It’s always fun to look through hundred-year-old cookbooks and magazines to find recipes to make for this blog. I generally select recipes I think would be tasty and fun to make. Often the recipes use seasonal ingredients.
This week I decided to make a hundred-year-old recipe for Marshmallow Fudge for a very practical (and perhaps boring) reason. Several weeks ago, I made Apple Mallows (Baked Apples with Marshmallows), and I had some left-over marshmallows. When I was flipping through an old cookbook and saw a recipe for Marshmallow Fudge, I immediately thought, “What a great way to use up those marshmallows in the cupboard!”
The recipe called for melting marshmallows in a hot fudge mixture. The melted marshmallows helped create a lovely smooth fudge, as well as provided some of the sugar in this recipe.
I’m glad I decided to make Marshmallow Fudge. It was easier to make than many candies and turned out beautifully. The fudge contained walnuts, was rich, and melted in my mouth. It was not the least bit grainy.
Here is the original recipe:
And, here is the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Marshmallow Fudge
1 tablespoon butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 teaspoons cocoa
3 tablespoons water
8 ounces marshmallows
1 cup chopped walnuts
Step 1. Melt and lightly brown butter in a large saucepan. (Use care not to burn the butter.)
Step 2. Add sugar and cream; stir until combined.
Step 3. Bring to a boil using medium heat, then reduce heat, but continue to gently boil until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (235-240° F.). (Do not stir the boiling mixture to avoid crystallization.)
Step 4. In the meantime, put the cocoa in a small bowl; Gradually add the water while stirring. Stir until the mixture is smooth.
Step 5. Add the salt and the cocoa mixture to the boiling sugar mixture which has reached the soft ball stage; gently stir until thoroughly combined.
Step. 6. Continue boiling for a little longer until the mixture again reaches the soft ball stage (235 – 240° F.).
Step 7. Add the marshmallows to the mixture and immediately remove pan from heat; stir until the marshmallows are melted, then continue stirring until the fudge is creamy and begins to thicken.
Step 8. Stir the chopped walnuts into the fudge.
Step 9. Line a 9-inch by 9-inch pan with parchment paper (or thickly butter the pan), then spread the fudge in the pan. Lightly score the fudge to mark where it will be cut.
Step 10. Allow fudge to cool, then cut into pieces.
Mom used to make this for us now I want some but try to swear off sugar 🙂
Strangely, this seems more complicated than the recipe I use. Mine came down to me from my mother, and I suspect it’s the one printed on the old Hershey’s cocoa cans. It can be a little touchy (I’ve had a few batches harden in the pan), but I still use it, along with mom’s candy-making pan with the high sides, and her candy thermometer.