Every family has traditions when it comes to holiday food. In my family, sweets were always big when December rolled around. It was by no means the only thing we ate, but I fondly remember my mom’s thumb print cookies filled with jelly, her chocolate cream pies and homemade chocolates.
Although what I looked forward to the most at Christmas time growing up was her chocolate and peanut butter fudge. I’m not a huge fudge person, mostly because I enjoy other sweets more, but there was something about this combination that did it for me. The anticipation of the day when she would put on her red apron and break out the saucepan made it taste that much sweeter.
The way it melted in your mouth and gave you that incredible dessert combo in every bite was something worth waiting an entire year for. After she passed away in 2011, Christmas hasn’t been the same for many reasons, but as the owner of the teddy bear tin that chocolate-peanut butter fudge was kept in, it’s always sad knowing that she isn’t around to fill it up.
Both my sister and brother have made it over the years with success (although neither can quite get it to stick together like dear old mom used to). This year, I figured why not fill that teddy bear tin once again. I’m not the best dessert maker, but let’s be honest, even an average sweet can taste good. Plus the recipe didn’t seem all that difficult.
After receiving a picture of the tattered page with ingredients and directions from my sister, I got the necessary ingredients to make it – and hoped for the best.
The start wasn’t exactly how I envisioned it playing out, dropping the large container of sugar on the stovetop, but luckily just enough remained to make the recipe and prevent another trip to the store.
With only six ingredients and easy to follow directions, I felt confident I could pull it off – even though I knew deep down that no matter how easy things appeared, it would never quite be the same.
In the end, the fudge turned out great. It tasted just like my mom’s. But as I expected, the two layers didn’t stick together like it was supposed to. Talking to my sister, we came to the conclusion that it’s all about the timing and getting the peanut butter layer on top of the chocolate at just the right time. It appears my timing was a little off.
The process was smooth, minus the hiccup with the sugar. It did though turn out to be quite the right arm workout. With high heat and a main ingredient like sugar that wants to stick, it was about eight minutes of constant stirring for each layer. Maybe it’s a sign I should go to the gym more often.
Unsure of what was going to happen, I was relieved when the chocolate layer looked just like it was supposed to. At that point, I has a good feeling the peanut butter would do the same – unless of course another operator error occurred.
That rich fudge smell was exactly how I remembered it.
It wasn’t easy allowing for the necessary time to pass for the fudge to be cool enough cut, but as they say, patience is a virtue. The sweet flavor brought back memories of my childhood of standing in mom’s kitchen with an excitement and anticipation of that first bite.
Now that I’ve got one batch under my belt with a relative amount of success, the plan is to make this part of my family’s holiday. With any hope, my kids will have the same kind of feelings around this same recipe.
Once my wife Mary and I each got a chance to try it, I cut it up into three batches. One to bring to the office to share, another to bring to a friend’s holiday party and the last to sit in the teddy bear tin on the kitchen counter to munch on by the Christmas tree watching “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” – another annual holiday occurrence growing up.
So if you’re feeling like something new to serve fo dessert, give this a shot. Trust me, it’s worth the overworked forearm.
■3 cups sugar
■¾ cup margarine
⅔ cup (5 ⅓ fluid ounce can) evaporated milk
■6 ounce package of semisweet chocolate pieces
■7 ounce jar of marshmallow creme
■1 tsp vanilla
■½ cup peanut butter
Combine 1 ½ cups of sugar, 6 tablespoons margarine and ⅓ cup milk in heavy 1 ½ quart saucepan; bring to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat; stir in chocolate pieces until melted. Add 1 cup (½ jar) marshmallow creme and ½ teaspoon vanilla; beat until well blended.
Pour into greased 13×9 inch pan. Repeat with remaining ingredients, substituting peanut butter for chocolate. Spread over chocolate layer. Cool at room temperature; cut into squares.
Makes 3 pounds