a taste," Angeal told him, lips twitching. "Wait, don't stick your fingers in!" he added when Zack looked like he might do just that. "It's boiling candy, it'll stick like glue and give you burns that you'll regret for days even with enhanced healing. And it's unhygienic!"
He got out two teaspoons. Using the wooden spoon, he scooped out some molten chocolate, filled the teaspoon, and handed it to Zack. He filled the other for Kunsel. "Now let it cool a bit before you eat it."
In his opinion, neither teenager waited long enough for sufficient cooling.
"That's delicious! Thanks, Angeal," Zack said after slurping it down. "But, man, what about all that talk about nutrition and how junk food is bad? I'm pretty sure candy isn't exactly healthy."
"This is a treat, not a daily event," Angeal told him. "I trust you understand the difference by now, even if you don't practice what you're taught."
"Okay, yeah. Special occasion, got it."
Actually, there was no special occasion being celebrated beyond a craving for chocolate fudge, but Angeal wasn't going to tell Zack that. He merely stirred his candy more. "Zack, can you watch the thermometer while I go get your books? Yell if it gets close to soft ball."
"Sure."
He showed Zack the markings on the thermometer then went to his bedroom. He hadn't completely forgotten; that morning he'd set out the books from his small, personal library: A short text on strategy in unarmed combat, and a slightly longer one on ethics. Both required the reader to think and analyze the material. Zack, that wired bundle of energy and motion, needed the practice at thinking things through. He wasn't a great reader, but if he wanted to advance further in SOLDIER, some things were essential and he'd just have to make the sacrifices.
Angeal returned to the kitchen and handed off the books.
"Fudge is still okay!" Zack told him. "Kuns and I took turns stirring it."
Angeal tried to wrap his head around the image of two teenagers stirring the pot—literally!—but only said, "Thank you both. Here're the books. I want you to pick a scenario from each and write up an analysis for me. Due in two weeks."
"Man, homework," Zack whined. "Wanna help, Kuns?"
Kunsel, who'd wisely remained silent, merely said to Angeal, "Thank you for the chocolate, sir."
"Yeah," said Zack, "thanks again!"
Angeal politely escorted Zack and Kunsel out the door, and then returned to the kitchen and checked on his fudge. The thermometer showed it was approaching the soft ball temperature. He stirred again, scraping the bottom of the saucepan to keep the candy from sticking, then eyed the concoction suspiciously. It was hard to tell while the liquid was frothy and bubbling, but he could swear the level of chocolate had gotten lower.
Served him right for leaving two teenagers alone with a batch of candy on the stove, even briefly. So much for "just a taste."
After another five or ten minutes, the thermometer finally hit the soft ball mark. Angeal pulled the saucepan off the heat and turned off the burner. He dumped in the butter and a couple dollops of the kupo nut butter. He never bothered with the formal recipe when it came to nut butter. He just added it to taste. It always seemed to work out just fine in the finished product.
He then hand-whipped the fudge in the saucepan until it cooled a little and lost its shiny gloss, and added the vanilla. He took a quick taste (a small one, unlike certain teenaged SOLDIERs), judged it perfect, and poured it into the two prepared pans.
The small pan he set into a side cupboard and closed the door. The larger he left out on the counter to cool and set, then he stripped off the chocolate-smeared apron and tossed it into his laundry hamper. When the fudge in the larger pan grew firm enough, he ran a knife through it to cut it into pieces.
As the time was approaching five-thirty, he threw together an easy dinner by stir frying some two-day-old leftover pork, rice, and vegetables with some soy sauce, sesame oil, and a few other sauces and seasonings he had on hand. He added a simple rolled omelet to the meal almost as an afterthought.
He was just sitting down with a nice, steaming plate full of tasty meat, veggies, and eggs when someone knocked on his door again.
Why did everyone have such excellent timing today?
He shoved a big piece of his omelet into his mouth before getting up and heading for the door. "Comin'," he called around the half-masticated eggs. His voice only sounded slightly garbled.
Evidently, the person on the other side thought he'd said "Come in" because the door opened before he even got there. Sephiroth strode in.
