I cannot make candy ! My husband loves divinity and I have never had any luck with it. When I bought my Kitchenaid mixer I had this idea of grandeur thinking that with a new mixer that I could now make divinity. After three attempts in one day I just gave up. I’m just not a candy maker. When I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit all my failures from making candy just disappeared from my memory. I can do this. It looked so delicious. It can’t be that difficult. Finally for me success at making the best Fudge ever! This is a great candy for the holidays. Use it for gifts or just eat it all yourself. To top it off it is really easy. You’ll just need a candy thermometer.
Just a few tips when making this wonderful fudge. Make your fudge or any candy for that matter on a dry clear day. Use a metal spoon to stir the sugar mixture as it cooks. Don’t use a wooden spoon. It can hold water which will add that moisture I was talking about and your candy will not harden as it should. Now I must get back to my Thanksgiving dinner.
Pecan Buttermilk Fudge from Bon Appetit
Yield 16 pieces
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pecans
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a 9×5″ loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang on long sides.
- Toast pecans on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing occasionally until fragrant and slightly darkened in color about 8-10 min. Mine took a little longer. Watch pecans carefully they can go from great to burned in a matter of seconds.
- Heat sugar, buttermilk, butter, honey, and kosher salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until butter and sugar are melted, about 3 minutes.
- Fit saucepan with thermemeter, bring mixture to a simmer and cook, sitrring occasionally, until thermometer registers 238 degrees. (this is 2 degrees above the soft ball stage). The mixture will be pale golden and smell faintly of toffee . The original recipe said about 6-8 minutes. Mine took about 17 minutes. I am thinking it is because I have an electric glasstop and the heat turns on and off to regulate whereas a gas range stays constant. Anyway the cooking time may vary greatly.
- Immediately pour mixtue into a medium bowl and using an electric mixer on medium-high, beat until cool and thickened ( it will be stiff and matte as opposed to glossy). Again it took mine about 15 minutes to get to that stage. The recipe said 8 minutes. Just be patient!
- Fold in pecans.
- Scrape fudge into prepared pan.
- Let it sit for 1-2 hours before cutting.
- Will keep for a week if wrapped tightly and store at room temperature.
Happy cooking!
The Teacher Cooks 