This is the most buttery-rich penuche fudge recipe on Earth.
I mean it. Try it and tell me I’m wrong.
I dare you.
Sure, it’s super sweet, and that means it will always be popular on some level. But there’s just something about a freshly-made penuche fudge recipe that makes me curl my toes and bite my lip.
I’m a huge fudge fan, so maybe it was destined to be love at first bite.
I love my chocolate truffles and fudge straight-up and unfettered by any sort of distracting cake or cookie. At Christmas, I’m always found camped out in front of the fudge plate, making short work of my grandma’s family fudge recipe.
After a traumatic pumpkin fudge incident (ugh) I decided to limit myself to only chocolate fudge. Since then, I hadn’t paid much attention to anything but the richest, deepest, darkest varieties of fudge to cross my path.
Blonde fudge? Eh. Caramel fudge? Nah. Peanut butter fudge? Blah.
Perfectly soft salted caramels? HELL YES.
Penuche fudge? What’s that?
Why penuche fudge?
Some of you might remember how I spent a winter in rural Massachusetts, sequestered in Cape Cod during a time of year that can only be described as, “really freaking cold.” I basically lived on oysters Rockefeller all winter.
When you’re a California girl in the middle of a divorce, locked away in self-imposed solitude and the temperature dips down to -10°F, you start looking for anything within arm’s reach that’s even remotely construed as comforting.
GIVE ME ALL THE BLANKETS.
GIVE ME ALL THE HOT COFFEE.
GIVE ME ALL THE ROAST CHICKENS AND BOWLS OF SOUP.
As luck would have it, there was a single coffee shop open in a nearby town. I spent as many waking hours there as possible.
Nevermind that I had to sit out on the side of the highway in the frigid cold, turning into a Steph-sical, waiting for the Flex Bus to Orleans. I was on my way to the Hot Chocolate Sparrow for a cup of coffee and a bowl of soup.
Besides being a lovely little coffee house, the Chocolate Sparrow (locals drop the “hot” in the name, for brevity’s sake, I’m sure) was a full-service diabetic coma factory.
Besides offering soups and sandwiches, the place had an insanely diverse selection of sweets. Cookies, cakes, pastries, ice cream, waffles, you name it. And, they had an old-fashioned candy counter that would make Baby Jesus cry from cavity-induced agony.
Candy saves the day
It was here that I had my first taste of penuche fudge. Having exhausted the sample tray of all traces of chocolate, I poked glumly at the caramel-colored cubes left behind.
“I’m not cutting up anymore chocolate until either you or the penuche samples are gone,” the counter lady half joked. “Go on, live a little.”
She laughed to herself behind her book, amused by a now long-running inside joke we shared about me ransacking the fudge sample tray a few times a week.
After a few minutes of staring and trying to manifest a full plate of chocolate fudge, I grabbed one of the penuche fudge blocks and stuck it in my mouth.
At first I was underwhelmed. But as the buttery, brown-sugary sweetness swept across my tongue, I took notice.
This fudge was soft and tender, with an amazing caramel flavor and plenty of toasted pecans. I was in sugar heaven. I bought two pounds and completely decimated my sweets limitation for the day.
Making penuche fudge
Penuche fudge recipes are easy to make. The thing is, candy making itself can be a complicated chemistry experiment full of pitfalls.
If you’re at all familiar with making candy, you’ll find this penuche fudge recipe SUPER easy to throw together and enjoy within a few hours. Besides a pot and a baking dish, the only equipment you’ll need is a candy thermometer.
BUT! If you’re not experienced with making candy, there are some things you need to know before getting started.
Fudge-making pitfalls
The original recipe on this site gave some folks a little trouble, for unknown reasons. Some people complained that the fudge did not set. Which is weird, because me and my team of testers never could reproduce the problem.
It was a big WTF moment.
Finally I was able to reproduce the problem of the fudge not setting. From what I can tell, it’s a temperature problem. Let me explain.
When making candy, including chocolate and penuche fudge, the longer you cook your sugar mixture (and the higher the temperature goes) the more water evaporates.
The more water that evaporates, the more concentrated the sugar becomes. This is because the water leaves the mixture and the sugar stays behind.
Since more and more water evaporates as the temperature rises, the sugar gets more and more concentrated with every degree the temperature goes up.
The more water that evaporates, the thicker the sugar mixture will be while it’s cooking. Make sense? That also means that the more concentrated the sugar is, the harder the finished product will be when it cools.
So if your penuche fudge recipe (or any other kind of fudge) isn’t setting, it means there’s too much water. That makes sense, right? So basically, you need to keep cooking it until enough water evaporates.
Temperature in candy-making
In the candy world, we have very specific temperature stages that are named for the hardness once the candy once cools. Check it out:
- Soft-ball stage: 235°F – 240°F
- Firm-ball stage: 245°F – 250°F
- Hard-ball stage: 250°F – 265°F
- Soft-crack stage: 270°F – 290°F
- Hard-crack stage: 300°F – 310°F
So if you take your penuche fudge recipe (or sugar candy recipe) to 235°F, it will be very soft. But if you let that exact same recipe cook to 250°F, it will be much more firm.
