Comments on: The Best Fudge Recipe – Fantasy Fudge

By: Joi

Joi — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:59:34 +0000

Lexi, not silly at all! Pretty much all candy can be affected by the weather – and humidity wreaks havoc with just about all of them. Great point!

By: Lexi

Lexi — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:52:13 +0000

I know this might sound silly, but my grandmother once told me that some candies, like divinity, won’t come out right if there is too much humidity in the air. I wonder if fudge might be affected by humidity, also.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 02:02:46 +0000

I don’t get it…I have made this fudge in the past and it was soo good…Now, I’ve tried it 3 times the past few days and it’s grainy and and the oil separates from it every time. I’ve read through here and done the suggestions and it’s still grainy. I don’t get it and I’m so upset about it because this fudge it really good if it’s cooked right and now I can’t seem to get it right and am giving up cause I can’t afford to keep wasting the ingredients.

By: Gina D.

Gina D. — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:37:24 +0000

I have been making this fudge for years. Its easy but there are several things to watch out for.
1. dont burn your chocolate! if your too hot when you put in your chocolate chips (i use 1 bag 12 oz per batch) your chocolate will burn and get grainy. (no saving it at this point)
2. fresh marshmallow puff. Usually by this time of year it shouldnt be a problem. but if you have had the jar around for a year…. better get some fresh.
3. fresh butter not margrine. margrine contains water and it just makes all kinds of mess of fudge.
1 teaspoon of karro light corn syrup may help with the crystallization problem. ( i tried it once and it worked)
watch your heat at all times…. if you start to burn your sugar/marshmallow slurry move your pan off to the side of your hear source till your temp stabilizes.
Peanutbutter chips & Andies mint chips/pieces also make wonderful fudge.
Good luck and I hope i have helped some of you

By: Tasha

Tasha — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 07:02:13 +0000

I’ve made two batches as well and they’ve come out soft. and tonights batch cooled for some 8 hours and it’s still soft.

By: Denah

Denah — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:30:28 +0000

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone knows what the amount is if you are using milk chocolate chips instead of the bars of Baker’s chocolate? My mom always made her fudge with chips instead of chopped bars, but she passed away in 2004. She was still young, 48, so I never asked her to write down her modified recipe nor did I pay much attention when we made it together. I will say this: This is the ONLY fudge recipe my Momma used and it was always AWESOME!!! Thanks!

By: JAN

JAN — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:21:10 +0000

You only get the grainy thing if you do NOT have a rolling boil! i have made this for years and messed it up a few years ago ’cause i did not have a full rolling boil!!

By: Andrea

Andrea — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:25:45 +0000

Problem of graininess… here are other Secrets that I read about:

-Fudge is one of the rare exceptions to the rule that sugar crystals are not desirable in candy. Tiny microcrystals in fudge are what give it its firm texture. The crystals are small enough, however, that they don’t feel grainy on your tongue, but smooth. While you ultimately want crystals to form, it’s important that they don’t form too early. The key to successful, nongrainy fudge is in the COOLING, not the cooking.
So heating the ingredients to the soft-ball stage, or 234° F, then allowing it to cool undisturbed to approximately 110° F. If you stir during this cooling phase, you increase the likelihood that seed crystals will form too soon. ONCE the fudge has cooled to about 110° F, you want to start the crystallization process. You start to stir, stir, stir and keep stirring, until the candy becomes thick. The more you stir, the more crystal seeds you get. But instead of getting a few huge crystals (and grainy candy), you get lots and lots of tiny crystals, which make for thick, smooth candy.

-Don’t attempt to achieve smooth fudge with vigorous stirring AFTER it’s reached the soft-ball stage: stirring at the wrong time can actually promote crystallization of sugar into large grains. Small sugar crystals equal smooth fudge that melts on the tongue. (so no electric beater)

-Once fudge is in pan leave it alone to cool ,undisturbed, Fudge produces a supersaturated solution—this means that the solution contains more sugar molecules than would normally be possible at room temperature. A supersaturated solution is highly unstable, and any agitation will cause crystallization to occur throughout the solution. If fudge is stirred while it’s still hot, fewer crystals form, and they grow larger as the syrup cools, resulting in a coarse, grainy candy.

- Also.. Do a test to be sure your thermometer is accurate. Let it stand in boiling water for 10 minutes. If the thermometer doesn’t read 212 degrees F, you need to figure the difference and add or subtract to make the temperature measurements correct for your candy.

- FAQ… There are two other candies that deliberately employ sugar crystals. One is fondant, a wetter version of fudge that you find inside soft-center chocolates. The other is rock candy, for which a sugar solution is left for days to form enormous crystals.

sources: http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/candy/fudge-story.html

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Perfect-Fudge/Detail.aspx

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 06:03:47 +0000

I’m sure this is posted somewhere, but I just wanted to share in case it isn’t. My grandma has used this recipe for YEARS for our family Christmas, and instead of chocolate she uses a jar of peanut butter. Absolutely amazing!

By: kenny

kenny — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:17:16 +0000

Having made litterally hundereds of batches of fudge with this recipe – suprisingly I recently made a mistake – and it turned out ever so much better. I was making a double batch, and for some reason I put in the marshmallow cream before the chocolate … which cooled the mixture down enough that it took forever for the chocolate to melt, and the fudge to set up. But once it did, it was the creamiest fudge ever. So if you have extra time, and don’t mind stirring forever, change the order up a little.

And as I was stirring and stirring, convinced that I had totally messed up and that it would never set, I kept thinking, what great ice cream topping this would make. So you could even stop a little early … for topping.

As for grainy fudge – it’s caused by not heating it to the correct tempature. If your thermometer said you reached soft ball … I’d say you had a defective thermometer.