Hershey’s Old Fashioned Fudge:
(better and cheaper than the choc morsel recipes)
Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa ( Hershey’s)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter ( half stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Line an 8 or 9 inch square pan with aluminum foil, butter the foil.
2. Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in a 4 quart saucepan, add milk.(I sifted the cocoa, salt and sugar into the pot - breaks down cocoa chunks and toss large sugar crystals)
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a full boil.(wooden spoon - not metal - once boiling - stop stirring)
4. Boil without stirring until mixture reaches 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer (soft ball stage).(Buy a candy thermometer - it’s worth it)
5. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla, do not stir.
6. Cool at room temperature to 110 degrees.(Very Important step and will shorten the next step - your arm will thank you)
7. Beat with a wooden spoon until fudge begins to thicken and loses its gloss.(Once the ‘gloss’ is gone put it in a pan quickly or it could freeze up on you)
8. Spread quickly into pan, let cool to room temperature, cut into squares.
Find other people to help you eat the fudge or you’ll eat the whole pan - experience talkin’ :>)
The Hershey’s Old Fashioned fudge is what I grew up with- we usually made it in the winter, putting it on the wide porch railing to cool. If it is beaten right it is glossy. If not, it is grainy. In the day of “good cooks” grainy was totally unacceptable except to us kids who thought it was just as good.
This is still my preferred recipe if I am going to make fudge.