{{Short description|Candy}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Penuche | image = | caption = A slice of penuche with walnuts | alternate_name = | country = United States | region = | creator = | course = | type = Confectionery | served = | main_ingredient = Brown sugar, butter, milk; often nuts | variations = | calories = | other = }}
'''Penuche''' ({{IPAc-en|p|ə|'|n|u|tʃ|i}}, from {{langx|it|panucci}}) is a fudge-like candy made from brown sugar, butter, and milk,<ref name="pencand">{{cite web |url=http://www.pastrysampler.com/Questions_and_Answers/penuche.htm |title=Penuche Candy: What is it and how is it spelled? |accessdate=2008-03-11 |date=2005-11-01}}</ref> using no flavorings except for vanilla. Penuche often has a tannish color, and is lighter than regular fudge.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slashfood.com/2007/07/22/happy-national-penuche-fudge-day/ |title=Happy National Penuche Fudge Day! - Slashfood |first=Bob |last=Sassone |date=2007-07-22 |accessdate=2008-03-11 |archive-date=2008-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117094022/http://www.slashfood.com/2007/07/22/happy-national-penuche-fudge-day/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is formed by the caramelization of brown sugar; thus, its flavor is said to be reminiscent of caramel. Nuts, especially pecans, are often added to penuche for texture, frequently in the making of penuche candies.<ref name="pencand"/> It is primarily a regional food, found in New England and some places in the Southern United States, though in the latter it goes by different names, including '''creamy praline fudge''', and '''brown sugar fudge candy'''.
==Origins== ''Panocha'' is said to come from the Spanish word for 'raw sugar'.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery|publisher=Fawcett Publications|year=1966|volume=9|location=New York|chapter=Penuche}}</ref> It was rumored to be slightly vulgar in nature in Portuguese as slang. It has also been proposed that penuche originates in Portugal and was made popular in New England among Portuguese whaling families in Essex, Connecticut, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, during the whaling stint of the mid to late 1700s through the end of commercial whaling. However, recent scholarship traces panocha (or panocha de leche) instead back to the 18th century sugar plantations in New Spain.<ref name="charbonneau">{{cite journal |last1=Charbonneau |first1=Patrick |last2=Pilcher|first2=Jeffrey M. |title=From Panocha to Fudge: Mexican Roots of an American Candy |journal=Gastronomica |year=2023 |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=100-111 |doi=10.1525/gfc.2023.23.1.100|doi-access=free }}</ref> Penuche is also used as a boiled icing flavor. In Hawaii, its name is localized as ''panocha'' or panuche. As an icing, it was common as a topping for prune cake.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://maona.net/archives/2005/11/penuche.php |title= Penuche| date= November 2005| website= maona.net | publisher=māʻona |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090308100319/http://maona.net/archives/2005/11/penuche.php| archivedate= 8 March 2009 | url-status= dead | accessdate= 15 May 2015}}</ref>
==Method of preparation== Penuche is classed in the fudge family because it follows a similar method of preparation: #A fat-sugar solution is heated to the soft ball stage, about {{convert|236|°F}}. #The solution is cooled without disturbance to tepid, about {{convert|110|°F}}. #Flavorings are added and the solution is beaten until thick. #The mixture is poured into a pan, allowed to cool, and cut into bite-sized pieces. Most traditional (i.e. not "no-cook" or "quick") fudges follow a similar preparation method. What distinguishes penuche is the use of brown sugar rather than white.
== Similar dishes == A very similar confection is sucre à la crème (cream sugar), a Québec confection traditionally prepared during the winter holiday season.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://foodieprints.com/2008/02/the-many-languages-of-sucre-a-la-creme/ |title= The many languages of sucre à la crème| website= FoodiePrints.com |date= 8 February 2008 |accessdate= 20 March 2013}}</ref> The universality of the brown sugar and dairy confection manifests in the form of a slightly crumblier treat called ''Tablet'' originating in Scotland.<ref>{{cite book| last= Webb| first= Andrew| title= Food Brittania| publisher= Random House| date= 31 August 2012| page= 189|others= via Google Books }}</ref> Penuche frosting is a type of boiled frosting made from the same ingredients and with the same technique, but is spreadable.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rattray |first=Diana |date=30 August 2023 |title=Make an Easy Brown Sugar Penuche Frosting |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/easy-penuche-frosting-3057722 |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hard |first=Lindsay-Jean |date=13 December 2012 |title=Banana Cake with Penuche Frosting Recipe on Food52 |url=https://food52.com/recipes/20123-banana-cake-with-penuche-frosting?srsltid=AfmBOorx7Gnh6YJSYGd1qjrdMT9nUsraGLwOh-hK0sykt4Qgdq_sjSNu |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=Food52 |language=en-us}}</ref>
== See also == {{portal|Food}} * Fudge
==References== {{reflist}} *''America's Cook Book'', Compiled by the ''New York Herald Tribune'' home institute, published by Charles Scribner's Sons. Copyright 1937, 1940, 1942.
Category:Cuisine of New England Category:American confectionery