Caramel Fudge

This excellent fudge is beautifully creamy! Don’t think that with the many things you need to do before the holidays, it may be “too late” to start making candy. Not at all! If you make fudge too soon, it could become grainy. Making it any time over the next 10 days will be just about right. Store it in an air-tight container, naturellement!

Caramel Fudge:

¾ c. butter or margarine

2 c. well-packed brown sugar

½ c. evaporated milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 c. sifted icing sugar

1 c. chopped walnuts

Melt butter in heavy pan. Add brown sugar and cook 2 min. over low heat, stirring constantly. Add evaporated milk, slowly stirring in until mixture reaches a boil. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm. Stir in vanilla. Gradually stir in sifted icing sugar, beating 2 min. Stir in chopped walnuts while fudge is still warm. Pour or press into buttered 8-in. square pan. Score lightly when cool into 36 pieces. Refrigerate 2 hr. or until firm, cutting fudge right through. 

Note: This lovely fudge also makes great Caramel Bites. Instead of pressing fudge into an 8-inch square pan, press it into silicone candy molds, chilling until firm. I discovered flexible silicone candy molds a few months ago, and will never go back to the rigid plastic type that crack and break. Silicone molds cost about three times as much as the rigid type, but they’ll last a lifetime. Unless you’re a professional who uses hundreds of different molds, a couple of different types will do. I consider silicone molds and tools such as silicone spatulas and cooking spoons among the top culinary inventions in recent years. 

Fill silicone trays before fudge cools

Cover tray with parchment, pressing fudge flat 

Variation: Add Skor or Heath Bar butterscotch bits

Press candies from silicone form

A closer view