Why is my fudge gooey?

[TerryJ2]

I made PERFECT fudge 2 wks ago. Used almond milk, margarine-yogurt, and marshmallow creme.
This time, it is gooey. The flavor is good but I can taste little granules of sugar, and I have to keep the whole thing refrigerated. Even with-that, I can't cut it; I am just scooping it with- a spoon.
Did I boil it to long? Possibly forget an ingredient? Add too much vanilla?
Help!

 

[InsaneCdn]

Most likely, did not boil it long enough.
It has to get to or past the "soft-ball" stage - I don't know what the temp reading is supposed to be on a candy thermometer because I've never used one.

 

[keista]

When you mentioned the sugar granules, I was thinking the boiling process. Too short, too long, stirring too much, not enough. All have an effect on end product. I dont' know specifically how to advise, except to reread the directions and if it says 4 minutes, then stop boiling at 4 minutes - not 4 1/2 etc.

Candy making is very sciency and needs to be precise.

 

[donna723]

About a hundred years ago when I was in Junior High school Home Easy Child. the teacher used to make us make fudge that the school, in turn, sold at the basketball games. And she always said that it all depended on the weather and the humidity. If it was fairly dry outside it would come out well. If the humidity was too high, it would come out sticky and gooey and there was nothing you could do about it. Some days were good candy-making days and some weren't. I haven't made fudge since then (except for Rachel Ray's shortcut version) but it seemed to make sense when she said it.

 

[TerryJ2]

Aw, Donna, you're so sweet to give me an out like that. It's raining.

So, next time, I'll just have to pay more attention and be more patient. I was making 4 things at once and rushing. Sigh.

P.S. Do not think that this will go to waste. Scooping chocolate with-a spoon directly out of the fridge is not beneath me.

 

[1905]

you said marshmellow creme......I'm sure it's still perfectly delicious, yum. I know when you buy it on the boardwalk here, the directions say DO NOT put it in the fridge.

 

[TerryJ2]

Oh, I forgot to mention ... I didn't have any marshmallow creme. I used real, miniature marshmallows. But I've done that b4 and it worked fine. Sigh.

 

[KTMom91]

It's the humidity...and that's not an out...it's true. Homemade candy does not like humidity. I can make great divinity for Hubby, as long as it's not raining or the swamp cooler isn't on.

 

[seriously]

Third vote for humidity being the deciding factor.

No more fudge-making in the rain.

 

[Mattsmom277]

OMG You lost me at fudge ... actually at PERFECT fudge ... recipe????

 

[susiestar]

As it is grainy, as if the sugar did not dissolve, chances are it did not cook enough. HOWEVER, chances are very high that even if you did cook it enough, it would still not set up. Why? Humidity. It is a HUGE HUGE factor in making fudge, divinity and the like. It is not an excuse, not by a long shot. It is just how it is. Me, I only make the easy versions of fudge. they taste great and are less work and they generally don't depend on the weather as much. Do a search for Alton Brown's Peanut Butter Fudge if you want a quick, easy, awesome pb fudge. You do have to have a microwave, but I have used six very different ones and still followed the directions and had no problems.

 

[KTMom91]

Mattsmom, Miss KT makes awesome fudge. I don't know how, since she can't cook anything else, but I can ask her where she got her recipe.

 

[donna723]

[h=2][/h]

• 
  Rachel Ray's easy fudge recipe ...
  
  INGREDIENTS
  
  1 (12 ounce) bag semisweet chocolate morsels
  9 ounces (3/4th of a 12-ounce bag) butterscotch morsels
  1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
  1 tsp. vanilla extract
  1 (8 ounce) can walnut halves
  
  
  DIRECTIONS
  
  Place a heavy pot on the stove and preheat it over low heat. Add chips and milk and stir until chips are melted and milk combined. Stir in vanilla and remove fudge from heat. Add nuts and stir in immediately. Press in to buttered pan and chill.
  
  ********************
  
  This is sooo easy and it's really good! You can use all chocolate chips too instead of the butterscotch chips, or some other kind of chips in place of the butterscotch -peanut butter would probably be good.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I am just scooping it with- a spoon.

In which case, what you have isn't fudge, its fudge sauce.
Try adding a spoonful on top of nice warm brownie...

 

[crazymama30]

Yep, I was thinking fugdge sauce too. Warm it up, put it on ice cream, yummy yummy.

 

[TerryJ2]

Well shucky darn, when it's raining, the only things I like to do are sleep, read, cook and eat.

So, if I use Rachel Ray's recipe, and I substitute almond milk, what do I do to make it thicker? Condensed milk is thick. That's why I like marshmallow recipes.

I'm off to the gym tomorrow to work off the kazillion pounds I gained on my hips eating fudge sauce with-a spoon. Seriously. difficult child doesn't like it, and I've eaten 1/3 from a 9" X 13" pan.

 

[donna723]

I seriously doubt if it would work with anything but the sweetened condensed milk, like Eagle Brand. The sweetened condensed milk isn't the same as evaporated milk. The Eagle Brand is extremely thick, not like milk at all. I only made it from this recipe once but it was very, very good.

 

[InsaneCdn]

1) Freeze it in small containers - then, just have ONE container in the fridge at a time.

2) NINE by TWELVE pan? How much fudge do you make at a time, girl??? ALL the recipes I have call for a 9" glass pieplate - so, that's a 9" round, with sloped sides no less... not even a 9" square. 9x12? Or were yer trying to double the recipe and forgot something or doubled something twice? (now THAT would have been what I would have done, most likely!)

No - seriously. Fudge works much better in SMALL batches. Or so I was taught by my mother, who used to work in a commercial bakery.

 

[DammitJanet]

Insane...have you seen Americans lately? LOL. That is why we make our fudge in 9x12 in pans.

whoever has the divinity recipe, can I have it? My mom used to make the best divinity and I dont know what happened to her cookbooks. By the time I got her, she couldnt tell me how to make it and in fact, she hadnt made it in years.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Janet -

The 9x12 pan thing? The main point was... making a fudge batch that big is way trickier than making a smaller batch. There have been times when I've made four batches on the same cooking session... but never ONE batch that would be so big. Its very hard to get all of it cooked to the same consistency - when the batch is too big, part of it will be over-cooked before the rest of it is the right consistency.

And its NOT just an "American" thing. I think, to some extent, its affecting most of the developed world.