Recipe for Butter Fudge, puhleeeesseee

I googled "old-fashioned fudge" and came up with this from... somewhere?!?

3 c sugar
1 1/4 c milk
1/4 c light corn syrup
4 T butter

Everything into sauce pan. Recipe said no stirring, but I mixed things up a bit before putting on burner. Once it started to simmer, ya have to go really LOW or it'll start climbing up sides of pan. As for no stirring... next time will at least slosh it around a bit with a rubber spatula. There were bits of stuff stuck to bottom of pan with NO stirring... not scorched, but might have been if another 10 minutes of cooking was needed. It EASILY took an hour for candy thermometer to go from 200-ish to 235. AT that point, off heat and cool to 120... took maybe half an hour. Then recipe said beat until it loses its gloss. I lasted about 3 mintues with a sturdy rubber spatula and thought my arm was gonna FALL OFF!! As I said, tranferred to bowl and used hand mixer... maybe 5 minutes or so. Then into parchment lined loaf pan... coulda gone with brownie pan, I guess.

This is the FIRST attempt at fudge... will definitely do it again!

The Giada fudge actually is pretty good... smooth, creamy and quick. If/when I do it again, will leave out cinnamon and put in some instant coffe for a mocha thing.

Thanks!

You want to taste the best fudge ever?
Try our own AnnT's fudge recipes!!!
My fav is the maple cream....yet she has a few flavors to choose from.
You won't be sorry :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Ann T's Maple Cream Fudge

"It's something you absolutely CANNOT rush... unless you want LAVA flowing all over your stove top..."

A little smear of butter around the rim of the post helps to prevent boil overs.

"... those last 10-15 degrees took forever. Guessing temp doesn't continue above boiling until the water from milk and butter is pretty much cooked out."

I think you guessed right..

"...gloss was lost and stuff was much lighter in color... air beaten in??"

More likely, crystallization taking place.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: What is Fudge?

Was it raining the day you were making fudge? I have found that high humidity means much longer cooking times for making candy. On a dry day, the time can be as little as one-fourth of what it would be on a humid day.

Do you have a themometer that has an alarm to let you know when you have reach the desired temp?

Lars

Wasn't rainy/humid at all. Used thermometer that clips onto side of pot. But now that you mention "alarm"... somewhere in my stash of gadgets I have something that I bought at a yard sale. Wanna say it's from Williams Sonoma or Brookstone... either way, figured it cost a LOT more than the $1-2 I spent on it... looked brand-new & never used. Will have to dig it up for next time.

When I made peanut brittle, THAT took a LONG time getting to temp. My theory is that pretty much all of the h2o has to SLOWLY be cooked away?!?

Debora, it could be that she wasn't wanting to do a maple fudge, and wanted a recipe that she wouldn't have to stray too far from. You are a valued member of this forum, and I had actually bookmarked Ann's recipe after seeing your suggestion.

Thanks Deb.

The maple fudge recipe can be adapted to a plain vanilla fudge. Leave out the maple syrup and increase the cream slightly. Also add a little more pure vanilla.

Like Deb mentioned and I mentioned in the other thread, there is no reason that I can see for fudge taking an hour to reach the softball stage. Something is wrong.

Also, I've seen some recipes that say not to stir or your fudge will be grainy or sugary. I think that is an old wives tale. I always stir my fudge and it turns out smooth and creamy. The same goes for weather. Weather might effect the cooking time of the fudge, but it doesn't affect the quality. You just have to be inexperienced enough to adjust. Even the type of butter and cream used will cause variation in cooking times.

"A little smear of butter around the rim of the post..."

That should be "around the rim of the POT". Smearing butter on a post makes your computer screen messy.

Jim

Jimster writes "That should be "around the rim of the POT". Smearing butter on a post makes your computer screen messy."
Now that made me giggle :)

Thank you Ynnej and Ann, I appreciate the responses.

I apologize for my "outburst", I'm not feeling well and I acted out.

We all have those days! Sending good thoughts to you, deborah. Jimster, that is hilarious! Reminds me of the commercial where the ink cartridge of a printer isn't working. The boss says "just shake it a little," and the employee picks up the entire printer and shakes it! Haha!

Many of us have been hanging around these forums for a lot of years and have book marked, copied and used and passed on Ann's recipes.
Because we don't reply and thank you doesn't mean we didn't quietly nod our head and say..."yep!!"
Hope you are feeling better....I have a pot of soup on the stove....I'll send you some....cyberly!! LOL!
Linda C

I guess this thread gave me a craving for homemade fudge. Made a batch this afternoon.

Deb, I hope you are feeling better. If you lived closer I'd bring you some fudge.

The ingredients - white sugar, brown sugar, butter, a little white corn syrup instead of maple syrup, a cup of heavy cream and a pinch of salt.

After the mixture came to a boil, it took exactly 12 minutes to reach the softball stage. No where near an hour.

I didn't make note of the time it took for the mixture to reach boil stage, but it was definitely less than 10 minutes. Probably closer to seven over medium heat.

If you don't like beating fudge, you can get the same results by letting the mixture cool for 10 minutes. Reduces the beating/stirring time substantially. Add vanilla (if you are adding dark or white chocolate, do it now) and beat until the mixture starts to dull. Add nuts if using and pour immediately into a butter dish. Let cool.

SOOO, I went a little "mad scientist" after success with the "butter fudge". Decided I could sub pure maple syrup for the corn syrup and just go for it. After it reached soft-ball temp, let it cool, transferred to bowl an took a hand mixer to it. When it looked like the "gloss" was starting to go, decided to scrape down bowl... and it INSTANTLY went semi-solid?!? I kept at it with mixer till I had a bowlful of soft crumbles... that I dumped into glass loaf pan... what I used for successful fudge. Not willing to call it a total loss, gave it a few 30 second spins in microwave to soften it up and pressed down into container. Will have to wait and see what the result will be??

And deborah ps... will keep the site you posted in mind.

Oh my, how lovely does that fudge look? I could eat a pan by myself...I know I can, I've done it (sheepish grin).
Sure wish I felt better,(pneumonia)I'd be in the kitchen whipping some up myself!

Ksleiverd, I just leave my fudge in the same pan as I cooked in, because I do let it cool down prior to mixing it.. I've tried doing it right away, but my arm gets too tired :)
I've had mine go solid really fast too, I think I let it cool too much prior to mixing?
There is a fine line from losing some of the gloss, getting it into the pan and having it turn into a crumbly buttery log :)

Ann T' has some of the most stunning photos of her fudge...I mean who else would have this sitting on their counter?

Here is a link that might be useful: Ann T's Fudge Valentine gifts

I trnasferred to bowl so I could use hand mixer... pot was non-stick and woulda been toast from metal beaters. And going to "crumbly" mess... that's exactly what happened... in a heart beat?? Being frugal (cheap, some say), just couldn't see tossing a mistake. I chunked up the crumbly stuff, added some milk and melted back down. NOT being a candy pro... by ANY MEANS... didn't know if I should bring back up to 235 degrees, so stopped at 230. Used hand mixer on it and dumped back into pyrex loaf pan... tasted great, smooth and creamy. BUT after sitting on counter and then iin fridge... REALLY soft?!? What the H, I'll dump it back into pot a third time... could be the charm??

Eat it with a spoon.

Deborah, I'm sorry to hear about the pneumonia. Sending best wishes of a quick recovery to you.

Thank you for the well wishes my KT friends :D

Result are actually not bad?!? Not quite as smooth as I'd like... TEENSY bit grainy. A little softer than other batch.

Deb, I hope we are your "CF Friends". :-)