10 STEP FUDGE PROCESS

1. BATCHING

The first step in making Michigan's Best Fudge is to collect all the raw ingredients into perfectly portioned batches. Around 25 pounds of sugar, cocoa, cream, & other delicious ingredients are added. This is the foundation of Michigan's best fudge.

2. COOKING

Once we have our batch together, it's time to pour it all into our copper kettle. We use copper because it evenly distributes the heat to ensure we have a nice, even cook. Cooking temperatures vary based on humidity, outside temperatures, & other factors. We adjust cooking temperatures on a day-to-day basis to account for those variables.

3. POURING

Once the temperature reaches around 240°F, we are ready to pour or fudge. We pour the fudge on a thick marble slab with a stainless-steel frame surrounding it. At that high temperature the fudge is like water, so the bars help it stay in place until it thickens.

4. COOLING

At this point the fudge just needs to cool and slightly thicken. In only 10 minutes of the fudge cooling on the marble slab, the fudge will drop from 240°F to around 120°F. The marble in its natural state is a great cooling surface.

5. CREAMING

Creaming is the process of cooling the fudge & mixing it at the same time. After step 4 we take off the steel bars and flip the fudge with a tool that looks like a flat shovel. This process is extremely important to making good fudge as it helps mix the sugar crystals together making the fudge nice & creamy. We are looking for the fudge to stop moving so we can build it up into shape and this process also takes around 10 minutes to complete.

6. LOAFING

Once we have thick & creamy fudge, we can finally start to give the fudge its shape. We use our loafing tools which look like drywall spackling tools to flip the fudge on top of itself over & over. With each flip the fudge holds its shape more and more until it looks like a big chocolate loaf of bread.

7. SETTING

he fudge is now in proper loaf-like shape. It is around 100°F at this point. The marble just needs to help it cool it down the rest of the way. During this process we give out warm samples of our fudge...there's nothing better than warm fudge right off the slab!

8. CUTTING

The marble has now done all that it can do. It's time to cut the fudge off of the table onto trays. Each batch of fudge makes around 50 half-pound pieces of fudge. Our artisan fudge makers may use the scale 3 or 4 times per batch, but for the most part the repetition of cutting fudge has helped them craft a keen eye for half pound pieces. They are usually quite accurate!

9. SELLING

Once the fudge is cut onto trays it's time to sell them for our customer's enjoyment. We offer a daily Buy 3 Get the 4th Free fudge special that helps getting a variety of fudge more affordable. Fudge is sold in our shop in Frankenmuth, seasonally in Rochester Hills & online to customers all over the world!

10. EATING

This is everyone's favorite step! We aim for a soft, creamy consistency that leaves the fudge melting in your mouth. It can be eaten immediately or even frozen for up to a year!

As told by our Founder, Gary Mac

Just before graduation from U. of D., I decided to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. After all of the testing was done and the U.S. Air Force recruiting office interview commenced on November 23, 1963, the phone rang…with the news that President Kennedy had been shot! The interview was terminated. I was never called back. Instead, a beer with my best friend, Jim Garrahy (aka:“Mort”) at the Puppet Room in Grosse Pointe Michigan, turned into a wild ride for “Mort” and I. Two twenty two-year-old guys with no jobs, no money, no cars, and still living at home convinced the “Small Business Administration” to lend us $6000. It was a dream that did come true!

We opened our first fudge shop in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on June 1, 1964. That Original Fudge Shop is still open today. As we built counters with my Dad and friends, ordered products and equipment, the shop was coming together. However, we had one big problem…neither “Mort” nor I had ever made a complete batch of fudge…from start to finish. “Mort” had never even seen fudge! I had only stirred fudge on Mackinac Island. I was never allowed to cream, loaf, or shine a hand stirred fudge batch! Undeterred, we coated the windows with “Bon Ami” so, nobody could see us testing our fudge making techniques…Then, we tried our first batch, then the second, then the third, and so on…Fear was in our hearts. What had we done??? Was there a secret ingredient we had missed??!!!? Mort was ticked at me! He yelled, “What? You’ve never made fudge?” “No, I’ve only stirred fudge!” I whimpered. “But, I’m positive I can do it, unless there is a secret formula or ingredient I don’t know about!” You could either drink it with a straw or build a house with it. Every failed fudge batch was greeted warmly by our furry friends as we dumped it in the nearby woods to cover our failures. THEN, FINALLY!, IT HAPPENED! WE HAD MAPLE FUDGE! It was creamy and delicious. From then on it was smooth sailing. Fudge MakingLife’s too short. My good friend, “Mort”, passed away in 2012 in Gettysburg, PA after establishing 79 fudge shops all over the world and fighting a long battle with Cancer. He left us with many memories of an exceptional human being with an extraordinary sense of humor and a warm heart that expanded beyond the imagination. God Bless Mort!In 1976, we expanded the fudge business to Frankenmuth. I commuted 259 miles between the Soo and Frankenmuth for 8 years. Fudge was a seasonal business in Frankenmuth too, so I could still write taxes all winter. By 1984 it was necessary to sell our house, pack up the kids and the dog and drive with my wife’s teary eyes to Frankenmuth. It wasn't long before we all realized that Frankenmuth was “the place” to be. How lucky we've been to live in two great places to raise our family! Today I’m still “fudging it”. Carol and I are very involved with our business as is our oldest daughter, Abby and our son, Zak. The other children are happy doing their “own thing” in Colorado and Connecticut. McClellan Properties is a Michigan Fudge Business with 9 shops all the way from Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula to Rochester, just north of Detroit. Fudge has become Michigan’s favorite candy with the Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen as the Best of the Best!

In 2013, Frankenmuth Fudge was selected as the official fudge of the Emmy Awards. I offer congratulations to our Fudge Staff and especially to my son, Zak, who will continue this Fudge Business far into the future.