Salted Dark Chocolate Bourbon Fudge Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Is it better to use salted or unsalted butter in fudge? ›

Unsalted Butter: We use just a little bit of butter which adds extra richness and creates a smooth and creamy fudge. Salt: While some homemade fudge recipes do not call for salt, I find it essential for balancing out the sweetness of the condensed milk.

Chocolate and Fudge Have Different Textures

Fudge is soft, spongy, and malleable. On the other hand, chocolate has a smooth, hard, and shell-like texture. The only exception is a chocolate ganache, which has a soft, warm texture.

Fudge typically contains sugar, butter or cream, milk or condensed milk, cocoa powder (or melted chocolate), flavoring such as vanilla extract or peppermint oil, and sometimes nuts or marshmallows for added texture.

Fudge almost always has a pretty high sugar content as well as having some cream in it—both fattening. If you compare that to eating pure dark artisanal chocolate, it is a no-brainer. Dark chocolate of 70% cocoa or higher is considered a health food and often contains only two ingredients: cocoa and organic cane sugar.

Adjust Salt

Next, if you're swapping unsalted for salted butter, reduce the amount of salt listed in the recipe to adjust for the salt in the butter. Take ¼ teaspoon of salt away for every stick of butter used*. Do the opposite if you're swapping salted for unsalted butter.

When using salted butter in baking, it's important to keep in mind that it may impact the final taste of the product as it contains added salt. It's recommended to either reduce the amount of salt in the recipe by a 1/4 teaspoon or omit it completely. The amount of butter used in the recipe should not be changed.

Fudge is best stored at room temperature for 2 to 3 weeks wrapped up in its original wax paper. NEVER REFRIGERATE your fudge as this will draw out the moisture and leave you with dry, crumbly fudge.

If you're making a lighter fudge that doesn't involve any chocolate, you might notice that the recooked batch has a darker, brownish color, thanks to caramelized sugar crystals. This change may alarm you, but the fudge should still have a lovely, mellow flavor and silky texture.

Most dark chocolate is rich in plant chemicals called flavanols. Flavanols are antioxidants linked to a lower risk of heart disease. In theory, dark chocolate will contain higher flavanol content (greater health benefit). Milk chocolate contains much less, and white chocolate contains none.

Humidity can cause fudge to boil over in the pan or stay soft when set, so try to avoid working on humid days if at all possible. If waiting for a less humid day isn't feasible, you'll need to boil your fudge at a slightly higher temperature than usual — or just order some delicious fudge from Wockenfuss!

What is the secret to smooth fudge that is not gritty? ›

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.

White chocolate is the worst – it has more calories than milk chocolate and more sugar than dark.

Fudge is a rich, chocolate candy made with plenty of sugar, cream, and butter. Fudge is usually cut into squares and eaten in small quantities. While fudge comes in many different flavors, it's usually chocolate. In the US, another kind of fudge is smooth, melted chocolate that can be poured over the top of ice cream.

A lot of calories. A lot of sugar. Moderation is the key. An ounce or two I would recommend.

It should be just fine when making cookies. Even just 50 years ago, recipes never specific salted/unsalted butter. The reason recipes started calling for UNsalted butter is because the amount of salt in salted butter will vary, depending on the dairy that makes the butter.

If you use salted butter instead of unsalted, your recipe will turn out saltier! So you will simply need to use less salt in the rest of the recipe to keep things balanced.

Anytime a recipe calls for butter you should always use unsalted butter. Using salted butter will result in salty brownies that might not rise well.

Either sort of butter will almost always work, because most recipes have you add some salt.