Artist’s Palate: Jose Dávila’s chocolate fudge with pecans

Mexican architect-turned-artist Jose Dávila has happy childhood memories of his grandfather taking a whole weekend around Christmastime to make chocolate fudge for family and friends. ‘Having to wait all year in order to have this was a great lesson in patience. I still remember the smell in his house, and the simplicity of this dark-brown cube exploding with a deep chocolate flavour and rich velvety texture in my mouth.’ 

Dávila describes this treat as minimalist: ‘very few ingredients and maximal results’, much like his assemblages of geometric and organic forms, evidently simple yet exploring complex ideas of gravity, resistance, and the exchange of forces. 

Jose Dávila’s recipe for chocolate fudge with pecans 

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup whole milk (evaporated milk if possible)

4 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup pecans, broken into halves or quarters

1 espresso shot (this is my personal take on my grandfather’s recipe but is optional)

Grease an 8in/20cm square baking pan. Put the sugar and cocoa powder in a medium pan, then add the milk and stir until blended. Place the pan over a medium-high heat and stir constantly until the mixture comes to the boil.

Reduce the heat to low and place a sugar thermometer in the pan. Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes without stirring until the temperature reaches 238F/114C. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool, for about 50-70 minutes, to 110F/43C. Do not disturb the fudge while it’s cooling. Add the butter and vanilla to the fudge. Add the pecans (and the espresso shot if using), then beat with a wooden spoon until everything is well incorporated and the fudge loses its sheen – do not underbeat! Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and let it flatten. Leave it to cool at room temperature before cutting into squares.

josedavila.mx, nicolaiwallner.com

A version of this article appears in the December 2022 issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today!