Failing at maple fudge

[mathprofdk]

As I mentioned in another thread, I've been struggling with making candies and fudge lately. I've been using a recipe from maplefrank that was in another thread - just 2 cups syrup and 1 cup cream. Heat to 243, cool to 135, then stir until creamy. To stir, I've been using my mixer at low - medium speed. What I keep cooking looks a lot like caramel. Sometimes I stir in the mixer for 30 minutes and it finally turns to fudge (this has happened twice out of about 8 attempts). I read a recipe elsewhere that called for an additional 1/2 cup sugar, and I think those were the two times that I actually made fudge. The other times the "caramel" just gloms together and ends up throwing the mixer off of balance, or I've just given up out of frustration.

One possible factor - I don't have enough syrup of my own to test with this, and so I've been using store bought Grade A maple (please forgive me). Is that my problem? Is there something else? Do I need to had stir?

Thanks in advance. This has been pretty frustrating so far, but I've gotten good advice here in the past. Hopefully someone will have some tips!

~DK

[twocanines]

What kind of cream? Heavy, Light, Whipping, Squirt?

[mathprofdk]

Heavy whipping cream. One recipe I saw called for it.

[hodorskib]

One thing you can try is taking the temperature of plain water when it boils. 243 degrees means 31 degrees above the normal boiling point of water (which is 212), however, like in my case water boils at 210 at my house so I would have to add 31 degrees to that and take it off at 241. Humidity can also play a large roll in the process. I try and avoid making any types of candies when it is raining but if necessary I add an additional 2 degrees and it seems to work out most times. When you said it came out like caramel I would tend to believe you need to bring the temperature up a few degrees or you did not beat it long enough. I know when making cream it can take a while depending on how fast you can stir. Good luck it took me about 4 years to get the hang of it and I still have at least one batch per year flop.

[mathprofdk]

Thanks, hodorskib.

I've now had two successful batches in a row. !!!

What I changed was the cooling temperature - I didn't let it get as low. So I had two cups cups syrup, 1 cup heavy whipping cream, and 1/2 cup sugar. I boiled to just over 240, then let cool to about 150, where it was still almost a liquid. Then put in the mixer at medium speed and it only took about 5 minutes.

I think before it was cooling too much, and getting so thick that the mixer wasn't really "mixing" it so much as tossing it around the bowl.

So, two yummy batches, and I'm feeling better. Thanks for the tips about temperature, too. I know that boiling is usually around 210 in my house as well. Maybe that's why the 240-ish temperature is working.

~DK

[twocanines]

Nice to hear, I plan to try it out and now I won't let it cool so much because of what you learned.