Hershey's Old Fashioned Rich Cocoa Fudge Recipe - Food.com (2024)

77

Community Pick

Submitted by Marg (CaymanDesigns)

"This is a crumbly, sugary old fashion fudge....from the back of the Hershey's Cocoa can. Cook time is cooling time. If you are having trouble with it "setting up", you probably didn't cook it long enough. I have learned (the hard way!) to not trust my candy thermometer and to use to soft ball stage water test to make sure it is the right temperature. Even under cooking it by 2-3° will result in a soft, sticky mess. It still taste good though. :)Some good suggestions from reviewers: (I highly recommend reading through all the reviews before making this fudge!)- don't try to bring up temp too quickly- a large shallow saucepan works better than a deeper one"

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Ready In:
3hrs 10mins

Ingredients:
6
Serves:

36

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ingredients

  • 3 cups sugar
  • 23 cup cocoa
  • 18 teaspoon salt
  • 1 12 cups whole milk, no substitute
  • 14 cup real butter, no substitute
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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directions

  • Line 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil; butter foil.
  • In large heavy saucepan stir together first three ingredients; stir in milk, with a wooden spoon*.
  • Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
  • Boil without stirring, to 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer (or until syrup, when dropped in very cold water forms a soft ball which flattens when removed from water). Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of pan. (This can take 20-30 minutes).
  • Remove from heat. Add butter & vanilla.
  • DO NOT STIR! Cool at room temperature to 110 degrees F (lukewarm). (This can take 2 to 2-1/2 hours).
  • Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens & loses some of its gloss. (This can take 15-20 minutes. It really works best if you have someone to 'tag-team' with.) It starts to look more like frosting than a thick syrup when it is ready.
  • Quickly spread into prepared pan; cool.
  • Cut into squares.
  • Store wrapped loosely in foil in the refrigerator.
  • *it is very important not to use a wire whisk or the fudge will not set up. Also just stir gently, even though the cocoa will stay floating on top, it will mix in as the mixture heats up.

Questions & Replies

Hershey's Old Fashioned Rich Cocoa Fudge Recipe - Food.com (13)

  1. I'm a little confused. Takes 30 minutes of constant steady stirring to get it to a boil. Clearly it says not to stir it for the 20-30 minutes that its boiling. Wont that burn it? Medium heat to me is half way on my stove switches. Is that right or should it be turned down? Never made fudge but I'm a good cook. Just dont want to burn it.

    Tyler C.

  2. Fudge didnt set, had to add water and bring back up to soft ball stage. When I take it ove the stove do i add butter and vanilla again, or just start stirring again?

    ten_10_nails

  3. Do you stir in the butter and vanilla just to combine it or just put in butter and vanilla and not stir until temp is at 110

    Helen S.

  4. How to print?

    kat2000wa

see 20 more questions

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Reviews

  1. this is the best Fudge recipe ever. My dad made this for many many years and taught me to make it. I have been making it now for about 50 years.. It always takes my stove 45 min at least to get it to the soft ball. Do not stir to much while cooking.. We bring it to a small boil and keep it boiling. use ONLY A WOODEN spoon..(.Check your candy thermometer before to see if it is accurate by boil water and see if it boils at exactly 212. then you know if your candy thermometer is right.) We always also checked candy by dropping a small spoonful in a cup of very cold water when we thought it was done. it would form a small ball with your fingers. Then you knew it was done. We never let our set as long as these directions. Cooled in a pan of cold water about three to five min and then beat with a wooden spoon only till it loses its shine. This is no doubt the best candy in the world.. my son gets ever year at Christmas time.. at his request. :) ..This is a hard candy to make but well worth the effort..

