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Technique Theory: Fondant and Fudge
By Peter Greweling and Culinary Institute of America
Published 2007
- Combine Sugars with Liquids. Cook to the Desired Temperature. The sugars in fondant or fudge may include sucrose, glucose syrup, and invert sugar, and other sugars, such as maple syrup, used for lending unusual flavor notes. After the syrup comes to a boil, the glucose syrup is added. (Standard practice when cooking sugar mixtures is to bring the mixture to a boil without the addition of glucose syrup. This helps ensure the dissolution of the sugar.) The liquids may be water alone, as with fondant, or various dairy products, as with fudge. As with all sugar confectionery, the sugar is cooked in order to first dissolve it and then to increase the percentage of dissolved solids by removing water. When cooking fudge, the syrup should be stirred continuously to prevent scorching of the ingredients. When cooking fondant, stirring is not required, and is in fact ill advised, as the agitation of stirring may promote premature crystallization of the sugar. When making crystalline confections, sufficient water must be removed to ensure that the solution will be supersaturated upon cooling, and will therefore crystallize. As with virtually all confections, water content is a prime determinant of the relative firmness of the finished product. As always when cooking sugar, the temperature to which the mixture is cooked controls the water content: cooking to a higher temperature removes more water, resulting in a firmer product. When a fondant or fudge formula yields a product that is too soft, raising the cooking temperature will result in a firmer texture for the next batch. Conversely, if the batch is too firm and brittle, cooking the next batch several degrees lower will soften the resulting product.
- Stir in Salt at the End of Cooking. Salt should be added at the end of cooking. Cooking a batch with salt contributes to inversion, making the batch softer and more hygroscopic; it may even hinder the crystallization of the sugar. If the salt is added after the batch begins to cool, however, it tends not to dissolve, leaving discernible crystals of salt in the candy. The salt should be added immediately after cooking so as to prevent excessive inversion, but while the batch is hot enough that the salt will dissolve.
- Pour the Syrup onto a Marble Slab and Allow it to Cool to Approximately 50°C/120°F. Allowing the syrup to cool prior to agitation is one of the most crucial steps in the fondant/fudge technique to create a smooth texture in the finished product. Leaving the cooked syrup undisturbed on the marble slab cools it quickly so agitation can begin. If the syrup is agitated while it is still hot, the result will be the formation of fewer, larger crystals. Large crystals give the confection a sugary, grainy mouthfeel that is not desirable. Cooling the syrup to approximately 50°C/120°F causes the formation of many small crystals during agitation, which provides the desired smooth mouthfeel.
Place the Required Flavorings, Seeding Materials, and Inclusions on Top of the Syrup. Flavorings such as chocolate, peanut butter, or extracts, and inclusions such as nuts are placed on top of the syrup as it cools. Cooking acidic flavorings, such as fruit purées, with the syrup will cause inversion of some of the sugar, resulting in a soft, sticky candy that will be difficult to crystallize as required. If exposed to the high heat of cooking, other types of flavors, such as extracts or manufactured flavors, can flash off, leaving little flavor in the finished mixture. For this reason it is preferable to pour them onto the syrup as it cools. Often a small amount of previously made fondant can be added as the syrup cools to seed it and promote the formation of small sugar crystals. Seeding the syrup in this way considerably reduces the amount of agitation required and encourages the formation of the desirable small sugar crystals.
Like fondant, fudge is agitated while cooling, to create a system of small sugar crystals. Once cooled, fudge is spread into a frame to create a slab of uniform thickness for subsequent cutting (see step 6 of the technique). Agitate the Mixture by Tabling Until Crystallized. Once cooled to approximately 50°C/120°F, the syrup is ready to be agitated to induce crystallization. Proper agitation on the marble is another crucial step to creating a smooth texture in the finished product. Once begun, agitation should be constant in order to create the proper smooth texture. Intermittent agitation induces the formation of fewer, larger crystals that cause a sugary, grainy texture. Constant agitation yields the desired result by creating many small crystals that are smooth on the palate. In the case of fudge, knowing when to stop agitation can require some experience. It should be agitated until the syrup begins to turn creamy and slightly opaque, and until the texture shortens slightly. Typically, this may require five to ten minutes of manual agitation with a relatively small batch. If fudge is overagitated, it can crystallize on the marble, which makes it impossible to spread into the frame. If it is underagitated, it is likely to form large sugar crystals and exhibit undesirable graininess. Fondant, on the other hand, is agitated until it fully crystallizes on the table. There is little doubt when this happens: the syrup changes from a thick, sticky, elastic substance to a short-textured, rather hard mass.
A marble slab cools fondant syrup quickly and evenly, preventing premature crystallization as the syrup cools (see step 3 of the technique). Agitating the cooled fondant syrup promotes even formation of small crystals, which give the product a smooth mouthfeel. The fondant’s cooled crystalline structure traps air when agitated, yielding a soft and creamy product (see step 5 of the technique). - Deposit Fudge in a Frame and Allow it to Crystallize Until Set. Store Fondant Overnight in a Sealed Container. Fudge is usually spread into a frame or pan, where it is allowed to complete crystallization, after which it can be cut. This usually takes less than an hour, but sometimes it is best to allow it to crystallize overnight before cutting. This is particularly so with fudges that include a frappe. When fondant is freshly made it is very firm and short textured. Usually it is stored in an airtight container overnight, a process known as ripening. During this time, fondant’s system of sugar crystals surrounded by syrup reaches equilibrium. As a result, the fondant has a softer, more malleable texture. Although not imperative for confectionery applications, allowing fondant to ripen before use makes it easier to handle.
