Fudge

Fudge is a soft, sweet confection typically made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream, often flavoured with chocolate, vanilla, maple, peanut butter, or nuts.

Fudge is a soft, sweet confection typically made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream, often flavoured with chocolate, vanilla, maple, peanut butter, or nuts. It is cooked to the soft-ball stage and beaten as it cools to create a creamy, semi-soft texture. The word also has non-food senses, including meaning nonsense or a deceptive evasion, but the food meaning is the primary one in culinary usage.

Definition and ingredients

Fudge is a creamy confection made chiefly from sugar, butter, and milk or cream, with chocolate often added. Sources describe it as softer than hard chocolate and firmer than fondant.

Preparation

The mixture is heated to the soft-ball stage and then beaten while cooling so sugar crystals form in a way that gives fudge its smooth texture. Finished fudge is usually poured into a pan and cut into squares.

Flavours and varieties

While chocolate is the classic version, fudge is also made in flavours such as peanut butter, vanilla, maple, butterscotch, fruit, and nuts. Regional and commercial variations are common.

History

Modern fudge is widely described as an American confection that emerged in the late 1800s. The exact origin and inventor are disputed, although sources place its popularization in the United States during that period.

Other meanings of the word

Outside food, fudge can mean nonsense, a deceptive or evasive answer, or the act of altering something to avoid a direct or exact result. These senses are separate from the candy.