    2flake

  2. This is a post script to my review. Add a big handfull of walnuts with the butter and vanilla at the end of the cooking portion not after it is cooled down as that will bring the temp down and make the fudge grainy instead of creamy.

    first gen sici

  3. I love this recipe; however, the version on Cooks.com has the taste I remember from childhood. Instead of whole milk, it calls for 1 c. evaporated milk and 1/2 c. water. If you are following this recipe it is easy to overbeat; it should just be beaten until it loses some of the gloss - not for 10-15 minutes.

    spudlysma

  4. I make this recipe all the time and never have any problems unless the pan is too small and it boils over. I bring the fudge to a softball stage by testing it in cold water. No thermometer. After it reaches the softball point, I remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla and immediately begin stirring with a mixer. It takes approximately 10-15 minutes before i start seeing wrinkles in the fudge after that I know that it is almost ready to pour into the pan for cooling. Everyone wants me to make this, it is quite time consuming though. Total about an hour. I also make peanut butter fudge this way but instead of the cocoa I substitute 2/3 cup of peanut butter and add it at the end with the butter and vanilla.

    justtammie

  5. Maybe this will help some.Remember 30-10-20.It takes me 30 minutes of stirring until it boils.Then let it boil 10 minutes.Then i let it cool 20 minutes.Im sure you could let it cool longer but 20 minutes works for me.The 10 minutes of boiling is the most important.Hope this helps.

    eric r.

see 104 more reviews

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Tweaks

  1. I added chopped walnuts to the fudge (during the stirring process) for a nice added crunch and texture.

    Jonathan Melendez

  2. Do not constantly stir while it is cooking, or the texture will not set. My mom made this for years.

    sciachir1

  3. I didn't tweak anything per se, but I do help the cool down process by streaming the fudge. In other words, I beat it and then take large spoofuls and drop or stream it back in the pan. When the ribbons of fudge as dropped from the air begin to retain their ribbon form, I pour the fudge onto the pan.

    owlbet

  4. I have been making this fudge for 50 years now it truly is the best. My daughter in law is vegan so no dairy products at all. The recipe clearly states no substitutes. I decided to get crazy so I used almond milk and a non dairy butter. Guess what folks it not only came out perfect it tasted exactly the same. Your vegan friends will love you for this. My DIL said it is the best fudge she has ever had even before she was vegan. She has been vegan for 12 years now. My son has ciliac disease so he is strict gluten free. It used to be a nightmare having them for dinner. I have learned a lot about cooking vegan/gluten free.

    alsawyer4581

  5. Stir continually as it cools!

    Lynda F.

see 2 more tweaks

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

Marg (CaymanDesigns)

United States

  • 368 Followers
  • 444 Recipes
  • 52 Tweaks

With the changes to the email notifications and removal of private messaging, I am no longer able to respond to questions about my recipes. Yet another feature change that has made the website less user friendly. It's sad to watch a fantastic site deteriorate over the years. Some of my recipes are on my blog.

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Hershey's Old Fashioned Rich Cocoa Fudge Recipe  - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good fudge? ›

Tips for Making Fudge
  • Monitor the Temperature with a Candy Thermometer. If you end up with soft fudge that turns into a puddle in your hands or hard fudge that is a bit reminiscent of a crunchy candy, improper temperature is likely to blame. ...
  • Avoid Stirring Once the Mixture Comes to a Simmer. ...
  • Beat Thoroughly.
Mar 8, 2023

Why is my Hershey's fudge not setting? ›

If your fudge fails to harden in the fridge, it means that you probably didn't cook it to the right temperature. Fudge is a candy, and that means it is extremely picky about temperature - fudge must be cooked to precisely 237–239 degrees Fahrenheit so that sugar forms the desired consistency when cooled.

Does chocolate fudge harden? ›

However, homemade fudge doesn't always set up into a semi-firm, melt-in-your-mouth confection. If your fudge doesn't firm up after a few hours, you either have too high an amount of liquid to sugar, or your mixture hasn't reached the soft-ball stage. Using a candy thermometer can help home cooks avoid this problem.

