I think I messed my fudge up.

[guineapig0121]

I dont think my fudge looks rigth. The fudge I make in my fooking class I was able to pour like a batter. This just looks weird. I mean I tasted it it tastes okay. I followed everything the recipe says. Here is the recipe I used

Dad's Favorite Fudge Recipe

Ingredients
3 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 lb semi-sweet chocolate, chips or block chocolate chopped up
7 oz. jar marshmallow cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
Method
1 Prepare everything in advance and have ready to go - chopped chocolate, chopped nuts,
best to have marshmallow cream already out of the
jar and in a bowl that you can easily scrape out with a rubber spatula.
Line a 13"x9"x2" baking pan with foil, butter the inside
(alternatively, line the pan with waxed paper).
2 In a 3-quart, thick-bottomed saucepan, bring sugar, butter, and milk to a rolling boil on medium heat,
stirring constantly once the mixture begins to bubble. Once the mixture reaches a boil, set your timer to 4 minutes.
You will want to remove the mixture from the heat once it reaches 234°F on a candy thermometer
(234°F at sea-level, adjust for altitude) which should take about 4 minutes. If you don't have a candy
thermometer, just go with the four minutes.
3 Remove from heat. Quickly stir in chocolate and marshmallow cream.
Once those have melted and are well mixed, stir in the vanilla and then the walnuts.
4 Pour into prepared pan.
5 Cool to room temperature before slicing (about 4 hours). You may want to chill
in the refrigerator to get it more firm.
Makes about 3 pounds of fudge.

After I put it in the pan and smoothd it out the top was like watery. Did I not stir it long enough?

 

[cmarchibald]

Hmmm....not sure, when I made mine and the first batch went screwy it was because we stirred it too long. I used a different recipe than you did, though, so I'm not sure if it was the ingredients or not. Fudge can be tricky, I thought I followed the recipe to the T when I messed mine up, too. But since the consistency is the key to fudge it's a bit of a dance to get it just right.

Did you use a candy thermometer? You may not have let it cook long enough.

 

[guineapig0121]

No I dont have one. We have an electric stove to. I really wish I knew what I did.

 

[chopper]

It doesn't say where you are from. Are you at sea level? I know that altitude can affect the temp. at which things happen with fudge. ??

 

[guineapig0121]

Im in Wi. I guess I will have to try again some time and this time get a candy thermometer. It is still cooling, so have not tasted it yet.

 

[cmarchibald]

Im in Wi. I guess I will have to try again some time and this time get a candy thermometer. It is still cooling, so have not tasted it yet.

The candy thermometer made all the difference for me. I've heard that not only altitude affects fudge but also humidity, and I'm in a very humid environment. The candy thermometer helped me keep on track with the recipe. Did you check out that link I posted in your other thread? I got some really great advice on this forum, I don't think I could've made my fudge without it.

 

[chopper]

Im in Wi. I guess I will have to try again some time and this time get a candy thermometer. It is still cooling, so have not tasted it yet.

\\I bet you have someone that would eat it anyway. Fudge does not have to be just right. I remember having lots of fun as a kid with the batches tha were not quite right. My mom would say something like "we are having spoon fudge tonight."

 

[cmarchibald]

\\I bet you have someone that would eat it anyway. Fudge does not have to be just right. I remember having lots of fun as a kid with the batches tha were not quite right. My mom would say something like "we are having spoon fudge tonight."

My first batch of fudge (before I posted here asking for help) came out really chewy. Still tasted great but the consistency was totally wrong. We gave it away to neighborhood children who were coming to sing us Christmas carols every night. They thought they won the lottery...."OMG the foreigner gave us FREE CHOCOLATE!"

 

[cmarchibald]

guineapig, here's the thread where I asked for help with my fudge and got some great advice. Hope it helps!

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/help-me-fix-my-fudge-69048.html

 

[guineapig0121]

Maybe my recipe didn't give me enough directions. With fude am I supposed to stir it the whole entire time? I am going to get a candy thermometer. What type of spoon should I use?

 

[cmarchibald]

Maybe my recipe didn't give me enough directions. With fude am I supposed to stir it the whole entire time? I am going to get a candy thermometer. What type of spoon should I use?

I followed the directions on the Science of Candy website that someone (I think justplainbill?) gave me here and they were extremely detailed....printed the instructions were more than 2 pages long! But I still messed up my first batch so, don't feel bad.

Depends on the ingredients you use and which recipe you're following about how much you should stir it. The instructions I followed told me to stop stirring when it started to boil and to leave it alone until it reached a certain temp or "the softball stage". Then I had to remove it from the heat and let it cool to a certain temp, and THEN start stirring with the final ingredients. It takes longer that way but I can vouch that the from-scratch method I got off that website worked perfectly.

Edit: Forgot to add....I used a wooden spoon. You'll need a pastry brush also if you don't have one for "washing down the sides" of the pan. I know it sounds like a lot of work but after you do it the first couple times it's actually super easy and soooooo worth the effort!

Now we need to finish the pineapple upside down cake I made the other day because all this chatter has made me hungry for fudge!

 

[garlicjosh]

Yeah, making fudge without a candy thermometer tends to never go right.
For fudge you are looking to hit softball stage which if my memory serves me right is about 230....234! (looked it up)

My family recipe for old fashioned fudge has you stir at the beginning while the sugar dissolves into the mix, and then you only stir occasionally while waiting to reach temp.
you then stir at the very end until glossy.
but yeah, a basting brush, and a candy thermometer tend to be two very important things during candy making.
both can be picked up for pretty cheap.

 

[guineapig0121]

Cmarchibald and Garlicjosh what is the recipe do you normally use?

 

[garlicjosh]

Cmarchibald and Garlicjosh what is the recipe do you normally use?

I'm not allowed to share mine.
Sorry.

 

[guineapig0121]

Awe well ... fudge that's okay.

 

[cmarchibald]

Cmarchibald and Garlicjosh what is the recipe do you normally use?

I posted it here:

guineapig, here's the thread where I asked for help with my fudge and got some great advice. Hope it helps!

http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f17/help-me-fix-my-fudge-69048.html

But here is the direct link so you don't have to dig for it:

Science of Candy: Fudge Recipe

Good luck!

 

[cmarchibald]

guineapig, be sure you read ALL of the instructions on that link I just gave you. There are some parts that you might have to click a link to get more detailed instructions. You definitely want to read the instructions about how to tell when you're at the softball stage, because your candy thermometer may not line up exactly with what the instructions say.

Here's what happened with mine (also in that thread I gave you above), it might give you some ideas what to look out for when making yours.

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?