fudge

Fudge.

Fudge is a type of candy, usually extremely rich and flavored with cocoa. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at 240°F or 115°C, and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency.

Origins

American folk lore has it that fudge was invented in the United States more than 100 years ago.^{[citation needed]} The exact origin is disputed, but most stories claim^{[attribution needed]} that the first batch of fudge resulted from a bungled ("fudged") batch of caramels made on February 14, 1886—hence the name "fudge."

One of the first documentations of fudge is found in a letter written by Laura Elizabeth Simmonds (friend of Spally), an ex-student at Malmesbury School in Malmesbury, Wiltshire. She wrote that her schoolmate's cousin made fudge in Baltimore, Maryland in 1886 and sold it for 40 cents a pound. Miss Hartridge got hold of the fudge recipe, and in 1888, made 30 pounds (14 kg) of this delicious fudge for the Vassar Senior Auction.

Word of this popular confection spread to other women's colleges. For example, Wellesley and Smith have their own versions of this fudge recipe.

Geographical consumption patterns

Logo of fudgemaker in Mackinaw City, Michigan (near Mackinac Island)

Mackinac Island and other tourist cities in Northern Michigan are famed for making slab fudge. Slab fudge is made by pouring liquid ingredients onto large marble slabs for hand working. Fudge is the island's primary industry,^{[citation needed]} and about 10,000 pounds of the creamy confection are sold every day. The tourists there are referred to as "fudgies". Mackinac Island holds a "Fudge Festival" on the fourth week of August.

In the UK traditional English fudge has become synonymous with Devon, Cornwall, and sometimes Dorset and is traditionally made in a basic range.

American fudge

"Fudge" in the U.S. is usually understood to be chocolate. In fact, the word fudge is used on packaging of cakes and brownies with "extra" chocolate flavoring or with fluid chocolate in the mixture. Other non-chocolate flavors of fudge are sold in the U.S., especially peanut butter and penuche (sometimes referred to as original fudge), but these are designated by their flavor while the plain word, fudge, is understood to refer to chocolate flavored fudge. Penuche is most commonly seen in New England and is most similar to the original recipes.

Chemistry

Fudge is a drier variant of fondant.

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

One of the most important parts of any candy is its texture. The temperature is what separates hard caramel from fudge. The higher the peak temperature, the more sugar is dissolved, 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 to determine the saturation of the candy. Fudge is made at the "soft ball" stage which varies by altitude and ambient humidity from 235-240 °F or 113-116 °C.

Some recipes call for making fudge with prepared marshmallows as the sweetener. This allows the finished confection to use the structure of the marshmallow for support instead of relying on the crystallization of the sucrose.

References

Fudge origin

• Jones, Charlotte Foltz (1991). Mistakes That Worked. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-26246-9. 

See also

• Praline - a confection using similar flavors as original fudge
• Scots tablet - Scottish confection with similar recipe

External links

Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on

Fudge

• Science of candy: Fudge

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