By Stephen Durfee

I’ve been feeling nostalgic over the past few weeks … 

I think it all started as I was packing away some cherished items, which led to discovering a favorite sweater that I hadn’t worn in years, and then thumbing through a box full of old photographs. Up in the attic, I found a stash of toys that really should be passed onto someone else. Living in Napa, we honestly don’t need a Flexible Flyer — but the memories it brings forth make it hard to part with.

Lately, I’ve been browsing through a collection of cookbooks that are tucked away in a milk crate in the linen closet. Over the years, I seem to have accumulated an unusual number of random cookbooks, generally gifts from well-meaning friends who earnestly passed on such titles as the Waring Blender Cookbook, or Treasured Recipes from Duncanville PTA, or Campbell’s — Cooking With Soup! That one I might actually have bought myself. Growing up in the early ’70s, one of the most popular dishes in our house, known as Campbell’s “Favorite Casserole,” was a simple concoction of canned tuna fish, rice, and Cheddar Cheese Soup … much to my wife’s and children’s amusement.

Many of the recipes in these manuals are geared toward the busy working life, and often contain convenience foods (like canned soup) that are meant to simplify and speed up the work, getting dinner on the table in short order. Featured ingredients include frozen spinach, Ritz crackers, corn flakes, ketchup, cheese in a jar, boxed frosting mix, Jell-O, or Dream Whip. When it comes to chocolate, Toll House chips are de rigeur, and I’m sure there is more than one dessert featuring canned chocolate syrup. And though we might roll our collective eyes at some of these dated concepts, I wouldn’t be surprised if each of us harbors a secret longing for some “favorite casserole” of our own (foreshadowing: Todd’s Chocolate Bundt Cake).

And so it was, after a weekend spent flipping through Baker’s Best Chocolate Recipes, that fickle kismet drew my colleague Parul to stop by the Confections kitchen on a rainy afternoon, where she innocently dropped a bombshell … “Did you know Mamie Eisenhower had a famous recipe for Million Dollar Fudge?” 

For those of you who missed my recent Marshmallows 101 post — “From Science to Circus Peanuts” — let me once again share a crucial nugget: Fudge, although often associated with chocolate, is not necessarily a chocolate confection. Rather, it should be defined as “crystallized caramel.” Fudge can be flavored with any number of additional ingredients — vanilla, nuts, maple, etc. It just so happens that the most popular addition is chocolate. 

Classic recipes combine milk, cream, butter, and sugar, which are rapidly simmered to a thickened syrup, constantly stirred. The boiling mixture bubbles and spurts, so be sure to grab a long-handled whisk. Once it reaches a specific temperature, the syrup is poured into a shallow pan to cool. Then, once it cools (also to a specific temperature), the mixture is quickly beaten until the syrup gently crystallizes, forming its delicate texture. The process is strictly regulated — it’s certainly as specific as tempering chocolate — and missteps can result in a sad, soft mess or a dull and grainy lump. In short, cooking fudge in this traditional fashion is not for the faint of heart.

Enter the First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower. Her celebrated and time-saving approach to fudge casts aside the tiresome whisking and the rigid attention to temperature. Gone are the scorched pots and the blistered forearms. Conventional dairy products are replaced with canned, evaporated milk — a time saver for sure. But the real surprise, the curious ingredient that provides the crucial texture and essentially solves for “X” is a baby boomer staple — marshmallow creme. If you grew up in New England and ever unpacked a fluffernutter sandwich from a Secret Agent Man lunch box, or know someone who did, you’ll truly understand why I adore this recipe. Because it’s no longer about simplicity or ease of use … it’s about nostalgia. 

When it comes to most cooking projects, I guess I’d consider myself a traditionalist. That said, since stumbling across Mrs. Eisenhower’s Million Dollar Fudge, I’ve been converted. The process could not be easier. Combine sugar with a can of evaporated milk, boil for seven minutes, then stir in chocolate and marshmallow creme. Walnuts are added for texture. It’s that simple. The results are delicious, and the texture is spot-on. Sure, I’ve replaced the asked-for chocolate chips with single-origin chocolate, but the spirit is preserved. If you’re craving a bite or two of fudge, or nostalgia, here’s the recipe.