Take that recipe all the way to 300°F and you’ll basically have the texture of a lollipop… though I’ve never cooked any fudge that high, because the milk and/or chocolate solids would burn by then. But 300°F is a common temperature used when making hard sugar candies.
The names in this scale are based on how a sugar+water solution behaves when cooked to that temperature and then allow it to cool. So if you were to boil sugar and water to 235°F, then spoon a little onto a plate, it would form a soft, pliable mass once it cools that you could easily roll into a ball.
If you were to take the exact same solution and cook it to 300°F, then spoon some onto a plate, it would basically form a hard lump.
The perfect temperature
My original recipe said to take the penuche fudge to 237°F, because I like a softer fudge. That worked really well for a lot of people. But… if you have a bunk candy thermometer that’s inaccurate, then there’s a chance your fudge will not set. It would be too thin to cut.
Why? Because if was not cooked hot enough, and not enough water evaporated. A bunk thermometer LIES.
So I adjusted the temperature of my recipe to take it 242°F, which is still a nice texture for fudge. It also allows a little more wiggle room for questionable thermometers.
SO! If you find your fudge isn’t setting, try reheating the same batch over a double boiler. This time, cook it to 7°F to 10°F warmer than you did the first time you cooked it. Then beat it again, pour it into a pan, and it should set pretty easily.
Temperature is so important here, just like it is in my chocolate marshmallow recipe.
A second penuche recipe
After some discussion with other candy mavens, I added a second penuche recipe below that involves the shock/seed/stir method. This is a little easier for some people who aren’t super experienced with making candy. The shock and stir recipe has a few extra steps, but I’ve essentially hacked candy science to guarantee it sets up without fail.
Side note: The “shock and stir” recipe sets up more easily because you’re quickly cooling the outside of the caramel fudge mixture before mixing, which causes the outside to crystalize. When you then beat the fudge in a mixer, the crystals “seed” the rest of the fudge, which creates more crystals and causes it to thicken more quickly. Don’t worry, you won’t end up with a gritty texture. Pinky promise!
What’s the difference between these two recipes?
- Original recipe: faster process with fewer steps, but you need to be more precise
- Shock and stir recipe: takes a little longer but great for beginners who aren’t as experienced or precise
My original penuche recipe:
Buttery Rich Penuche Fudge Recipe - Original Method
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup light, not dark
- 1 1/4 cup whole milk half & half, or evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts toasted, (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving 2-inches overhang on two opposing sides. Make sure to fold the paper into the corners of the pan.
- In a heavy saucepan over medium-low flame, heat brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, and salt to 242°F (117°C) while stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from scorching. Cooking should take anywhere from 20-25 minutes.
- Immediately pour penuche into the bowl of a stand mixer. Add vanilla extract. Beat on medium for 4 minutes, until fudge is thick and smooth. Lower speed to low and add walnuts or other chopped nuts, and beat just a few times until the nuts are dispersed evenly into the penuche. Turn off the mixer.
- Using a spatula greased with butter, spread penuche fudge into the square pan lined with parchment. Smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting. If refrigerated, penuche will keep in a sealed container for up to a week. For maximum freshness, don’t cut until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
The beginner’s “stir and shock” penuche recipe:
Buttery Rich Penuche Fudge Recipe - "Stir & Shock" Method
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1 1/4 cup evaporated milk heavy cream, or half & half
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 large bowl of ice cubes
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts toasted, (optional)
Instructions
- Line a 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment, leaving 2-inches overhang on two opposing sides. Make sure to fold the paper into the corners of the pan.
- In a heavy saucepan over medium-low flame, heat brown sugar, white sugar, corn syrup, milk, butter, and salt to 240°F (115°C) while stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from scorching. Cooking should take anywhere from 20-25 minutes.
- While the penuche fudge is cooking, fill a large bowl with cold water and ice to create a water bath. You can also just stop your sink and fill that with ice and water.
- Immediately pour penuche into the bowl of a stand mixer and set the paddle beater into the fudge, so that it’s ready to connect to the mixer when it’s ready. Set bowl into ice water and add vanilla extract. Do not stir after adding vanilla. Allow to cool until the penuche is lukewarm, about 110 degrees, which should take about ten minutes.
- Place the bowl into the stand mixer and beat on low until the fudge begins to thicken, lighten in color, and lose its shine. Add walnuts or other chopped nuts, and beat just a few times until the nuts are dispersed evenly into the penuche. Turn off the mixer.
- Using a spatula greased with butter, spread penuche fudge into lined pan, smoothing out the top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cutting. If refrigerated, penuche will keep in a sealed container for up to a week. For maximum freshness, don’t cut until ready to serve.
- Using a spatula greased with butter, spread penuche fudge into the square pan lined with parchment. Smooth out the top with a spatula.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour before cutting. If refrigerated, penuche will keep in a sealed container for up to a week. For maximum freshness, don’t cut until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Originally posted on FearlessFresh.com.