The holiday season is upon us and I decided that I wanted to try making some fudge for gifts. When I researched the issue, I was intrigued by the simplicity and odd variety in the recipes – recipes that were usually paired with staunch warnings about how fiendishly difficult fudge is to make. As it turns out, the recipes are only superficially simple – the difficulty is tied to understanding how some of the ingredients behave and the code words used in the recipes that address those ingredients.
Fudge is a crystalline sugar confection – a type of candy made by carefully controlling the way sugar is dissolved and re-crystallized in the presence of butter and milk or cream. In evolutionary terms, fudge is probably an odd descendant of both caramels and American pralines.
The origins of fudge seem somewhat shrouded in mystery. For what it’s worth, chocolate fudge seems to have acquired a name and made its appearance on the scene in the late 19th century but there were probably non-chocolate and chocolate precursors roaming the culinary wilderness before then (the non-chocolate version being something akin to vanilla fudge). Then, at the dawn of the 20th century, three different recipes from three different women’s colleges (Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley) were published in a single cookbook (you can check them out in one place here). The minor variations in those recipes actually cover the vast majority of approaches to fudge you find in modern recipes.
Fudge recipes should be evaluated by how they choose to deal with sugar more than they should be judged on their chocolate – again, fudge is a crystalline sugar candy and is (perhaps unconsciously) judged on its texture and mouthfeel based on the way sugar re-crystallizes. Fudge can be grainy (not good). Fudge can be smooth (real good).
At the core of every traditional fudge recipe lies the artful boiling and cooling of a sugar solution. While it might seem like you’re cooking the sugar, what you’re really doing is just boiling away water. That might sound goofy, but it’s not.
Here’s the deal. Water boils at 212° F (at seal level…whatever). That means that water cannot get any hotter than 212° F in a liquid state. No matter how much heat you apply to water, the liquid water will never register a temperature greater than 212° F. But once you dissolve a substance in water, the boiling point of the water will rise relative to the amount dissolved in the water.
Most people are familiar with the concept of salt raising the boiling point of water, although the effect is not nearly as pronounced as they might think – a tablespoon of salt in a few quarts of water will season pasta but it’s not going to raise the boiling point of the water in any meaningful way.
But with fudge, we’re not interested in salt, we’re interested in sugar. A LOT of sugar.
Fudge is made by dissolving sugar in a hot liquid (usually milk or cream or condensed milk). The liquid needs to be heated to dissolve more sugar than would dissolve in the cooler liquid. When the sugar solution is cooled, the sugar can no longer stay fully dissolved in the liquid and re-crystallizes. Controlling the mechanics of the re-crystallization is the art of making fudge.
Heating and cooling sugar solutions is the basis for a variety of different sugar-based candies. It should be somewhat intuitive that candies made from concentrated sugar solutions are firmer or harder than candies made from less concentrated solutions. Fudge candies would be at the lower-concentration end of the spectrum.
So, the way a sugar solution behaves when it cools is tied to the concentration of sugar in solution and the concentration of sugar in solution is tied to the boiling temperature of the solution. And by “sugar” here I’m talking about granulated white sugar: sucrose.
Left to its own devices, a super-concentrated cooling sugar solution will simply re-crystallize on its own. But the goal for a smooth fudge is to insure the re-emerging crystals are as small as possible. The tiny crystals give fudge its characteristic texture.
There are four fundamental ways you can control the re-crystallization of sugar in a fudge recipe. All recipes use one or more of these avenues of control:
(1) Mechanical – beating the cooled sugar solution when the sugar is in a super-concentrated state triggers re-crystallization and the vigorous motion of the beating prevents large crystals from forming.
(2) Chemical – usually in the form of corn syrup. Without getting too technical on this point, suffice it to say that the glucose sugar in corn syrup interferes with way the sucrose molecules connect and re-crystallize. Even a little bit of corn syrup in a recipe can make a pronounced difference in the way a super-saturated sugar solution behaves on cooling. Caramels are made from a slightly more concentrated sugar solution than fudge, but they are made with lots of corn syrup to insure there is no crystallization – crystallization in caramels is a bad thing – controlled micro-crystallization in fudge is a good thing. When corn syrup appears in a fudge recipe, it is typically used sparingly. Maple syrup and honey have similar crystal inhibiting properties.
