Candy Cane Fudge

As kids, we could count on various items in our Christmas stockings:

• An apple
• An orange
• A handful of mixed nuts
• A small present or two, usually underwear or socks
• A pack of gum (Big Red for me)
• A ginormous Bob’s peppermint stick

It was easy to consume or use most of those things, but the big question every year was what the heck do you do with that peppermint stick?

You couldn’t eat the monster piece of candy in one sitting, and you couldn’t store it after licking on it, because it got really sticky and gooey. If you hid it in your Christmas stocking in your room for later, the dogs would find it and eat through the cloth to get to the candy. Then you lost both your candy and your Christmas stocking. (Santa didn’t like that at all.) Finally, Mom hit on the perfect solution: Crack it into pieces and put them into a candy dish for everyone to enjoy.

In memory of those giant peppermint sticks, I added some crushed candy canes to a batch of chocolate fudge to make Candy Cane Fudge. (You can either crush your own candy canes or you can buy peppermint chips at the grocery store, usually on the same aisle as the chocolate chips.)

Merry Christmas!

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine (1 stick)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 package chocolate chips (12 oz. or so)
1 cup crushed candy canes
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme

Directions

1. Heat the sugar, butter, and milk over medium heat to a full, rolling boil in 3 qt. heavy sauce pan, stirring constantly.
2. Boil on medium heat until a candy thermometer reaches 234 degrees F, stirring constantly.
3. Take the pan off the heat and add the chips to the mix.
4. Stir in the marshmallow creme.
5. Stir in the crushed candy canes
6. Stir until the mixture thickens and starts to look dull, and pour it into the foil-lined or buttered cake pan. Let it cool for a couple of hours, then cut it into bite-sized squares.
7. Store the fudge in air-tight containers.