Science of Cooking: Fudge Recipe: What’s Going On? (2024)

FAQs

What is the science behind making fudge? ›

Confectionery experiments have shown that the ideal cooking temperature for fudge is around 114 to 115 °C (237 to 239 °F). The cooking is intended to evaporate a part of the liquid and concentrate the sugar. The temperature of the cream/sugar mixture (called syrup) rises as water evaporates.

When making fudge, heat and acid work together to convert sucrose – basic white sugar – into its two components, glucose and fructose. When these sugars are present, they prevent sucrose from turning into big sugar crystals.

Once a seed crystal forms, it grows bigger and bigger as the fudge cools. A lot of big crystals in fudge makes it grainy. By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals. Stirring would help sucrose molecules "find" one another and start forming crystals.

Homemade Fudge Doesn't Always Set

If your fudge doesn't firm up after a few hours, you either have too high an amount of liquid to sugar, or your mixture hasn't reached the soft-ball stage. Using a candy thermometer can help home cooks avoid this problem.

If there is too much evaporation, when the cooking time is too long, there will not be enough water left in the fudge and it will be too hard. Conversely, if the cooking time is too brief and there is not enough evaporation, too much water will remain and the fudge will be too soft.

The amount of time you cook fudge directly affects its firmness. Too little time and the water won't evaporate, causing the fudge to be soft. Conversely, cook it too long and fudge won't contain enough water, making it hard with a dry, crumbly texture.

Cream of tartar is used in caramel sauces and fudge to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing while cooking. It also prevents cooling sugars from forming brittle crystals, this is why it's the secret ingredient in snickerdoodles!

Heating the sugar and milk mixture allows the milk to dissolve more and more sugar, and by the time the mixture is boiling, all the sugar is dissolved. The general principle is that at a particular temperature, a given solvent (in this case, milk) can dissolve only so much of a particular solute (sugar).

If your fudge has a texture like soft toffee, it could be due to overcooking, using too much sugar or butter, or not cooking it to the right temperature.

You should mix the cream, butter, and sugar when making your fudge, but put down the spoon once it has reached its boiling point. Stirring while your sugar mixture is boiling will only form sugar crystals and make your fudge crunchy rather than silky smooth.

Why does my homemade fudge look greasy? ›

If your fudge is heated too much during the mixing process, or if the ingredients are insufficiently mixed together, the butter fat will separate itself from the liquids in the mix and rise to the top of the fudge, forming greasy pools.

Place the sugar, milk, and corn syrup in a medium saucepan and stir well. Once the mixture begins to boil, stop stirring. Monitor the mixture and watch for it to reach 230ºF. Add the butter, chocolate, salt, and vanilla and bring the temperature up to 235ºF.

How can you fix soft fudge? Put it in a microwave safe bowl that is large enough that it won't boil over. Reheat it to the boiling point and cook for about 3 more minutes. Then you can beat some powdered sugar into it if this doesn't make it set.

Fudge is a dense, rich confection typically made with sugar, milk or cream, butter and chocolate or other flavorings. The base for fudge is boiled until it reaches the soft-ball stage (135 to 140 degrees F), then stirred or beaten as it cools to minimize the formation of sugar crystals.

fudge, creamy candy made with butter, sugar, milk, and usually chocolate, cooked together and beaten to a soft, smooth texture. Fudge may be thought of as having a consistency harder than that of fondant and softer than that of hard chocolate.

Fudge is always a no-bake dessert and can be completely stove- and oven-free if you follow our method for how to make microwave fudge. That means it's a chocolate dessert idea that will keep your oven cool on even the steamiest days of summer.