While we’re still totally aboard the fudge train, trying as many different variations as we can get our hands on, we came across a little different version, a cousin to fudge, if you will, the other day. Penuche (pronounced “peh-noo-chee”) looks and tastes like fudge, but it’s lighter since it’s made with milk rather than heavy cream. Furthermore, it is made with brown sugar rather than white sugar, which gives it a rounder, more caramel or toffee-like flavor that is very addicting.

With slightly varied names and pronunciations of the term depending on where it’s prepared, it stands to reason that there are multiple ways to create penuche, with modifications and edits made to the amount of brown sugar, whether you use milk or evaporated milk, and whether you add nuts or not.

Because there is no incorrect way to create this stuff, we decided with a basic approach that doesn’t require a candy thermometer – hooray! – and hardens up quickly in the fridge. We used a combination of brown sugar and powdered sugar because we liked the flavor of both, but also because the powdered sugar works as a thickening agent, which helps the whole thing set up.

We ended up adding nuts to ours, both on top and throughout the mixture, for added flavor and crunch, and they also kept our penuche from being too sweet (along with that critical quarter teaspoon of salt). This Christmas season, instead of ordinary fudge, try penuche.It tastes like a cross between fudge and caramel, and we adore it. In fact, we’ve had to keep the food hidden so we don’t eat it all! You’ve been warned: it’s addictively delicious and such a pleasant change from all the other fudges we’ve prepared.