Recipe For Aunt Bill's Brown Candy My Family's Way

Almost everyone has an Aunt Bill's Brown Fudge recipe, but most of them vary quite a bit. Probably because we all mess with recipes over time. My mother made the best fudge and Aunt Bill's Brown Fudge I've ever eaten, and I've had my share.

She tweaked it from her aunts and her own mother, telling me often of the Aunt Bill's Brown Fudge contest the aunts would have every Christmas. To outdo the other one, all the sisters and even sister-in-laws got into the act, and in our family, that's how the recipes evolved for this creamy candy.

I never knew who won, as it was constantly disputed.

I'm voting for my mother!!

We ate this candy from Thanksgiving to New Year's and more often if we could beg Mom to make it. This recipe might differ from your own, but I hope you'll give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c white sugar
• 1/4 c light brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 c dark corn syrup (Karo is fine)
• 2 tblsp browned butter (see video)
• 1/2 c evaporated milk
• 1/4 c marshmallow cream
• 1/2 c chopped toasted pecans (or your favorite nut, I like walnuts, see video; Tip: the video calls for butter, but for this recipe, reduce that butter, and don't add the salt when toasting these. The video is just to show you a technique for roasting nuts.)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract (not immitation!)

Procedure: (Prepare step 9 first)

1. In medium saucepan, combine the sugars, 2 tablespoons water, corn syrup, and stir over medium heat.
2. When it boils, working quckly, take a damp cloth and clean the sugar crystals from the side of the pot (careful it's hot!!) and from the stirring utensil, or just change to clean stirring spoon. Very important! You do not want grainy fudge!!
3. Add butter. When it comes to a boil again, add milk SLOWLY, a little at a time, stirring constantly. This should take about 4 minutes. Place candy thermometer in pan.
4. Continue to stir and boil mixture until it reaches 240 F on the candy thermometer.
5. Trick: Wipe down a baking sheet, such as a sheet cake pan, with water just until it's moist. NOT TOO MUCH! Pour the brown fudge onto the baking sheet and cool until warm.
6. Pour the fudge into a large bowl (no water should come with it, the sheet should have been moist, but not runny) and beat fudge.
7. When it begins to look dull, add the marshmallow cream, and beat another 2 minutes longer.
8. Mix in the nuts, salt and vanilla.
9. Line a cake pan with buttered waxed paper and spread fudge about 3/4 inch thick.
10. Let cool completely and when it is set and firm, cut with large bladed knife into serving size squares.
11. Wrap in waxed paper and keep in closed jar.

Don't worry if it takes you a few times to get the knack of making Aunt Bill's Brown Candy, it took a lifetime to create these recipes. Enjoy and now you know why you only make this once or twice a year!

Over time, Mom developed this step because one time she forgot to add the salt, so she put it in with the vanilla, and we all decided this was a slightly more pronounced salt flavor. However, remember that the fudge needs to be very warm at this stage, so the salt dissolves and is not grainy.  

Also, we didn't do the cooling of the fudge on a moist pan until years into making the fudge, but it helped to cool the fudge down to a "very warm" stage before beating and added to the readiness...or at least we thought so.

As with many family recipes, sometimes we don't know exactly why we do something, often causing us to remark "I don't know why, that's just the way my grandmother did it." So, just don't let the fudge cool too much before you begin to beat it.

Experiment, and good luck!