My fudge broke - what happened?

[whole milk]

I hope this is the best forum for this question.

Yesterday I used a recipe from a cookbook dated 1912 for a recipe for fudge. The recipe is:

1 tablespoon butter
2 cups sugar
¾ cup cream
2 squares chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla or ¼ teaspoon cinnamon


I brought the first four ingredients to 238 then left it alone till cool at which time I added the vanilla and cinnamon and beat it with a wooden spoon -- and then my hands. That's when the most remarkable thing happened: ALL of the fat separated and I had cocoa butter in the pot, fudge powder in my hands. The powder is a little bit more moist than dry cocoa powder but the flavor is incredibly rich and was perfect to roll my dipped chocolates in.

Anyway, I was curious what happened? I would, one day, like to get the fudge powder again but, more than that, I'm curious what the catalyst was: was it the quality of modern ingredients, the cream was too heavy (45%), the cinnamon -- I really have no idea what happened but I want to know.

Anyone?

 

[africhef]

was the cream ultra-pasteurized? if so that may be the problem. not sure though

 

[whole milk]

was the cream ultra-pasteurized? if so that may be the problem. not sure though

No, it was just regular cream.

 

[GhettoRacingKid]

I think it was the cream also. It was pasturized at some point which could have effected it

it also could have been that things got toooo hot and it broke.

 

[justplainbill]

Does your 1912 recipe say anything about how long you should continue to beat/stir?
Seems it would have been less likely to separate if you stirred while it was cooling.
Did the recipe say vanilla OR cinnamon?

 

[AllenOK]

I remember for my pastry class that when you cook sugar, if ONE CRYSTAL of sugar enters the mass of molten sugar, the whole batch will crystallize. This is a natural reaction. Just add some water, melt it all, and proceed again.

How that works with fudge, I don't know. It's been a few years since I've made fudge. I do know that most modern recipes call for sweetened condensed milk, and either marshmallows or marshmallow cream. These ingredients act as stabilizers. The old recipes didn't have those ingredients available, so they are a little trickier to get to turn out.

 

[texasgirl]

When making my recipe, my vanilla goes in while hot and it gets poured onto the pan while hot. I don't do it all when cool and I never touched it with my hands. I've never seen a recipe that does that, so, I couldn't tell you what happened. Good luck with it though. Like Allen said, mine has marshmallow creme and helps keep it together. I hope you get it figured out. Nothing like a nice creamy fudge, mmmmmmmmmm. Can't wait to start making mine.

 

[whole milk]

I'm sorry, I think I've given you all the wrong impression -- I LIKE the results.

I made the recipe again this evening, just finished it in fact. I used whole milk this time and did everything the same way. This time, I ended up with a taffy-like blob that I pulled for a while. It resembled a Tootsie Roll but had a much nicer fudgey taste, so I started rolling them into logs and then put the logs into wax paper when it started to happen again: the candy that was waiting to be wrapped started to (quickly) change it's color. When I picked one up to bite, it fell apart in my mouth and just melted away. It was really delicious, in fact. I'm going to wait and see what they're like tomorrow but I have a hunch the fat is holding them together and will keep them together.

Any ideas?

I'm going to try again tomorrow to see if I can work it out.

(and I added cinnamon to the first, vanilla to the second. Cinnamon is much tastier, I think.)

 

[PieSusan]

Fudge can be pretty tricky and humidity can make a difference when you are cooking sugar.

If your fudge turned to sugar, or if it stiffened in the saucepan, or if it crumbled when you cut portions because beat it too long, you can add two more tablespoons of cream and stir over very low heat, cutting up the fudge with a wooden spoon as you stir. Cook and stir only until warm and slightly softened but not hot or thin. Remove from the heat again, beat again until it is smooth and thick, and then turn it out of the sauce pan again.

I hope this helps, Pie Susan

 

[cmcolantuono]

fudging up fudge

I remember for my pastry class that when you cook sugar, if ONE CRYSTAL of sugar enters the mass of molten sugar, the whole batch will crystallize. This is a natural reaction. Just add some water, melt it all, and proceed again.

How that works with fudge, I don't know. It's been a few years since I've made fudge. I do know that most modern recipes call for sweetened condensed milk, and either marshmallows or marshmallow cream. These ingredients act as stabilizers. The old recipes didn't have those ingredients available, so they are a little trickier to get to turn out.

i wanted to say thank you. my fudge broke and was a gloppy mess in my pan. i put it back in a saucepan with a few tablespoons of water and re-melted it, and it turned out perfect! this was the second attempt in two days...the first one didn't set...anyway, thanks much!!