OT--Pogue; Fudge question??

[AKF]

Pogue,

I made fudge by your recipe, and it is delicious, but it won't harden. It's fine in the fridge , but if I let it come to room temp, we have to eat it off a spoon. I called myself going by the recipe, but I did use mini-marshmallows instead of big ones. Did I not cook it long enough?

Any suggestions are appreciated. The stuff tastes great, but I don't want to keep eating fudge-pops!!

[The Pogue]

I've never calculated to see how many mini-marshmallows are equivalent to 16 regular. At a guess I'd say a 4:1 ratio. That may have made a difference.

Once it comes to a full rolling boil, it needs to boil 5 minutes, until the syrupy mix is a deep gold.

You might be able to "save it" by melting it down and cooking some more. I've never tried that. Or, melt it down just until it becomes mixable, then stir in some peanut butter. That will give it more body.

If all is lost, you can use it as cake frosting, or icecream topping. Good luck!!

[AKF]

I might have used too many marshmallows, then. Alicia and I stacked them up and thought about 10 looked right. Maybe I'll cut back on that. And I bet I didn't let it get to boiling good enough before I started timing. I plan to try again later this week. It was really easy to make, and everybody loves it. Thanks for the help!!

[RathyKay]

I haven't tried Pogue's recipe. Obviously since we're such diet nuts I'm no longer making fudge.

Anyway, my Mom has a wonderful recipe and she makes pans and pans of it to give out to her friends and family at Christmas. She is always one to share a recipe (no changes to it). But, for some reason, none of her friends could make it. It wasn't until my SIL tried to make it (and it flopped) that we figured out the problem. My SIL came over to "learn the secret" of fudge making. The original recipe that my Mom got (and that she copied for all her friends) calls for butter. My Mom makes everything with margarine. Since I grew up watching and learning from her, I always used margarine and never had any problems with it either. (Oh, and our recipe says to boil for 10 minutes. I've always wondered if that gets it to a "soft ball" "hard ball" "soft crack" or "hard crack" candy temperature, but I've never made the effort to measure it.)

My Mom has since told all of her friends and family about her "secret ingredient." Don't know if this helps or solves your problem, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

[milivica]

Ahhh, Pogue sent me the very best recipe ever...I got the mail from the box, opened the package in the mail, opened a lid, and poof home made fudge!

Took just under 24 hours to finish enough fudge to feed a family of 20 (eaten by myself, and our 2 kids).

Oh
Mah
Gorsh
that was some darn good fudge.

Apparently I'm storing it in my hips and thighs for future use (lol)

[AKF]

Hmmm, I did use butter! Maybe I'll try with margarine. Thanks! The good thing about this is that we get to eat the failures!!!

[The Pogue]

I always use real butter.