Chocolate Pistachio Fudge Still Sticky

Asked by jody68. Answered on 25th November 2011

Full question

Hi, last night I made Chocolate Pistachio Fudge from Express, poured the delicious goo into trays and left it to set in the fridge overnight. To my horror it hasn't set! I can't even remove the fudge from the trays as it is so soft. The recipe is so simple I can't believe I messed up. Help! Thanks, Jo

My 8yr old daughter made the Chocolate Pistachio Fudge, we followed the recipe to the letter. The problem is that when we tried to get the fudge out of the foil tray it was stuck and I had to use a knife to get it out. I was wondering if we did something wrong, and is there anyway to not leave half of the fudge in the foil tray? Jay

Our answer

The Chocolate Pistachio Fudge does need to be made with chocolate with a high cocoa content as the cocoa solids will help the fudge to set. Nigella suggests a chocolate with 70% cocoa solids but if you have used one with significantly less then it may have affected the texture. In the UK most supermarkets sell the higher cocoa brands of chocolate and in the US you can find bars of 70% cocoa solids (Lindt, Green & Black's) in better supermarkets and gourmet stores, or the recipe should work with one of the better quality bittersweet chocolates (that has 62% cocoa solids) but not semisweet chocolate.

Also check that the trays have been stored in the coldest part of the fridge (towards the back). You may have more difficulty getting the fudge to set in very hot or humid conditions. You can freeze the fudge and store it in the freezer if it is really soft. You don't need to thaw the fudge before eating it, just serve it direct from the freezer. If anything the texture becomes more traditionally fudge-like and grainy on freezing.

The fudge usually peels away from the foil tray without much difficulty (you can use scissors to cut away the sides of the tray to help to ease the fudge out) but if it is a little sticky then line the tray with some baking parchment (parchment paper) with some of the parchment coming up the sides of the tray to act as handles. The fudge can be lifted out then flipped over and the parchment paper peeled away.

It is probably also worth mentioning that as this is not a cooked fudge it will always be slightly soft and not as firm as a cooked fudge which will have been boiled first.