(3) Fats and Proteins – usually in the form of butter, cocoa butter, peanut butter, or milk fats and proteins. Fats and proteins form physical barriers to prevent massive crystal formation when a super-saturated sugar solution cools. Increasing the fat content in fudge by adding more butter to a recipe or by increasing milk fat content using cream or condensed milk is a way of cushioning your solution so that sucrose molecules are more physically separated in space to prevent them from hooking-up into larger crystals.
(4) Structural – in the form of marshmallows or marshmallow creme. Just as fats and proteins that are suspended in a concentrated sugar solution can separate sucrose molecules spatially to prevent the formation of larger crystals, so can the structure of marshmallows or a marshmallow creme melted into a fudge solution.
Of the four mechanisms I mentioned above, the most common crystal interfering agent is probably marshmallows. Marshmallow-based fudge recipes seem to be pretty robust – the structure from the melted marshmallow establishes an environment for controlling re-crystallization in the cooling fudge that is practically foolproof.
You can dissolve a lot more sugar into water than you might think. Simple syrup, a staple of bartenders everywhere, is made by melting a cup of sugar into a cup of water over heat. That’s nearly a 1:1 ratio by weight of sugar to liquid. And even with that much sugar in water, the sugar doesn’t try to re-crystallize when the solution is cooled.
For making fudge, the appropriate starting ratio by weight of sugar to liquid is almost 3:1. So, to get the concentration of the sugar up to the appropriate level, the best starting point is approximately 2 cups of sugar (14 oz.) to about 5 oz. of liquid. In a recipe that uses more liquid, it will simply take longer to boil-off enough water to reach the appropriate concentration of sugar in solution.
You can tell when the sugar concentration is ideal for making fudge by checking the temperature with a candy thermometer as you boil your liquid and sugar – the target temperature range for your sugar solution is 235° F – 245° F (also called the “soft ball stage” for candy making). Most recipes I have seen for fudge recommend that you stop boiling your ingredients when they reach 235°.
Many fudge recipes attempt to simplify the process of boiling by providing times for boiling rather than temperatures. My recommendation is that you never trust a recipe that tempts you to rely on timing as an alternative for measurement.
Early fudges were made using heavy cream. My own choice for making fudge is condensed milk (a.k.a. evaporated milk) – milk that has been processed to remove about 50%-60% of its moisture by vacuum evaporation then heat-treated to sterilize it. It’s like double-strength milk in a can. But it has another characteristic that I like. During the heat-treating process, this reduced milk begins to undergo the Maillard browning reaction which gives it an ivory color and the slight taste of caramel. I find that when boiling sugar in condensed milk to make fudge, this delicate flavor is developed further and creates a better tasting fudge.
A few notes on terminology are needed here. In the culinary world, whenever people say “sugar” they usually mean “white granulated sugar” or “sucrose.” Whenever people say “sugars” they usually are referring to any of a host of other sugars that are NOT sucrose (e.g. fructose, glucose, maltose, lactose, etc.). Sugar = sucrose. Sugars = NOT sucrose. When sugar (i.e. sucrose) is heated carefully above 300° F, it begins to brown and change flavor in a process called “caramelization.” When sugars (i.e. NOT sucrose) and amino acids from proteins are heated together even slightly, they also begin to brown and change flavor in a completely different process called the “Maillard reaction.” The Maillard reaction is responsible for the browning of seared meats and the crusts of bread and many other things.
When the reduced milk is heat treated in the canning of condensed milk and when it is heated to boil a sugar solution for fudge, it undergoes a Maillard reaction and can change colors. This is frequently referred to as “caramelization” but that is technically incorrect – it is the reaction of the amino acids of the milk proteins and lactose (milk sugar) in the milk upon heating that cause the change in color and flavor. True caramelization can only occur with sucrose at much higher temperatures. So the taste we associate with caramels is NOT the result of caramelization, but is the result of a Maillard reaction. Nobody uses the term “Maillardization” – that sounds like the process by which something is turned into a duck. Many recipes will continue to state that condensed milk will caramelize while the sugar boils in it – it is actually Maillardizing.
