knocked apart in fast-moving surroundings — the total number of crystals formed in a hot syrup will be lower Put these two trends together, and we see that when a hot syrup begins to crystallize, it will produce fewer and larger crystals than a cool one, and therefore a coarse texture This is why recipes for fudge or fondant, candies with a fine, creamy texture, call for the syrup to be cooled drastically — from 235ºF/113ºC down to around 110ºF/43ºC — before the cook initiates crystallization by stirring Stirring Makes Smaller Crystals Crystal size and texture are also influenced by stirring We’ve seen that agitation favors the formation of crystal seeds by pushing sugar molecules into each other A syrup that is stirred infrequently will develop only a few crystals, while one that is kept in motion continuously will produce great numbers And the more crystals there are in a syrup, all competing for the remaining free molecules, the fewer free molecules there are to go around, and so the smaller the average size of each crystal The more a syrup is stirred, then, the finer the consistency of the final candy This is the justification for wearing your arm out when making fudge: the moment you let up, the formation of seeds slows down, the crystals you’ve made up to that point begin to grow in size, and the candy gets coarse and grainy Rules for Creating Fine-Textured Candies In order to produce many small sugar crystals from a syrup, the candy maker should include some corn syrup in the recipe to interfere with crystal formation remove dried syrup from the pan interior before cooling the syrup ...competing for the remaining free molecules, the fewer free molecules there are to go around, and so the smaller the average size of each crystal The more a syrup is stirred, then, the finer the consistency... finer the consistency of the final candy This is the justification for wearing your arm out when making fudge: the moment you let up, the formation of seeds slows down, the crystals you’ve made up to that point begin to... size, and the candy gets coarse and grainy Rules for Creating Fine-Textured Candies In order to produce many small sugar crystals from a syrup, the candy maker should include some corn syrup in the recipe to