Fudge is a type of confectionery that is 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 in the late 19th 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
The term
fudge is said to have originated in the 17th century from the verb
fudge and means "to fit together in a clumsy manner". During this period,
fudge was used as an
Minced oath.
Fudge as a confection gained popularity in the United States during the late 19th century; recipes for fudge were printed in many periodicals and advertisements during the 1880s.
Fudge at women's colleges
Making fudge was a popular activity at women's colleges, especially
Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
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.
She also claimed to have given fudge its “real introduction” to Vassar College in 1888 by selling her own batch.
The diary of student Elma Martin mentions making "fudges" in 1892.
An 1893 letter from a
Vassar College student Adelaide Mansfield describes "fudges" as containing sugar, fruit, chocolate, milk, and butter.
A recipe for "Fudges at Vassar" was printed in The Sun in 1895.
Production
Texture
In
Food texture, fudge falls between
fondant icing and hard caramels.
In forming a
fondant icing, it is not easy to keep all
and
from causing rapid
crystallization into large crystals. Consequently,
milkfat and
corn syrup are often added to prevent premature crystallization. Corn syrup contains
glucose,
fructose (
), 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 supersaturation 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.
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 to . Butter is then added to the mixture and the fudge is cooled and beaten until it is thick and small sugar crystals have formed.
The warm fudge is sometimes poured onto a marble slab to be cooled and shaped.
Varieties
Fudge-making has evolved a variety of flavors and additives. The favored 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 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.
File:Vegan Chocolate Fudge.jpg|Chocolate
File:Vegan Peanut Butter Maple Fudge.jpg|Peanut butter maple
File:Raisin and rum fudge.jpg|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
,
and occasionally s'mores.
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.
See also
-
Barfi – a South Asian mithai made by cooking milk and sugar into the consistency of fudge
-
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
Sources
External links
