Plus, we interview Eisenhower historian
Carol Hegeman for details about this historical recipe
When Pam asked me to try making the first-ever recipe featured on the blog — Mamie Eisenhower’s Million Dollar Fudge — I suspected it had something to do with her not wanting six pounds of fudge hanging around her house. But I like baking and I love chocolate — so I agreed. We know Mamie Eisenhower as the woman who launched five million pink bathrooms. As First Lady, Mamie was a well known penny pincher and coupon clipper — one of the qualities that endeared her to American women. She was massively popular in post-World War II America, so when her fudge recipe was published in print publications, it was an immediate hit. Hey — I can do this, right? Right?
Pam, a Mamie groupie, found the recipe on Wikipedia — it is a PDF provided from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library — this is an historical document!
I should have suspected from the start that I was a bit in over my head. When I read the recipe, it left me with many questions.
Mamie’s Million Dollar Fudge
4 1/2 cups sugarpinch of salt2 tablespoons butter1 tall can evaporated milk12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate bits12 ounces German-sweet chocolate1 pint marshmallow cream2 cups nutmeatsBoil the sugar, salt, butter, evaporated milk together for six minutes.Put chocolate bits and German chocolate, marshmallow cream and nutmeats in a bowl. Pour the boiling syrup over the ingredients. Beat until chocolate is all melted, then pour in pan. Let stand a few hours before cutting.Remember it is better the second day. Store in tin box.
What are “nutmeats”? Unfortunately, my assistant wasn’t much help in this department. Pam confirmed my suspicion that nutmeats are indeed just nuts without shells. And, a quick internet search revealed that a tall can of evaporated milk would be 16 oz (2 cups). Armed with this information, I went to the grocery store to track down the ingredients.
One might ask, “How much does Million Dollar Fudge cost?” Here is a breakdown of my expenses:
2 cans of evaporated milk — $1.78
12 oz of semisweet chocolate — $3.19
12 oz of German sweet chocolate — $9.87
2 Jars of Marshmallow fluff — $2.98
4 lb bag of sugar — $2.69
bag of walnuts (least expensive nut at the store) — $6.57
(I already had butter and salt)
Total: $27.08
That isn’t a million dollars, but it felt kinda pricey for a pan of fudge. You could save money buy buying the ingredients over time, when they are on sale. I’ve also seen others on the internet who have substituted Hershey’s chocolate for the German sweet chocolate and left out the nuts for a less expensive and equally tasty version, so if you don’t want to drop nearly $30 on fudge, that would be another way to keep the cost down. However, our quest was for absolute historical accuracy, so I wanted to follow the recipe to a T.
With my ingredients purchased, I set out to see if this fudge really tasted like a million dollars.
I started with a pot — which I have since decided is not large enough. Once the mixture gets to a boil, it doubles in size. I spent the entire time it was boiling trying to prevent a boil over! If I were to make this fudge again, I would use a MUCH bigger pan.
Now comes the sugar. Four and a half cups of it! Just over half of a four pound bag. That’s a lot of sugar.
Next add the evaporated milk. I needed just over one can (apparently these are medium height cans) to get the “tall” can of milk the recipe called for. My husband nearly gave me a heart attack because he asked me why pumpkin pie filling was in fudge. I think whoever designed the label on this particular can of evaporated milk could have done a better job with the picture choice.
Once you add the evaporated milk, butter and pinch of salt, don’t turn on the stove quite yet. You need to prep the rest of the ingredients so that everything is all ready to go when you have a boiling vat of sugar slurry on your hands.
Get a large bowl (I used my mixer) and add the semisweet chocolate…
The German sweet chocolate (which you will have to break up)…
Both jars of marshmallow Fluff. Why am I making this face? I have never used Marshmallow fluff before and quite frankly, it grosses me out. Plus it is super messy and sticky. The whole time I was scooping it out of the jars, I was wondering who actually eats fluffernutter sandwiches — and if they eat them for dessert or for a meal.
Add the nutmeats! I’m going to use that term as often as I can from now on. Nutmeats nutmeats nutmeats!
