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How to Make Fudge
This rich traditional fudge gets its deep chocolate taste from unsweetened chocolate and its milky sweetness from condensed milk. For the recipe, see Old-Fashioned Chocolate Fudge.
Fudge is delightful to enjoy at home or take to a party. It also makes a delicious gift from the kitchen your recipients will love.
Assemble your ingredients and equipment. This includes a nine-inch by nine-inch pan covered with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, a large saucepan, and acandy thermometer.
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Combine Sugar and Water in Saucepan
In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and the water over medium-high heat. Stir while the mixture heats to dissolve the sugar.
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Bring Sugar Syrup to a Boil
Continue to cook the sugar and water and bring it to a full boil. Allow the mixture to boil for one minute.
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Add Condensed Milk
Once the mixture has been boiling for one minute, add the condensed milk and stir until it is fully incorporated.
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Cook Fudge to 235 Degrees
After the condensed milk is added and incorporated, insert a candy thermometer and cook the mixture to 235 F, stirring frequently so that the candy on the bottom of the pan does not scorch.
Using a wet pastry brush, wash down the sides of the pan occasionally to prevent sugar crystals from forming and making your fudge unpleasantly grainy.
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Add Chocolate
Once the candy reaches 235 F, remove the pan from the heat and set it aside to cool for 15 minutes. Do not stir it during this time or you will form sugar crystals and the fudge will be grainy!
After 15 minutes, add the grated chocolate and stir to melt the chocolate.
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Beat the Fudge
Using a wooden spoon, beat the fudge vigorously until it thickens and begins to lose its gloss. This may take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes.
While beating by hand is the traditional method, you can use an electric mixer if you have one. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment and turn it on medium. Beat it just until it starts to thicken and lose its gloss. It is easy to overbeat fudge with a mixer, so watch it carefully and check it after every minute.
Once the fudge is the proper texture, add the nuts and stir quickly just until they are evenly distributed.
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Pour Fudge into Prepared Pan
Once the fudge has thickened and the nuts are added, pour the fudge into the prepared pan. Allow it to set at room temperature until firm, about three hours or overnight.
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Cut the Fudge
After the fudge is set, use a large chef's knife to cut it into small one-inch squares to serve.
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Serve and Store Finished Fudge
Store remaining fudge in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. For the best taste and texture, bring the fudge to room temperature before serving.
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:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/2_pot-56a0ebc55f9b58eba4b532db.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (2)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/3_boil-56a0ebc55f9b58eba4b532e2.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (3)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/4_milk-56a0ebc53df78cafdaa66815.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (4)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/5_stir-56a0ebc65f9b58eba4b532ed.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (5)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/6_chocolate-56a0ebc65f9b58eba4b532f1.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (6)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/7_stir-56a0ebc65f9b58eba4b532f7.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (7)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/8_pour-56a0ebc63df78cafdaa66823.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (8)")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/9_cut-56a0ebc65f9b58eba4b53300.jpg "See This 10-Step Photo Guide to Making Delicious Fudge (9)")
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FAQs
What is the secret to good fudge? ›
- Don't stir during cooking. Fudge can be cooked on the stove or in the microwave. ...
- Avoid crystallization. During cooking, sugar crystals can stick to the sides of the pan. ...
- Let cool before beating. After being cooked, the sugar must crystallize again to create fudge. ...
- Beat the mixture.
Why won't my 3 ingredient fudge set? This often happens when the condensed milk and chocolate chip mixture isn't hot enough to start. Everything must be completely melted before it is transferred to the pan to cool.
What is the softball test for fudge? ›According to most recipes, the ingredients of fudge are cooked to what is termed in kitchen parlance the soft ball stage, that point between 234 and 240 °F (112 and 115 °C) at which a small ball of the candy dropped in ice water neither disintegrates nor flattens when picked up with the fingers.
How do you make fudge creamy and not grainy? ›Grainy Fudge
To avoid this issue, swirl the pan instead of stirring it with a spoon. You can use a wet pastry brush to wipe down any sugar that sticks to the sides of the pot.
Evaporated milk doesn't have sugar added. The sweetened condended milk is needed as no extra sugar is added to the fudge. If evaporated milk were used then the fudge would not be sweet enough and also would still be too soft unless the fudge is frozen.
How to make fudge more solid? ›How do you fix fudge that is too soft? Bring the fudge back to a boil with 1–2 US tbsp (15–30 ml) of cream. If your fudge is soft or runny, it probably didn't come up to a high enough temperature while it was cooking. Put it back into the saucepan and add 1–2 US tbsp (15–30 ml) of 35% fat whipping cream.
Can you reboil fudge that hasn't set? ›If it doesn't set, or if it sets very hard, you can add more milk and boil it again. However, even if it doesn't set, it'll usually be a nice frosting-like consistency, so I sometimes just make a cake to put under it.
What is the best temperature to cook 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.
What can I do with failed fudge? ›Options for what you can do with your unset fudge:
OPTION 1) Depending on how runny it is, you can either use it as a frosting for cakes, or a sauce for ice-cream. OPTION 2) Freeze it overnight. Cut it into squares. Cover each square thickly in melted chocolate, ensuring no part of the fudge is exposed.
Fudge usually behaves this way when it's not cooked to a high enough temperature (due to oversight or a faulty candy thermometer).
How to tell if fudge is done? ›
Use a small bowl, cold water and a spoon to determine whether the fudge has arrived at the soft ball stage. Spoon some of the hot syrup into the cold water. The fudge is ready when you can form drops into a ball in water, but the ball will flatten when removed from the water.
How long do you boil fudge to get to soft ball stage? ›- about 18 min to reach boiling.
- about 40 minutes to reach soft ball stage.
- 60 minutes to cool.
- 28 minutes to beat in a KitchenAid (your time for this may vary)
- 4 hours to set.
By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals. Stirring would help sucrose molecules "find" one another and start forming crystals. Stirring also introduces air, dust, and small dried bits from the walls of the saucepan—all potential seeds for crystal formation.
Can you overcook fudge? ›Candy that isn't cooked long enough will end up too soft; overcooking makes fudge crumbly or hard. High-quality fudge has many small crystals. If the process of crystallization begins too early, fewer crystals form and they become much larger.
Will powdered sugar thicken fudge? ›How to thicken your fudge? If your fudge it noticeably thin, you may want to add more chocolate. If you are out of chocolate, you can also add 1/4-1/2 cup of powdered sugar. This, however, can make the fudge very sweet.
What makes fudge so good? ›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. The result is creamy and smooth with a distinctive semi-soft texture and just a hint of sugar crystals.
What is the key to successful non grainy fudge? ›The key to successful, nongrainy fudge is in the cooling, not the cooking. The recipe calls for heating the ingredients to the soft-ball stage, or 234° F, then allowing it to cool undisturbed to approximately 110° F.
What does cream of tartar do in fudge? ›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!
How do you describe high quality fudge? ›High-quality fudge tastes smooth and creamy because it contains small sugar crystals. It has a deep brown color and a satiny sheen. Poor-quality fudge tastes grainy because it contains large sugar crystals.