Recipe: 00115 Title : Basic Fudge II Author: Date : May 1995 _________________________________________________________________________ 4 cups of sugar 1 1/4 cup milk 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup cocoa 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1/2 stick of butter (butter is preferable over margarine!) Combine sugar, milk, cocoa, and salt to a large sauce pan. Stir until all sugar granules have been dissolved. Boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil. Once boiling, stir only occasionally. Once mixture has reached soft ball stage (approx. 234 degrees F.), take mixture off stove and let it sit. Add butter, and let mixture sit until it has cooled down to the point where you can touch the pan with your hand and it is just warm. Add vanilla and stir mixture until it loses its sheen. Pour into a buttered pan and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. My mother used to beat/stir the hot mixture as soon as she took it off the stove...it always had a grainy texture because of this. I learned (from the people up in Mackinaw Island fudge makers) that the mixture needs to cool a bit before you start stirring it. I tried this and find that the grainy texture is gone and the fudge comes out smooth, rich, and just melts in your mouth! YUM. P.S. Ohhh..if you want chocolate peanut butter fudge, add 1 cup of peanut butter when you begin to stir the cooled mixture! It's great! -=-=-=-=-=-=- _________________________________________________________________________