TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In case you need an excuse to go out and buy fudge today, you should be aware that it’s National Fudge Day. Yes, there IS a holiday for everything and everyone. Just check out the National Calendar Day website and you will see what I mean.

I tend to pay attention to the food holidays though – milkshakes, cookies, watermelon, ice cream cake, etc. But National Fudge Day caught my eye because Michigan is really into that – especially on Mackinac Island.

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The Gander reports on the history of Mackinac Island fudge by saying, “Arguably Michigan’s most well-known food, Mackinac Island fudge is so famous, we have a name for the tourists who flock to the island specifically to swarm the fudge shops – fudgies. During tourism season, Mackinac Island handcrafts an average of ten thousand pounds of fudge daily and imports an average of twenty thousand pounds of sugar every week.”

No, the island didn’t invent fudge. According to the Gander that honor goes to some folks in Baltimore, Maryland in the 1880’s after a baker discovered it when they “fudged” a batch of caramel. Later, fudge showed up at a bake sale at Vassar College in 1886 where there is the first written record of fudge existing.

A year later, Sara Murdick and her family, including son Jerome “Rome” and husband Henry, arrived on Mackinac Island and that was the beginning of the Murdick fudge empire in the state of Michigan. The family opened “Murdick’s Candy Kitchen” in 1887 and according to the Gander, “Rome Murdick was the first person on Mackinac Island to make fudge on marble slabs, which also created an entertaining show for customers. The art of fudge-making soon became competitive, as spectators watched as Rome and his competitors delicately balanced and shaped cooling fudge on the marble slabs.”

Rome and his son Gould added ceiling fans to allow the smell of fudge to waft into the streets. Gould sold the business, but when the non-compete clause expired, Gould’s half brother Jerome opened a luncheonette on the island and sold original family recipe fudge there. Doug Murdick, Henry’s great-grandson and owner of two Traverse City fudge shops told Northern Express, “Gould is the one who made it into the fudge business that we know now.”

By the ’60’s “fudge tourism” took off when Americans drove up north to vacation. Mackinac Island has at least 11 different fudge shops including Murdick’s Fudge. And with online ordering, Michigan fudge has been allowed to cover the United States in sweetness – and the rest of the world.

Murdick’s has stores in Mackinaw City, St. Ignace, on Mackinac Island and a bakery in Martha’s Vineyard. There are also other Murdick’s fudge shops around with other family members running them in different parts of the state – all using those great fudge recipes passed down to the new generations.

Doug Murdick opened up his own fudge shop in Traverse City in 1964. They also have a store in Acme. They are not a franchise or connected to any other stores.

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Suttons Bay has the “Murdick’s Fudge Shoppe” that was opened by Doug’s son, Dale and is now ran by Michael Campbell, who learned the art of candy making from Doug and Dale thirty years ago.

Another big name for fudge in northern Michigan (and around the country) is Kilwins and they are also on Mackinac Island. Kilwins has been around since 1947 and have earned a reputation for providing high-quality chocolates, ice cream, and confections. They started in Petoskey where Don and Katy Kilwin purchased a bakery. In 1965, they purchased equipment to expand their candy and chocolate making. In 1971, they sold the bakery side of the business and devoted themselves to making high-quality candy.

In 1978, they sold the business to Wayne & Lorene Rose who opened stores in Harbor Springs, Mackinac Island and Traverse City. Don and Robin McCarty joined Kilwins as store managers in 1979 and Don still leads the business today. In 1983, they expanded their retail presence and opened the first franchised store. In 1995, Don & Robin McCarty bought Kilwins and expanded the brand even more. In 2011, Kilwins Chocolate Kitchen & Retail Store opened in Petoskey, Michigan where it all began. In 2019, a new distribution center opened in Michigan, which now services the midwest, northeast, mid-Atlantic and western stores. Kilwins now have over 140 franchised locations in 25 states with over 7 million transactions made in 2019.

As a dedicated writer at Michigan News Source, I decided to do some fudge research for all of you so that you have a bit of an inside “scoop” the next time you show up at one of these two fudge shops. Luckily for me, the two big fudge shops are pretty much across the street from each other in Traverse City so it was easy to take a trip downtown yesterday and spend more than $40 on fudge. Very easy.

I bought regular chocolate and regular peanut butter fudge at both locations to compare – plus some other interesting flavors (hence the big receipt).

Overall, the fudge at Doug Murdick’s Fudge and Kilwins is quite different. Murdick’s is harder and more dry while Kilwins is a softer fudge. In comparing the stores, Murdick’s was very bare bones with white walls and not much ambience, less choices of fudge varieties than Kilwins and they had some additional products including nuts, pretzels, gift bags, maple syrup, postcards, keychains and other things.

Kilwins on the other hand was much warmer and welcoming and had a lot more choices of fudge to choose from. They also had a lot more food choices available including chocolates, popcorns, brittles, caramel apples, pretzels with dripped chocolate, ice cream and much more.

Both stores have online ordering for the tourists and snowbirds who have to go back south in the winter – and both stores have an open area where public viewing of the making of fudge and candies can be seen.

Comparing the chocolate fudge, I found Kilwins to be softer and slightly better in taste although neither of them was “chocolatey” enough for my liking. Comparing the peanut butter, I preferred the Murdick’s fudge. Although I liked the softness of the Kilwins fudge better, the Murdick’s peanut butter fudge had a stronger peanut butter taste. The other fudge I bought at Murdick’s was the black cherry. I was not impressed by this one as it didn’t have much of a cherry taste to me but I LOVED the rocky road fudge sample that they had on the counter. I’d definitely buy that one again.

As for Kilwins, where I bought six different varieties of fudge, my favorites were the lemon (strong flavor) and the german chocolate with coconut. I will definitely go back for those two. The other two, the french silk and the one called “mud” which has caramel and I am not sure what else, were okay but not fantastic. But as I said, I tend to like stronger flavors.

All in all, it was a good fudge experience (is there any other kind?) and I have enough fudge to last for about a month – maybe longer, depending on how much my husband steals.

And humorously, as you can see in the photo I took at Kilwins, they put the calorie count on the front of the displays of their fudge. I have to ask – does ANYONE going into a fudge shop care about that information?

So if you are wondering what is next in my world of taste testing opportunities, it looks like National Barbecued Spareribs Day is July 4th (of course it is), August 2nd is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day and National Cheeseburger Day is September 18th). With all of that fun, I had better also participate in National Walking Day in April.