Key Difference – Fudge vs Toffee
Fudge and toffee are two types of confectionary products that everyone loves. Although many people love to eat them, most don’t know the difference between fudge and toffee. The difference between fudge and toffee depends on their ingredients and cooking methods. Fudge is made of sugar, butter, and milk while toffee is made of sugar and butter. Fudge is heated to a softball temperature whereas toffee is heated to a hard crack temperature. As a result, toffee is more hard and brittle than toffee.
What is Fudge?
Fudge is a soft, crumbly or chewy sweet made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk or cream. Fudge can be described as a type of fondant. Chocolate is often used as a main ingredient of fudge, but it is not an essential ingredient. You can also use caramel, fruits, nuts and other flavors to the fudge mixture.
Fudge is made by mixing the above-mentioned ingredients and heating it to a soft ball stage (224 to 238 degrees F), and whipping the mixture while it cools. Whipping results in a creamy and smooth consistency. The creamy texture of fudge depends on the sugar crystallization. However, if you don’t pay attention to the temperature, your fudge may end up having a hard and brittle texture.
As mentioned above, fudge can come in different flavors. Some popular fudge flavors include chocolate fudge, vanilla fudge, peanut butter fudge, maple syrup fudge, butterscotch fudge, salted caramel fudge, etc. Hot fudge is slightly different from the confectionary – it is a thick, chocolate flavored syrup that is used as an ice-cream topping.
What is Toffee?
Toffee is a hard, chewy candy made of brown sugar or molasses and butter. It is made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with butter, and sometimes flour. Ingredients such as nuts and raisins can also be added to this mixture. This mixture is heated until it reaches temperatures of 300 to 310 °F. This stage is known as the hard crack stage. By this stage, the mix will have a glossy surface and will be stiff enough to be pulled into a shape which holds. It will then be poured into a shallow tray and allowed to cool to form a slab. Then it is broken into large pieces to eat as a candy, or smaller pieces to use as sprinkles. The brown color of the toffee is due to the process of caramelization. Toffee can be used with various ingredients to produce different flavors. Some of these ingredients include chocolate, vanilla, raspberry, honeycomb, raisins, etc.
What is the difference between Fudge and Toffee?
Temperature:
Fudge is cooked to a lower temperature (soft ball stage -224 to 238 °F).
Toffee is cooked to a higher temperature (hard crack stage -300 to 310 °F).
Ingredients:
Fudge is made using sugar, butter, and milk or cream.
Toffee is made using sugar and butter.
Texture:
Fudge is soft and chewy.
Toffee is more brittle and hard than fudge.
Food:
Fudge is mostly eaten alone.
Toffee is used to make puddings and cakes; smaller pieces of toffee is sprinkled on top of other sweets. It can also be eaten alone as a candy.
Image Courtesy:
“Peanut butter chocolate fudge (8548190304)” By jules – 5 peanut butter chocolate fudge-2 (CC BY 2.0) via Commons Wikimedia
“Toffee I” By Chef Sean Christopher – Directly from the Author (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia