Stay With Me: The Recipes, Part I

Today marks four months until the release of Stay With Me. Last month, I wrote about the music that inspired the book, and in April, I blogged about the settings. This month and next, I’ll highlight several of the recipes for the delicious treats mentioned in the book.


Fudge-Full Peanut Butter Bars

Early in the story, Rebecca bakes a batch of these Fudge-Full Peanut Butter Bars for Chris. The recipe is one my husband asked me to recreate – a favorite from his childhood. I got the recipe from his mother more than a decade ago only to find that it included an ingredient – Pillsbury Coconut Pecan Frosting Mix – that is no longer produced. It was several years until I found a substitute recipe for the frosting mix on the Internet. As everyone in my family will attest, these chewy, gooey, delicious bars are well worth the trouble to recreate them! Continue reading

Rebecca’s Fantasy Fudge

Rebecca's Fantasy Fudge3  sticks butter, softened (1-1/2 cups)

6  cups granulated sugar

2  5-oz. cans evaporated milk (1-1/2 cups)

1/2  teaspoon cream of tartar

2  12-oz. packages Hershey’s milk chocolate chips

1  13-oz. jar marshmallow creme

2  teaspoons vanilla

2  cups chopped walnuts, optional

Grease two 9×13-inch pans. Mix butter, sugar, milk, and cream of tartar in large, heavy saucepan. Bring to full, rolling boil over medium heat. Stir constantly. Boil 5 minutes or until temperature reaches 234 degrees F (soft ball stage). Remove from heat. Stir in chips. Add marshmallow creme. When mixture reaches a dull gloss, stir in vanilla. (Mixture will be heavy.) Pour into pans. Cool. Yield: Approximately 6 pounds of fudge.


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Stay With Me: Rebecca’s Fantasy Fudge

Rebecca Rhodes, the heroine in Stay With Me, loves to bake. If a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, Chris Reynolds doesn’t stand a chance. Rebecca tells Chris, “I want a little store where I sell homemade baked goods. Not elaborate cakes. . . like the ones you see on the Food Network. Just ordinary but delicious cookies. By the dozen. That’s what I would do.”

Rebecca’s recipe is identical to my mother’s doctored recipe for Kraft’s original Fantasy Fudge. My mother, an accomplished baker of “ordinary” treats, like Rebecca, is well-known for her delicious fudge, among other sweets. Below the recipe are some of my mom’s tips for success!

Rebecca’s Fantasy Fudge

3  sticks butter, softened (1-1/2 c.)

Rebecca's Fantasy Fudge Ingredients

Here’s all you’ll need to make this easy, delicious fudge.

6  c. granulated sugar

2  5-oz. cans evaporated milk (1-1/2 c.)

1/2  tsp. cream of tartar

2  12-oz. packages Hershey’s milk chocolate chips

1  13-oz. jar marshmallow crème

2  tsp. vanilla

2  c. chopped walnuts, optional

Grease two 9×13 pans. Mix butter, sugar, milk, and cream of tartar in large, heavy saucepan. Bring to full, rolling boil over medium heat. Stir constantly. Boil 5 minutes or until temperature reaches 234 degrees F. (soft ball stage) Remove from heat. Stir in chips. Add marshmallow crème. When mixture reaches a dull gloss, stir in vanilla. (Mixture will be heavy.) Pour into pans. Cool. Yield: Approximately 6 pounds of fudge.

Rebecca's Fantasy Fudge

The finished product. Delicious!

Marcy’s Tips for Success

  • When it says “stir constantly,” stir constantly. Lay your ingredients out ahead of time so you don’t have to step away from the stove and risk scorching.
  • For ease in pouring and clean-up, grease saucepan.
  • To ease scoring and lifting, line pans with heavy duty aluminum foil. Lift cooled fudge onto cutting board for easy scoring.
  • Use a sturdy wooden spoon for stirring.
  • To test for soft ball stage without a candy thermometer, add a teaspoon of sugar mixture to a cup of cold water. When sugar mixture forms a soft ball when prodded with a fork, it’s ready.
  • To assist in cooling on warm or humid days, allow pans to cool beneath a ceiling fan.

My Tip for Success

  • Keep open bag of milk chocolate chips out of reach of toddlers.

For more recipes, visit Stay With Me, The Recipes PART IPART II, and PART III.