Kay’s Fudge
There’s a sense of nostalgia that fall brings. Halloween movies, family recipes simmering on the stovetop, and crisp evenings echo a simpler time that invites us to turn inward. It’s a season built on memory, where comfort and tradition take center stage. To Die For: A Cookbook of Gravestone Recipes embodies this wistful spirit. With its ghostly edge and collection of comfort classics, it’s a cookbook made for autumn. For Edible San Diego’s fall Cookbook Club, we’re digging deeper with author Rosie Grant and highlighting three standout recipes ideal for the season ahead.
Kay’s Fudge stands out for its unconventional method. There is no candy thermometer or evaporated milk, just a recipe perfected over decades. While this is both impressive and slightly intimidating, Grant wanted to reflect the recipe exactly as the original author intended. This recipe will test bakers before rewarding them with a decadent result.
let’s cook together » Cookbook Club: Recipes that Inspire Remembrance from the Great Beyond
This recipe is from the book TO DIE FOR. Copyright © 2025 by Rosie Grant. Published on October 7, 2025 by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Reprinted by permission.
Rosie’s author photo and recipe photos are by Jill Petracek. Gravestones photography by Rosie Grant.
» Copies of To Die For are available for purchase directly from the publisher
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FROM THE PAGES
Cookbook Club originally published in issue 84.
Ingredients
MAKES 2–2 1⁄2 POUNDS
- 2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened Baker’s chocolate
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 cup 1% milk
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Chopped walnuts (optional)
- Special Equipment: Marble slab (or a parchment-lined 8 × 8-inch pan), candy thermometer
Make Kay's Fudge
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the chocolate squares and butter. Once melted, mix in the sugar, milk, and salt with a wooden spoon. Place the saucepan over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture is smooth.
- Cook the mixture until it reaches 240°, known as the soft-ball stage (see note). Once it reaches the soft-ball stage, remove the saucepan from the heat. Mix in the vanilla just before pouring the liquid fudge onto a marble slab (or a parchment-lined pan) and immediately begin stirring vigorously with a metal spatula. Continue to beat the fudge until it thickens, loses its gloss, and becomes more opaque. Keep mixing and scraping until it thickens enough to form into two logs that hold their shape, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Add in the walnuts, if desired.
- Wrap the two logs each in wax paper.
- Let the fudge cool completely at room temperature until firm, 1 to 2 hours. Once cooled and set, cut it into thick slices.
- Kay’s Peanut Butter Fudge: Drop 2 tablespoons or more of chunky peanut butter onto the liquid fudge after it’s on the slab. Mix it in with the metal spatula during the mixing stage.
- *NOTE: Kay herself didn’t use a candy thermometer to measure the soft-ball stage, but it is helpful. To determine its readiness, she held up the wooden spoon and could tell by the drip if it was ready to test. She then let a few drips fall into a small dish of cold water. If she could gather it into a ball shape, it was ready to pour.
MARTHA KATHRYN “KAY” KIRKHAM ANDREWS
Kay’s recipe is a testament to the gathering spaces she created for her community. Through her, a simple fudge recipe became a tradition, a reminder to serve others, and a symbol of the power of gathering around something sweet to share.
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