"Angeal," he said by way of greeting, and sniffed the air appreciatively. "Pork stir fry and eggs," he added. "And...chocolate fudge with kupo nuts?"
"Close," Angeal said after he swallowed. "I used kupo nut butter in the fudge, not any actual nuts. I thought you and Genesis were sparring this afternoon?"
"It's dinnertime. We finished a little while ago."
"He didn't come back with you?" Angeal looked out the open doorway into the hall.
"He said he needed to stop by his office. Some email to review." Sephiroth gave a minute shrug and came into the living room.
Angeal closed the door. "How'd the match go?"
"Fine."
"You won?"
"Of course."
"So he's irritated."
"No more than usual."
This was worse than pulling teeth. Angeal asked dryly, "So you came here to hide from him for a while?"
"No." Sephiroth looked offended at the mere suggestion.
"Then why are you here?"
"I smelled the cooking and knew you were in, so I thought I'd stop by to say hello."
Uh, huh. Angeal could hear his friend's stomach growling. He knew what was expected of him, though he did wonder how long he could pretend to miss the hints. Probably too long. Sephiroth could keep it up all night and that was unacceptable. Angeal was hungry, too. "Sephiroth, would you like to join me for dinner? I have enough for two."
"Thank you, that would be nice."
So Angeal set another place at the kitchen table, quickly prepared another omelet, and served that and the rest of his stir fry to Sephiroth.
They ate dinner while chatting amiably about the day's events. Angeal heard a few more details about the sparring match, though nothing sounded out of the ordinary. He admitted that he'd spent his day off on chores, errands, a jog, and making chocolate fudge. Sephiroth's eyes lit up at mention of the candy.
"I guess you're ready for dessert," Angeal said with a little laugh.
"Your chocolate is always exceptional," said Sephiroth.
Shaking his head, Angeal took the detritus of dinner to the sink then went after the fudge pan on the counter. Sephiroth had a dreadful sweet tooth and was a fiend for chocolate. What he'd shared of his upbringing in Shinra's biosciences department revealed a childhood filled with precise dietary controls and few indulgences. He'd first discovered candy in Wutai, in the form of energy bars and packaged treats that provided extra calories in the military field rations. Later, he'd gotten better quality sweets from PR events, ordinary restaurants, and, surprisingly, the SOLDIER cafeteria. Even Zack's cafeteria pudding cups were many times superior to what went into field rations.
Angeal's family might have been poor, but his parents had still managed to provide occasional treats. Like fudge. Chocolate was expensive, so his mother hadn't made fudge often, but she'd prepared it several times a year as a special little luxury. To this day he still used her old recipe, though the cost of the ingredients was no longer an issue. He couldn't fathom poor Sephiroth's utterly sterile childhood.
He came back to the table with two dessert plates, each holding two pieces of fudge. Sephiroth looked so disappointed at the portion that it was all Angeal could do to stop himself from falling over laughing.
"Just a sec," he said, and retrieved the entire pan, planting it squarely in the center of the table.
This seemed to be the correct course of action, judging by the not-so-subtle way Sephiroth perked up.
It was really, really hard not to laugh. Especially when Angeal noticed that Sephiroth's original two pieces were already gone. He'd only turned his back for a moment!
"Have as much as you want," he said, bowing to the inevitable.
Someone knocked on the door again.
"Busy day," Angeal muttered as he went to answer it. Again.
Genesis walked in, brushing past Angeal with an airy, "Hey, Angeal. Been cooking again?"
"You already missed dinner," Angeal told him, eyebrow raised.
"It was delicious," Sephiroth spoke loudly, making himself heard from the kitchen. "It's also all gone. That's what you get for dawdling."
Genesis stopped dead and turned a reproachful look at Angeal. "You invited him to dinner and not me? I'm devastated," he said, placing a hand over his heart. "Simply devastated."
"He invited himself," Angeal replied, rolling his eyes at the theatrics over a simple meal concocted out of leftovers from two days ago. "You're welcome to stay for dessert."
Genesis made a show of sniffing the air. "Ah, yes, chocolate fudge. With kupo nuts."
"Kupo nut butter, no whole nuts or nut pieces."
