A few days ago, my sister Paige asked, “Do you have Grandmaw’s fudge recipe?”

“Yeah. I’ll have to look around for it. I haven’t made it in a while.”

“I knew you would! Kenny was asking for it. He said he misses it.”

Then suddenly, the memories. Grandmaw used to make fudge for us at her little cottage a block from the shore in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. My daughter Jillian, my sister’s daughters, and my cousins’ daughters (yes, all girls) don’t remember Grandmaw. She died over thirty years ago, only months before her first great-grandchild, my niece Ashley, was born.

This is the first time since Grandmaw passed away that anyone has asked me for her fudge recipe. It may be another thirty years before anyone else asks for it. So, for future generations of Demorans, and anyone else who is interested, I’m going to share the family favorite fudge recipe of Kathryn Inez Saucier Demoran, or Grandmaw to us.

I’m posting here the super-size family function recipe, but feel free to cut the ingredients in half for a smaller yield.

Yield: 6-8 dozen squares (approximately 2x2ish inches)

Ingredients:

1 stick butter (1/2 cup), plus enough to butter 2 pans
8 cups sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon salt
3 14-oz. cans condensed milk
1/2 of a 7 oz. jar of marshmallow cream
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
approximately 6 oz. (or half of a 12-oz. jar) peanut butter

1. Butter two 9×13-inch pans. Set aside.
2. In a heavy pot, melt butter over medium heat.
3. While butter is melting, mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in a bowl.
4. Add condensed milk to melted butter, then add sugar mixture.
5. Lower heat to medium low and cook mixture for about 30-40 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles and reaches the soft ball stage. (About 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, no worries. Drop a bit of the candy in a cup of COLD water. If it forms the shape of a ball, it’s ready. If it threads, it’s not quite done. Click here for an example picture.)
6. Reduce heat to low and add marshmallow cream and vanilla. Blend with an electric mixer.
7. Add peanut butter. Blend with electric mixer.
8. Remove from heat and pour directly into two buttered pans.
9. Allow to cool, then cut into squares.
10. Enjoy!