Oh, Fudge: Grandma's Fudge

I associate fudge and peanut brittle with Christmas. Every year my family would spend a day making fudge and peanut brittle to distribute to friends, family, and bosses. Due to the boiling of sugars, I wasn't permitted to help much with it until I was in my teens. These recipes require either one quick and talented person or two people. I will present the recipe and directions for fudge now and peanut brittle in the next post.

This recipe for fudge is the one my grandma used for years and years. I don't think my family ever used a different fudge recipe. Due to the addition of nuts, I never ate much of this fudge. In my opinion, the nuts add flavor to the entire fudge mixture, so picking them out wasn't an option. We made some this year without nuts. The fudge is sweet, soft, and chocolaty.

Grandma's Fudge (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
1/3 C butter
1 12oz can evaporated milk
4 1/2 C sugar
18 oz chocolate chips
1 pint marshmallow cream
1 1/2 C nuts (optional)

Place the butter, evaporated milk, and sugar in a large pan. Heat over medium heat until boiling.

Meanwhile, place the opened jar of marshmallow cream in a shallow pan filled with water. Warm this over low heat. Heating the marshmallow cream will make it easier to remove from the jar.

Once the sugar mixture reaches a boil, continue to boil for 8 minutes while stirring constantly. For softer fudge, boil for only 6 minutes.

Turn off the heat and add the chocolate chips. Stir constantly until melted.

Add the marshmallow cream and stir until completely combined. The optional nuts are also added at this point.

Pour the chocolate-fudge mixture into a buttered pan. Let set for a day or so before cutting. Cut with a hot knife and store in a closed container.

Oh, Fudge: Peanut Butter Fudge

This marks fudge recipe #1 of 15 or so. I will be making at least one new fudge recipe per month.

I am highly amused by the plethora of fudge recipes that are in the cookbooks which I now own. The one cookbook alone has 13 different fudge recipes! I, personally, am not a huge fan of fudge. Before this post, I never once attempted to make it. Fortunately (or not) for everyone around me, I am going to be overdosing the world on fudge. By the end of this sugary adventure, I shall be a master at making this creamy candy.

The choice of peanut butter fudge for the first recipe to make was not made by me. I took a vote. A vote of one person. He chose peanut butter fudge. You are now at his mercy.

This fudge is very soft and creamy. The peanut butter flavor is not overwhelming. It is mostly perfect. I think I may have under-heated the sugar during the boiling process because the fudge is rather soft. However, it is possible that the fudge is supposed to be this way. We can assume that and pretend I did everything to 100% perfection.

Peanut Butter Fudge (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
2 C sugar
2/3 C milk
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow cream
1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
1 t vanilla

The first thing to do is heat the milk and sugar over medium heat to boiling while stirring constantly. To ensure an even heating, you can use a heavy bottomed pot. I don't have one of those that aren't overly large for a single batch, so I just used a normal metal pot.

Once the milky sugar reaches a boil, cover it with a lid. Let it boil on its own for 2 minutes (no stirring!) and then uncover it. It will now look like a bubbly mess. It requires no more stirring.

Continue to boil the milk sugar until it reaches the soft ball stage; that is, 240 degrees F. There are two ways to determine if it has reached this stage. The first, obviously, is to use a candy thermometer. Alternatively, you can drop a small amount of the liquidy sugar into a glass of cold water. At the soft ball stage, the sugar will form a soft ball in the water. When removed from the water, the ball will flatten to a pancake shape.

When the boiling milky sugar has reached the soft ball stage, remove it from the heat. Add the marshmallow cream, peanut butter, and vanilla. Gently stir this mixture together until just combined. It is fine if it remains a bit marbled.

Pour the blended mixture into a buttered 8 inch square pan. Place in a refrigerator until well chilled. Cut into pieces and serve. Be sure to serve the fudge to people with a sly grin on your face, because, clearly, you will be making each of these fudge recipes. They have no idea you intend to put them into a sugar coma. You are such a nice friend.