But back to the reality of fudge, I like the taste of caramel (from Maillardization) that develops in condensed milk from the heat used to boil the sugar solution so I stick with condensed milk. Condensed milk also comes in cans that are either 5 oz. or 12 oz. – and one 5 oz. can will support 2 cups of sugar with minimal boiling time – half a 12 oz. can will support 2 cups of sugar with just a little more boiling. If you see a recipe that calls for more than 6 oz. of milk-product for 2 cups of sugar, expect it to take much longer to boil away sufficient water to achieve the proper sugar concentration.
Summary so far: we’re boiling milk and sugar until sufficient water evaporates for the sugar to rise to an appropriate concentration in solution – that concentration is reached when the solution reaches 235° F – I prefer to use condensed milk – and the re-crystallization of the sugar in fudge is determined partially by the way it is cooled and partially by the ingredients included alongside the boiled milk and sugar.
We only have a few more ingredients to examine. I’ll be brief.
Butter. Butter adds fat to the sugar solution and adds flavor to the fudge (let’s be honest, it adds flavor to everything it touches). The fat helps prevent sugar crystals from growing out of control. Historical recipes used a tiny amount of butter: 1 tablespoon per 2 cups of sugar. Modern recipes use more butter: 2-4 tablespoons per 2 cups of sugar. I haven’t found any compelling argument against that approach – so for 2 cups of sugar, keep the butter to 1/2 stick of less.
Other Fats. Remember that fats are considered crystal interfering agents in fudge (and in other sugar candies). Chocolate fudge gets fat from cocoa butter; peanut butter fudge gets fat from, well, peanut butter. Exactly how much fat can be determined by consulting the nutritional information on the packages (but NOT the % Daily Value) – just divide the number of grams of fat in a serving by the number of grams in a serving size to judge the percentage of fat content. Unsweetened chocolate and most peanut butters are about 50% fat. Other forms of chocolate have added sugar in the mix, so they will contribute less of their weight in cocoa butter. Increasing fat will increasingly inhibit the formation of large crystals in fudge and will also change the texture and mouthfeel of the fudge.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Specifically. The ratio of chocolate or peanut butter to sugar is a matter of taste. Early fudges used 2 oz. of unsweetened chocolate per 2 cups of sugar. I don’t think that’s enough. Most modern recipes go for closer to 4 oz. of unsweetened chocolate per 2 cups of sugar – or use a combination of unsweetened and bittersweet chocolates. Some recipes use semi-sweet chocolate in the mix but they usually reduce the amount of white sugar due to the amount included in the chocolate. I like to combine chocolates from different manufacturers to give some added depth of chocolate flavor to my fudge. Fudge can support a ton of chocolate – like I said, it’s a matter of taste – but be aware that adding chocolate means additional cocoa butter in the recipe which will generate a corresponding change in the final texture of the fudge. I couldn’t get any gauge on how people decide on the amount of peanut butter to use in peanut butter fudge – I doubt that more is necessarily better, but it probably isn’t necessarily worse either. Most modern recipes hover around 8 oz. – 10 oz. peanut butter per 2 cups of sugar and these recipes tend to use marshmallow in the mix.
Marshmallows or Marshmallow Creme. Marshmallow creme doesn’t have exactly the same composition as marshmallows, but from the point of view of a fudge recipe, the two forms are interchangeable by weight. What I discovered in toying around with both offerings is that marshmallow creme is a mess to work with – I found it difficult to extract from the containers it is sold in, and difficult in turn to separate from the spatula I use to extract it. I will be using ONLY mini marshmallows henceforth. Historically, it was the Wellesley College recipe that introduced the marshmallow concept to fudge recipes – their ingredients list shows 8 oz. marshmallows per 2 cups of sugar. Modern recipes can use this much but most go for a more modest 4 oz. Translating the weight of physical marshmallows to a volume (like cups) is difficult – it is much better to substitute marshmallows for marshmallow creme by weight.
Vanilla Extract. Historically, of the three initial printed recipes for chocolate fudge, only the Smith College recipe mentions vanilla extract. I think that vanilla plays well with fudge but is optional. Use as much as a couple teaspoons per 2 cups of sugar. That appears to be consistent with most modern recipes for fudge.
Nuts? I’m not a fan of fudge with nuts. I think nuts distract from the subtleties of consistency that are so desirable in fudge. Why bother to make a confection that is known for having a certain texture only to disrupt it by adding-in a more dominant texture? Add nuts if you must, just know that it will make me sad.
