THE BALLOON MAN

Jackson County Fair: Making fudge a sweet science for Hodson's

 

Zeke Jennings | MLive.com
Jeff Bruce of Hodson's Fudge stirs a pot of white batch mixture on Friday at the Jackson County Fair
By Zeke Jennings
from: www.mlive.com
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2012
JACKSON, MI – There was a sweet smell inside the grandstand at the Jackson County Fair on Friday morning that was coming from a boiling pot of soon-to-be fudge at the Hodson’s Fudge booth.
Hodson’s crew has been on hand all week making fudge, about a dozen varieties, to be exact.
“This pot contains about 50 pounds of ingredients,” said Brad Bruce, who was in the middle of an hour’s worth of constant stirring, which is necessary to keep the still-liquid concoction from caramelizing.
On Friday, Brad Bruce and his father Jeff Bruce, both of Hastings, were working on a white batch, which is the basis for Hodson’s peanut butter, peppermint, cherry and raspberry fudge, among other flavors.
“We’ve made six batches so far this week, plus this one,” Jeff Bruce said. “Each batch makes eight to trays.”
Brad clarified: “That translates to 900 to 1,000 pieces of fudge.”
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http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/jackson/index.ssf/2012/08/jackson_county_fair_making_fud.html