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Old Fashion Fudge Class

Fudge ready to cook Bring to a boil Cool and beat in pan
Combine the sugar, evaporated milk, salt, and peanut butter or cocoa. Place a candy thermometer in the pan. Turn on heat source to medium. Slowly bring the candy to a boil stirring constantly. Peanut butter candy has a tendency to burn very easily, so it is important to keep stirring. Once the candy has reached about 200 degrees it is not as likely to burn, but you must not abandon the stirring. Cocoa fudge is less likely to burn. Continue to cook and stir until the temperature reaches the softball stage of 240 degrees.

Once the softball stage is reached remove from the heat source. Set on a cooling rack and let cool for about 5 minutes, then add the vanilla, butter, and nuts (if desired). I use a wooden spoon to hand beat my candy to cool it. Continue to beat the candy by hand watching the gloss on the surface of the candy. In the early stages of cooling the candy will have a very shinny surface. As it begins to cool it will start to lose it's shine. As it loses the shinney appearance it will begin to thicken. It is at this point you will need to pour it into a prepared sheet pan.



Prepare candy pan Cool in pan Remove from pan
I use a small cookie sheet pan (13" X 9") to pour my candy in. If you have baking paper (parchment) cut a piece to fit the bottom of the cookie sheet. If you don't have baking paper use waxed paper. I spray the sides of the cookie sheet with cooking spray to prevent sticking on the sides.

Pour your candy onto the prepared pan. Spread so it covers the pan. Let the candy cool on a cooling rack until completely cooled.

The next step is to remove the candy from the pan so it can be cut into squares. I take the wire rack used for cooling and place it on the top of the candy pan. Now invert the rack and candy pan. Carefully remove the pan from the block of fudge. Carefully peal off the paper from the bottom of the block of fudge. Now place a cutting board on top of the fudge. Invert the cooling rack-fudge-cutting board sandwich. Remove the cooling rack. We now have our fudge laying on our cutting board ready to cut into squares.



Cut into squares Finished candy
Now take a long knife and cut the fudge into squares. I cut mine in about 1 1/4 inch squares. This size will give about 3 1/2 dozen squares of fudge.

Now we are ready to serve our fudge. This fudge stores very well in the freezer. I keep a few containers of frozen fudge in my freezer. I really prefer to eat it right out of the freezer. Remove the fudge from the freezer and let set at room temperature, on a cooling rack, for about an hour. Warming to room temperature on a rack will prevent sweating and softening of the underside of the fudge squares.


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Peanut Butter Fudge

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