Should you beat fudge? ›

Fudge, like tablet, is beaten as it cools to help it thicken. Behan suggests allowing it to cool a little before doing this, but I can't see that it makes much difference, apart from making it dangerously tempting to sample (still not a good idea, however tough you think your tongue is).

What not to do when making fudge? ›

7 Common Mistakes to Avoid for Candy Shop-Worthy Fudge and Caramels
  1. Using the Wrong Pan. All candy and confections start by melting sugar. ...
  2. Stirring the Sugar. ...
  3. Not Using a Candy Thermometer. ...
  4. Leaving Out the Parchment Paper Lining. ...
  5. Skipping the Cooking Spray. ...
  6. Scraping the Pot. ...
  7. Using a Cold Knife to Slice.
Dec 16, 2015

What is the secret to smooth fudge that is not gritty? ›

Once a seed crystal forms, it grows bigger and bigger as the fudge cools. A lot of big crystals in fudge makes it grainy. By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals.

Can you redo fudge that didn't set? ›

OPTION 4) If you think the reason it didn't set was because you didn't heat it to the right temperature, you could try putting it back into the pan and re-cooking.

Can you reboil fudge that hasn't set? ›

Don't panic if your fudge is grainy, nothing is lost it just requires some more work. Pop the grainy fudge back into the pan along with some water and a little cream and melt the fudge back down to a liquid and re-boil it to temperature.

Can you save fudge that didn't set? ›

I generally heat my syrup up to 235° F and let carry-over do the rest of the work. If it's overcooked (resulting in grainy fudge) or undercooked (resulting in poor setting) all you really need to do is add a bit of cream, reheat the fudge to the target temperature, and let it set again.

What makes high quality fudge? ›

You have to control two temperatures to make successful fudge: the cooking temperature AND the temperature at which the mixture cools before stirring to make it crystallize. Confectionery experiments have shown that the ideal cooking temperature for fudge is around 114 to 115 °C (237 to 239 °F).

Why is my old fashioned fudge not hardening? ›

If your fudge turned out super sticky, or it didn't set as it cooled, it probably never got hot enough. This mistake is super easy to avoid if you use a candy thermometer and cook the fudge to the temperature specified in the recipe (usually between 234 and 239°F).

What is the softball test when making fudge? ›

making of fudge

termed in kitchen parlance the soft ball stage, that point between 234 and 240 °F (112 and 115 °C) at which a small ball of the candy dropped in ice water neither disintegrates nor flattens when picked up with the fingers.

Should I stir fudge while boiling? ›

Stir the ingredients to dissolve the sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. If your recipe uses milk, stirring will keep the mixture from curdling. But once it reaches about 236–238 degrees F/113–114 degrees C (the "soft-ball" stage), do not stir it or even shake the pan.

Why beat fudge with wooden spoon? ›

In his book On Food and Cooking, food scientist Harold McGee writes, “A metal spoon can induce crystallization by conducting heat away from local areas of the syrup, cooling them and so leaving them supersaturated [causing crystallization].” He recommends using a wooden spoon, which doesn't conduct heat.

Can you stir fudge too much? ›

Never stir the mixture during cooking or sugar could crystallize again. The mixture may seize and become grainy. Use a candy thermometer or conduct a cold water test to check if the fudge is done.

Should you stir fudge constantly? ›

It is important to stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to thicken and its surface starts to look dull or matte. Now is the time to stop beating and pour the fudge into a mould. Another tip: Do not scrape the sides of the pan or the spoon used for stirring.

What gives fudge its firm texture? ›

The key to creamy, luscious fudge is controlling crystal formation. If the sucrose (table sugar) crystals are small, the fudge will feel creamy and smooth on your tongue. But if the crystals are large, the fudge develops a crumbly, dry, or even coarse texture.

What does cream of tartar do in fudge? ›

Cream of tartar is used in caramel sauces and fudge to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing while cooking. It also prevents cooling sugars from forming brittle crystals, this is why it's the secret ingredient in snickerdoodles!

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