First Lady Mamie Eisenhower is most famous to me as the woman who brought pink to American homes. She championed this feminine color and ushered in a new era of pink bathrooms, powder rooms, boudoirs, and clothing. But, for all her femininity she wasn’t much on cooking. In a newspaper article from 1955 the author recalls how she pointedly referred to her husband Dwight as the cook in the family and that she could only make 2 things when they first married: mayonnaise and fudge.

Today we’re making her fudge recipe, first published in a Women’s Press Corp cookbook entitled Who Says We Can’t Cook! From there it was printed in newspapers across the country.

Because it was published widely many home cooks had this fudge in their recipe cards for generations and it’s about time it made a comeback if you ask me.

I will preface this recipe by saying three things. The first is that Mamie’s recipe was reprinted in newspapers all around the country and sometimes changed. Therefore what I started with was sort of a copy of a copy. I’m not mad about it because the original didn’t have as much butter and I do love my fudge to be richer rather than sweeter.

On the subject of sweetness the second thing is that I have reduced the sugar in this fudge to make the flavor deeper and less sweet overall. And it works so well! The original called for a whopping four and half pounds of granulated sugar. If you like your fudge super sweet then stick to the original, but the reduced sugar version is more in keeping with modern palates I think.

The flavor comes through as something between dark and milk chocolate- perfect for all occasions!

The final caution I want to give you is that this recipe makes an absolute mountain of fudge. The recipe really should be called “fudge for a crowd” since it makes an enormous amount. If you don’t have an army to feed then you might consider halving the recipe and using an 8″x8″ pan instead of the larger one called for in the directions.

With all that being said (and with my kitchen now overflowing with fudge) I do think that this is not only the best fudge I’ve ever made, but perhaps the best I’ve ever tried…ever!

This sweet treat has been called Mamie Eisenhower’s secret weapon to catch her husband and I can see why people might say that. It really is that good.