Hi Meryl! Came on to take a break from candy making....

gayle-mo

gayle-mo

Well-known member
Looks like it's been pretty quiet today, huh?

Hey - can you give me an opinion, please? I've been packing this last batch of Choc Buttercream Pecan Fudge in the 9 oz clear plastic punch-type cups then putting them in a clear cello bag with tie. Then I'm putting them in small gift bags with colored ribbon to match and putting a plastic knife in the bag so the recipient can cut slices off to eat. The gift bags are birthday and plain bags. They look nice!

What would you pay for 8 - 8.5 oz of choc buttercream fudge ready to be given as a token gift to someone? I have less than a dollar in the packaging.

Don't want them to be too high but still need to make a good amt as this fudge is not cheap to make. I used Ghirardelli choc and real butter. It's very good!

Any suggestions? thx

 
Hi Gayle! Glad to see you! I think you should charge 3-4 x your expenses. What would you say

is your total cost for each package? I know that 1 lb boxes of fudge are selling for about $15.00 on Amazon, plus shipping, and I'm sure your fudge is much better!

 
Big diff in small town vs big city, too. If I tried to charge that for a pound of fudge

(even tho Gayle's is probably worth every cent) I wouldn't cell one pkg.

 
Agree! That's what I told Dawn on PM. Thanks for the confirmation, Cyn! smileys/smile.gif

The fudge recipe is posted in Candy section of Hall of Fame. Go for it! I do a few alterations, but it's basicly the same recipe and it's TDF! smileys/smile.gif

ENJOY!

 
Here's a C&P from T&T above. (taken from original post at Gail's Recipe Swap on Epicurious.com

I don't remember what year I first posted this on the old forum. Might have been 2002? Sorry -just don't remember.



Found the original posting from Gail's and copied it here:

TDF Chocolate Buttercream Fudge Recipe.......

I come from a long line of candy making
women and have tried just about every candy
and fudge recipe there is at one time or
another. My mom and I thought we had found
the best of choc fudge recipes in the 1970's and
used that recipe for 20+ years. About 9
years ago I was at someone's house who
served some fudge and reluctantly tasted it. LOL!
I was a fudge snob because I had never tried
anyone's fudge that was better than our
recipe. ha!! I couldn't believe it!!! It was
the most incredible, buttery chocolate fudge
I'd ever tasted! She happily gave me the
recipe. It has a whole pound of real butter
in it! Everyone raves over this fudge. It
adapts to variations well, also.

Chocolate Buttercream Fudge

Into a large heavy pan in which sides have been buttered, combine:
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 lg (12 oz) can evaporated milk - NOT sweetened condensed! (or can use 1/2 & 1/2)
3/4 cup Karo Syrup

**Even one grain of undissolved sugar stuck on the sides of the pan can cause
fudge to be grainy, hence the buttered pan sides. I make sure I don't get sugar up on the sides
of the pan when placing ingredients in, but then what I do is after mixture begins
to boil, I use the back of a woonden spoon to bring the hot mixture up on the sides
and bring it back down into the boiling mixture until I can feel no grains on the pan sides.
Then, I use a silicone spatula and run it around the sides of the pan and into the hot
mixture to make sure there is nothing left. Ingredients are expensive and this has assured
me of great results time after time.

Using candy thermometer clipped on pan, boil above ingredients until soft ball @ 240 degrees. Remove pan from burner and add:

2 12 oz pkgs good quality REAL chocolate milk chocolate chips
1 12 oz bag good quality semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 POUND room temperature real dairy butter
3 tbs vanilla
dash of salt

The original recipe said to
beat with wooden spoon for at least 5 minutes, but a friend found that a hand mixer on low speed works best as if the butter isn't totally incorporated in, it will puddle on top. After a couple of minutes of mixing with your hand mixer will see the fudge turn into silk before your eyes!!

When well blended add 1 1/2 (or more) cups nuts, if desired, and pour into greased pan. I use a 14x14" Magnalite square bake pan. It will also fit in 1 9x13, plus a 8x8" square. Or several tins, depending on sizes of the tins.
Store in fridge. Keeps very well. I make this every year and pour into buttered tins for gift
giving. This makes a very special gift.

This makes a large amount of fudge.

Enjoy!

http://eat.at/swap/forum7/23_Chocolate_Buttercream_Fudge_requested_by_AngAK

 
This is a wonderful recipe for fudge: and here are a few things I learned about it__

Get a good candy thermometer. Test it, even if new, to see how much the calibration is off, if any at all. My new candy thermometer, a Wilson that is made in China, was about 4-5 degrees high.

Pull your pot off the heat right just before it reaches soft-ball temp.

Add the butter first, then when it melts a little add the chocolate.

For mixing you can use a powerful hand mixer, but I over cooked my first batch this year, (by about 5º or a small amount more) and when I added the chocolate first, then butter, the syrup in the pan semi hardened--it looked grainy and curdled. I tried the hand mixer I had and stripped the gears. I then put the mixture quickly into my Kitchen Aid mixer and whipped it up--but I actually started to lug that machine. as a result my fudge did not get its full mixing and butter pooled and was not fully incorporated. It was a kind-of chunky in texture and had a small amount of butter on top and the bottom, but it was not un-eatable--it still was great!

I made a second batch the next night at a Holiday Gifts class with the new Wilson thermometer. I pulled it just before it reached temp, added the butter and chocolate (in the order recommended above) and directly poured it into the Kitchen Aid bowl and whupped it up. It was perfect and smooth and the butter did not pool at all. The stuff was perfect.

Have fun!

 
Great tips, Mistral! You'll never guess...but the original recipe.....

Said to boil 6 minutes, then add the butter and chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes.

The gal who gave me the recipe still makes it that same way and never has a failure! I ran into her one day and asked about it. She looked at me like I was nuts when I said it was hard to get the butter mixed in with a wooden spoon. It wasn't for her. Guess her arms are stronger than mine! smileys/smile.gif (I had used a wire whip when I did mine before the mixer)

Goes to show how people need to customize recipes to suit them, huh?

Thanks, Mistral- glad you are enjoying it. Hope the samples at my space on Fri and Sat sell all my fudge! smileys/smile.gif

 
You know, Mistral, you do it totally different than I do!

I cook a couple of degrees higher so that it's just a tad bit firmer. Then I dump the ROOM TEMP butter and the chocolate chips in all together and stir in a bit. After it's nearly melted in about a min, I add the vanilla and then take my mixer to it to finish up. I blend until it's LIKE SILK. Then I stir the nuts in with a silicone spatula.

Just finished my 6th batch! Made me think about what you'd written. But you know what???? Everyone needs to do what works for them! smileys/smile.gif

Right?

I've never had a failure with this fudge.

Just offered my husband to scrape out the pan and he refused! hahaha I never thought I'd see the day that he would refuse this fudge! But he's eaten a lot of candy the last few days while I've been getting ready for the sale. Tickles me!!! smileys/smile.gif


Back to the burner I go....... *sigh

 
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