Brown Sugar Fudge

I made fudge twice in the past week, so I'll put both recipes up here. Both recipes are exceedingly simple, and all you really need to know is how to recognize candy at soft-ball During the earlier part of the week, we were entirely out of (white) granulated sugar, so in my need for sweets, I happened upon a no-white-sugar fudge recipe. Based off of this recipe, here's what I used:

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
4 cups packed brown sugar
3 cups butter
a generous sprinkling of salt
vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar (preferably sifted)

Combine the milk, sugar, butter, and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat (stirring/whisking frequently, if not constantly) until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for a while, stirring occasionally to prevent burning/sticking. When a drop of the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (holds its shape when dropped in cold water, squishes between the fingers), take it off the stove and transfer to a heat-proof bowl. Beat in the vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Transfer to an appropriately-sized pan (mine was about 12 x 12) and spread. Cool in the fridge at least until you can cut it, then dig in!

I work in bulk(-ish) so this makes a lot of fudge. It took a house of about 34 people passing a tempting tray of fudge at least once a day almost three days to finish it all, so feel free to cut this recipe in half, or just make a lot and save it. It stays pretty moist even uncovered, but if you wrap it up, I imagine it'll keep for a couple weeks at least. (I rarely get the chance to see how long things last, but there's no way that's a problem)

This is some really sweet fudge. You're working entirely with dairy and sugar here, so there's not much to offset the rich caramel/toffee/maple/brown sugar taste. Cut into small pieces to avoid sugar-overload, or serve with something less sweet (I made a fudge sandwich with graham crackers). You can probably get away with reducing the powdered sugar at the end by a little bit; it just gives the fudge a smoother texture and a more balanced sugar flavor.

That being said, this was delicious. If I ever have an over-abundance of brown sugar (or a distinct lack of white sugar) ever again, I will default to this recipe. (It also helps that we have several cans of evaporated milk in the pantry that look really lonely). And it was super-easy. This is the kind of thing I would whip together if I had an hour or so to spare and a sweet tooth in need of sating. Definitely a winner.

Enjoy!

~Chef G