Fudge recipe

Homemade fudge using old-fashioned fudge shop recipes:

As with almost any recipe, the finished product will be only as good as the ingredients used. Most fudge recipes include a basic set of ingredients: chocolate (usually unsweetened); sugar, milk, cream, or a combination (half and half); butter; vanilla extract; and possibly corn syrup. The exact quantities of these ingredients can be found in various recipes but it should be mentioned that the proportions are open to adjustments allowing you to customize the relative sweetness and degree of chocolate intensity desired.

The ingredients are simple and the cooking hardware is basic, but the technique can cause home candy makers fits. The only hardware needed is a heavy-bottomed saucepan, a candy thermometer, a sturdy wooden spoon, a metal spatula and a cookie sheet. In addition, a "heat sink" is needed. This heat sink can take many forms - a marble slab, a granite countertop, etc. Any dense item with a smooth surface that has a large thermal inertia will do. The surface will accept the boiling fudge sauce and should be able to draw the heat away from the sauce rather quickly while being stable enough to not be readily disturbed. I have successfully used a thick glass table and a heavy-bottomed frying pan for this purpose, but extreme caution should be used with a glass table because the rapid temperature change resulting from pouring hot fudge on the glass could cause the glass to shatter. Be creative - there are many alternatives for a heat sink besides the marble slap used by most professional fudge shops.

Start the fudge process by adding the milk/cream, butter, sugar, chopped chocolate and corn syrup to the saucepan and place over medium heat. Corn syrup is technically not used in many old-fashioned fudge recipes and is considered "cheating" by many fudge-making purists. However, adding a small amount to a fudge recipe will not change the flavor and can act as an insurance policy that will greatly increase the odds of your fudge crystallizing properly.

The ingredients should be heated until the chocolate and butter are fully melted and the sugar is completely dissolved. This needs to be done while stirring constantly in order to ensure even heat distribution and avoid scorching the sugar and/or chocolate.

When the chocolate sauce reaches a nice rolling boil, it is important to remove any sugar crystals from the walls of the pan. This can be accomplished by washing down the walls of the pan with warm water from the bristles of a pastry brush. Use as little water as possible with this method, but be sure all sugar crystals are safely off the sides of the pan. Another method is to simply cover the pan with the cookie sheet for a minute or two. Steam from the boiling fudge sauce will dissolve the sugar and wash it down into the chocolate sauce. Be sure to lower the heat setting to medium-low or lower during this step so the heat will not build-up in the saucepan and cause the fudge to boil over.

After the crystals are washed off the sides of the pan, attach a candy thermometer to the side of the saucepan and make sure the heat is set to medium-low or slightly lower. The main objective at this point is to boil the sauce slowly to boil away the water in the sauce and concentrate (supersaturate) the chocolate/sugar solution. The pan should most definitely not be stirred or disturbed during this phase of the cooking. Any significant bump or accidental sugar crystal falling into the sauce at this point will cause the sugar to start crystallizing and your fudge will end up with a very grainy texture.

The secret to old-fashioned fudge is controlling the size and density of the sugar crystals. Too few crystals and too large crystals will yield grainy fudge. The goal is the maximum number of very small sugar crystals. This property gives great fudge that creamy, melt-in-the-mouth feel. To control the crystallization process, we need to fully supersaturate the sugar solution and inhibit any recrystallization until we are ready for the entire solution to be recrystallized. If the recrystallization starts early, with a grain or two, those grains will recrystallize at the expense of others and the fudge will be grainy. By starting the recrystallization of the entire batch at once, we ensure millions of very small, even crystals and a beautiful creamy texture.

There are two telltale signs the water is leaving the sauce and the sugar is concentrating in the solution. First, the volume of the sauce will decrease so that the fudge sauce will be an inch or so lower in the saucepan. Second, the boiling point temperature of the solution will rise as the sugar concentration increases. The optimum temperature is somewhere between 235F and 240F, but this varies by altitude and thermometer. The range of temperatures for successful recrystallization is small, so attention to the thermometer is important after 20 minutes of low boiling.

When the desired temperature is achieved, carefully remove the candy thermometer and pour the fudge sauce onto the marble slab or other heat sink. Do not scrape the saucepan clean onto the heat sink as this type of action could start the fudge recrystallizing prematurely, again resulting in grainy fudge. The secret to good creamy fudge is a high density of very small sugar crystals. The high density is achieved by supersaturating the sugar solution and the small sugar crystals are achieved by controlling the timing and duration of the crystallization process.

As soon as the fudge is cooling on the heat sink, add any remaining butter and flavorings (vanilla, etc.) and a clean candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of the sauce as it cools. The controlled and rapid cooling caused by the heat transfer from the fudge sauce to the heat sink will help to rapidly supersaturate the sugar solution to its maximum extent.

Once the fudge sauce has cooled to a warm touch (about 110-115 deg. F) it is time to start the crystallization. Recrystallization is initiated by rapidly stirring the fudge sauce until the butter and vanilla are well mixed and the sauce starts to thicken slightly into a delicious viscous yet slightly grainy mixture.

The next ten minutes of recrystallization are where the art of fudgemaking is apparent. Rapidly stirring the fudge will allow it to set-up properly, and the end result will be adequate. However, a combination of rapid stirring, slow working, and some rest will produce the optimum result. The sequence and relative amount of these techniques require some experimentation and practice to perfect. But, the results are worth it.

Alternating between rapidly stirring the sauce, scraping and collecting the sauce into the center of the heat sink with a metal spatula followed by a short rest period where the fudge slowly expands toward the outer edges of the heat sink seems to work very well.

If you have an audience, go ahead and lift and stretch the chocolate into the air with your spatula and slap the cooling mixture - sure to please the crowd. Cycle through these maneuvers to quickly cool the fudge and develop the fine crystal structure that produces the creamy texture of true fudge shop candy.

As the fudge cools it sets and thickens. This can happen relatively rapidly and one needs to watch for the signs of set-up so that the fudge can be worked into its final state. The most obvious sign of the fudge setting is that it will start to loose its sheen as it is stirred and worked. When the sheen starts to dull the fudge will also thicken. At this time, the fudge should be transferred quickly to a lightly greased cookie sheet. There will be only a short time that the fudge can still be manipulated into its final shape and the edges straightened.

Once the fudge is no longer workable it should be left untouched on the cookie sheet in a cool place lightly covered in plastic wrap. The fudge is delicious at this point but it should ideally rest for at least a day. Old fashioned fudge such as described here peaks after a good two-three day rest, permitting the fine crystal structure of the candy to fully develop.

Excellent fudge takes a bit of work but the rewards are clearly worth the effort. This page attempts to describe the procedure for making a fudge-shop quality treat in your own home. There are no real short-cuts, but if you don't have the time, equipment or desire to invest in this endeavor, you can always leave the work to the professionals.