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Fudge is arguably the most delicious substance known to man. With its rich, creamy taste and seemingly endless variety of flavours, I can't be the only person who really likes this stuff. Oddly enough though, it's very difficult to find anybody who sells it, and it's usually pretty damned expensive.

I had no idea what fudge is actually made of. But when I looked it up, the recipe says, basically, throw three ingredients in a pan, boil it for a while, let it cool, done. As recipies go, that's pretty damned simple!

So I gave it a try. And it... didn't really work. The result was like fudge... but no, not really.

So then I went and did some more research, and found this other site that claims that you have to do all these complicated rituals and that you mustn't try to make fudge on a cold day and the moon has to be in the right phase and... seriously?? It's this hard?

The long and short of it is this: How hard is it to make good fudge? Is this something that an average person, with no expert training, working in a normal domestic kitching, should be able to pull off relatively easily? Or is this for the hardcore experts only? Is it realistic for me to be attempting this?

I honestly can't tell whether I just need a little more practise to get this right, or whether I'm attempting something so hopelessly difficult that I'm doomed to eternal disappointment.

(FWIW, my first batch was nearly inedable. I changed a few things, and my second batch was better, but still not quite right. If there's some hope that this could work, I can ask more specific questions. Right now I just want to know whether what I'm trying to do is feasible in the first place.)

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    You should probably tell us why it was not good: was it too hard? too soft? too chewy? too crumbly? too bitter? too sweet? ....
    – nico
    Sep 29, 2012 at 12:37
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    You'll get better answers if you make less of an effort to be funny and more of an effort to be specific. What was wrong with your fudge? What was this other site that you found that claims it's hard, and what specifically did it tell you (I'm sure it didn't actually say anything about the outside temperature or phase of the moon)? A lot of us could probably answer, "no, it's not really difficult" but obviously that wouldn't help you. What went wrong, and what was better the second time?
    – Aaronut
    Sep 29, 2012 at 14:32
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    Get out of the wrong side of bed this morning @aaronut?
    – ElendilTheTall
    Sep 29, 2012 at 14:38
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    @ElendilTheTall, no, it's just a poorly-written question, it's 7 straight paragraphs of "I fail at fudge" instead of 1 or 2 very simple descriptive sentences: "I tried this fudge recipe. It sucked because of X. How do I fix it next time?" This is a tried and tested formula on Seasoned Advice and I see no reason to throw it away now.
    – Aaronut
    Sep 29, 2012 at 14:54
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    @KristinaLopez It may be easy for some experienced candy-makers without a thermometer (or by making something different like marshmallow creme fudge as you suggested), but the OP obviously had trouble, and incorrect temperature/timing is by far the most likely problem with anything to do with candy-making. And I don't know why you say "the dreaded candy thermometer" - they're inexpensive, and they make a lot of things easier. It's pretty much universally helpful to get one, especially for beginners.
    – Cascabel ♦
    Sep 29, 2012 at 19:39

5 Answers 5

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Like so many things, if you know what you are trying to do, fudge is not difficult to get right.

Fudge is a high fat candy. In the US chocolate is implied but the addition of chocolate doesn't change the process.

You want a solid, creamy candy with a smooth texture.

As Elendil wrote, it is important to ensure that you cook the candy to the correct temperature- but that is only half of the problem.

As the candy cools it will form crystals. In order to have a smooth texture you have to make those crystals as small as possible. The bigger they are the grainier the candy will be. The slower the crystals form the larger they will be able to grow.

For a smooth texture we want to form crystals as quickly as possible.

Crystals require a trigger to set them off- such as a seed crystal or agitation. If the candy is allowed to cool undisturbed and with no seed sugar crystals in the pot no crystals will form. It will be like a bomb ready to go off at the slightest provocation- this is what we want. After it is cooled we stir it like mad to form all our crystals all at once- fast and small.

Fudge is very forgiving in that it is easy to start over. Unlike an egg custard that when it breaks is unrecoverable- the sugar crystals that ruin fudge are easy to fix. You just add a little water, melt the candy back down, and start over.

