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If you’ve been looking for a quick fudge recipe, give this traditional lemon fudge a try! Made in the stovetop and cooled in a loaf pan, this lemon fudge recipe is tangy, zesty and sweet all at the same time. Get ready to pucker up because you can feel the delicious lemon flavor in every bite!
Lemon fudge
I’ve been looking for a way to make lemon pie tasting fudge for a while now so I’m really happy to finally be able to say I did it! This lemon fudge tastes just like the silk lemon pie from your favorite bakery. This stovetop fudge is so sweet, is zesty, tangy and honestly really amazing!
Oh and this is a fairly easy recipe too! While we are making this lemon fudge using the traditional method (aka. using sugar and boiling it) there’s nothing too complicated or fancy you need to have on hand.
More desserts you will love:
Cream cheese mints
Super easy 2 ingredient fudge
Fudge strawberry smoothie
Fudgy yogurt brownie
Usually traditional fudge recipes call for a candy thermometer but we are not using one for this evaporated milk fudge and instead are keeping things simple. Once the sugar and milk gets to a rolling boil, cook it for 5 minutes without stirring. The sugar will dissolve and you’ll be ready to do the rest.
Why you don’t want to stir the milk and sugar when making fudge?
If this is the first time you are making fudge from scratch then you are probably wondering why you can’t stir the milk and sugar when it’s boiling.
Basically stirring it crystallizes the sugar. That’s why some fudges are gritty. The sugar crystallized and now you can feel it in the end product.
I know it’s hard but control the urge to stir for those 5 minutes if you want to have amazing, silky, lemon fudge.
How do you harden lemon fudge?
If you did everything correctly then your fudge will harden when left alone. The sugar will crystallize as well as the chocolate.
Give it around 2 hours in the refrigerator and you’ll be able to cut it with a knife. Make a large batch and cut it into chunks if you wrap it and store it in a nice box it will make the perfect gift!
If you've been looking for a quick fudge recipe, give this traditional lemon fudge a try! Made in the stovetop and cooled in a loaf pan, this lemon fudge recipe is tangy, zesty and sweet all at the same time. Get ready to pucker up because you can feel the delicious lemon flavor in every bite!
In a saucepan combine sugar and evaporated milk. Take to the stovetop on medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly until it reaches a rolling boil.
Stop stirring and bring heat to medium-low. Let it boil for 5 minutes.
Remove from fire. Add lemon zest, butter and white chocolate and with the help of a spatula mix until evenly incorporated and fully melted.
Transfer to the prepared pan and smooth with a rubber spatula.
If there is too much evaporation, when the cooking time is too long, there will not be enough water left in the fudge and it will be too hard. Conversely, if the cooking time is too brief and there is not enough evaporation, too much water will remain and the fudge will be too soft.
For perfect fudge, the syrup should form a soft ball that can be picked up, but easily flattened. If the syrup is undercooked, drops of syrup will sink to the bottom of the glass in threads or simply dissolve. If the syrup is overcooked, the ball will be hard and difficult to flatten with your fingers.
After the chocolate has mostly melted, stir in the vanilla extract. Continue to stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture is smooth and shiny. Pour into a prepared 8 x 8 inch pan. Let the fudge set at room temperature (covered) for at least four hours.
Candy that isn't cooked long enough will end up too soft; overcooking makes fudge crumbly or hard. High-quality fudge has many small crystals. If the process of crystallization begins too early, fewer crystals form and they become much larger.
Stir the ingredients to dissolve the sugar until the mixture comes to a boil. If your recipe uses milk, stirring will keep the mixture from curdling. But once it reaches about 236–238 degrees F/113–114 degrees C (the "soft-ball" stage), do not stir it or even shake the pan.
Once a seed crystal forms, it grows bigger and bigger as the fudge cools. A lot of big crystals in fudge makes it grainy. By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals.
Overcooking or Undercooking:Solution: Cooking the fudge for too long or too short a time can affect its texture. Follow the recipe instructions closely and use a timer to avoid overcooking.
OPTION 3) Sieve together some powdered sugar and cocoa powder, and gradually work this into your unset fudge until it reaches the consistency of dough, then roll out and cut into squares, or shape into balls and then roll in powdered sugar (roll the balls in icing sugar, not yourself).
Secondly, the pot's material should allow for good heat distribution hence your top choice should be copper cookware or a pot with a copper core. Copper's exceptional heat conductivity offers unparalleled temperature control, an asset when working with finicky ingredients like sugar.
If the temperature is too low, the fudge will be too soft and sticky, and if it's too high, it will turn into a hard, crumbly mess. The ideal temperature to cook fudge is between 232-234 degrees F (111-112 degrees C).
Use Evaporated Milk- Make sure to use evaporated milk and not sweetened condensed milk. If you accidentally use sweetened condensed milk your fudge will be incredibly over the top sweet. Cut up the Butter– Before adding the butter in make sure to cut it into smaller pieces for faster melting.
To fix oily, hard or grainy fudge, scoop the fudge back into a pot with about a cup of water. Cook it over low heat until the fudge dissolves. Then bring the fudge back up to the temperature specified in the recipe and follow the remaining steps. The flavor may be slightly diluted, but the texture will be improved.
Cream of tartar is used in caramel sauces and fudge to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing while cooking. It also prevents cooling sugars from forming brittle crystals, this is why it's the secret ingredient in snickerdoodles!
The amount of time you cook fudge directly affects its firmness. Too little time and the water won't evaporate, causing the fudge to be soft. Conversely, cook it too long and fudge won't contain enough water, making it hard with a dry, crumbly texture.
The main reason is that your Fudge has not reached the optimum temperature. If your mixture only reaches 110 or 112 degrees Celsius it will always be soft. That's why we recommend investing in a sugar thermometer. Another reason your Fudge is not setting is that the ratio of liquid to sugar is too high.
Introduction: My name is Jeremiah Abshire, I am a outstanding, kind, clever, hilarious, curious, hilarious, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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