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Maple Fudge

Maple fudge is a sweet confection made from sugar, maple syrup, milk, corn syrup, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Maple Fudge

Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Maple Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

Make the fudge

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar, maple syrup, milk, corn syrup, and butter.

  2. Cook over medium heat until a soft ball forms when dropped in cold water.

  3. Remove from heat and let cool.

Finish and cut

  1. Stir until creamy.

  2. Pour into a pan and cut into squares.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  4. Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,345 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sugar + maple syruptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,252 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and forms the crystal structure that gives fudge its body.
Maple syrup
Adds maple flavor and sweetness.
Milk
Adds moisture and creaminess to the fudge.
Corn syrup
Interferes with sugar crystallization, keeping the fudge smooth rather than grainy.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Cook to a soft ball stage. The cooked sugar concentration sets the final firmness. Stopping too early leaves the fudge soft and runny, while cooking too long makes it hard and crumbly.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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