Then it is back over to the stove to start the boiling process. As you can see I’m trying to prevent a boil over in this photo. Save yourself the hassle and use a bigger pan folks!
After six minutes of boiling, it is time to pour your syrup over your bowl full of goodies — carefully of course — that syrup slurry is hot.
Then stir until all the chocolate is melted — I used the lowest speed on my mixer.
After everything seemed to be well mixed, I checked for chocolate lumps — it was all ready to go — the only lumps were nutmeats. Nutmeats nutmeats nutmeats!
Then I poured the mixture into a 9×13 pan. I realized a few things after I completed this step. 1) I should have used two pans because this was some thick fudge, and 2) I probably should have sprayed the pan before I poured the mixture in. Uh oh.
Then all you can do is wait. At least four or five hours and maybe longer to let your fudge set up.
I kept telling myself, “Remember, it is better the second day.”
But then the second day came and it was still the consistency of thick frosting once you broke through the top crust.
I later put it in the freezer to see if that would help, but it didn’t.
I think one of two things might have gone wrong. Either I didn’t boil the mixture long enough (because of the boil over problems I was having — USE A BIG POT! — or because the fudge was so thick it was not setting up very fast at all — USE TWO PANS!
I will say that even in its frosting form, this is some tasty fudge…err…fudge frosting. My husband and I tried to cut a piece out after seven hours to try it and ended up using a spoon, but we both agreed that the taste was delicious.
I’m not quite sure how long it will take to set up — if it ever does — or how many months it will take us to eat six pounds of this stuff, but it is good!
The morning after I made the fudge, Pam was eager to hear how the it had turned out. She knew that it had been slow to set. We had a little chat on Google instant messenger:
Pam: Hows the fudge? haha
me: ummm still runny. I hope I didn’t mess it up! It is the consistency of thick frosting! Tasty though…
Pam: hmmmm. Maybe that becomes part of the story. Put it in the fridge?
me: I think one of two things happened, either I didn’t boil it long enough (it kept nearly boiling over) or it is too thick and taking a long time to set up. I put it in the freezer.
Pam: Did you turn the heat down once it was boiling? I think a low boil would be the preferred, not a boily boil.
me: It was a low boil — anything more than that would have exploded! The stuff doubled in size when it was boiling!!!I will advise readers to use a larger pan
Pam: Did you use a real heavy pan? Nothing lightweight
me: I used a Revereware pot
Pam: yes, I would say that’s too light. I am thinking cast iron or dutch oven, something that holds the heat. but what do I know.I might have to do this now. Although i do NOT need a bunch of fudge at my house!
Maybe we ask readers to send us their photos and tips for getting it right…
me: Yes, I do not need a bunch of fudge either! This is the story of how to make million dollar fudge: or how I gained 10 lbs working for Pam!
Pam: yes haha I will fatten you right up between the fudge and the blogger’s butt syndrome.
me: hahahaha
History of Mamie Eisenhower and her million dollar fudge
Interested to learn more about Mamie’s Fudge, I contacted Carol Hegeman, Supervisory Historian at the Eisenhower National Historic Site to ask how Mamie came up with the recipe for her famous Million Dollar Fudge. You will recall, we interviewed Hegeman a while back about Mamie Eisenhower and why the pink bathrooms bonanza.
Surprisingly enough, Carol doubts that Mamie came up with the recipe herself, but verified that the recipe that Pam found was the real deal — which concerned us since Mamie’s recipe has been adapted many times. To bring home her point that Mamie didn’t author the Million Dollar Fudge recipe, Carol sent a few sample pages from a book called Ike the Cook: Dwight D. Eisenhower : General, President and Cook (affiliate link) by Edward and Candace Russoli, which surprisingly made me feel a little better about my fudgetastrophy. Apparently Mamie wasn’t the best cook — it was Ike who ran the kitchen:
Luckily Ike had been cooking for years and was quite handy in the kitchen, because Mamie knew nothing of the culinary arts. She had grown up with a family cook, so the only reason to wander into the kitchen was to ask for a cookie. She did make one effort to learn something when she joined a cooking class at the Y. However, she only stayed long enough to learn how to make mayonnaise. “I was a cooking-school dropout,” she laughed. But Mamie was Ike’s biggest supporter, and with her ringside encouragement he perfected his pot roast, successfully seared his steaks and flipped his flapjacks with finesse.
