Auntie Dort is a sort of adopted Grandma who has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  As my grandparents friend she has always been around for all of lifes big events.  Since my grandparents have passed away she has continued to be the grandma in our lives.

Every year Auntie Dort makes her famous almond roca and peanut butter fudge which are both amazing.  We try and visit her around the holidays and she always has a plate of fresh peanut butter fudge waiting for us.  My older sister is convinced that the fudge is for her, but I know that regardless of who she is making it for I will eat it until my stomach hurts.

So this year I decided that I was going to try my hand at making her peanut butter fudge.  Come to find out that it is actually very easy.  All these years I had this idea about her fudge being only something she could make with all of her baking experience.  Now I know that I can make it and it tastes just as wonderful as hers.

It is always nice to learn new things in the kitchen especially when for years you thought you couldn’t do it.  My skills continue to expand and thanks to encouragement from my family and friends I slowly becoming a more confident cook.

Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups sugar

3 tablespoons White Corn Syrup

1 cup milk

1 cup chunky peanut butter

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cube butter

Mix together sugar, syrup and milk.  Cook over medium heat without stirring except once around the edge with a wooden spoon.  Cook to soft ball stage,235 degrees, and remove for the heat.  Add the peanut butter, vanilla and butter and cool to luke warm.  Beat until creamy and put in a pan to cool.  Cut and serve.

I am Jennifer, Kimberly’s older sister.  I am a stay at home mom in Seattle of two lovely little boys and enjoy baking and cooking as much as I can (which with 2 little ones isn’t as often as I would like to).  This is my first attempt at food photography and food blogging, but hey you have to try everything once.

The inspiration for this recipe came from my sister in law’s love of fudge. I thought for Christmas that I would make her a few types of fudge.  So I set out on my search for some good recipes.  In my search through tastespotting.com I came across Not So Humble Pie.  She had some amazing fudge recipes so I decided to try them.  My favorite was the Bailey’s Vanilla Bean Fudge.  The result was a creamy and smooth vanilla fudge with a hint of Bailey’s.  This has become a new holiday favorite of ours – our entire family loved it.  Enjoy!

Bailey’s Vanilla Bean Fudge

Courtesy of Not So Humble Pie

2 cups granulated sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup heavy cream (40% milk fat)
1/2 cup plus one tablespoon Baileys Irish cream
2 cups good quality white chocolate chips
1/2 vanilla bean scraped, reserving seeds
7 ounce jar marshmallow creme

Line a 9×9 inch pan with foil and coat with a little butter or nonstick spray.

Combine sugar, butter, heavy cream and Irish creme into a heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, attach a candy thermometer and reduce the heat to a hair above medium low and cook for 7-10 minutes until your thermometer reads 234°F , stirring constantly.

Once your mixture hits the appropriate temperature, remove from heat and add the white chocolate chips, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla bean and marshmallow creme and mix until well blended.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan and allow to cool on a wire rack until room temperature.