Science of Candy: What's Special About Fudge? | Exploratorium (2024)

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Science of Candy: What's Special About Fudge? | Exploratorium? ›

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.

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.

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.

The key to creamy, luscious fudge is controlling crystal formation. If the sucrose (table sugar) crystals are small, the fudge will feel creamy and smooth on your tongue. But if the crystals are large, the fudge develops a crumbly, dry, or even coarse texture.

Characterised by its smooth, creamy texture and decadent flavour, fudge is typically made from a mixture of sugar, butter, and milk or cream. The ingredients are heated to the soft-ball stage, around 235-245°F (113-118°C), and then beaten while cooling, which gives fudge its characteristic smooth and dense texture.

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.

Although fudge often contains chocolate, fudge is not the same as chocolate. Chocolate is a mix of cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sometimes sugar and other flavorings and is hard and brittle. Fudge is a mixture of sugar, dairy and flavorings that is cooked and cooled to form a smooth, semi-soft confection.

Fudge is a type of confection that is made by mixing sugar, butter and milk. It has its origins in the 19th century United States, and was popular in the women's colleges of the time.

fudge noun (AVOID)

to avoid making a decision or giving a clear answer about something: fudge the issue The government continues to fudge the issue by refusing to give exact figures.

Between its deeply rich flavor and its silky texture, fudge makes a brilliant treat to pair with coffee. The sweet and bitter flavors complement one another perfectly, making for an unstoppable combination.

What keeps fudge from getting hard? ›

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.

If the fudge is very soft and slightly chewy then it is possible that it did not quite cook to soft ball stage and next time the mixture should be cooked to a slightly higher temperature (soft ball is 112-116c/235-240F and a sugar or candy thermometer can help).

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!

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.

Fudge is a rich, chocolate candy made with plenty of sugar, cream, and butter. Fudge is usually cut into squares and eaten in small quantities. While fudge comes in many different flavors, it's usually chocolate. In the US, another kind of fudge is smooth, melted chocolate that can be poured over the top of ice cream.

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).

Commercial fudges are generally prepared by mixing milk, corn syrup (glucose), sugar, fat, a little salt, and suitable flavoring matter such as chocolate; cooking the resulting mixture to a temperature of about 235 F. to 245 F., while agitating the mix; cooling the mix to a temperature between 90 F.

Heating the syrup to a high temperature and then allowing it to cool, undisturbed, produces a supersaturated solution—this means that the solution contains more sugar molecules than would normally be possible at room temperature.

The main difference is the texture, which is determined by two things: the size of the sugar crystals in the candy, and the concentration of the sugar. Toffee is smooth with no sugar crystals, whereas fudge has tiny crystals that give it that texture.