Before we get to my epic fudge experiences, there is one more observation I want to make about understanding techniques relative to the ingredients in fudge recipes. As I mentioned above, marshmallow is probably the most significant and robust of the crystal interfering agents used in making fudge. Therefore, I think it is important to consider recipes that use marshmallows and those that do not as being fundamentally different in approach.
Recipes that do not use marshmallows typically need MUCH more careful attention during the cooling process – all of the ingredients are heated together until the sugar reaches an appropriate concentration and the temperature climbs to 235° F then the cooking vessel is removed from the heat and allowed to sit undisturbed until the temperature drops to around 130° F – at this temperature, the sugar is in a super-saturated state and ready to re-crystallize and the mixture is mixed vigorously to insure the sugar crystals that form are as small as possible. Recipes without marshmallows are likely to include a tablespoon of corn syrup per 2 cups of sugar to help prevent undesirable crystallization. These recipes need more attention to preventing errant sugar crystals from forming and clinging to the sides of the cooking vessel.
Yes, when the sugar solution is cooling and marshmallows aren’t included in the recipe, there is a risk that an errant sugar crystal (yes, even one) clinging to the side of the cooking vessel can trigger a massive and undesirable re-crystallization in the solution. Recipes usually address this danger in one of three ways. One way is to cover the boiling solution so that steam condenses on the lid and washes-down the sides of your pot. Another way is to brush-down the sides of the pot with water to insure no undissolved crystals remain there. The method I use is to butter the sides of the pot before bringing the milk and sugar to a boil – the butter will prevent sugar crystals from forming and adhering along the sides.
Recipes that include marshmallows require much less attention to detail. Sometimes marshmallows are boiled with the sugar and milk, but often, the marshmallows are added after the sugar solution has climbed to 235° F – they actually start the cooling process for the fudge. A typical marshmallow fudge recipe involves boiling the milk, butter, and sugar to 235° F, then adding the marshmallows and stirring to melt, then adding the chocolate or peanut butter to incorporate before pouring into a pan to set. Making marshmallow fudge is MUCH faster than making fudge without marshmallows – but marshmallow fudge doesn’t always have that micro-granulated sugar texture that I think of as a fundamental characteristic of fudge. The marshmallow structure can over-inhibit the formation of crystals – you’ll get a delicious creamy fudge, but not so much a fudgy-fudge. Whenever you see a recipe that identifies its fudge as “Creamy,” that is usually a code word that means it will be marshmallow fudge and will not have the micro-grained bite of fudgy-fudge. The simplicity of marshmallow fudge is offset by the near elimination of the defining texture of a fudge that has been made without marshmallow in a supporting role.
Finally, a recipe based on 2 cups of sugar is usually poured to set in an 8″ x 8″ square pan that has been fitted with aluminum foil and buttered. A recipe based on 4 cups of sugar usually calls for a 9″ x 13″ rectangular pan which has roughly twice the surface area available.
So let me wind-up this posting with my generic all-purpose recipes for fudge – where I try to address a range of options that would seem appropriate for a successful fudging expedition.
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Recipe #1 – Chocolate Fudge (without marshmallows) – based on 2 cups of sugar.
I only used this method to make chocolate fudge. My intuition tells me that the more fluid fat in peanut butter really needs the structure of marshmallow to set into a consistency that is recognizable as fudge.
Ingredients:
Sugar – 2 cups – 14 oz.
Milk – 5 or 6 oz. (preferably condensed milk)
Corn Syrup – 1 Tbsp.
Butter – 1 or 2 oz. (that’s 2 to 4 Tbsp.)
Unsweetened Chocolate – at least 2 oz. (maybe 4 oz.)
Bittersweet Chocolate – no more than 6 oz.
Vanilla Extract – 1 or 2 tsp. (optional)
Directions:
(1) Make a foil sling to fit inside an 8″ x 8″ pan and generously butter the foil. Butter the sides of a 2-3 qt. saucepan that has a heavy bottom and tall sides – it is important that your cooking vessel have a heavy bottom to insure you can heat your sugar solution slowly and evenly to prevent the sugar from burning before it can go into solution.
(2) Start by combining the milk and sugar and corn syrup in your saucepan. Stir to incorporate as much sugar into the milk as is possible before heating. Make sure there are no patches of dry sugar at the bottom of your pot – it could easily burn.
