Ingredients

　　

Fudge, grainy

Step 1

This can happen for several reasons: if you beat it at too high a temperature, or if it takes too long to cool. Is it salvageable? Maybe. You can try putting it in a saucepan with about 1 1/2 cups water and heat over low heat, stirring until it’s dissolved and blended with the water. Increase the heat and follow the recipe again, cooking to the proper temperature, cooling, and beating again. If that doesn’t work, remember that people never turn down fudge, even when it’s grainy.

　　

Fudge (and other such), too hard

Step 2

During cooking: add a little milk and cook to the proper temperature. After cooking: if the fudge won’t pour, add 1 tablespoon milk and 2 or 3 tablespoons corn syrup; beat until smooth and pour at once. After it has cooled: put it in an airtight container. The fudge should become softer and more velvety within 24 hours.

　　

Fudge won’t fudge

Step 3

Fudge that won’t fudge (fudge makers will know that feeling of beating a heavy, syrupy glop that just won’t firm up) is most certainly not cooked enough. Scrape it back into the saucepan, add a teaspoon or two of water, and keep cooking, stirring constantly.

　　

Step 4

Divinity fudge cannot be made on humid days. If you’ve tried, and you have pools of sticky white stuff, scrape it into a bowl, beat in a few teaspoons of cream or milk, and use it as a great sauce on chocolate ice cream.

　　

Stuck together

Step 5

If hard candies stick together in the jar or bowl, separate them by hand (unless you have a machine for the purpose) and sprinkle them lightly with granulated (or, better yet, superfine granulated) sugar before returning them to the container. (You can convert regular granulated sugar into superfine by giving it a whirl in your food processor.)

　　

Sugaring

Step 6

When chocolate candies start sugaring while cooking, add a little bit of milk and keep cooking until the mixture returns to the prescribed temperature. Crystals tend to cause sugaring, which is why many confection recipes tell you to wash down the sides of your cooking pan with a pastry brush dipped in water a few times during a long cooking process. You don’t want to wash down the sides of a pan in which you’re melting plain chocolate, though, or the chocolate will seize up into a lumpy mass.

　　How to Repair Food, Third Edition