Posted on: Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Famous fudge recipe revisited
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| Travis Murayama takes a big bite of Christmas fudge. Innumerable variations abound for the delicious holiday favorite.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser |
Lunatic Fudge
1/4 cup butter or margarine (1/2 stick)
2 1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk (or 5-ounce can)
10 to 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
6 to 7 ounces marshmallow creme or 2 cups mini-marshmallows
1 cup walnuts or pecans (chopped)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Prepare 9-by-9-inch pan.
Place flavor chips, vanilla, and nuts into a 3-quart saucepan or Pyrex glass dish and set aside.
Set butter aside to warm. Heat milk over medium heat until warm, then add sugar. Bring to a rolling boil over medium high while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add marshmallow creme. Bring back to a boil for 5 full minutes by the clock (start once the boil resumes).
The mixture will start to turn brown during the boil. If you get brown flakes in the mixture, turn down the heat a little. Remove from heat, mix in butter, and pour hot mixture over chips, vanilla, and nuts without scraping the sides of the hot saucepan. Mix thoroughly and pour into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature.
Remove from pan, remove foil, cut into squares. Store in airtight container.
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This is a version of the classic evaporated milk/marshmallow creme fudge that was very popular in the 1950s and is said to have been the best recipe of first lady Mamie Eisenhower, who has a reputation as a poor cook (President "Ike" was the cook in their home). The difference from the classic recipe is that it uses considerably more chocolate, and two types of it.
| Fudge dos and don'ts
If you choose to make fudge the old-fashioned way, from a recipe that doesn't use marshmallow creme and calls for boiling to soft-ball stage (238 degrees), here are tips: • Lightly butter the sides of the saucepan in which you'll boil the chocolate mixture; this helps prevents sugar crystals from forming. • After you've cooking the chocolate mixture, remove pan from heat and with a damp paper towel or small sponge, wipe sugar grains from sides of pan above the liquid level — again, to keep crystals from forming. • Use a candy thermometer, not an instant-read thermometer, and clip it to the side of the pan. • Do NOT stir while the chocolate mixture is cooking to the soft-ball stage. • When the pan is removed from the oven, allow to cool to lukewarm; this can take the better part of an hour. Or you can place the pan in a shallow dish of cool water to speed up the process a bit. • Beat the mixture just enough; it should lose its gloss and hold its shape when dropped from the spoon. • Spread quickly in prepared pan and cool before cutting. |
Mamie's Million-dollar Fudge
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt
1 large can evaporated milk
12 ounces semisweet chocolate bits
12 ounces German sweet chocolate bits
1 pint marshmallow cream
2 cups nutmeats, chopped
Prepare 9-by-9-inch pan.
Place chocolate, marshmallow creme and nutmeats in a large, heat-proof bowl and set aside.
Heat the sugar, butter, salt and evaporated milk over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and boil 6 minutes. Pour boiling syrup over these. Beat until the chocolate is all melted, then turn into prepared pan. Score into squares; let sit several hours before cutting.
Better the second day; store in a tin box.
Vanilla fudge (aka milk fudge or "Patience") is a creamy chocolate-less candy that makes a nice contrast in color and flavor in a gift box of homemade fudge.
Best Vanilla Fudge
2 cups sugar
1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk
1/3 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Broken nuts (optional)
Prepare 8-by-4-by-2-inch loaf pan.
Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In saucepan combine sugar, evaporated milk, milk, and salt. Cook and stir over medium-high heat to boiling. Carefully clip a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Cook and stir over medium-low-heat to 238 degrees, soft-ball stage (this should take 25 to 35 minutes). Immediately remove saucepan from heat.
Add butter and vanilla, but do not stir. Cool mixture, without stirring, to 110 degrees, lukewarm (about 55 minutes). Remove candy thermometer from saucepan. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon till fudge becomes very thick and just starts to lose its gloss (about 10 minutes total). Do not overbeat. Immediately spread fudge into the prepared pan.
Score into 1-inch squares while warm. Top each square with a piece of nut, if desired. When candy is firm, use the foil to lift the fudge out of the pan. Cut into squares. Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator. Makes about 1 pound (32 pieces).
Correction: The Lunatic Fudge recipe in a previous version of this story contained an error in the amount of evaporated milk.
