Fudge

"Hot fudge" redirects here. For the television series, see Hot Fudge. For other uses, see Fudge (disambiguation).

Fudge

Fruit fudge
Type	Confectionery
Place of origin	United States
Serving temperature	Room temperature
Main ingredients	Sugar, butter, milk
Cookbook: Fudge   Media: Fudge

Fudge is a confection made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk. It has its origins in the 19th century United States, and became popular in American women's colleges late in the century. Fudge can come in a variety of flavorings depending on the region or country it was made; popular flavors include fruit, nut, chocolate, and caramel. Fudge is often bought as a gift from a gift shop in tourist areas and attractions.

History

In the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, the term fudge, used as an expression of annoyance is traced to the 18th century. This use is described as likely stemming from the earlier "fadge", meaning "to fit".^[1]

"Chocolate caramels"—confections made by boiling milk, brown sugar, chocolate, and butter—were popular in the United States during 1860s and 1870s. These had ingredient ratios and technique close to the modern fudge, and are characterised as a type of fudge by food writer Stella Parks. One of these recipes cited by Parks was published in 1874 in the American agricultural magazine The Cultivator and Country Gentleman, crediting a "Baltimore friend" for "Caramel":^[2]

Six ounces of Baker's chocolate; 1 ½ lbs. of brown sugar; ½ lb. butter; 1 cup of milk or cream. Boil 20 minutes; after it begins to boil stirring all the time; pour in pie plates. This quantity makes four plates.^[a]

— The Cultivator and Country Gentleman, Vol. 39^[3]

Unlike modern fudge, this fudge was stirred consistently, producing a crumbly texture as the syrup crystallized. Another similar recipe appeared in the The Cultivator and Country Gentleman at the end of the decade, again drawing an association with Baltimore. When this confection began to be called fudge is difficult to identify, given the widespread use of fudge in the colloquial sense during the 19th century.^[2] By the 1880s and 1890s, mentions of and recipes for fudge appeared widely in American periodicals and advertisements, arriving as prices for sugar and chocolate became increasingly cheap. This early fudge was cut into squares and diamonds and was marketed as a chaste, wholesome treat, contrasting with perceptions of contemporary confections such as luxury bonbons and penny candy. Other than chocolate, early fudge were often flavored with butterscotch, coconut, maple sugar, and vanilla.^[4]

The process by which fudge went from crumbly to smooth confection is likewise not firmly known, though Parks posits that the transition can be explained as a consequence of "sheer neglect", as fudge was left to cook over lower temperatures without stirring and the sugar crystals did not crystallize.^[2]

Fudge at women's colleges

"College girls" making fudge in a 1910 advertisement for corn syrup

Making fudge was a popular activity at women's colleges, especially Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.^[4] In a letter written by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge, a student at Vassar College, she recounts the purchase of a box of fudge, which was sold for 40 cents a pound in 1886 in Baltimore, Maryland.^[5] She also claimed to have given fudge its “real introduction” to Vassar College in 1888 by selling her own 30 lb (14 kg) batch.^[6][7] The diary of student Elma Martin mentions making "fudges" in 1892.^[8] An 1893 letter from a Vassar College student Adelaide Mansfield describes "fudges" as containing sugar, fruit, chocolate, milk, and butter.^[9]

A recipe for "Fudges at Vassar" was printed in The Sun in 1894.^[10] Despite describing the confections as "Vassar chocolates", the recipe given comprises sugar, milk, butter, and vanilla extract. Wellesley College and Smith College have their own versions of a fudge recipe dating from the late 19th or early 20th century.

Production

Texture

Assorted fudges

In texture, fudge falls between fondant icing and hard caramels.^[4] In forming a fondant, it is not easy to keep all vibrations and seed crystals from causing rapid crystallization into large crystals. Consequently, milkfat and corn syrup are often added to prevent premature crystallization. Corn syrup contains glucose, fructose (monosaccharides), and maltose (disaccharide). These sugars interact with sucrose molecules, inhibiting crystal contact to prevent premature crystallization. The added milkfat also helps to prevent rapid crystallization.

