Everyone and I mean everyone, wanted my dad, Lloyd Pipes, to make his creamy and buttery fudge for them. He made it for family, employees he supervised at Western Electric in Indianapolis (a former AT&T company that manufactured phones for Bell Telephone), neighbors, church members, and in colossal quantities for ministers and their guests. Dad never tired of making his candy. He put pure love for people and candy in every batch. Dad was amazing. We always had Dad's fudge for every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day. He was often in the kitchen working on his candy while Mom was cooking dinner. Sometimes he finished making his candy and served it to family and guests right before Mom served the dinner(to Mother's dismay)!
Dad passed away in November, 2007 at age 92, but you'll always remember him if you master the art of making his fudge as he did. When properly prepared, it's very special candy. You'll be in the race to clean the platter with everyone whose in the room with you.
Ingredients:
- 2 Cups of sugar
- 2/3 cup half and half
- 1 square unsweetened baking chocolate, grated
- 2 Tablespoons clear Karo syrup
- 2 Tablespoons butter, plus butter to cover the candy platter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup black walnut pieces
- Heavily buttered platter
Instructions:
Combine the sugar, half and half, grated unsweetened chocolate, and Karo syrup. Heat to soft ball stage.
Use your candy thermometer to determine the temperature required for candy to be at a soft ball stage (240 degrees). Dad continually tested the bubbling chocolate by spooning a drop of fudge in a cup of ice cold water and working it together with his index finger and thumb to try to work it in a ball. I remember his doing this methodically over and over until the candy reached the desired temperature to form a ball between his fingers.
I use a candy thermometer to determine when the heated ingredients reach the soft ball stage; Dad never did this and scoffed at my doing so. Dad’s fudge was always creamy and he stood by his manual efforts in getting this result.
Now add 2 Tablespoons butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Drop a big silver spoon in the hot candy pan to start whipping the hot fudge immediately. Steady motion, not fast. Dad always beat the candy by hand rhythmically, until the candy was stiff. He used the same heavy pan for years and stirred the fudge with a his big metal spoon. I can see his arm moving now and it never stopped until the fudge was ready. I use to say, “Dad doesn’t your arm feel like it will fall off,” and he would smile and say, “Oh no, I'm fine.” Dad was always fine! I don't know how he did it! To be honest, my arms are not strong enough.
I use a big Kitchen Aid mixer and beat that mixture until it gets stiff. I made a batch today. I used the paddle to mix the hot candy. I set the mixer dial on stir. I turned the machine on and let it stir the fudge until it started getting thick. On the stir setting, the machine mixed the fudge at about the speed of Dad's arm. It worked perfectly!
Quickly stir in the black walnut pieces and quickly push the mixture out on a heavily buttered plate with a spatula. Let it set until the fudge is set up. Cut it in squares and take the platter to the family room and start serving the candy to family and guests -- even though Mom may be about ready to serve her Christmas dinner:-)
Mom used to say, "Lloyd don't be serving that candy now ... no one will eat my dinner." He'd give her a big kiss and she'd look around to all of us ... smile real big and say ... "I'll never be able to change him ... he's a sweetheart!"
Lloyd and Charlotte Pipes love never failed. We always had a happy home.
