Silky Smooth Fudge

This fudge, you guys!  Oh my goodness!!  I have to admit, I have spent my life liking fudge, but not loving it. Until I met this recipe.  I am telling you - - it is creamy, silky smooth, and just down-right delicious.  

Now admittedly, these pieces of fudge could, and should look a little prettier, but I got tired of my boys asking me over and over when it would be ready, and I may have cut it a little too soon.  (Fudge takes hours to set up properly, and this batch could have stood for another hour or two.  But regardless, even though it was a teensy bit soft, it was every bit as delicious and creamy and smooth as always.

There are a couple of key things to remember when making this fudge to ensure the result you are looking for...

First, the cream and sugar must boil together until soft-ball stage.  Make sure you have a good accurate candy thermometer, to ensure you get it to just the right point before stirring in the butter.

Second, once the butter has melted into the sugar and cream mixture, then you will transfer the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer.  I am sure it would work with a regular old bowl and hand mixer as well.  The key here is DO NOT SCRAPE THE PAN.  Sorry, I am not trying to yell at you.  I just want to emphasize that if you want your fudge to turn out nice and smooth and not grainy, then this is key.  In fact, that is important in a lot of candy making, not just this recipe.

 I sprinkled half this batch of fudge with some Christmas sprinkles to give it some Christmas flair and left the other half plain.  The kids loved the sprinkles, and my fudge-purist husband preferred it without.  Just be sure to put the sprinkles on top as soon as you can, so they will stick.  The top of this fudge starts setting up pretty fast.

So, without further commentary, here is the recipe for this oh-so-delicious fudge...