A Favorite Homemade Fudge Recipe By Michelle

by Destri on November 29, 2010

Holiday Memories and Traditions post by the fabulous Michelle from One Ordinary Day.

homemade fudge

When Destri asked me to think of one of my most vivid holiday memories, it took me about half a second to think about my mom and her fudge recipe. There has just never been a time I can remember when this fudge wasn’t a part of our holidays. In fact, we lovingly refer to the pot she cooks it in as the “fudge pot,” no matter what it’s being used for on any given day.

My mom makes this fudge for just about everyone, and believe me when I say that there isn’t a single person who doesn’t look forward to receiving it every year. I’ve known some people to even request it as their birthday gift. This year, Mom’s fudge is making its first trans-Atlantic flight, as a couple batches head to an Army base in Germany.

When Jim and I first got married, we decided that we would carry on Mom’s tradition and start making fudge to give to our friends as gifts. Ha! We were pretty inexperienced in the kitchen, and when it came to making candy, we were totally out of our element. My mom can practically tell when the fudge is done cooking just by looking at it, or by dropping a bit into a cup of cold water. We never could get that right and called her in the midst of our candy-making attempts more times than I can count. We also ended up with a lot of batches of fudge sauce instead of fudge. I finally gave in and bought a candy thermometer, and I’m happy to say I can make a perfect batch of my mom’s fudge now. And when we pass it out during the holidays, we get the same reactions from people that my mom does – lots of oohs and ahhs and recipe requests.

This really is delicious fudge, and I’m not just saying that because it’s my mom’s recipe. It’s completely spoiled me for other fudge, because none will ever taste quite as good. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Recipe: My Mom’s Famous Fudge or Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Marshmallow Fudge
1 stick of unsalted butter

3 c. granulated sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt (We’re talking the three-finger pinch here.)

pinch of flour

pinch (drizzle) of light corn syrup

3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 c. evaporated milk

1/2 c. water

1 c. creamy peanut butter

1 c. marshmallow fluff

1 c. chopped walnuts, optional (These aren’t really optional in my opinion, but my sister can’t eat walnuts, so there are always some batches made without.)

Butter a square baking pan. Cook first 9 ingredients over low-medium heat until fudge forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water. (This stage can be determined by dropping a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water. Use your fingers to gather the cooled syrup into a ball. If it is at the soft ball stage, it should easily form a ball, then flatten once it is removed from the water. I don’t have the patience for this method, so I just cook mine until it registers between 235-240 degrees on a candy thermometer.) Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, and walnuts. Pour immediately into prepared pan and allow to cool completely before cutting.

(Can be frozen too!)

For more delicious inspiration be sure to check out One Ordinary Day, and don’t miss the Chocolate Mint Quick Fudge, it looks to die for!

Linked to Beauty and Bedlams Tasty Tuesday.

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Tagged as: christmas, holiday memories and traditions, holidays, recipe

{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Admitted Fabricaholic November 29, 2010 at 11:37 am

yummm…0something about fudge that I love – how just a little bit goes a long way :)

Thanks for sharing!

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heidi @ wonder woman wannabe November 29, 2010 at 7:16 pm

yum-OH!!!!

I also have very fond fudge memories growing up….me thinks I’ll be making these sweet things at a cookie exchange I’m hosting this weekend – I don’t think anyone will mind that it’s not a cookie. ;)

~h

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Patricia November 30, 2010 at 6:43 am

My hubby and I have also taken over the fudge making business for my parents. We use the recipe on the marshmallow fudge – it’s failsafe. Our family was together for Thanksgiving, so we made 6 batches of fudge. Now we have some time off before Christmas requests.
How do you freeze it???

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