creamy candy made with butter, sugar, milk, and usually chocolate, cooked together and beaten to a soft, smooth texture. Fudge may be thought of as having a consistency harder than that of fondant (q.v.) and softer than that of hard chocolate. According to most recipes, the ingredients of fudge are cooked to what is termed in kitchen parlance the soft ball stage, that point between 234° and 240° F (112° and 115° C) at which a small ball of the candy dropped in ice water neither disintegrates nor flattens when picked up with the fingers. Butter and vanilla are added as the candy cools, then the mass is beaten until creamy, poured into a pan, and cut into squares. Often sour cream is substituted for milk and butter, and nut meats or raisins may be stirred into the fudge.

Although chocolate is the usual base for the candy, fudges are often made with marshmallow cream, peanut butter, vanilla, maple, or butterscotch. Variously flavoured fudges are used as cake icings and ice cream toppings.