Recipe: Skaarup's Super Bowl Fudge

SKAARUP'S SUPERBOWL FUDGE
(c) 1997 T. P. Skaarup, original recipe. May be copied unaltered. All rights reserved.

This is a milky-chocolate fudge with creamy texture and a fruity-nutty mix of flavors. It requires about 30 minutes to make, uses a candy thermometer (although not required), one 9"x9" glass pan, the two saucepans. I like the apricot taste... some of my friends, especially those from traditional Midwestern upbringing have told me that this fudge was 'excellent' but they didn't understand the apricots. Understand apricots? Fudge making is a science. Ah, but Fudge consumption is pure mindless enjoyment.

1/2 cup butter (unsalted if you've got it)
2 1/2 cups sugar (extra-fine granules)
5 oz. evaporated milk (one small can)
6 oz. Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
6 oz. Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips
7 oz. marshmallow Cream (Kraft )
1 cup walnuts (coarsely chopped)
3/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup dried apricots (diced)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Line a 9" x 9" pan with aluminum foil and set aside.

Place chocolate chips, vanilla, and marshmallow cream into a 3-quart saucepan and set aside. Place walnuts, raisins, and apricots into a bowl and set aside. Set butter aside to warm.

Heat milk at Medium setting until warm then add sugar. Bring to a rolling boil (Medium-High), stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Continue to boil for 8 full minutes -or- if using a candy thermometer continue boiling until the boiling temperature reaches 235 F but do not exceed 9 minutes rolling boiling total. Remove from heat and add butter. Stir until butter dissolved (but no more than 30 seconds).

Pour hot mixture over chips, vanilla, and marshmallow without scraping the sides of the hot saucepan. Mix until chips melted. Add walnuts, raisins, and apricots. Mix thoroughly and cast into prepared pan. Cool at room temperature. Chill in refrigerator 1 hours prior to cutting. Remove from pan, remove foil, cut into squares.

Prepare the wooden spoon and cooking saucepan with a butter flavor non-stick vegetable spray such as Pam or Crisco . Spraying the sides of the saucepan helps prevent sugar crystallization. Adding the butter to the sugar mixture after a rolling boil helps keep the sugar from early crystallization. Adding the butter to the milk-sugar mixture only impedes the milks ability to dissolve the sugar. Each stick of butter converts to 1/2 cup. Cut the stick up into slabs before adding to the hot sugar slurry.Don't scrape the sides of the sugar saucepan after transferring the hot sugar slurry. This may promote crystallization of the sugar by seeding it.

Substitutions:
May use 12 oz. of Semi-Sweet Chocolate for the 50/50 mix of Milk and Semi-Sweet chips. Walnuts, Raisins, and Apricots are used here. You may substitute any other Optional Helpers you desire as long as the total volume does not exceed 2.5 cups (unpacked). Cut fudge with a new plastic knife. McDonalds, Wendy's, and Burger King plastic ware do well. You could use a metal knife washed clean rubbed with butter on a paper towel. Plastic is better.