Katra wrote
> Timing cooking fudge or candy does not work. :-)
> Find a recipe that uses temps instead of times, then get a good candy
> thermometer.
>
> Mom taught me to cook fudge to the "soft ball" stage.
> Keep a glass of cold water next to the stove and when the fudge starts
> to boil, drop a single drop of the fudge mix into the cold water once
> per minute. You can tell when it is ready to set up when it reaches the
> "soft ball" stage.
>
> If it is not ready, it flattens out when it hits the water. When it is
> ready, it forms a ball.
>
> As soon as that happens, take the pan off of the stove and have another
> shallow pan of ice water ready. Carefully insert your hot pan into the
> container of ice water and continue beating the fudge until it cools and
> begins to set up, then QUICKLY frost the cake or whatever before it
> totally cools off.
>
> Hope this helps?

*************
Thank you for all the good feedback, Katra. Although I knew the
frosting was called a fudge frosting, I didn't think that it might
need to be prepared by the same rules as fudge itself. I have
never had much luck with real fudge, either, and have always had
to resort to making the no-brainer fudge from semisweet chocolate
chips and sweetened condensed milk. I told my wife I need to get
away from that because it is so much more expensive than making
it the old-fashioned way from cocoa. I remember my mother making
it years ago and her dropping drops of it into water and looking
for it not to dissolve. That always mystified me as a child and
I haven't come much further, it seems. Haha!

Again, thank you for your comments.

Michael