(3) Add the butter and chocolate to your saucepan and heat SLOWLY to a boil, stirring constantly. If your mixture is heated too aggressively, it is very easy for the milk to scorch and for the sugar to burn.
(4) Once the mixture comes to a boil, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer into the liquid (insuring that it does not touch the bottom of the saucepan). Continue to boil the liquid to increase the concentration of sugar until your thermometer reads 235° F. When the temperature reaches 235° F, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow it to sit undisturbed while it cools. It is important that the cooling super-saturated sugar solution is not moved or jarred while it is cooling to prevent unintended re-crystallization.
Note – Many recipes insist that you stop stirring your mixture once it comes to a boil and you insert your thermometer. Explanations always relate to the prevention of re-crystallization problems. When I make chocolate fudge this way, it always turns out great, but I usually wind up with a layer of scorched chocolate solids on the bottom of my saucepan when I’m done. I don’t have this same problem with marshmallow fudge (below) – just with the chocolate fudge made without marshmallow.
(5) Allow the mixture to cool undisturbed until it reaches 130° F. It takes a LONG time for the fudge to cool this much – it took mine nearly 90 minutes. The resting mixture should look slick and shiny.
(6) As soon as the mixture cools to 130° F, pour-in the vanilla (if using) and immediately begin to stir the mixture as vigorously as you can – preferably with a wooden spoon or a spatula made from a material that does not conduct heat (like silicone). The mixing process will bring the crystals of sugar out of their super-saturated state and you should notice that the luster of the fudge changes. Some texts suggest the the fudge will loose all of its shine and “turn matte” – that might be possible with only a small amount of chocolate in the fudge, but the cocoa butter in my fudge kept my fudge pretty shiny. But you should at least notice that the luster changes – it will go from being really shiny to less shiny as the emerging crystals change the way light is reflected in the fudge.
(7) Keep stirring until you feel the fudge stiffen and become more difficult to work with – transfer the fudge to your prepared 8″ x 8″ pan before it becomes too stiff to pour and smooth. Allow the fudge at least 4 hours to fully set – overnight would be even better. Using the foil sling, carefully remove the fudge from the pan and use a large sharp knife to cut squares of whatever size you deem appropriate.
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8″ x 8″ pan – fitted with a foil sling and buttered.
Note – For this fudge, I used 6 oz. condensed milk (half of a 12 oz. can), 2 cups granulated white sugar (14 oz.), 1 Tbsp. corn syrup, 4 Tbsp. butter (2 oz.), 2 5/8 oz. unsweetened chocolate, and 5 7/8 oz. bittersweet chocolate. The odd weights of the chocolate is the result of how much I broke-off from thick bars. I did not use vanilla in this batch.
Saucepan with heavy bottom and tall sides that have been buttered – condensed milk and sugar and corn syrup.
Mix the sugar and milk before heating – you can see by the crystals on the whisk that the sugar does not fully dissolve in the cool liquid.
A mixture of unsweetened and bittersweet chocolates, broken into pieces to hasten melting.
Butter and chocolate added to the other ingredients.
Heat slowly over low heat.
The ingredients will begin to melt slowly. Stir continuously.
When the mixture comes to a boil and all of the ingredients have melted, stop stirring,
Insert a candy thermometer, making sure the probe doesn’t touch the bottom of your saucepan.
Maintain a rolling boil.
When the mixture reaches 235° F, remove the saucepan from the heat and leave it undisturbed to cool.
Let the fudge cool to 130° F.
Note – Unfortunately, I was unable to stir and photograph at the same time. Once the fudge has cooled to 130° F, you would add vanilla if you choose to then begin to stir vigorously. You should notice a change in the luster of the fudge and it should begin to firm-up almost immediately. Just be sure to transfer the fudge into your prepared pan before it gets too stiff to control.
The fudge will continue to set. Give it at least 4 hours or overnight.
I used Scharffen Berger chocolate for this fudge and got a very rich, dark fudge.
Note – In the photograph above, the fudge is so dark that it is difficult to see the tiny crystals of sugar in the fudge. For comparison, see the photograph below from a batch of fudge that was made using Baker’s and Ghirardelli chocolates – the chocolates and the fudge were lighter in color and you can actually see tiny crystals of sugar that formed in the fudge. Traditional fudge is supposed to have a smooth texture with the slightest “bite” from small crystals – poorly made fudge has large crystals of sugar that give the fudge a texture that is grainy or sandy.
