Hershey’s Cocoa Fudge
A vintate clipped newspaper recipe for Hershey's Cocoa Fudge, this classic fudge is made with cocoa, sugar, salt, milk, butter or margarine, and vanilla.
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Ingredients
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 3 cups sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Method
- Thoroughly combine cocoa, sugar, and salt in a heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk.
- Bring to a bubbly boil on medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Boil without stirring to 234 degrees or the soft ball stage. Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on the bottom of the saucepan.
- Remove from heat; add butter or margarine and vanilla. DO NOT STIR.
- Cool, at room temperature, to 110 degrees; beat until fudge thickens and loses some of its gloss.
- Quickly spread in a lightly buttered 8- or 9- inch square pan; cool.
- Note: For Marshmallow-Nut variation, increase cocoa to 3/4 cup and cook fudge as fudge. Add 1 cup marshmallow creme with butter or margarine and vanilla. DO NOT STIR, cool to 110 degrees, and beat 10 minutes. Stir in 1 cup broken nuts and pour into pan. (Fudge does not set until it is poured into the pan.)
- Make 3 dozen squares
Kitchen Helper 2
8 inch square pan 1
Candy Thermometer
9 inch square pan
31 Responses
I’am now lactose intolerant, my mom made this when I was growing up. Can I substitute other milks, almond, coconut etc. will it work?
Lactose. Free milk works just fine. It’s the same consistency of milk just without the lactose. I use lactose free whole milk for the fudge.
This is the recipe that my mother always made ever since I was a little girl brings back such beautiful memories
Love love this recipe.My mother made this a so do I Thank you Thank you
MY son who is 50 still loves this recipe ! Great reminder of his Gram cooking it !
When I get to the part where I’m not supposed to stir it sticks and burns to the bottom of the pan
The pan needs to be a thick aluminum or stainless steel pan with an alloy bottom. I haven’t had it symtick in 50 years of making it. But I have had plenty of instances when it would not harden up or get too flaky. Soft ball isn’t an exact science.
It should be at a vigorous, rolling boil at medium heat before you stop stirring.
Try an older style pressure cooker. They are much heavier with thicker bottom
Old pressure cooker pans are what I use to make all my candy. It’s heavy and cleans up easily if you fill the pot with hot water right after you pour your candy out.
This is The One and only Original Great American Fudge. There are thousands of recipes since this time, but this is the one I always return to. Made by my grandmother and my mother for many years. I prefer the no marshmallow version. Still The Best after all these years!
Thank you for this gem!
I substitute creamy peanut butter for the butter . This is great if you like chocolate and peanut butter.
Thank you @ Dee! I was wondering how to successfully get the peanut butter in there, too!
This is exactly how my mother made it. It cuts down on the sweetness. People always tell me they love it and what is the secret ingredient.
If I just add nuts only does the cocoa stay at 2/3 a cup or is it 3/4 ths a cup.
No need to increase if you’re just adding nuts.
I have made this fudge since I was a little girl and my Dad taught me how to make it. AND then somebody stole my Club Aluminum Dutch oven. That’s the only pan I have found where it will cook perfect with no sticking, setting up or mess. Not that I miss the beating but all the other pans I have cook it too fast. I’m still looking.
My favorite.
I can still see my Mother sitting at the table beating it with a spoon till it lost its shine,
She then buttered a meat platter and then spread the candy on it.
It was always so good
Can monkfruit powder replace the sugar for diabetics?
I’ve thought about trying it. If you do please let us know if it works!
Stevia is so .much stronger than sugar. Use less for sure.
Need refrigeration?
Do you hand beat it? With a wooden spoon? Electric beaters? I’m stuck on that part…
I hand beat this, because it cools and draws the air in at the correct timing. It’s work, but worth it–more than worth it!
Is this regular milk or Evaporated milk in the can
It’s regular milk.
Do you happen to know the recipe for old fashioned spoon dropped fudge? My mother use to make it and drop it by spoonfuls onto waxed paper. When it hardened she just popped it off the paper. I’ve tried and tried to make it her way but it never hardens and ends up being a sticky, gooey mess. But still tasty. If you could help me I would be so grateful. Thank you, Sandy
My Dad made this every Christmas, doing the ‘soft ball’ test in cold water. I decided to make it this year with 2 new candy thermometers. It reached 234°. I put in the butter & vanilla and let it sit for a bit. It turned into a rock! I thought the thermometer would be so much better, exact! Now I don’t know what to do…..
When you stir this fudge it can harden in a blink of an eye. If this happens and it hardens, you can add a tiny bit of milk and reheat it until melted, and stir then pour into pan. It can be a tricky fudge. I would also say hopefully you only have to do this rarely! My grandmother made this for decades.
Not quite sure what I did wrong. I followed the recipe to the letter (so I thought). When it came to room temperature I started beating it. It was at about minute 3 when the gloss started to leave and then it very quickly became so thick I could hardly get it into the pan. I did use Dutch cocoa. Could that be the problem?
Ruth
I have made this candy for years and I remember my parents making it and beating it. I add the butter and creamy peanut butter. If it doesnt set up and still soft I put it back into the pan, even the next day or 2, and get the temp up to the 234 degrees, then let it cool. I use a meat thermometor when making this and it works just fine.
Should have added. Wish they would put it back on the cocoa box again.