Penuche Recipe | Brown Sugar Fudge

A small plate of squares of brown sugar fudge piled up on it with a blue plaid napkin in the background.

Penuche Recipe | Brown Sugar Fudge

Penuche is brown sugar fudge. Whichever you call it, it is delicious.

This version contains toasted pecans and chopped dried tart cherries, and you are going to love it. Creamy vanilla fudge with mellow, crunchy pecans and chewy tart cherries. Perfect for gifting or for just eating at home alone all by yourself!

Course Candy Recipes

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Cooling Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings 1" squares of penuche

Calories 79kcal

Author Jennifer Field

Ingredients

400 grams dark brown sugar 14.25 oz or about 2 cups
275 grams granulated sugar 9.8 oz or about 1 1/4 cups
600 grams half and half (or a mix of 300g each heavy cream and whole milk) 21.4 oz or about 2 2/3 cups
10 grams kosher salt (I use Morton's) 1 1/2 teaspoons
70 grams unsalted butter 2.5 oz or 1/2 stick plus 1 Tablespoon
30 grams vanilla extract 1 oz or 2 Tablespoons
135 grams pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped 4.8 oz or a heaping cup, optional
170 grams dried tart cherries, coarsely chopped 6 oz or a heaping cup, optional
heavy pinch of finishing salt of your choice for sprinkling on top of the finished candy

Instructions

Spray an 8" or 9" baking pan with pan spray. Fit a strip of parchment into the pan so that it covers the entire bottom of the pan without any wrinkling or bunching up. The strip should extend over the edges of 2 sides of the pan. Set aside.
Measure, toast, and coarsely chop the pecans.
Measure and coarsely chop the dried cherries. Set both aside.
In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine dark brown sugar, sugar, half & half, salt, and butter. Stir well.
Bring to a boil over medium to medium-high heat, stirring frequently.
Once the candy comes to a full rolling boil, stop stirring, and turn the heat down to medium.
If you have a clip-on candy thermometer, clip it to the side of the pot. If using an instant-read, check the temperature near the center of the pan every 2-3 minutes. NOTE: Rinse your thermometer completely between each reading so you don't accidentally introduce sugar crystals too early.
Cook the penuche until the temperature reaches 242F/116C.
Remove from the heat, pour in the vanilla, but don't stir it in. NOTE: If you happen to have a flat-top stove, place the pot on a cooling rack to speed cooling.
Allow the candy to cool for 45 minutes to an hour, until the temperature is no higher than 130F/54C.
Begin stirring with a wooden spoon or a sturdy silicone spatula. Beat the candy vigorously to incorporate a bit of air. Every once in awhile, pick up a bunch of the candy high out of the pan and let it stream back in. Do this for two reasons. 1) It's fun, and 2) it helps to cool the candy down.
The candy will be fairly easy to stir at first.
After a few minutes, candy will begin to thicken and lose its sheen.
Beat for a few seconds more and add in your pecans and cherries. NOTE: To guard against the candy immediately getting too hard to work with once you pour in room-temperature mix-ins, zap them for a few seconds in the microwave.
Stir in the nuts and fruit as evenly as you can. At this point, your candy will be very thick and matte.
Scoop the warm fudge out into your prepared pan. Once the fudge has crystalized, nothing bad will happen if you scrape out the pan, so scrape as much of the penuche out as you can.
Spray an offset spatula with pan spray and use it to press the fudge into an even layer in the pan. This will take a little patience, but you can do it. Add more pan spray as necessary.
Evenly sprinkle just a bit of your favorite finishing salt over the top of your candy. Press it in lightly with your clean hand or with the spatula.
Cover the fudge with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour to harden up. You can also put it in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes.
Once nice and firm, use the edges of the parchment paper to ease the slab of candy out of the pan, and place it on a cutting board.
Score with a sharp knife into 8 sections each way. I start in the middle, then score into fourths and finally into 8ths. Then I do the same thing the other way.
Once scored, go back and complete cutting the pieces all the way through.
Store, tightly covered, at room temperature for a week to 10 days. If you live in a particularly humid area, you can store the fudge in the fridge. You can also freeze it for longer storage.

Notes

Ways to Make Softer Fudge

Cook to a lower temperature (236F/113C).
Use a little more butter and use all heavy cream in the recipe.

Ways to Make Firmer Fudge

Cook to a higher temperature (244 or 244F/117-118C).
Use a bit less butter and use all whole milk.
Guard against early crystallization by adding 2 Tablespoons corn syrup when you add the sugar, milk, salt, and butter.

Alternate Mix-Ins

Consider any of your favorite nuts or a mixture. Peanuts would be unexpected and really tasty. You could also use freeze-dried fruit rather than regular chewy dried fruit. Use freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries and peanuts for peanut butter and jelly penuche! If you prefer a straight-up creamy candy, you can also leave the penuche plain with no mix-ins at all.

Storing

Store in a tightly-sealed container at room temperature for a week to 10 days. Store in the fridge if you live in a really humid area.

You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Place it in a heavy-duty zip-top freezer bag and use a straw to suck out as much air as possible before sealing. Allow it to come to room temperature before taking it out of the freezer bag.

Nutrition