Uncle Jack's Fudge
My Uncle Jack is the most awesome uncle I have. When we needed a place to stay when I was younger, he and my aunt opened their home to me and my family. I will always love them like my second parents and cherish every moment we were able to spend with them.
I grew up going over to their house and riding on their lawn mower for hours a day. It was so much fun! My sister and I also drove his tiny Datsun .. uhh .. I don't think she was over the age of 13 hahaha. His house is where I learned to love home grown veggies, my favorite are his cucumbers. Fresh is much better than store bought.
I always cooked the corn bread and anything he would let me do. He was a great teacher in the kitchen. I was able to spend time with him again this week at my mom's house.We had a great time making his fudge and I hope we can do it again next year!
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| My mom, Judy. Her brother/my Uncle Jack. Me and my sister, Chris. |
This isn't the typical super fat, gooey fudge that resembles icing. This is pretty flat with tons of pecans in it. It is very soft but, to me, this is the best fudge. Probably because it's the first fudge I ate and all the memories I shared with him when we cooked together.
I will admit, my uncle just "knows" when it's time to remove the candy from the heat. Apparently, my sister's hasn't turned out the way it should've. It probably stayed on a minute too long. That extra minute will turn it into a sugar-textured candy instead of a smooth and chocolaty mixture. This was the second year it happened! AHH! Next year, Chris! :)
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 cup whole milk
pinch of salt
2.5Tbsp karo syrup
3Tbsp melted butter
Ingredients added after it's in the bowl cooling:
1tsp vanilla
2Tbsp melted butter
Directions:
Whisk all ingredients together in a large sauce pan. The mixture has to boil and will rise a bit so make sure you have enough room so that it doesn't boil over.
This will cook about 25 minutes so go ahead and set your timer for 25 minutes.
Turn your burner on to medium-high. My uncle says to stir every 30 seconds or so and do not walk away! You want to temperature to reach 260 degrees. If you have a candy thermometer, you'll need to use it. It should boil with little tiny bubbles and reduce in size once it's nearly finished cooking.
So, your fudge should cook about 20-25 minutes or so. Make sure it reaches 226 degrees and has reduced in size.
If you lift your spoon and let it drip, it shouldn't be too liquidy when there's a little bit left on the spoon. You can lift it out and see thick drop coming off the spoon or get a cup of water and let some go in there, if it goes into little balls, you know it's ready to come off the burner.
We didn't have enough 9x13's so large bowls will do the trick too.
Have a 9x13 pan ready to pour your hot fudge in. It needs to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Once 5 minutes are up, stir in the 2Tbsp melted butter and 1tsp vanilla. Stir this mixture about 5 minutes until it starts to get thick. Don't let it become a solid in the pan and on your spoon or you'll have a hard time spreading it out.
Add pecans, as many as you'd like and stir until you're happy with the amount of nuts. If you want to add other things in there, go for it! I like it with and without pecans though. Both ways are awesome.
Next step, pour it onto parchment paper and cover with plastic wrap to smoosh down the the size and thickness you'd like. It'll cool quickly so make sure you're happy with what you've done before walking away from it.
YUM!!!!!!!!
Once it's cool to the touch, remove plastic wrap and cut into pieces. This is seriously the best fudge I've ever had and the times I've made it have made me thankful for my family who love me enough to feed me chocolate!!!
Eat, share, and enjoy!
(I took a lot of pictures this time.. this was a special baking day for me. I also practiced with my sister who showed me a lot of great tips on better pictures. I'm doing better! haha)
