Jeanne's Fudge

My mom always did a lot of baking for the holidays when I was growing up. Every year it was the same--peanut brittle, Mrs. Fields' cookies, almond roca.  I loved--and still love--all of it, but I was excited when we would switch holiday treats with the Foremans.

The Foremans, family friends who are actually more like family, always had quite a holiday spread, but the treats that really stick out in my memory are peanut butter blossoms, caramel corn and fudge. Jeanne would do some plain fudge, some with nuts and often some with marshmallows. Yum. So rich and chocolaty! I love the smooth texture and the way it melts in your mouth. When I was thinking about what do make for Christmas this year, I wanted a little variety. I baked some cookies and made some toffee. I needed something to round it all out, so I dug around and found Jeanne's fudge recipe. Perfect. It's nice to know that nowadays I can make it whenever I want! Thank you, Jeanne!

Jeanne's Fudge

~Print Recipe~

• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup room temperature butter
• 1 jar marshmallow creme
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 18 oz. chocolate chips
• 2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
  

1. Butter a 9 inch by 13 inch baking dish with deep sides.
   
2. Combine sugar and evaporated milk in a very large saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 8 minutes, stirring constantly. (Jeanne recommends reading something while you stir. I think this is a great idea, but when I tried it my pot nearly boiled over. So, make sure you also keep an eye on your mixture!)
3. Add vanilla, butter, marshmallow creme and salt. Mix until melted.
4. Add chocolate chips and stir until combined. Add nuts, if using, and stir to combine. 
5. Pour into prepared baking dish and refrigerate. Keep refrigerated until about an hour before serving.  The texture of the chilled fudge is not as satisfying as that of room temperature fudge. But at the same time, fudge that has been sitting out for hours will start to get very soft. 

Note: As you can probably tell from the photo, I did have some trouble getting it out of the dish. I could have needed more butter on the dish. Anyone have other suggestions?

Cheating Scones

I like scones but I rarely make them. Yesterday we were invited to a breakfast and I wanted to bring scones. Only problem was the ingredients list, I didn't have all the right stuff. Below you'll see a list of what it called for and then what I did. The result was wonderful! If you don't have just what the recipe calls for you might still get by.

Ingredients

ALTON BROWN:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons shortening
3/4 cup cream
1 egg

KATE PATTISON:
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon course sea salt
1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons margarine
1/2 cup whipping cream from a can topped with 1% milk
1 egg
Orange zest and chopped dried cranberries
I drizzled the finished scones with an orange juice glaze

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well and add dried fruit and zest and toss. Cut in butter and shortening. In a separate bowl, combine cream with beaten egg then add to dry ingredients. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a disk. Press out to desired thickness. Cut like a pizza into triangle shapes. Bake for 15 minutes or until brown.