First Lady Mamie Eisenhower is best known to me as the woman who introduced pink into American households. She popularized this feminine color, ushering in a new era of pink bathrooms, powder rooms, boudoirs, and clothes. Despite her femininity, she wasn’t really fond of cooking. In a 1955 newspaper article, the author remembers how she explicitly referred to her husband Dwight as the family cook and that when they first married, she could only prepare mayonnaise and fudge.
Today we’re creating her fudge recipe, which was originally featured in a Women’s Press Corp cookbook called Who Says We Can’t Cook! From then, it was published in newspapers across the country.Because it was extensively published, many home chefs have kept this fudge in their recipe cards for centuries, and I believe it is about time it make a comeback.
I’ll start this recipe by saying three things. The first is that Mamie’s recipe was reprinted in newspapers across the country, with minor changes. As a result, what I started with was essentially a duplicate of another copy. I’m not mad about it because the original had less butter, and I prefer my fudge to be richer rather than sweeter.On the subject of sweetness, the second thing I did was lessen the sugar in this fudge to make it more flavorful and less sweet overall.
And it works exceptionally well! The original recipe called for a whopping 4.5 pounds of granulated sugar. If you like your fudge excessively sweet, continue with the original, but I believe the reduced sugar version is better suitable for current palates.
The flavor ranges between dark and light chocolate, making it suitable for every occasion!Finally, keep in mind that this recipe yields an enormous amount of fudge. The recipe should be termed “fudge for a crowd” because it yields a large lot. If you don’t need to feed a large group, consider reducing the recipe and using an 8″x8″ pan instead of the larger one specified in the guidelines.
I believe this is the best fudge I’ve ever made, and possibly the best I’ve ever tried.
This sweet treat has been referred to as Mamie Eisenhower’s secret weapon for catching her husband, and I can see why. It’s actually that good.
