Perfect Fudge!

I remember going to my Grandma Upton’s house and having a cloud of sugar laced yumminess greet us at the front door. Divinity and caramels wrapped in rectangles of wax paper were among her specialties and Christmas just wouldn’t be the same if she didn’t make enough to fill a platter for guests who happened to drop in to wish her well. Whatever wasn’t consumed during the holidays was quickly bagged, labeled and put into the freezer to get out during late night Kanasta games. Claudia Bell Upton has been gone for 24 years now, but the Christmas candy making traditions still live on in our house and are being passed along to our kids as well.

At the top of my candy making list is Christmas Craisin Fudge.  Nothing like perfect fudge for Holiday gift giving and filling a few goodie plates to make the holiday festive.

Here is the recipe. It is simple. It is delectable. It is perfect fudge.

Ingredients;

3 small packages of semi-sweet chocolate chips.

1 cube of butter – cut up into small pats

2 tsp. vanilla

300 mini marshmallows-     which you can have a youngster who is anxious to help count out for you- or – 3 cups- whichever works best for the mom who usually has several things going on at the same time, so having a kiddo preoccupied with marshmallow counting can be a good thing.. just make sure you have extra on hand for any marshmallow tasting.

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 can of evaporated milk

optional-

2 cups walnuts and/or  2 cups craisins. OR you can really go big and put in some of each. Our family doesn’t really care for walnuts so we stick to just craisins. The tart snap of craisins with the sweet fudge is a nice mix.

Mix choc chips, butter vanilla and marshmallows, craisins and walnuts in a large bowl and set aside.

Stir evaporated milk and sugar together in a medium sauce pan.  Over medium heat, stir until mixture beings to boil. Turn down heat and continue to boil for 7 minutes. This is what makes the fudge so creamy!

When the seven minutes is up, stir hot liquid into bowl of ingredients and stir until marshmallows and chocolate is melted. Pour into a lightly buttered cookie sheet or 9X13, depending on how think you want your fudge to be.

When the fudge is cooled, score with a paring knife. Cover and let it set for 24 hours. Then dish it up. This is really rich fudge so smaller squares is a good thing.

Merry Christmas!