Aunt Birdie's Buttermilk Candy/Fudge

We all have childhood memories of favorite foods. Mine is Buttermilk Candy from Aunt Birdie. Aunt Birdie also made the creamiest mash potatos and this dish called chocolate dumplins that make my mouth water thinking about, but for my entire adult life I have tried to master the buttermilk candy and as of today I still have not conquered it.

Here is Aunt Birdie's Recipe.

2 Cups Sugar
1 cup Buttermilk
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons white syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cook first five ingredients till forms a ball in cold water. Put in vanilla & beat. Pour in pan cut when cool.

You can see that it is not to technical with temperatures and such. So recently I searched the Internet for a recipe that might give me some idea of temperatures. On www.divinerecipes.com I founds this recipe. Which you can see is just a bit different.

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
3 tbl light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups nuts (optional)

Butter a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside. In a heavy 2 -quart saucepan, combine buttermilk, butter or margarine, corn syrup, baking soda and sugar. Place over medium-high heat and stir occasionally with a wooden spoon until mixture comes to a boil. Clip on candy thermometer. Stirring constantly, cook to 236 F or soft-ball stage. Remove from heat. Leave until thermometer cools to 210F. Add vanilla and nuts and stir until mixture is creamy. Pour into prepared pan. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Even with these more specific recipes I was unsuccessful although I did get a bit closer than usual. This time I could actually slice when cold. The taste was as I remembered it, but the texture was very grainy and runny if you let it sit at room temperature. I did notice on my candy thermometer soft ball was a higher temp that 236F so maybe I should have cooked to a hotter temperature. Who knows?? But I will not be defeated after a rest I will be trying again.

Any helpful hints are appreciated.