Tricks to prevent premature crystallization

  • Prevent errant crystals!
    A lid is placed on the pot for the last few minutes of cooking. This causes condensation to wash any errant sugar crystals off of the sides of the pot. A single errant crystal can ruin your fudge.
  • Don't agitate the candy
    When the candy is cooling it can't be stirred or bumped.
  • Add distractions
    I consider this cheating and it is unnecessary but some recipes reduce the risk of premature crystallization by adding things like corn syrup or marshmallow creme.
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  • This answers my question and contains some useful information I didn't specifically ask for as well, so here, have some rep...
    – MathematicalOrchid
    Sep 29, 2012 at 16:44
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Fudge is essentially caramel (sugar heated to 116ºC, usually with water) combined with some kind of fat - sometimes butter, sometimes condensed milk. It's not hard to make, but it does require precision and care at the caramelisation stage, and that means having a decent sugar thermometer.

If you just try and eyeball it you will fail more often than not. Dropping balls of molten sugar into water is all very well, but while you're trying to determine whether it's hard or soft, the caramel is burning. So get a sugar thermometer.

It does require a bit of practice, namely to know how your pans and hob/stove work together and thus how fast your caramel comes up to temperature. It's certainly not something like filo pastry or macarons that you need deity-like talents to do really well.

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No-Fail Fudge - this is achievable! Fudge is magic and delicious ... And a chemistry project with full respect to all the prior responders. Here is a link to the no-fail recipe that I personally have seen mass-produced by a room full of novices for a fund-raising project. Follow the directions EXACTLY and you will have mastered no-fail fudge:

http://www.marshmallowfluff.com/pages/never_fail_fudge.html

This recipe makes 2 1/2 pounds. The fudge party I attended produced 24 batches of fudge in one evening with 100% success rate! Best of luck!

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  • Marshmallow creme fudge is certainly easy and delicious. Unfortunately it doesn't radiate the pure, heart-rending, human, joy that traditional fudge does.
    – Sobachatina
    Sep 29, 2012 at 16:25
  • Oh Sobachatina! I guess I'm just a fudge low-life! Lol!
    – Kristina Lopez
    Sep 29, 2012 at 16:27
  • I hope I didn't imply that! I would much rather have your fudge right now than wallow in my current lack-of-fudge induced misery! I just meant that it was worth learning how to make the traditional kind at least once.
    – Sobachatina
    Sep 29, 2012 at 16:31
  • No worries! It's a goal I aspire to as well! :-)
    – Kristina Lopez
    Sep 29, 2012 at 16:34
  • I don't know, @Sobachatina -- the fudge my husband makes is wonderfully good: chocolate, cherry, peanut butter, butterscotch, all with the same basic marshmellow creme starter. He doesn't follow the recipe exactly, and everyone raves about his fudge. He DOES follow the thermometer requirements exactly, however.
    – thursdaysgeek
    Sep 30, 2012 at 1:25
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Real old-fashioned chocolate fudge should only have 4 ingredients... cocoa, sugar, vanilla and butter (ok, 5...I also add a dash of Kosher salt). Anyone who adds marshmellow, corn syrup, etc. is trying to cover up their inablity to make real fudge. The proper technique is difficult to get right. Time the cooking and cooling stages and learn when to stop beating and you'll have the best fudge on the planet!

It took a while and I failed more often then not.

Now, my fudge is butter smooth and melts in your mouth.

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    but if adding some corn syrup can make the learning curve less steep, what's the harm? Not everyone can afford to have more failures than successes while learning.
    – SourDoh
    Dec 6, 2013 at 14:59
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    Describing this technique would add more value to this answer.
    – SAJ14SAJ
    Dec 6, 2013 at 22:39
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I beat the Fantasy fudge recipe quickly, because I don't want it to firm before I pour it in the pan. If you over cook,it will either scorch the EVAP milk or get hard and crumbly on cooling. The way to make it an easy peasy,smooth fudge, is stir on med, NOT high to boil and use unsweetened EVAP milk, NOT sweetened condensed milk. Finally, all guess work will be removed if you put a candy thermometer in the pan, while you stir to a boil. They are usually inexpensive at Wal-Mart or Amazon and you don't let them touch the bottom. It should come with a clip and you can position on side of pan as you whisk or stir. The magic temp for the Fantasy recipe is 234 degrees F.

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