Fudge Recipes

Fudge recipes are relatively a recent American invention. Fudge only date back to the late 1880s. Original fudge was made by boiling sugar in milk to the soft-ball stage and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquired a smooth, creamy texture. Most stories about how fudge came about claim that the first batch resulted from an accident with a botched batch of caramels when the sugar was allowed to recrystalize.

The original recipes for fudge were famously delicate. For perfect fudge, you had to be precise with your measuring and cooking time. Also, you had to constantly stir the fudge.

The recipes look simple. All you have to do is just heat a mixture of sugar, butter and milk or cream to the soft-ball stage. Then beat it to a smooth, creamy consistency while it cools. The problem is that it is easy to undercook or overcook a batch. You need a candy thermometer to make sure you reach that precise temperature. And so you do not end up with “crystallized” fudge, you must stir your fudge the sufficient amount of time. No cutting corners.

As time has gone on, people have developed “foolproof” recipes for fudge for the home cook. Those recipes include corn syrup, which prevents crystallization and produces smooth fudge. Later recipes substituted sweetened condensed milk, marshmallow creme, or other ingredients for the milk/cream. They were better guarantees that the fudge texture would be perfect. Of course, they didn’t guarantee the same creamy taste as the original recipe.

My mother made fudge the original way. It was the best-tasting fudge ever. For myself, I enjoy her original fudge over the ones with marshmallow cream and sweetened condensed milk.

This chart shows different temperatures and what happens to your candy when it reaches that temperature.

We hope you enjoy the recipes we have included here.

Hang in there - we are still adding fudge recipes!