We’ve all seen it. Little blocks of fudge in the windows of shops, maybe turning on a lazy Susan, maybe just lined up.
You might never have seen these displays in person, but with the saturation of them in the media, especially American Christmas movies, you all know the image I’m talking about.
Traditionally, fudge tastes like a plain sweet piece of confectionary with a tender crumble. There are over 81 different flavours of fudge and the combinations are endless. This allows fudge to be flavoured by many other ingredients such as chocolate and peanut butter.
In these films, people walk past and are filled with wonder and joy at these candied sweeties.
Grandmas stuff them in their purses for grandchildren on Christmas day, Mothers and Fathers make them in the kitchen, and children grow excited about receiving their little block of fudge.
But one thing that these films or TV shows never tell us is how does fudge taste? Everyone seems to want a piece, but they never once describe the flavor to you.
In this article, we will look at the flavor of fudge and discern what it is and if it is the right flavor for you.
Fudge’s Flavor
Before we answer the question, we will just quickly describe what fudge is, to give you context.
Fudge is a soft, sugar candy that is made when a mixture of sugar, milk, and butter is combined and heated until the soft ball stage of candy making.
The soft ball stage is when the mixture is heated to between 234 and 237 °F/ 112 and 114 °C, at this point the fudge is separated from the hard caramel.
In this stage, the sugar concentration is only about 85%, less than most other candied sweets, and that allows the fudge to retain more moisture and more fat, as such being soft and malleable, rather than hard and sticky.
Once at this point, it is put on a slab, where it is cooled and shaped.
Okay, well now we know what fudge is, but what does it taste like? Well, on its own? It’s buttery and sweet with a soft texture.
That’s about it, don’t get me wrong, I love me some butter and sugar, but that’s all there is to it. However, what make’s fudge so amazing is kind of the same thing that makes tofu amazing.
On their own, they are both okay or nice foods with great texture, but when you combine them with other things, that’s when you start getting wonderful creations.
With fudge, anything sweet and even some salty things can be added to make a literal smorgasbord of flavor, and people have been doing that for many years.
Most Common Flavorings Added To Fudge
Due the nature of the tradional fudge flavour being plainly buttery and vanilla sweet. It can be flavoured with almost anything. Just add a little bit of this and that.
We’ve listed the most common flavourings of fudge:
Chocolate
If there was a flavoring that would be added to fudge, it would be chocolate. Two of the world’s favorite sweet foods married in euphony of taste and texture.
Thanks to chocolate not only being sweet, but having its own distinctive flavor, the harmony is incredible, giving a creamy treat to enjoy all day long.
Peanut Butter
This at first seems like an odd one, but if Reeses can make a peanut butter chocolate, then you can make a peanut butter fudge, and what a stunning peanut butter fudge it would be.
The creamy and gummy texture of the peanut butter actually works really well with the fudge, since their textures are similar they combine easily.
The rich, salty taste of the peanut butter hits you like a freight train, followed closely by the fudge’s sweetness, and they meld into wonderful synchronicity in your mouth.
Vanilla
Seen as the standard fudge flavor, vanilla is the flavor you will see decorating the shelves of sweet stores, while other flavors are chopped, changed, or moved around.
The reason isn’t because it’s the best or the worst, but it is the most stable and easy flavor, like vanilla ice cream. You cannot go wrong with it.
The little taste of vanilla lifts the fudge sweetness and gives a delicate little touch that makes you want to come back for more.
Gingerbread
The flavor of the Christmas holidays, it is in everything at this time, coffees, buns, and very occasionally gingerbread.
However, it also transfers well as a fudge flavor, the spices work perfectly when opposed to the sweetness of the sugars, and it becomes gooey in your mouth.
It is particularly sticky, mind, because of the molasses you have to add, but it’s worth it once you’ve had a bite.
Coffee
Coffee fudge is actually quite similar to chocolate fudge, yet where chocolate fudge is filled with a sweet cocoa flavor, coffee is slightly less sweet and has an intense coffee flavor that fills your mouth without leaving it bitter.
Thanks to the preparation technique as well, this type of fudge is incredibly smooth and tangy as it melts in your mouth.
Salted Caramel
Proper salted caramel fudge is amazing. It’s salty, it’s sweet, it’s smooth, and crumbly, it’s great.
It fills the void you’ve had in your life that you’ve tried so desperately to fill with store bought salted caramel products that just don’t hit the spot. But with this, you will gobble it down in seconds and ask for more.
Coconut
Coconut brings another dimension to fudge that not many other flavorings do, and that is texture.
When you bite into coconut fudge, you get the smoothness of the fudge and then the rough texture of the coconut, which then is compounded by the tropical taste that assails your tongue, leaving you wanting more, more, oh so much more.
In Summary
Fudge is one of the most beloved foods, not just here but globally, and has spread and spread. However, the spectacular thing about fudge is its original flavor is not what makes it special.
It’s a buttery sweetness that you can enjoy in toffees, other candies, or just a croissant, but what makes fudge oh, so special is that that buttery sweetness can be combined with literally any other sweet flavor.
Anything you can think of that could be sweet, could be a type of fudge. So when you next make fudge, think about what mad thing you could put in, and I’m sure it’ll work.
