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Chocolate Fudge (Hershey's Old-Fashioned)

chocolatefudgehersheysHershey's Chocolate Fudge is a wonderful treat that only requires a few ingredients and tastes pretty amazing. The easy fudge recipe has been around for generations and used to be on the side of the Hershey's coca container. It's the fudge recipe that you probably grew up with and love.

2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
3 cups granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1½ cups whole milk
½ stick butter (¼ cup)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Add the sugar, cocoa powder and salt to a large saucepan and mix the ingredients until they are combined.

Add the milk to the saucepan and stir. Turn the heat on medium-high and continue stirring until the mixture begins to boil.

Once the mixture begins to boil, stop stirring and add your thermometer to the side of the saucepan. Cook until the mixture reaches 234°F or forms a soft ball in cold water.

Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla. DON'T STIR.

Cool to about 130°F and stir until some of the sheen from the fudge dulls. This may take a few minutes. Pour into a buttered dish.

Run a knife gently through the fudge to get rid of some of the air bubbles and allow to set up for several hours.

Refrigerate until set, then serve.

Makes 36 pieces.

Cook's Notes:

  • Use a large saucepan. The first time I made the fudge I started out with a three-quart saucepan and it wasn't even close to being big enough.
  • The mixture will boil and overflow and you've got a big mess on your hands. I made the mistake of using the small one and it kept wanting to boil over and I had to remove it from the stovetop and never finished it.
  • Use a thermometer. Unless you are comfortable with dropping the fudge into cold water, use a thermometer. I tend to get it wrong when I drop it into cold water to test it. That's one thing my grandmother never showed me how to do (probably because I was so busy begging for pie).
  • Make sure your thermometer works. Thermometers do go bad after a while, so it can give you a false reading. On one trial, I made the mistake of cooking the fudge too long and thought I was going to have to throw out my pan because the fudge ended up rock hard at the bottom - oops.
  • Make sure the thermometer isn't touching the bottom of the pan, or you'll get an inaccurate reading. See the picture below.
  • If you mess up, start again. I've messed up plenty of recipes, but if you really want it, make it again. We learn from our mistakes and they make us (and our food) better the next time.