"Close enough." Genesis waved a hand dismissively. "I'd rather you'd made apple delight jellies. You don't make those often enough."
"If you want apple jellies that much, you can make them yourself. They aren't hard to make. I wanted chocolate today. It's chocolate fudge for dessert or nothing."
"Whatever."
Genesis's ostensible preferences about the candy on offer didn't stop him from making a beeline for the kitchen.
Angeal side-eyed the fudge pan on the table. Two entire rows were missing. He then side-eyed Sephiroth, who managed to look innocent, impassive, and smug all at once.
Genesis sat down at an empty chair and helped himself to three pieces. Not to be outdone despite his massive head start, Sephiroth also took three more pieces and delicately placed them on his dessert plate.
"I'll get you a plate, Genesis," Angeal offered, though he doubted it would be necessary. Two of those pieces were already in Genesis's mouth. Napkins, now, those were a good idea. There were distinct chocolate crumbs at the corners of both his friends' mouths.
They sat companionably while Genesis and Sephiroth devoured almost the entire pan of fudge. Angeal managed to get another piece by virtue of sticking his hand in the pan and snatching one while they were distracted talking (arguing, really) with their mouths full about the most effective way to summon Odin and direct his Zantetsuken attack in a variety of different scenarios.
They hung around for over an hour. By the time they left for the night, the fudge pan was empty aside from a few dried crumbles. They hadn't even felt guilty enough to leave a tiny piece in a corner, something Angeal had seen them do before to salve their consciences. Not this time, though. He'd only gotten three pieces, with his friends gobbling the rest. Angeal didn't think they even noticed how they ate it one piece after another while they talked.
One would think they never got chocolate. They were worse than Zack and Kunsel, and they didn't have the excuse of being teenaged bottomless stomachs. Though in general all SOLDIERs were bottomless stomachs. Mako, magic, and endless exercise made for high metabolisms.
This rapid decimation of his afternoon candy-making efforts did not upset him unduly. He had planned ahead, after all. Experience led to foresight, and he had plenty of experience with Sephiroth, Genesis, and Zack. Besides, it was a compliment of sorts. Had the candy been terrible, no one would have eaten more than a nibble.
Angeal put on some music, poured himself a glass of dessert wine, and went to his side cupboard. The small, three-inch pan of fudge waited for him, perfectly set. He cut it into four even squares, put two onto a small plate, and carried it back to his couch. He sat down and savored a piece.
Perfect.
It was the perfect amount for an evening indulgence, with two more squares remaining for a treat after tomorrow's workday. He smiled.
All things were acceptable in moderation, even for a health freak, and thankfully he never, ever had to rely on his own powers of self-control for moderation.
~ end ~
September 2021
If anyone is interested, the recipe Angeal followed was for Old-Fashioned Chocolate Fudge from the 1956 Betty Crocker Cookbook. No cheating with marshmallow fluff, condensed milk, or chocolate chips in this recipe! This is the hardcore stuff. LOL
OLD-FASHIONED CHOCOLATE FUDGE
Combine in saucepan:
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 sq. unsweetened chocolate (2 oz) or 1/2 cup cocoa (note: use good quality baking/unsweetened chocolate like Ghirardelli if you can. Also, sometimes I use an extra square if I want a really intense chocolate flavor. It doesn't seem to affect how it sets up.)
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
Stir over med. Heat until chocolate melts and sugar dissolves. Cook to 234F (softball) or until a little dropped in cold water forms a soft ball. Stir occasionally. Remove from heat.
Add:
2 tbsp butter
(note: I always add a dollop or two of peanut butter along with the regular butter. As long as you don't use too much, it doesn't seem to affect how it sets.)
Cool to lukewarm without stirring (note: I've found this is too long to wait and always perform the next steps after only a few minutes of cooling. YMMV depending on weather, humidity, location, altitude, etc.)
Add:
1 tsp vanilla
Beat until thick and no longer glossy.
Optional:
Quickly stir in 1/2 cup nuts
Pour into buttered 8 or 9 inch square pan. When set, cut into squares.
AMOUNT: 36 (1 1/2 inch) pieces.