Perfect Vanilla Fudge

With two very busy weeks behind us, I decided it was time to clean out the fridge.  Any Thanksgiving leftovers lurking about are being disposed of, and I’m also assessing exactly how much holiday baking and treat-making I’ll be doing this year.  I’d decided to scale back a bit, because it’s going to be a quiet Christmas here, and also because we just don’t have the extra funds to spend on all kinds of treat making supplies, only to have them sit around until February waiting to be consumed.  But then I was going through the fridge and found two cartons of whipping cream leftover from Thanksgiving.  The sell-by date was yesterday, so time was ticking.  I hate the idea of tossing 1 1/2 quarts of cream.

So I pulled out a candymaking book that I hadn’t used in a while and flipped through to see what it had to use up some whipping cream.  I also was hoping to find something that didn’t require a trip to the store.  I was delighted to find quite a few recipes that use whipping cream, and decided to try  my hand at a stirred fudge.

Now, the last time I tried a stirred, old-fashioned fudge, it did not go well at all.  And the Maple-Walnut fudge I make every once in a while is temperamental, so I wasn’t entirely confident about the recipe I found for “Golden Fudge”.  But I thought I’d try it, since I had both time and ingredients.

The first ingredient called for is either evaporated milk or whipping cream.  Obviously I chose the cream since I was trying to use it up.  But then it was a simple matter of measuring ingredients into my pot and bringing them to a boil.  I then boiled and stirred until the mixture reached soft ball stage, which I don’t think even took ten minutes.  Then the hard part came.

I set the pot to the side, added the vanilla, and then had to walk away until the mixture came down to 110ºF.   My Taylor candy thermometer doesn’t even go that low, so I used a digital thermometer with a probe and just dropped the probe right into the sticky candy.   I want to say I had to wait about half-an-hour, but it’s hard to say for sure.  The kids managed to keep me distracted by engaging me in a round of Super Mario Bros for the Wii, and that kept me from wanting to stir my fudge early.

But then the time came.  My temperature was 113, which I figured was close enough.   I removed the thermometers and then grabbed my wooden spoon and started stirring.  I stirred and stirred, and as I stirred, it did noticeably thicken.  And then it thickened some more, and then just like that, the shine of the candy was gone, and the mixture was almost difficult to stir.  I spread it out in a pan that I’d lined with foil and buttered, and then I stuck it in the fridge to set.  All told I think I only stirred for about 2 minutes- and that may be on the generous side.  It thickened up much more quickly than I’d expected.

When the pan was cold to the touch, I sliced off a few squares to sample with the kids.  We were rewarded with the perfect little squares of vanilla fudge.  Seriously, it was like I was standing in an old-fashioned candy shop sampling some homemade fudge.  The texture was perfect.  It was a touch crumbly, but the second it hit my mouth it became soft and melty, and a little bit chewy.  It’s very sweet (hello, it’s candy!) and the vanilla flavor comes shining through.  The possibilities with this fudge are rolling through my head at a mile a minute.  Have some Oreo’s laying around?  Crush some into the fudge at the end of the stirring.  Any toasted nut could be added, coconut, dried fruit, etc.  I think one of the keys to good flavor though is to use a good vanilla. This is the place to use real vanilla, and not the imitation stuff which passes fine in cookies and cakes where the vanilla is not real pronounced.  Here, you want to use your best vanilla.

I have no idea why the recipe is called Golden Fudge.  It certainly isn’t golden in color in the least.  It’s creamy white and is absolutely wonderful.  The book I used is called Candymaking by Ruth A. Kendrick and Pauline H Atkinson, and this is the first fudge I’ve tried out of there.  It won’t be the last.  I’m looking at the Peanut Butter Fudge and the Coffee Fudge for sure, and probably one of the chocolate fudge.  The texture is really what blows me away.  While the flavor is wonderful, it’s that crumbly but chewy, soft and melty texture of perfect fudge that just makes me want to take another bite.  I have long wanted to recreate the old-fashioned fudge experience, and I just may be on my way.

Golden Fudge

1 cup evaporated milk or whipping cream

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup light corn syrup

3 tablespoons butter

3 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside.  In a heavy 4-quart saucepan, combine milk, water, corn syrup, butter, sugar and salt.  Place over medium-high heat and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil.  If sugar crystals are present, wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush.

Clip on a candy thermometer. Stirring constantly, cook to 238ºF (115ºC) or soft-ball stage.  Remove from heat.  Without stirring, pour vanilla over the mixture.  Leaving thermometer in the pan, cool mixture to 110ºF (45ºC).  Remove thermometer.  Using a wooden spoon, stir mixture for several minutes until it starts to thicken and lose its gloss.  Scrape into prepared pan.  Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.  Cut into 1-inch square pieces.  Makes 64 pieces.

Variations:

For Cherry Fudge: Cut 32 candied cherries in half. Mark fudge into 1-inch pieces.  While still warm, press 1 cherry half into each piece.

For Nut Fudge: Stir in 1 cup walnuts, pecans or peanuts before pouring fudge into pan.

For Cherry Nut Fudge: Stir in 1/2 cup chopped candied cherries and 1/2 cup unsalted nuts before pouring fudge into pan.

For Coconut Fudge: Stir in 3/4 cup coconut before pouring fudge into pan.

For Pineapple-Coconut Fudge: Stir in 1/3 cup chopped candied pineapple, 1/2 teaspoon pineapple extract and 1/2 cup coconut before pouring fudge into pan.

For Lemon or Orange Fudge: Stir in 1 teaspoon lemon or orange extract and 4 drops food coloring before pouring into pan.