Today marks the last day of Honey Week on Lolly’s Sweet Treats. I’ve had a lot of fun finding different ways to cook and bake with honey from Honeyrun Farm and what better way to end it with a rich dessert.
With all the choices for honey desserts out there, I had trouble deciding what sweet treat I wanted to make. I was originally planning on making a honey cake, but my Aunt Khaki brilliantly suggested honey fudge. I researched recipes online and found this one from Better Homes and Garden.
The original recipe calls for macadamia nuts, but I substituted in pecans instead because that’s what I had on hand and because macadamia nuts are pretty pricey. I will also say that the fudge pictured above is from my second attempt. You see, the recipe only called for 2 tablespoons of honey, but I was concerned it wouldn’t give the fudge enough honey flavor so I added more honey and decreased the sugar. The end result- was a soft, caramel-like blob. It tasted good, but it never set. Oh well- I guess you’ll never know if something works until you try!
On the second time around, I stuck to the recipe (with the exception of using pecans) and things worked just like I envisioned. The honey flavor still came through well and the saltiness of the pecans is a great pairing. Best of all, you only need a small nibble to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Thanks again to Jayne for the honey. It was delicious!
Honey Pecan Fudge
Yield: 24 pieces (or more or less depending on how you cut it)
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/3 cup half-and-half or light cream
- 1/3 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Line a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with foil, extending foil over edges of the pan. Butter the foil; set pan aside.
Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan, combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, half-and-half or light cream, milk, and honey. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils and sugars dissolve (about 8 minutes). Clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Reduce heat to medium-low; continue to boil at a steady rate, stirring frequently, until thermometer registers 234 degrees F, soft-ball stage (about 20 minutes).
Remove pan from heat. Add butter and vanilla, but do not stir. Cool, without stirring, to 110 degrees F (about an hour).
Remove thermometer from pan. Beat mixture vigorously with a clean wooden spoon until fudge just begins to thicken; stir in the 1/2 cup nuts. Continue beating until fudge just starts to lose its gloss (about 10 minutes total). Immediately spread fudge evenly in prepared pan. Score into 1-1/4-inch squares while warm.
When fudge is firm, use foil to lift it out of the pan. Cut fudge into squares. Store in an airtight container.
Source: Better Homes and Garden
This is really good. My son is still scraping the pan for last drops until this is ready to eat.
So glad you liked it, Amy. Thanks for commenting.
I saw this recipe too,Via pinterest(i have a fudge board!),I was a little disappointed in honey content too….great minds think alike! hmmmmm,still think we can up honey a little and maybe increase temp?. dont you hate when recipes don’t work out with all those expensive ingredients and time wasted? I found a site that has several good recipes,Gonna make the maple one….nom nom…fyi,made a maple cream that was a disaster other day,so pissed.
I have the same therm. you do but found it unreliable.
please send fudge….