My Favorite Fudge - Penoche

I needed to use some cream, so I browsed through the candy recipes. I have to say that I rarely, if ever, make candy if it's not Christmas time. But here is a recipe for my favorite penoche - a carmelly vanilla fudge. The instructions for the recipe just say, make it like fudge. Well, I don't make fudge the old-fashioned way, so I had to go to my favorite source - The Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook. I followed it exactly right down to buttering the sides of the pan. Well, I should have called my sis! Geralee called me while I was on my second try to make the sugary mixture not be sugary. She said that the secret to fudge making is to add a couple of tablespoons of light corn syrup. So I checked the recipes in the cookbook, and they also included one teaspoon or one tablespoon of corn syrup. So next time . . . .

PENOCHE
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 cup milk or cream
Mix and cook as fudge. Roll into chopped nuts, mold and cut into shapes desired.

From the BH&G, butter the sides of the pan before adding the ingredients. Add the thermometer after it starts to boil and keep stirring until it boils. (I kept stirring the entire time cause I didn't want it to burn.) After it reaches a soft ball, take the pan off the heat, add the butter, and let it cool to 110 degrees, or till the bottom of the pan is "comfortably warm." Then add the vanilla and start to stir the penoche/fudge. Keep stirring until it loses its gloss and starts to stiffen. Then push into a pan or shape into logs.

PS - I did make it again. I added two tablespoons corn syrup, and here's another trick. My friend Chris is an expert candy maker. Her mother told her that when making fudge you need to add the liquid first and then stir in the sugar carefully as it heats. Don't let the sugar touch the sides of the pan as you stir. So I carefully followed all the steps and little secret tips - the result was perfect penoche! Delicious and creamy smooth. Good luck!