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Recipe #2 – Peanut Butter Fudge (with marshmallows) – based on 2 cups of sugar.
This approach also works with chocolate (as above) instead of peanut butter.
Ingredients:
Sugar – 2 cups – 14 oz.
Milk – 5 or 6 oz. (preferably condensed milk)
Butter – 1 or 2 oz. (that’s 2 to 4 Tbsp.)
Marshmallows – 4 oz. (individuals of any size or in the form of creme from a jar)
Peanut Butter – 8 or 10 oz. (crunchy if you must – see my note on nuts above)
Vanilla Extract – 1 or 2 tsp. (optional)
Variation – For flavor, some recipes substitute brown sugar for part of the white granulated sugar in peanut butter fudge. A simple way to augment your recipe with brown sugar is to use at least 6 oz. of condensed milk for your base and just add 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the mix.
Directions:
(1) Make a foil sling to fit inside an 8″ x 8″ pan and generously butter the foil.
(2) Start by combining the milk and sugar in your saucepan. Stir to incorporate as much sugar into the milk as is possible without heating. Make sure there are no patches of dry sugar at the bottom of your pot – it could easily burn.
(3) Add the butter to your saucepan and heat SLOWLY to a boil, stirring constantly. If your mixture is heated too aggressively, it is very easy for the milk to scorch and for the sugar to burn.
(4) Once the mixture comes to a boil, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer into the liquid (insuring that it does not touch the bottom of the saucepan). Continue to boil the liquid to increase the concentration of sugar until your thermometer reads 235° F. When the temperature reaches 235° F, remove the saucepan from the heat.
(5) Remove the candy thermometer and stir-in the marshmallows or marshmallow creme using a wooden spoon or a spatula made from a material that does not conduct heat (like silicone). Continue stirring to fully incorporate.
(6) Stir-in the peanut butter and vanilla (if using). Stir vigorously to incorporate. The mixture might stiffen a little. As soon as all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, transfer the fudge to your prepared 8″ x 8″ pan and smooth. No need to worry about or even measure the temperature of the cooling fudge here. Allow the fudge at least 4 hours to fully set – overnight would be even better. Using the foil sling, carefully remove the fudge from the pan and use a large sharp knife to cut squares of whatever size you deem appropriate.
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Note – For this fudge, I used 6 oz. condensed milk (half of a 12 oz. can), 2 cups granulated white sugar (14 oz.), 1/2 cup brown sugar (around 2 oz.), 4 Tbsp. butter (2 oz.), 4 oz. marshmallow, and 10 oz. peanut butter. The peanut butter was half commercial smooth and half freshly ground smooth (the freshly ground peanut butter wasn’t very firm so I supplemented it with the stiffer commercial stuff to make sure the fudge didn’t fall apart). I did not use vanilla in this batch.
The basics: condensed milk, sugar, and brown sugar.
Again, stir to dissolve as much sugar into the liquid as you can before heating.
Add the butter.
Slowly bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly.
When the mixture boils, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer.
Maintain at a rolling boil.
When the temperature reaches 235° F, remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the thermometer.
Add the marshmallow to the hot mixture immediately.
Note – This is a little odd, but I didn’t have a full 4 oz. of marshmallow creme left so I supplemented what I had with standard issue mini marshmallows.
It’s OK, they were related.
Stir while the marshmallows melt.
Continue stirring until the marshmallows are fully integrated with the other ingredients.
The peanut butters – half commercial and half fresh-ground – both smooth.
Add the peanut butter to the marshmallow mix.
Stir to incorporate the peanut butter.
Continue stirring until everything is uniform – no streaks.
Pour everything into your prepared pan and allow it to set for at least 4 hours or overnight.
You can see that this produces a fudge that is less dense and more airy.
Note – If you see flecks of brown roaming around when you heat your milk, butter, and sugar, it is a sign that some of the sugar has caramelized (we’re talking about the real caramelization here) – probably because the bottom of the saucepan heated too fast or because the base wasn’t stirred enough during heating. As long as you don’t have a ton of these bits and they aren’t burnt, your fudge will be fine but the bits can show up in the final fudge.
Fudge with flecks.
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