Mamie’s culinary claim to fame really was her fudge. It was such a family favorite that Ike christened it “Mamie’s Million Dollar Fudge.” Even though she could only actually make the candy and mayonnaise, Mamie kept a recipe file of a dozen or so Eisenhower family specialties which she was always happy to share with anyone who asked. Some of her file cards included recipes for Devil’s Food Cake, with Seven Minute Frosting, Frosted Mint Delight, Deep Dish Apple Pie, Tomato Pudding, Fluffy Turnips, Sugar Cookies, Danish Tomatoes, Baked Seafood Casserole, Baked Caramel Custard and General Eisenhower’s Quail Hash.
Oh oh. Pam just google messaged me wanting to talk about Devil’s Food Cake, Frosted Mint Delight, Fluffy Turnips… and Quail Hash. Holey nutmeats, what have I gotten myself into this time?
lynda says
Very cute post, Kate. Just by looking at the color of the fudge, I think the
ingredients are off. A tall can would be just a standard 12 oz can of evaporated milk. I also read that 2- 7oz jars of marshmallow fluff is what you need. Boiling might have been an issue, but I think the ingredients were the biggest problem. You can certainly buy ingredients at the big box stores like Costco if you are making a lot for gifts. Believe it or not, you can make your own “fluff” with egg whites and boiled sugar and water syrup. You can look up recipes if you are so inclined. Also, marshmallow fluff or cream makes excellent almost butter cream icings. Look those up too. They have nice stability and a smooth taste.
http://www.bakeitmakeitwithbeth.com/2012/07/ice-cream-cone-cupcakes-with-chocolate.html I think there is a lemon one on Country living that is good too. I have made the true buttercream icings by beating egg whites, pouring in hot syrup and beating forever and then adding the cold butter. The marshmallow version is much easier!
I think your adventure in the kitchen was super endearing and we can all relate to recipes that don’t seem to work out!
Marta says
Yes, me again! Sorry! But after visiting the Fluff site, I’m going to reverse myself. It looks to me like Mamie’s recipe is pretty much a double recipe of the basic Fluff fudge recipe. So, disregard my previous comment questioning how they were measuring the Fluff.
So, the fudge not setting is most likely because it wasn’t boiled long or hot enough. Cutting the recipe in half would make it a lot easier to manage, too. Incidently, that Fluff site is really interesting.
Kate says
ohhh…I’m guessing it must be the boiling/pan situation then…drat!
Jan says
Kate, another suggestion is a candy thermometer. I’ve used one of those for eons when the recipe tells me to do something like “cook to soft ball stage,” etc. It really helps me know if I’m cooking it long enough.
Marta says
Ooops! Meant to add that while the extra 4oz of milk could cause a problem, it’s probably the least likely explanation due to way liquids evaporate when boiled.
Also, didn’t those tall evap cans use to contain 16oz? You know, the same way a half gallon of ice cream used to contain a half gallon? That’s a real difficulty with vintage recipes; things change over time.
John says
Hi, if you look on the jar of fluff there is a recipe for fudge. I’ve made it and it sets up fine and taste delicious.
John
Jan says
That’s the one I usually make – mainly because it’s the one my mom has made since I was little in the 1950s, so that’s the way I learned. And I’m with John – comes out great every time for us!
Chris Faye says
Never had a problem with my grandmothers recipe either. No fluff here, just marshmallow cream.
Marta says
Look on the bright side; now you know why the term “oh, fudge!” is a curse. Your pictures were wonderful, and I LOVE THE APRON!!!! Also, as a Border Collie mom, love the dog too.
You, Pam, and April are correct in your analyses. While your Revereware pan is good for many things, it lacks the requisite heavy (thick) bottom you really need for anything dealing with sugar, and it was way too small for the task. A thick bottom is particularly important when using a coil-type electric stove, as the heat will not distribute evenly on a thin pan, making it difficult not to scorch anything. If anyone is looking for an easy-care thick-bottom pan on the cheap, I highly recommend vintage stainless steel Farberware with aluminum-clad bottoms. It pops up at Goodwill all the time, usually for a few dollars. You know it’s vintage if it says Made in USA on the bottom.
