Buckeye Fudge Candy Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Buckeye candy made of? ›

Buckeyes are a confection made from a peanut butter fudge partially dipped in chocolate to leave a circle of peanut butter visible. Buckeyes are similar to peanut butter balls (or peanut-butter-filled chocolate balls), which are completely covered in chocolate.

You have to control two temperatures to make successful fudge: the cooking temperature AND the temperature at which the mixture cools before stirring to make it crystallize. Confectionery experiments have shown that the ideal cooking temperature for fudge is around 114 to 115 °C (237 to 239 °F).

Why Is My Fudge Chewy & Gooey? When something goes wrong when making fudge, The culprit is likely to be the temperature. Chewy fudge results from the excessive moisture present in the mixture, which means the fudge was not cooked to the right temperature and could not be cooked enough to release the moisture.

Sugar Crystals Formed

It's important to beat the fudge ingredients to develop the right texture, but you won't get smooth, creamy fudge if you beat it when it's too hot. Beating fudge when it's still over heat creates sugar crystals, aka the grittiness you feel in the fudge.

The term buckeye has widely been used to describe residents of Ohio in general since the mid 1800s. It became popular when supporters of William Henry Harrison's successful presidential campaign carved souvenirs out of buckeye wood.

The birth of the buckeye

Gail, a reporter for the Columbus Citizen-Journal who was married to an Ohio State University doctoral student, got the recipe and later made them herself.

How to Fix Grainy Fudge. If, despite your best efforts, your fudge is grainy when you go to transfer it to your pan, never fear! You can fix it. Just place the fudge mixture back in a saucepan on the stovetop with about 1½ cups of water and slowly melt the fudge to a smooth liquid.

As water gradually evaporates, sugar is concentrated and the temperature of the mixture rises above 100°C (212°F). If there is too much evaporation, when the cooking time is too long, there will not be enough water left in the fudge and it will be too hard.

Options for what you can do with your unset fudge:

OPTION 1) Depending on how runny it is, you can either use it as a frosting for cakes, or a sauce for ice-cream. OPTION 2) Freeze it overnight. Cut it into squares. Cover each square thickly in melted chocolate, ensuring no part of the fudge is exposed.

Why did my fudge turn out gooey? ›

You wait patiently, only to discover that it's still a sticky, gummy mess. But don't despair or throw out the entire pan of fudge: You can probably remedy the situation. Fudge usually behaves this way when it's not cooked to a high enough temperature (due to oversight or a faulty candy thermometer).

It could be the pan. Is it a heavy base one that you used to use? I made fudge over Christmas which turned out perfect but made another batch in a thinner base pan and it turned to toffee as it heated too quickly and unevenly.

By letting the fudge cool without stirring, you avoid creating seed crystals. Stirring would help sucrose molecules "find" one another and start forming crystals. Stirring also introduces air, dust, and small dried bits from the walls of the saucepan—all potential seeds for crystal formation.

Avoid Stirring Once the Mixture Comes to a Simmer

Another key part of a successful fudge texture is when you stir the mixture. Stirring the sugar and milk during the initial stages of cooking allows the sugar to dissolve. However, once the mixture comes to a boil, it's time to put the spoon down.

Cream of tartar is used in caramel sauces and fudge to help prevent the sugar from crystallizing while cooking. It also prevents cooling sugars from forming brittle crystals, this is why it's the secret ingredient in snickerdoodles!

Poisonous Plant: All parts of the plant (leaves, bark, fruit) are highly toxic if ingested – because of the glycoside aesculin, the saponin aescin, and possibly alkaloids. Symptoms are muscle weakness and paralysis, dilated pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, depression, paralysis, and stupor.

Buckeyes taste like peanut butter cups with an emphasis on the peanut butter! Not too sweet, really creamy, and so satisfying.

A seed in flowering plants is always formed within a fruit, which in the case of the Ohio buckeye is large, leathery, and slightly prickly. One to several seeds are formed inside.

buckeye, any of about six species of North American trees and shrubs in the genus Aesculus of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). The name refers to the resemblance of the nutlike seed, which has a pale patch on a shiny red-brown surface, to the eye of a deer.