REAL fudge recipes?

[sarahjay]

I'd like to try my hand at real fudge (no marshmallow) this year. Does anyone have a tried and true recipe? I've made a lot of candy in my life, but never real fudge. Should be a fun Christmas challenge.

[wekick]

My grandmother taught us to make fudge when we were kids. She would make us a "fudge apron" for the occasion. She bought a set of measuring cups and spoons and wrote the appropriate ingredient name on each cup/spoon. The apron had little pockets for the cups/spoons or the cups were attached to the apron.

Fudge
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa
Combine and boil to soft ball.

Add 1 TBS butter and 1 tsp vanill.
Add nuts if desired. She used black walnuts.
Let cool and then beat until dull and spoon on waxed paper.

[buttertart]

I love love love the fudge apron idea. That recipe makes a manageable amount, too. Thank you for posting this.

[skokieam]

I know I'm coming in after the thread seems done, but here is my family's recipe (just for the fun of it), complete with family-style notations:

Chocolate Fudge

Makes: about 1 pound
Start to finish: 30 minutes

Quantity Measurement
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa unsweetened

1. Combine everything but the cocoa in a large iron skillet. Simmer over medium-high heat.
2. When the butter melts, and the bubbles become small, homogenous and grouped in rather largish humps (you’ll know it when you see it!), quickly add the cocoa.
3. Turn the heat down to medium. Watching, but not stirring too much, let boil to the softball stage.
4. Remove from heat, and beat with a wooden spoon until the surface takes on a glassy, glossy appearance. This means approximately eleven minutes of beating, so be patient! Pour quickly into a greased, 8-inch square pan. Score, and put in fridge to cool.
5. To remove from pan, cover with a plate, and flip quickly. If necessary, tap gently on the bottom of the pan. Break the fudge along score lines.

[sarahjay]

Thanks everyone for the great response!

[bushwickgirl]

sarahjay, please get back to us after you've made fudge and let us know how it worked out for you.

[buttertart]

http://www.bhg.com/holidays/christmas...
There's an interesting recipe for opera fudge in this article - sounds very appealing. Technique is very well explained as well.

[bushwickgirl]

The bhg coffee walnut brown sugar fudgey recipe looks extremely appealing...

[buttertart]

Coffee + walnuts, nice combo, a bit unusual too.

[bushwickgirl]

This is my favorite recipe. I have to have walnuts in my fudge:

CHOCOLATE FUDGE

This is a great chocolate fudge recipe. It can be doubled. Make fudge on a non-humid day.

1 cup heavy cream
2 cups granulated sugar
4 oz. unsweetened chopped chocolate
1/2 stick unsalted butter, 4 tablespoons
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 lb. chopped walnuts, optional
1/4 tsp salt

Combine heavy cream, sugar, salt and chopped chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves. Wash down sides of pot with a pastry brush to dissolve sugar crystals.

Bring to a boil and cook until mixture reaches soft-ball stage, or 238 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove pan from the heat and stop the cooking by plunging pot in a water bath for 1 minute. Add the butter and vanilla, but do not stir. Allow the fuge to cool. When the thermometer reads 110 degrees, sitr fudge with a wooden spoon until creamy and starting to set up. Add the nuts if you want and mix well.

Spoon into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan. Let cool and then cut into squares.

Yield: 1 lb.

This is nice and creamy due to the addtion of heavy cream and extra butter. Be sure to use unsweetened chocolate (but I have to confess I've used 60%+ bittersweet on occasion with good results.)

[BangorDin]

bushwickgirl, 1/2 pound of walnuts is about 2 cups?
Sometime I press walnut halves onto the top of almost-set fudge in a design, but I'm sure my SO would like it IN the candy.

[bushwickgirl]

Yes, about two cups. Halves on top of pieces look nice, and extra chopped mixed in are even better.

[buttertart]

Oh, oh...feel a fudgemaking desire rolling in...this sounds wonderful.

[momskitchen]

great idea...I am going to do the same thing. I've made lots of candy in my life, but never real fudge.

[blue room]

This one has worked for me many times over the years: I use a big heavy bottomed pan--an old lidless pressure cooker.

Fudge

2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring cocoa, sugar, salt, and milk to bubbly boil while stirring constantly. Then boil *without stirring* to 232 F. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla, but don't stir. Cool to 110 F. Then stir until you can feel it thicken--it's now starting to set up, so quickly push/pour into pan.
I don't know when to add nuts because I don't use them! Makes one 8 or 9 inch square pan full.

[petitgateau]

Fine cooking from last year had a great recipe. I believe it was the December issue.

[CocoaNut]

With fudge, it's all about the "soft ball" stage. If search Google for: fudge recipe no marshmallow - you'll get many hits with most very similar in ingredients, but identical in the softball/234 requirement.

[sarahjay]

I understand the process, it seems to be the same as fondant fillings, what I need is a list of ingredients and amounts that tastes good