Fudge

Assorted fudges

Fudge originated in the US during the late 19th century.[1] Recipes were printed in many periodicals and advertisements during the 1880s.[1] Its popularity was partly due to the decreasing cost of refined white sugar, and partly due to the ability to make it at home without special equipment. Its inexpensive, unrefined qualities made it popular among people looking for a candy alternative that fell in between expensive, fancy candies and the cheapest sweets.[1]

Fudge shops in tourist places such as Mackinac Island in Michigan began opening during the 1880s.[1] In a letter written in 1921 by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, she recounts the purchasing of a box of fudge for 40 cents a pound in 1886 in Baltimore, Maryland.[2]

Fudge-making was popular at women's colleges.[1] A student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, claimed to have introduced it there in 1888 by selling her own 30 lb (14 kg) batch.[3][4] The diary of another student mentions making "fudges" in 1892.[5] An 1893 letter from another Vassar College student describes "fudges" as containing sugar, chocolate, milk and butter.[6] A recipe for "Fudges at Vassar" was printed in The Sun in 1895.[7] Despite describing the confections as "Vassar chocolates", the recipe given comprises sugar, milk, butter and vanilla extract. Wellesley College and Smith College have their own versions of a fudge recipe dating from the late 19th or early 20th century.[8]

Fudge being cooled and shaped on a marble slab

In forming a fondant, it is not easy to keep all vibrations and seed crystals from causing rapid crystallization into large crystals. Consequently, milkfat and corn syrup are often added. Corn syrup contains glucose, fructose (monosaccharides), and maltose (disaccharide). These sugars interact with sucrose molecules. They help prevent premature crystallization by inhibiting sucrose crystal contact. The fat also helps inhibit rapid crystallization. Controlling the crystallization of the supersaturated sugar solution is the key to making smooth fudge. Initiation of crystals before the desired time will result in fudge with fewer, larger sugar grains. The final texture would then be grainy, a quality normally indicative of low-quality fudge.

One of the most important attributes of fudge is its texture. The end-point temperature separates hard caramel from fudge. The higher the peak temperature, the more sugar is dissolved and the more water is evaporated, resulting in a higher sugar-to-water ratio. Before the availability of cheap and accurate thermometers, cooks would use the ice water test (aka, the cold water test) to determine the saturation of the confection. Fudge is made at the "soft ball" stage, which varies by altitude and ambient humidity from 235 °F (113 °C) to 240 °F (116 °C). Butter is added, and then the fudge is cooled and beaten until it is thick and small sugar crystals have formed.[1] The warm fudge is sometimes poured onto a marble slab to be cooled and shaped.[9]

Fudge-making evolved a variety of flavors and additives. The favored flavors vary by place. In the US, chocolate is a default, with peanut butter and maple popular alternatives to it; in the UK, rum and raisin, clotted cream and toffee are popular.[1]

When it is made from brown sugar, it is called penuche.[1] This type of fudge is typically found in New England and the Southern United States. Pralines include nuts but not usually chocolate. Scots tablet is a Scottish confection with similar ingredients.[1]

"Hot fudge" sauce in the United States and Canada is a chocolate product often used as a topping for ice cream in a heated form, particularly sundaes and parfaits. It may also occasionally be used as a topping for s'mores. The butter in typical fudge is replaced with heavy cream, resulting in a thick, pourable chocolate sauce while hot, becoming more viscous as the sauce cools. Commercial syrups (flavored with natural or artificial flavorings) are generally thinner and formulated to be usable at room temperature. One also encounters "hot caramel" or "hot butterscotch" but these commercial formulations are not very similar to fudge or hot fudge sauce.

• Barfi – an Indian type of fudge made from cooking milk and sugar into fudge consistency; additions include coconut, carrot, or nuts
• Clotted cream – an ingredient used to make traditional hand-made fudge that is frequently used in the UK and Ireland.
• Condensed milk
• Fudge cookie
• Knäck – a Swedish toffee confection
• Krówki – Polish confection similar to fudge
• Toffee

• Science of candy: Fudge, Exploratorium