Mamie Eisenhower’s Chocolate Fudge Recipe: How To Make The Former First Lady’s Favorite Fudge

Fudge is an excellent dessert to whip up during the holiday season, and considering this was reportedly one of former first lady Mamie Eisenhower’s go-to recipes — it’s practically as classic as apple pie.

In other words: You’ll probably want to make room for this one on your holiday dessert tables.

According to The Daily Beast, Mamie Eisenhower first found this recipe in a periodical, and it quickly became a family favorite. So much so that when the first lady and wife of President Dwight D. Eisenhower was asked to share a recipe to be printed in newspapers across the country, this is the one she shared.

The recipe became so synonymous with her name that it’s now known as Mamie’s Million Dollar Fudge and can be found in the Eisenhower Archives.

It’s really not surprising that this recipe from the 1950s is still popular today because it only requires a few ingredients and can be made in just a couple of simple steps.

Here is the full recipe, as printed in the Eisenhower Archives:

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tall can evaporated milk
• 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate bits
• 12 ounces German-sweet chocolate
• 1 pint marshmallow cream
• 2 cups nutmeats (aka chopped nuts of your choice; you could even try coconut)

Steps

Boil the sugar, salt, butter, evaporated milk together for six minutes.

Put chocolate bits and German chocolate, marshmallow cream and nutmeats in a bowl. Pour the boiling syrup over the ingredients. Beat until chocolate is all melted, then pour in pan. Let stand a few hours before cutting.

Remember it is better the second day. Store in tin box.

What’s great about this recipe is there’s room for improvisation, too. For instance, you can choose the type of nut you add (or choose to skip the nuts altogether), or even make multiple batches so you can have a peanut version, a walnut version or a pecan version to suit your tastes.

Also feel free to add a little mint or vanilla flavoring. Or what about a dash of cinnamon? Using the classic recipe all on its own or finding ways to customize it to your tastes will be the start of a great family tradition, just as it likely was for the Eisenhowers.

The former first lady was not necessarily known for her cooking skills, but according to History.com, she was known to be quite the hostess at the White House, due to all of her years of practice entertaining during military and political events alongside her husband.

And with a dessert recipe like this — it’s no wonder she was remembered for being an excellent hostess. Your guests always remember what they had for dessert, after all!

According to the Eisenhower Archives, this fudge recipe is just one of President Eisenhower’s favorites. He also loved his wife’s deep dish apple pie and her sugar cookies. You can access those recipes online as well if you’re interested in cooking like an Eisenhower!

His wife wasn’t the only one whose recipes became famous in the United States. The President also had his recipe for vegetable soup (which actually is more like bone broth with vegetables!) printed in newspapers across the nation. You can find it on the Eisenhower Archives database, as well.

What do you think? Will you try some of these Eisenhower classics this holiday season?