This recipe was submitted by Elizabeth T, into March’s Food Challenge, where the theme is GREEN and the prize is a $200 Circulon Cookware Set!  Thanks for entering Elizabeth!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Milk
• 3 cups sugar
• 2 TBSP Butter
• 1/4 cup syrup (light)
• 1/4 cup Bailiey’s and 2 TBSP later
• Green Food Coloring
• Butter or spray to grease pan

DIRECTIONS

1. Line pan with foil or grease , can be any size, I use a bread pan because it makes more uniform pieces.
2. Combine in a 3-quart or larger sauce pan – milk, sugar, syrup, butter, Bailey’s and about 6 drops of green food coloring.
3. Place on stove, medium heat, stir until it boils
4. Heat to about 235 F degrees on a candy thermometer – DO NOT STIR
5. Remove from heat and cool until it reaches 120 F degrees, add 2 TBSP and another 6 drops of food coloring.
6. Stir or beat, a lot like folding until the gloss is gone. For this recipe it takes about 5 minutes. Pour into greased or lined dish once there is a matte finish. Pour as soon as the gloss begins to go, this is a sign that the fudge is setting. Sometimes my batch sets in the pan. Remember Old fashioned fudge is a bit harder than marshmallow fudge and tends to crumble a bit. It will not lay flat either, part of its appeal is this imperfection.
7. Once it cools you can slice it and serve.

Makes about 3 lbs. This item makes a wonderful gift and is very rich and creamy. It can be adapted for other seasons or made with other liquors. This is a perfect fudge for spring because it is rich and creamy.

When trying to figure out what food gifts to give this year, I thought I’d make something I usually don’t, which is homemade fudge.  I’ve heard horror stories when it comes to fudge so I can see how it can be quite intimidating for some, much like pecan pies tend to do but my recipe is pretty simple and what I feel like, is some of the best fudge ever.

My homemade fudge recipe isn’t a family recipe but it may as well be because it came from a jar of Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallow Creme jar.  Just like many food brands, Kraft has been around for years so you can imagine all the recipes from their boxes or jars, have become a family recipe, perhaps even a secret family recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 1 lb semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 7 oz. Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallow Creme jar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans that my FIL picked and shelled for me instead of walnuts)

DIRECTIONS

Try to have everything ready ahead of time.  It will make things a lot easier.  Chop the nuts and have the marshmallow cream out of the jar and in a bowl. In fact, I recommend you spray your spatula and bowl with Pam Cooking Spray before doing this because that creme is very sticky!  Line a 13″x9″x2″ baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray.

In a 3-quart saucepan, bring sugar, butter, and milk to a boil on medium heat, stirring constantly once the mixture begins to bubble. Once the mixture reaches a boil,  you’ll want to remove the mixture from the heat once it reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer.  I just used a digital thermometer that I had but if you don’t have one, just remember it will take about 4 minutes to reach that temperature.

Remove from heat. Very quickly stir in chocolate and marshmallow cream. When those have melted,, stir in the vanilla and then the walnuts.  Pour into your pan lined with foil.  Cool to room temperature before slicing, at least 4 hrs or so.

Makes about 3 pounds of fudge.

You MUST let someone lick the spatula of course! Truett enjoyed this part of the process a great deal. Who wouldn’t right?

Once done, I placed some pieces of fudge in a Christmas bowl and put a whole bunch of fudge in these fun gift boxes from Wilton.  I really really like the gift boxes and bags. It made the whole food gift giving process easy for me and looked fabulous!

I have this little booklet full of recipes you can make using Carnation Evaporated Milk and what do you think my kids chose?  Yep, fudge.  Of course they would because even though the pear pie and quiche looked fabulous, their sweet tooth tells their brain to pick the fudge. So fudge it is.

Now I have, on several occasions, heard about this recipe before. I’ve heard how it’s creamy sweetness is like no other but is it true?  Well, according to my bunch and apparently the folks who reviewed it at the Very Best Baking site, say it’s the best ever!  And talk about easy to make–recipes just don’t get any easier than this.

My pieces are thinner because I only had a bigger pan but that didn’t hinder the taste a bit;)

INGREDIENTS

• * 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• * 2/3 cup (5 fl.-oz. can) Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk
• * 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• * 1/4 teaspoon salt
• * 2 cups miniature marshmallows
• * 1 1/2 cups (9 oz.) Nestle Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• * 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
• * 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

LINE 8-inch-square baking pan with foil.  I used an 8×11 because that’s all I had.

COMBINE sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt in medium, heavy-duty saucepan. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

STIR in marshmallows, morsels, nuts and vanilla extract. Stir vigorously for 1 minute or until marshmallows are melted. Pour into prepared baking pan; refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm. Lift from pan; remove foil. Cut into 48 pieces.

In keeping with transparency, as always, I did receive a gift card from One2One Network and Carnation for ingredients to create this delicious fudge but in no way was my opinion of evaporated milk bought– fudge, or anything else for that matter.  It’s always been a staple and if you want to search my recipes for it, you’ll know that’s the truth;)  {{giggle}}