# Help me fix my fudge!



## cmarchibald (Dec 18, 2010)

Good evening everybody.  My name is Cory and I am an American living in the Philippines.  This is our first Christmas in the Philippines and I got the grand idea of making a tray full of homemade classic Christmas goodies to give away as gifts to our neighbors and friends (along with a dandy bottle of champagne to celebrate the new year).

Christmas cookies I have down pat.....I'm using my own simple peanut butter cookie recipe (PB is a bit of a luxury here so this will be a special treat), and a wonderful recipe I found for soft sugar cookies in Christmas shapes with fun icing designs.  Also planning on some gingerbread cookies and conventional candy canes bought at the store (also a luxury item here).  I also really really want to make some fudge for everyone.

Now about 10 years ago I made my first ever batch of fudge from a recipe I found online called "Easy 5 minute fudge".  I didn't know diddly about fudge-making and this one seemed simple enough.  Turns out the fudge was FLAWLESS and a huge hit.  However, 8 moves and 4 computers later, like a dummy I lost that recipe.  Now I've spent the last couple years trying to recreate that magic and without success.

The other day I tried this recipe I found online (shown below), it had all the elements I remembered before so I thought it might work.  Only problem was you can't buy chocolate chips here (seriously, you can't, unless you shop in specialty stores in Manila).  So I was making this with baking chocolate instead....the kind you buy in big bars.

The fudge tasted great, but the texture was ALL wrong.  Instead of being smooth it was chewy.  My husband had no complaints and neither did the neighborhood kids I fed it to, but really I want to do better.  Please tell me what I did wrong and how I can make it right.  Give me a different recipe altogether if that's what I need to do.  I'm not afraid to make it totally from scratch, I have all the necessary components (I think) and I do have a candy thermometer.

A few important notes, please take this into consideration before making your suggestions:

1) I cannot get chocolate chips here, period.  So recipes that call for this cannot be used, or will require a substitute.  What I can get are bars of imported dutch bakers chocolate in varying flavors from unsweetened to belgian chocolate to special dark chocolate.

2) I cannot get miniature marshmallows here, but I can get jumbo marshmallows.  I also cannot get marshmallow fluff, I've seen a lot of fudge recipes that call for one of these items but it simply isn't available to me.

3) I cannot get any kind of nuts here except peanuts and cashews.  Seriously, no other kind of nut at all.

Here's the recipe I used that turned out chewy:

Foolproof Chocolate Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com

*             Ingredients*



                     3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
                     1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk
                     Dash salt
                     3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
                     1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 

*             Directions*



                     In heavy saucepan, over low heat, melt chocolate  chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt. Remove from heat; stir in  nuts (optional) and vanilla.                 
                     Spread evenly into wax-paper-lined 8- or 9-inch square pan. Chill 2 hours or until firm.                 
                     Life fudge out of pan and place onto cutting board;  peel off paper and cut into squares. Store covered in refrigerator.                 
 
Thank you in advance for any help you may be able to provide.

Cory in Tarlac City, Philippines


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## justplainbill (Dec 18, 2010)

Check out:
Science of Candy: Fudge Recipe


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## cmarchibald (Dec 18, 2010)

justplainbill said:


> Check out:
> Science of Candy: Fudge Recipe



Thanks!  That looks good, I'll give it a shot.  One question though.  I can't get half and half here either (wish I could, it's my favorite coffee creamer).  I can get "Heavy Whipping Cream", though.  Would that be a reasonable substitute?  If not....what?


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 18, 2010)

cmarchibald said:


> Thanks! That looks good, I'll give it a shot. One question though. I can't get half and half here either (wish I could, it's my favorite coffee creamer). I can get "Heavy Whipping Cream", though. Would that be a reasonable substitute? If not....what?


 
Can you get evaporated milk?  I think that would be the better choice.


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## justplainbill (Dec 18, 2010)

cmarchibald said:


> Thanks!  That looks good, I'll give it a shot.  One question though.  I can't get half and half here either (wish I could, it's my favorite coffee creamer).  I can get "Heavy Whipping Cream", though.  Would that be a reasonable substitute?  If not....what?


Half or 1/3 cream and the regular milk for the balance.


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## cmarchibald (Dec 18, 2010)

PrincessFiona60 said:


> Can you get evaporated milk?  I think that would be the better choice.


Yes I can...I'll try that.  Thanks!


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## Zhizara (Dec 18, 2010)

sweetened condensed milk, semi-sweet chocolate (1 bag), dash Vanilla, 1/2 bag chopped walnuts.

For it to be really special, toast the walnuts first to bring out the aroma and flavor pop.


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## cmarchibald (Dec 18, 2010)

Zhizara said:


> sweetened condensed milk, semi-sweet chocolate (1 bag), dash Vanilla, 1/2 bag chopped walnuts.
> 
> For it to be really special, toast the walnuts first to bring out the aroma and flavor pop.


