Fudge making tips

Foxxy

Foxxy

Foxxy

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I'm about to embark on making white chocolate fudge for the first time.

Now the ingredients have cost me an arm, a leg and a couple of fingers.. So I dont really want to mess it up. The end goal is to give friends and family homemade fudge for Christmas in their hampers :)

Now this is the first run, so I'd like to make as few mistakes as possible.

Has anyone got any generic tips? No matter how small or obvious they may seem please

Thanks
 
You have inspired me to do the same with chocolates for people this year. Nice one!

I have never made fudge before though I'm afraid so I can't offer any advice...

One thought though, what are you going to do about a container?
 
Im glad I could help.

I was planning on buying some of those plastic/cellofane bags where you flip the top over and seal with a sticker, or seal by tying ribbon round the throat of the bag.
 
First thing that comes to mind is fudge ingredients are cheap so why did it cost so much? I'd make a small batch to start with until you know how it works out.

I used to make it with my Gran but I don't think I could now without looking up a recipe. We never used jam / sugar thermometers (but it might not be a bad idea). My Gran could tell just by the feel and look of it if it was ready but she did teach me to to cool some to test. You want 'soft ball' for fudge, basically drop some into a glass of water and it should form a soft ball that you can flatten cleanly.

You want a 'good heavy pan' for sugar work, you need even heat. Cleaning the pan seems hard unless you know to just boil water in it before cleaning to remove most of the sugar.

Almost forgot, you need to beat the mix after it is ready to stop it going gritty. I hated this bit since it is hard on the arms.
 
600g Caster sugar £1.50
225g Liquid Glucose 2 tubes at £1.50 each
225g Unsalted butter, diced £1
550g Whipping cream £1.70 for 2
50g Vanilla paste £4 (for a whole jar)
500g White chocolate £3.50
£12. I think thats a lot for an easy c0ck up lol

Thanks for the heads up :) I'm going to give it a whirl tonight

DcD - Container wise, I'm going for: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290637151...eName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
 
Yeah my Gran never used most of that stuff so I can see it would cost more. Was just butter, sugar, condensed milk (I think), golden syrup (maybe again I'd need to check the recipe book) and some vanilla extract.

Are you mixing the chocolate in or coating with it? At least you'll not waste it if the base fudge doesn't work if coating.
 
When I used to make fudge it was just sugar, butter and cream or sugar, butter and condensed milk.

The secret is get it up to soft ball point and beat it as it cools. The sugar starts to crystalise and you're looking to break up the crystals by beating it. As the temperature comes down it goes from a smooth shiny texture to a grainy matte sheen. It's then ready to pour out.

Question: do you really want to make 2kg of fudge in one go? That's quite a lot.

Don't heat the chocolate with the sugar, because it'll split the chocolate and it won't have a good texture. You add it at the end. Just be aware that it suddenly drops the temperature and will rapidly cool the fudge mixture past that sweet spot you're looking for where the texture changes. Just something to watch out for :)

Some tips: next time use a recipe without the glucose syrup and use granulated sugar instead of caster - it's a lot cheaper :)
 
I didnt actually add all the ingredients up...2kg...wow.. And yes, thats too much, i cant manage to eat it all.

Had a bit of a disaster with it, i didnt realise it would take like an hour to get to 120'c, then while boiling it spilt over the pan a bit. Then, when i stirred in the choc the temperature caused the butter to split from the mix :-(

Thank you for the heads up guys :-)

Going to half the ingredients and make rum and raisin tomorrow
 
I love fudge - but have never been able to make it, Never used condensed mlk, maybe that's the problem? Always end up tasting fine, but with a texture like a sugarcube.
 
I didnt used condensed milk in mine and was fine, so dont think its that. Although im no expert as you can see from above :-)

Try again, im sure it will turn out better
 
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