This fudge has a story. It’s not exactly the tale you expect me to tell of a hundred-year-old recipe. It’s not one of those recipes passed from great-grandmother down the line to me. This fudge is my own creation, but it still has a family-rooted past.
Back in the 1970s right after Thanksgiving, Mama Lou, my maternal grandmother, would clear everything off the shelves on her chilly back porch and give the whole area a good cleaning.
I knew what was coming—TREAT SEASON!
I helped dust the area from her hips down, partly because I was that young and short. Plus, she wouldn’t have to bend over and make pained sound effects. The storage area cleaned, candy making began. The house smelled of sugar and chocolate for the next few weeks as she made batch after batch of her secret recipes for fudge and brown sugar candy.
She packed some of the sweets into recycled cookie tins and then off to friends, neighbors, and family members out of town. She rolled way too much of her signature creations in coconut, which I still detest to this day. Way to ruin perfectly excellent fudge, in my opinion. But perhaps that’s just me.
Anyway, the whole family expected that prized delight to appear on platters sitting right next to Mama Lou’s pumpkin pie and Aunt Carol’s apple pie.
Carol, two years older than my mom and her only other sibling, was a great baker as well. One year I asked her if she’d ever made Mama Lou’s fudge.
“Oh, no. That’s Mom’s thing. I don’t want her to get mad at me.”
Mad? She never seemed territorial about things to me. I wondered if Carol ever even asked her mother to spill the sugary tea. I can’t imagine a mother being mad because their daughter also made fudge, but I suppose it happens.
Whyever the recipe remained secret, I’ll never know, but up until I went rogue, nobody else took up the candy making.
I wanted to learn while my grandmother was still able to teach me, but she never did. I know why, in my case. Since I’m mostly blind, I think everyone in the family assumed I couldn’t learn to cook or that it wouldn’t be safe for me to deal with molten goo.
When I moved away from home to take my first “big”—as in career—job, I wanted fudge. I’ve never truly enjoyed anything you could buy in one of those touristy and expensive shops. Since Mama Lou never gave me (or Carol, for that matter) her recipe, I got a recipe from a totally blind colleague at my new job and made that version of fudge.
She showed me how to tell if the fudge is cooked without using a candy thermometer. Back then, it was hard to find many kitchen items adapted for those with little or no eyesight.
So at Christmas when I went back home to Chicago with a tin of my own fudge, Aunt Carol gave me a sour, pursed-lipped expression. I was hoping for a side-by-side comparison, with both being great. But Mama Lou hadn’t made any. She was getting much older, dealing with dementia, and less able to work with recipes. When I went to visit her, the smell of burnt sugar told me she had made a failed attempt. She was mad and upset with herself. All I could do was hug her and let my tears slide off my nose and into her hair.
That tin of what I jokingly called “imported fudge from Minnesota” felt like it carried an electrical charge, but before the next holiday season, family members were asking if I was the new family fudge maker.
I said, “Yes, I am.”
Since I didn’t love the recipe I inherited from my coworker, I played around and made up my own, which is what I’m presenting to you here. Loving a dash of mystery, I started calling it my Secret Ingredient Fudge. Whenever someone new tastes it, they typically nibble an edge, close their eyes, and try to guess the secret ingredient.
Here are some of the guesses made over the years: cinnamon, vanilla, nutmeg, buttermilk, almond, love, and my personal favorite—garlic. I know he was kidding!
None of those are correct. Certainly, love goes into everything I cook, bake, or even reheat. Gratitude fills my heart, and I give thanks as I prepare and eat food. But those aren’t the secret ingredient.
Vanilla, coffee, and cinnamon are all great, but not the secret. I always add a splash of vanilla and a couple shots of brewed coffee, both of which enhance the chocolatey flavor. I often add cinnamon for that Mexican-inspired flair. I tried replacing the cream with buttermilk once, because it does such great things to cakes and brownies. Let me save you the cost of this experiment. In fudge? Not so much.
Nobody has ever guessed the secret ingredient. You’ll find it listed in the recipe.
Enjoy!
Secret Ingredient BLISS Fudge
Tools You’ll need:
· Stockpot
· Spatula
· Candy thermometer OR Small dish of cold water with ice cubes for testing doneness
· 9 x 13-inch pan, greased (or you can put a piece of parchment inside. Wet it first.)
Ingredients
· Love! This goes into all food and drink in my world.
· 1 stick butter
· 1-pint (16 ounces) heavy whipping cream OR Half & Half
· A splash of brewed coffee if you have it. OPTIONAL
· 1/3 cup Hershey’s cocoa powder (OPTIONAL, but it gives a fuller-bodied taste)
· 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (I prefer Mexican vanilla)
· 2 lb. bag powdered sugar (also called 10x or confectioner’s sugar)
· 12 oz bag (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate chips. (Milk chocolate chips can make the candy sickly sweet.)
· The Secret Ingredient—a blessing!
OPTIONAL add-ins:
· 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
· 2/3 cup finely chopped nuts (I prefer nut-free candy, plus so many people have allergies)
· Coconut to roll individual pieces in, if you must!
Fudge Making Tutorial Video on YouTube
Here is a video in which I walk you through making this fudge:
Method:
1. Put your 6-quart stockpot onto burner under medium-high heat.
2. Add the stick of butter and pour in cream.
3. OPTIONAL: Once butter is melted, add in the brewed coffee.
4. OPTIONAL: Add the whole bag of powdered sugar. Stir in completely.
5. OPTIONAL: Add the cocoa powder and/or cinnamon, if using. Mix thoroughly.
6. Speak your blessing over the candy. It can be whatever feels right to you. Or you may say something like this: “I bless this fudge to bring love, peace, and harmony to all who eat it.”
7. Cook the candy base to the soft ball stage (235-240 degrees Fahrenheit or 113-116 Celsius), stirring occasionally. The candy will thicken as it cooks, which is a good cue once you’ve made the fudge a few times (If you’re using the bowl of ice water method, when you think the fudge is cooked, drizzle a bit over the side. If it sets up quickly like finished fudge, it’s done..
8. Once candy is cooked, remove from heat and add chocolate chips. Mix
completely. This is when you’ll add nuts if using.
9. Pour into 9x13 pan and set aside to cool.
10. Cut into pieces and enjoy!
Variations
· Peanut Butter Fudge (without chocolate) Omit the coffee and cocoa powder. Add a 12-ounce (2 cup) jar of peanut butter in place of the chocolate chips.
· Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Fudge: Add a jar of peanut butter at the end when you put in the chocolate chips.
· White Chocolate Fudge: Omit cocoa and coffee from recipe and use white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet.
· Fudge with Nuts: When you add chocolate chips, also add 2 cups of chopped nuts of your choice, such as pecans, walnuts or cashews. If you buy a bag in the store, the 12-ounce bag is the right amount.
· Some with / Some Without Nuts : Make the recipe as desired but pour half into an 8- or 9-inch square pan. Then add the nuts and pour the nutted portion into a separate pan.
Please enjoy this recipe any time of the year with your friends and loved ones—and remember to say a blessing!