Controlling the crystallization of the supersaturated sugar solution is the key to making smooth fudge. Initiating crystals before the desired time will result in fudge with fewer, larger sugar grains. The final texture would then be grainy, a quality that is normally indicative of lower quality fudge.^[11]

Parks suggests a smoother product can be acquired by opting for kneading the fudge rather than stirring it.^[2]

Cooling and later stages

It is the endpoint temperature that separates hard caramel from fudge. The higher the peak temperature, the more sugar is dissolved and the more water evaporates, resulting in a higher ratio of sugar to water. Before the availability of cheap and accurate thermometers, cooks would use the ice-water (or cold water) test to determine the saturation of the confection. Fudge is made at the "soft ball" stage, which varies by altitude and ambient humidity from 235 °F (113 °C) to 240 °F (116 °C). Butter is then added to the mixture and the fudge is cooled and beaten until it is thick and small sugar crystals have formed.^[4] The warm fudge is sometimes poured onto a marble slab to be cooled and shaped.^[12]

Flavor

Brown sugar gives fudge an acidic flavor.^[2]

Varieties

Fudge-making has evolved a variety of flavors and additives. Flavors vary by location: in the United States, chocolate is a default flavor, with peanut butter and maple as alternatives. When it is made from brown sugar, it is called penuche^[4] and is typically found in New England and the Southern States.

In the UK, rum-and-raisin, clotted cream and salted-caramel are popular flavours.^[4] Fudge shares similarities with tablet, a confection with similar ingredients but a grainy, brittle texture.

• 
  Chocolate
• 
  Peanut butter maple
• 
  Rum raisin

Hot fudge

Hot fudge sauce is a chocolate product often used in the United States and Canada as a topping for ice cream in a heated form, particularly sundaes, parfaits and occasionally s'mores.^[13] The butter in typical fudge is replaced with heavy cream, resulting in a thick chocolate sauce that is pourable while hot and becomes denser as the sauce cools. Commercial hot fudge sauce syrups (flavored with either natural or artificial flavorings) are generally thinner and formulated to be usable at room temperature.^[14]

See also

• Food portal

• Barfi – a South Asian mithai made by cooking milk and sugar into the consistency of fudge
• Condensed milk – Milk from which water has been removed and sugar added
• Fudge cookie
• Knäck – a Swedish toffee confection
• Krówki – Polish confection similar to fudge
• Penuche - a fudge-like confection made with brown sugar, butter and milk
• Praline (nut confection) – Confection made with nuts
• Tablet (confectionery) a Scottish confectionery
• Toffee – Confection made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter and flour

Notes

1. In metric: 170g of Baker's chocolate; 680g of brown sugar; 227g of butter; 1 cup of milk or cream.

References

1. Cresswell 2021, Fudge.
2. Parks 2017, pp. 71–72.
3. Baltimore Friend 1874, p. p. 151.
4. Stavely & Fitzgerald 2015, pp. 287–288.
5. Hatala, Greg (2014-01-14). "Made in Jersey: Fudge is a chocolate confection with a Plainfield connection". NJ Advance. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
6. Benning, Lee Edwards (1993) [1990]. Oh Fudge!: A Celebration of America's Favorite Candy. New York: Owl Books. pp. 3–18. ISBN 0-8050-2546-4.
7. Quinion, Michael. "Fudge". World Wide Words. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
8. Martin, Elma (22 December 1892). "Diary". Vassar College Digital Library. Poughkeepsie, New York, New York. p. 33. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
9. Mansfield, Adelaide (12 November 1893). "Letter". Vassar College Digital Library. Poughkeepsie, New York, USA. p. 6. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
10. "Fudges at Vassar". The Sun. New York, New York, USA. 23 December 1894. p. 1, col. 4. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
11. "The Nibble: Origin Of Fudge - History Of Fudge". www.thenibble.com. Retrieved 2021-08-30.
12. Reed, Anne (13 April 2016). "Tradition lives at Gulf Coast Fudge Co., North Fort Myers". news-press.com. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
13. "Definition of HOT FUDGE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
14. "Hot Fudge Sundae | Traditional Dessert From Los Angeles | TasteAtlas". www.tasteatlas.com. Retrieved 2023-03-02.

Sources

• Cresswell, Julia (2021). Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-191-90520-9.
• Stavely, Keith; Fitzgerald, Kathleen (2015). "Fudge". In Goldstein, Darra (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-31339-6.
• Jones, Charlotte Foltz (1991). Mistakes That Worked. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-26246-9.
• Parks, Stella (2017). BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts. New York & London: W.W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-23986-7.

Primary

• Baltimore Friend (1874). "Candy Making". The Cultivator & Country Gentleman. Vol. 39.

External links

• Science of candy: Fudge, Exploratorium