Homemade fudge is a favorite food to gift for the holidays, as it's something that most people recognize as a labor of love. It takes time and patience, and one small error can ruin the whole effort. Anyone can make mistakes making homemade fudge, but luckily there's usually a fix that will get it back on the track towards perfection. If you discover that your mixture is grainy, some quick thinking will save the entire batch.
Pour the fudge back into your pan, and add about a cup of water to it, along with a tablespoon or two of evaporated milk, whipping cream, or whatever cream you're using. Some people skip the water and just add cream to the mixture to reheat. Start cooking it at a lower temperature, and make sure it is smooth before bringing it back up to the required 234 to 240 degrees.
While the solution to fix grainy fudge is simple, there are steps you can take -- and even ingredients you can add -- that will help ensure your fudge stays smooth during the whole fudge-making process.
When making fudge, our goal is to change the sugar into a smoother, softer, and more even texture. The most common reason for graininess is because you began beating or stirring it while the fudge was still cooling. It's best to wait until it's cooled to somewhere around 110 to 113 degrees to begin stirring.
When you finally begin mixing the fudge, be careful not to splash it on the sides of the saucepan, which can cause the sugar to recrystallize. To counteract this, cover the pan for a couple of minutes after the fudge begins to boil, causing steam to form to help rinse the chocolate from the sides. Or, you can swirl instead of stir, and use something like a wet brush or paper towel to push the sugar along the inside of the pan back down into the mixture. When your fudge is ready to pour, don't scrape the pan too thoroughly, or you'll add any grain bits from the pan sides to your fudge.
Lastly, you could always add a tiny amount of an additional ingredient that will help prevent crystals from forming. This could be a teaspoon of cream of tartar, which helps break up the sucrose, or more commonly, adding corn syrup, which uses glucose to stop the sucrose in the fudge from crystallizing. Or, avoid dealing with grainy fudge at all. By simply using condensed milk, you cut out all the stirring and waiting, and you still have a delicious fudge recipe.
To fix oily, hard or grainy fudge, scoop the fudge back into a pot with about a cup of water. Cook it over low heat until the fudge dissolves. Then bring the fudge back up to the temperature specified in the recipe and follow the remaining steps. The flavor may be slightly diluted, but the texture will be improved.
The solution? A fudge do-over. Even though it set up properly, I threw it back into a saucepan with about 1 1/2 cups of water and gently heated the mixture to dissolve the fudge into the water. From there, I pretty much re-did the whole cooking process.
By cooling the fudge prior to agitation (like in the recipes included in this article), on the other hand, you'll get much smaller, finer sugar crystals and a finished fudge with a smooth, creamy texture. Cool the mixture until it reads 120° F on the thermometer—no stirring. This can take 1 to 1/2 hours.
OPTION 1) Depending on how runny it is, you can either use it as a frosting for cakes, or a sauce for ice-cream. OPTION 2) Freeze it overnight. Cut it into squares. Cover each square thickly in melted chocolate, ensuring no part of the fudge is exposed.
How do you fix fudge that is too soft? Bring the fudge back to a boil with 1–2 US tbsp (15–30 ml) of cream. If your fudge is soft or runny, it probably didn't come up to a high enough temperature while it was cooking. Put it back into the saucepan and add 1–2 US tbsp (15–30 ml) of 35% fat whipping cream.
It sounds like your fudge simply wasn't heated enough. ... If it's overcooked (resulting in grainy fudge) or undercooked (resulting in poor setting) all you really need to do is add a bit of cream, reheat the fudge to the target temperature, and let it set again.
Another key part of a successful fudge texture is when you stir the mixture. Stirring the sugar and milk during the initial stages of cooking allows the sugar to dissolve. However, once the mixture comes to a boil, it's time to put the spoon down.
In principle for traditional fudge you could re-heat it by adding more liquid so that the sugars dissolve. You would then need to evaporate the excess liquid (but don't exceed the soft-ball stage at 237 F/114 C) to recreate your supersaturated solution.
Never stir the mixture during cooking or sugar could crystallize again. The mixture may seize and become grainy. Use a candy thermometer or conduct a cold water test to check if the fudge is done.
The fudge is then beaten as this makes the fudge slightly crumbly rather than chewy. Beating the mixture encourages the formation of small sugar crystals, which leads to the crumbly texture. The crystals may not be noticeable in themselves but the fudge mixture will thicken and turn from shiny to matte in appearance.
Harden the fudge: Place your container or tins in the fridge for 2 hours, which is the time it takes for the fudge to set. Once it's hardened, cut the fudge into 12 pieces or remove it from the muffin tins. Store in the fridge or the freezer (if you don't devour it right away).
The ratio of chocolate to condensed milk needs to be just right, otherwise you might end up with fudge that is too soft or too hard. Do not freeze the fudge to set it. Best way is to just be patient for a couple hours and set it in the fridge. If your fudge hasn't set, then you've gone wrong somewhere else.
Brush the sides of the pan with a wet brush at the beginning of cooking to dissolve sugar crystals stuck to the sides. Never stir the mixture during cooking or sugar could crystallize again. The mixture may seize and become grainy. Use a candy thermometer or conduct a cold water test to check if the fudge is done.
Be sure to serve warm, and, when reheating, reheat only the amount of sauce you intend to use; repeated heating and chilling can make the sauce grainy.
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