My First Fudge

Can you believe it? I'd just never made fudge before. Along with brioche, eclairs and crepe cake. Fudge is something I buy at specialty shops on vacation and get on goody plates at Christmas. I love it; it's like squares of thick frosting. I can eat a lot of it. Which may be why I've never made it.

Not true. The reason I've never made it, is because once when I was young (maybe 13?) I tried. I had some recipe that required the boiling product to reach "soft ball stage," which I had very carefully read up on, but try as I might I couldn't get a soft ball to form in my cup of water and the mass overcooked and it was all a waste. And I was scarred. Soft ball, my foot!

So until now I've just let others cook my fudge for me. But I had this jar of marshmallow creme in my cupboard (I had bought it for some recipe I never ended up making), and it had a recipe on the back, and I was having one of those crappy days when a couple hunks of solid frosting sounded OK, so I whipped this up. Thanks to my reliable candy thermometer, no soft balling was required.

I think there are a lot of ways to make fudge, but I think the final product is always good and all pretty much the same. As was this. It looks and tastes like fudge. Which is really good. And which makes a crappy day quite a bit sweeter.

My First Fudge
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk
12 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tsp vanilla

1. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil.

2. Bring sugar, butter and milk to a full rolling boil in a large saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 4 minutes or until 234 degrees on candy thermometer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

3. Add chocolate and marshmallow creme; stir until melted. Stir in nuts and vanilla.

4. Pour into pan. Cool and slice into squares. Makes 3 pounds.
Recipe from the Kraft Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme jar

Click here for printable recipe