Can't get chocolate chips of any variety here, only bar baker's chocolate which has a different consistency.  I made it with condensed milk the first time and it came out chewy as a result.  Also can't get walnuts here.


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## Zhizara (Dec 18, 2010)

cmarchibald said:


> Can't get chocolate chips of any variety here, only bar baker's chocolate which has a different consistency.  I made it with condensed milk the first time and it came out chewy as a result.  Also can't get walnuts here.



Can't you at least get a mix?


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## cmarchibald (Dec 18, 2010)

Zhizara said:


> Can't you at least get a mix?


You would be amazed what is NOT available here, seriously.


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## Zhizara (Dec 18, 2010)

cmarchibald said:


> You would be amazed what is NOT available here, seriously.



Life without fudge?  Are there any good Phillipine desserts?


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## cmarchibald (Dec 18, 2010)

Zhizara said:


> Life without fudge?  Are there any good Phillipine desserts?


I can get the ingredients to make fudge from scratch, just not the ingredients you suggested as I mentioned above (no chocolate chips, no nuts, etc).  I haven't ever made fudge completely from scratch before, which is why I asked for advice.

Filipinos love sweets and yes you can buy desserts here or bake a standard cake, but the whole point of my Christmas basket idea is to give them something special and homemade that they can't get every day themselves, especially something from my own culture to share with my new friends.


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## Jayashiangel (Dec 19, 2010)

Maybe these??

Sunday School Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Old-Fashioned Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Homemade Yummy Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Chocolate Sour Cream Fudge Recipe - Allrecipes.com


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## cmarchibald (Dec 19, 2010)

I forgot to mention here that it is nearly impossible where I am to buy fresh milk (and therefore, fresh cream).  I can get dairy products, but things like cheese, etc are all imported, and the milk I can buy is UHT or "Long Life" milk, frequently made with reconstituted milk powder.  Anyone know if this will have an impact?

I bought some evaporated milk and UHT cream today so I will give this a shot and report back with the results.


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## justplainbill (Dec 19, 2010)

Sounds like you're fighting an uphill battle.  High humidity is also not a plus.  In some countries evaporated milk is available in with a variety of  butterfat contents.  If you can, I suggest getting an evaporated milk with a higher butterfat content; 10% is about the highest I've seen.  To some extent you can compensate for lower butterfat milk by using more butter; but I would not be surprised if you also have a problem buying sweet (unsalted) butter.


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## cmarchibald (Dec 24, 2010)

justplainbill said:


> Check out:
> Science of Candy: Fudge Recipe


Hey Bill, just wanted to say thanks a MILLION for this....it worked perfectly.  Took a bit of tweaking since I couldn't get the half and half here but I ended up producing 5 batches of fantastic fudge and everybody in the neighborhood is going gaga over it.  Some of them have never had fudge at all and some (mostly foreigners living here) haven't had homemade fudge since they were a kid.  Christmas WIN!  

What I had to tweak:

Since I couldn't get half and half, I had to improvise.  Plain evaporated milk didn't work.  But evaporated milk with a bit of the heavy whipping cream I can get (about a 3:1 ratio) did the trick.

Maybe because I have a cheap candy thermometer, but my syrup never reached the recommended temp of 235-240 degrees.  Seemed to top out at 225 no matter what I did.  Thankfully I read the instructions about how to tell when you're at the softball stage, then tested continually until I got the desired results.

After cooling to 110 degrees and adding in the butter and vanilla, the mix didn't really change the way they said it would in the instructions.  The first time we kept stirring determined to wait until it lost its gloss.  I had to call my husband in to help me stir at some point as I have carpal tunnel and my hand was hurting.  Just at the moment I noted the mix was losing its gloss, suddenly the entire thing turned very hard and very, very dry and crumbly.  That batch was a loss.  With the next batch I stirred until it was starting to get hard to stir, and I noticed as I swept the spoon through that a teeny streak of lighter brown color was peeking out.  I stopped stirring at that point and poured it into the pan to set.  Perfect consistency!  I did that for the rest of the batches.

I'd like to try and make some with peanut butter.  Anybody have suggestions on how to do that?  Do I leave out the butter or use less of it?  Or can I just add peanut butter to the final mix without any adjustments?


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## justplainbill (Dec 24, 2010)

Sounds like you made a nice rich fudge.  
FELIZ NAVIDAD


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## PrincessFiona60 (Dec 24, 2010)

cmarchibald said:


> Hey Bill, just wanted to say thanks a MILLION for this....it worked perfectly. Took a bit of tweaking since I couldn't get the half and half here but I ended up producing 5 batches of fantastic fudge and everybody in the neighborhood is going gaga over it. Some of them have never had fudge at all and some (mostly foreigners living here) haven't had homemade fudge since they were a kid. Christmas WIN!


 
Yea!!!!!  

Maligayang Pasko!


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