As to the Fluff–insert shudder–I believe the pint was intended as a volume measure, not a weight measure. The expression on your face in that picture perfectly sums up my feelings about Fluff, lol. A pint (16oz) volume measure would be 2 cups. There are about 2.5 cups in a 7.5oz jar of Fluff. Since Fluff is basically a whole lot of corn syrup, too much could definitely make your fudge oozy.
Given all measurements were correct, the main reasons fudge fails to set is cooking at too low a temp or too short a time, or some combination thereof. Cudos to you, Kate, for making your first fudge attempt public. Think of all the people who will now face the Christmas fudge season unflinchingly.
Janet in CT says
Kate, love your doggie too! Great job on the article!
Kate says
Hmmm maybe that’s why my NoBake cookies never get all the way set either…not a heavy enough pan! Thanks Marta!
Also, this wouldn’t be the first time a volume/weight measurement got me…when I was a teenager I wanted to make a big batch of rice crispy treats for christmas gifts and I bought the boxes by weight instead of volume and bought about 12 too many. Then I had to eat rice crispy cereal for about a year after that….
Jan says
Hmmm…I cook everything in my Revere Ware with no problem, including fudge recipes (unless I’m frying something – then out comes the cast iron). They’re the only pans I have! I wonder if it’s because my stove is gas?
Marta says
Jan, having a gas range is definitely part of it, especially if you have a model that has the ‘simmer’ burner (a burner with a lower heat range). Coil electric stoves are very difficult to adjust heat on because of the significant time lag. When you turn down a gas burner, the heat drops immediately, you don’t have to wait for it to dissipate.
Louise says
I have a similar recipe, but it’s for vanilla fudge (with white chips and vanilla and 2/4 of a stick of butter.) I only use a half cup of evaporated milk and instead of the fluff I use 12 oz of mini marshmallows and melt them with the sugar. And I do boil it at a boily-boil, not a simmery boil. I use a thick cast aluminum pan. Mine comes out perfect every time. I agree with Karen. Your texture issue was due to too much milk. Glad you and hubby enjoyed it though!
Chris says
Kate — did you eat it anyway????? In between graham crackers — on bread with peanut butter — or with a spoon!!!!!
Oooooo — dunk apples in it.
Or tortilla chips.
I’m PMS-ing.
Kate says
On tortilla chips???? hahahaha!
Yes, my husband and I are slowly eating it. I scooped it into containers and put it in the freezer. I’ve been eating it plain, but it probably would be good on graham crackers!
Diane says
Yes on corn chips!!!!! I used left over dipping chocolate one year on corn chips. AMAZING!!!!
pam kueber says
hehehe
Karen says
The “tall” can of milk is 12 ounces, not 16. It’s not setting because you’ve got too much liquid in it.
Kate says
Oh no! I got bad information on a “tall can” then? I think I saw it on Cooks.com….
Karen says
Yup, bad info. There’s a short squatty can and a ‘normal’ tall can. The normal can is 12 oz.
Elaine says
SOME tall cans ARE 16 ounces. It just means if there are two sizes, get the bigger one. How about tomatoes? Tall can is like 19 ounces.
Nancy E says
I agree. Having grown up in that era, I can say that the tall can is the one that isn’t the squatty one! Go the blog “No Pattern Required” and ask for advice. Retro Ruth is the midcentury recipe maven.
Jan says
I agree, too. Under normal circumstances, there is a “squatty” and a “tall,” and the tall is the 12 oz. Sixteen ounce cans are not found often, but do exist.
Lynn says
It looks to me like one jar or even less of Fluff (good stuff!) would have been enough to equal a pint. We used to actually crack the nuts ourselves (cheaper).
April says
I think the problem might be the marshmallows. The fluff is a really light consistency thats used more for topping where the cream is a really thick heavy consistency that I’ve seen used in other fudge recipes.