Christmas Treats to Give and Eat - Part Three

Christmas memories often revolve around food and, for me, that food is fudge. My mom wasn't a big baker, but every Christmas she made fudge. 

Her go-to recipe was the one on the back of the Kraft Marshmallow Cream jar. So, naturally, that's the same recipe I use. However, several years ago I began to notice that my fudge wasn't turning out the same. It wasn't as creamy and seemed rather grainy. I couldn't figure it out. I bought the same marshmallow cream every year and used the recipe that was on the back. 

Then, when we were preparing to move back in 2017, I was going through my mom's recipe file when I stumbled upon the yellowed recipe she'd cut off of the back of a jar of marshmallow cream. I compared it with the recipe on the back of a jar I had in the pantry and while it looked pretty much the same, I discovered one subtle change. While both recipes called for a small can of evaporated milk, Mom's old recipe said it was a 6 oz can, while my newer version referred to it as a 5 oz can.

Somewhere along the way the manufacturers of evaporated milk changed to size of the small can from 6 to 5 ounces, yet the recipe stayed the same. Who would have thought that one ounce could make so much difference? Obviously not the manufacturers of both products. But I grew up on Fantasy Fudge. I knew what it was supposed to taste like, how the texture should be. So, here is the recipe for REAL Fantasy Fudge.

• 3 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup butter or margarine (Mom always used margarine, I use butter)
• 6 oz. evaporated milk
• 1 12 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 7 oz jar marshmallow cream
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

First thing you'll want to do is line a 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil. This is so you can lift the fudge out of the pan after it's cooled, for easier cutting. Now spray that foil with some non-stick spray and set aside.

Melt your butter or margarine over medium-high heat in a heavy saucepan at least 3 quarts in size.

Once the butter is melted, add your sugar and 6 ounces of evaporated milk.

Stir that all together and continue to cook and stir until it comes to a boil.

Once it boils, keep stirring and cook for approximately 5-7 minutes, until mixture reaches soft ball stage on a candy thermometer.

What's that, you don't have a candy thermometer? Not to worry. We didn't have one when I was growing up, so I learned to do it old school.

Drizzle a small amount of the boiling mixture into a cup of cold water.

Now stick your fingers in there and see if you can form the mixture into a soft ball. If not, keep cooking, testing every minute or so.

This is what you should end up with.

Perfect! And if you pop said soft ball into your mouth, you will be a very happy camper. Just sayin'.

Once your mixture has reached the soft ball stage, remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate chips.

Stir until melted, then add your marshmallow cream.

This takes a little longer to stir in than the chocolate chips, because you need to make sure all the little lumps are gone and the mixture is nice and smooth.

Now add your vanilla and stir to mix.

And finally, if you're using nuts (I prefer pecans), add them.

Mix those in and your mixture should look like this.

Pour into your prepared pan and set aside to cool for at least a couple of hours. Do not refrigerate until completely cooled.

When the fudge is cooled and set, remove foil/fudge from pan and cut into squares.

Now that's Fantasy Fudge done right. Creamy and delicious. And perfect for sharing with others.

Have you ever tried to duplicate a recipe from your childhood and found that it wasn't quite right? If so, what did you do?

Award-winning author Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, two sassy pups, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more at mindyobenhaus.com