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If you’ve tried your hand at making fudge (which is different from chocolate) at home, you know that the emulsion of milk, sugar, and butter is sometimes deceptive in its simplicity; a lot can go wrong with those rich, buttery cubes of delight. For one, fudge can easily turn out grainy. Another issue that can arise when making your own fudge is the tricky batter not hardening. Instead, you may be left with a gooey, sticky mess that can’t be cut into perfectly uniform squares, leaving it to be destined for the freezer, or worse, the trash can.
The reason your fudge won’t harden may be because it never quite reached the temperature it was supposed to. Fudge starts by melting sugar over the stove. It needs to break down into a syrup either with or without additional ingredients like butter and half-and-half. At the start of most fudge recipes, sugar needs to be cooked over medium heat until it liquifies. Then, it’s brought to a boil, reduced to a simmer, and cooked until it reaches between 234 and 239 degrees Fahrenheit. This step of bringing your fudge within that correct temperature range ensures that just enough water cooks out of the mixture to leave you with that perfect fudgy consistency. Too hot and you’ll end up with brittle, hard fudge. Not hot enough and there will be too much water in the fudge, leaving you with a gooey mixture that refuses to set.
How to fix gooey fudge
So, how do you ensure your fudge sets? Get a good and reliable candy thermometer. While you can make sweets without a candy thermometer, it is a great kitchen tool to have that can help you easily monitor your fudge when attached to the side of your saucepan. Candy thermometers are heat-proof, so there’s no need to worry about damaging your new gadget or having it explode. Along with a sturdy spoon for stirring your thick mixture, equipping yourself with a candy thermometer will help you create smooth, rich, luscious fudge that’s soft enough to sink your teeth into but tough enough to hold its shape.
If you’re a beginner in the world of candy making, the ThermoPro TP511 Digital Candy Thermometer is foolproof in that it clips easily to your pot, so you don’t have to try to hold the thermometer while you stir and wipe the sweat from your brow. It can also be programmed to alert you when you hit that magic temperature range of 234 to 239 degrees Fahrenheit. If you’re a little more old-school and prefer a tried-and-true design, you could opt for Taylor’s Stainless Steel Analog Paddle Thermometer that’s easy to read and comes with a pan clip as well. Either way, a reliable thermometer will help you avoid fudgy pitfalls and produce great tasting fudge.
