Soft-ball stage

The soft-ball stage is a point in cooking sugar syrup, reached at 112 to 116°C (234 to 240°F) at sea level. A drop of syrup in cold water forms a soft, sticky ball that you can squash between your fingers. Out of the water, it slowly flattens. Fudge, fondant, pralines, maple candy and the hot syrup for Italian meringue and buttercream are cooked to this stage. It comes after the thread stage and before the firm-ball stage.

How to do it

1. Use a heavy, clean saucepan. Combine the sugar with water, milk or cream as the recipe says.
2. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely.
3. Brush down the sides with a wet pastry brush to remove stray crystals.
4. Clip on a candy thermometer with the tip in the syrup but not touching the bottom.
5. Boil without stirring, unless the recipe has milk or cream, which need gentle stirring so they do not scorch.
6. Take it off the heat as soon as it reaches 112 to 116°C (234 to 240°F).
7. For fudge, let it cool without stirring to about 43 to 50°C (110 to 120°F) before you beat it.

How to tell it is done

Drop a little syrup into very cold water. Gather it with your fingers. At soft ball it forms a soft ball that loses its shape and flattens within a few seconds on your fingertip. If it dissolves in the water, keep cooking. If it holds a firm shape, it has gone to firm ball.

Why it works

As water boils away, the sugar concentration and boiling point rise together. At soft ball, the syrup is roughly 85 percent sugar. In fudge, cooling it before beating lets many tiny sugar crystals form at once, which gives a smooth, creamy texture instead of a gritty one.

Common mistakes

• Beating fudge while hot. It forms large crystals and turns grainy.
• Stirring a plain sugar syrup after it boils. It can crystallize.
• Skipping the thermometer check. Test it in boiling water and adjust for any difference. At altitude, water boils lower, so lower the target by the same amount.
• Pulling it too early. Fudge stays soft and never sets.

In recipes

"Cook to the soft-ball stage" and "cook to 115°C (238°F)" both point here. Recipes for Italian meringue often give 118°C (245°F), at the top of this range or just into firm ball.