Fudge help please!

[Jux]

DD is making fudge. As usual it is taking all afternoon. The recipe says to put it on the lowest heat of the smallest burner and leave - stirring very occasionally - for about 20 minutes until reaches soft ball.

We have a sugar thermometer. As usual, after over two hours it is not yet there. It does not form a ball when dropped into a saucer of cold water.

We probably, on previous form, have at least another half hour to wait.

As usual, dd has had to go and do homework or something while I wait and keep an eye on it.

I have turned the heat up a tad in the past and it has burnt. I am sure there is something we are doing wrong.

Any ideas?

You need to heat it gently until the sugar has dissolved, and then you can turn the heat up to boil it to reach the soft ball stage.

I've always found that dropping a little in a ramekin of ice cold water is a more reliable test than using a sugar thermometer.

Even heating until there's no longer any grittiness on the bottom doesn't avoid little burned bit at the bottom, you just have to stir like crazy one it's started to change colour, and is no longer transluscent.

Oh thank you! I'd given up on this thread. The fudge turned put perfect, but took 4+ hours altogether.

The instructions you've given are very different from the instructions we had, but far more sensible. I shall insist dd uses yours next time - that amount of time is just silly.

Would there be a difference if she put whisky in it?

I think I'd add it when you start beating. The book I've got is really useful. It's in the Time Life series, called Confectionery, and that's where I got the instructions to allow to cool before beating to get a creamier texture.

There are loads of things in it that I've never done, like making your own liqueur chocs from an alcohol-flavoured sugar syrup in a box of arrowroot - it crystallises in the arrowroot, and that makes the sugar centre; dipping chocolates, nougat etc etc.

I don't think they're in print, but amazon have them.

I've also got paté + terrines, game, and another that I can't remember. Worth a look as they have a techniques section with loads and loads of pictures, and then the recipes.

Just had a look - there's a copy for 1p!

Is it this one? Looks good, thank you.