Fudge

I’ve been putting off making fudge for a while now but it’s only a few days until christmas and it could wait no longer. I made 2 types, White Chocolate and Bailey’s Fudge and regular Chocolate Fudge The basic recipe is the same you just add different stuff at the end. The possibilities are endless!

I didn’t think I liked fudge for some reason but this stuff is delicious! Especially warm scraps out of the pan at the very end. The Bailey’s flavour develops really well as it cools and the regular chocolate is very very tempting. So tempting in fact that when I went out leaving the very last slice I’d kept back for myself on the table the dog jumped up and ate it! So I had a sugar high puppy and no fudge. 😦

I admit I burnt the first batch (White Chocolate and Baileys, below) I made as I didn’t know what I was doing. Well, it wasn’t actually burnt, that’s the odd thing. It just developed brown caramel pieces in it as I had it on too high a temperature. It tasted absolutely fine, in fact I rather liked the texture, and the pan had nothing stuck to it at all so I’m not quite sure what happened. So “caramel bits” they shall be!

Makes 1 8x8x8 cake tin

405g tin condensed milk
150ml milk
450g demerara sugar
115g unsalted butter
Flavourings of your choice:
200g white/plain/milk chocolate (break into small chunks first)
50ml alcohol (Bailey’s, Cointreau, etc.)
dried fruits
etc.

– Line your cake tin with foil.
– Put everything in a large, deep pan and gently heat until the sugar is dissolved. (It will no longer feel grainy on the bottom.)
– Raise the heat and bring to a boil.
– Lower the heat again and very gently simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring constantly. The liquid will bubble up (watch it doesn’t boil over) and then die back down again. Keep stirring constantly and briskly. Once it starts to thicken, or if you see any hint of brown flecks forming, remove from the heat.
– To test the fudge drop a small spoonful into a jug of cold water. It should form a soft ball, not ribbons. (I was using a sugar thermometer but my fudge didn’t get to soft ball on the thermometer but still formed a soft ball in practice so best to do it the old-fashioned way here.)
– Here is where you add any flavourings and stir until thoroughly melted/combined.
– Pour the hot fudge into the prepared tin, smooth down a little if necessary, and then leave to cool completely.
– Turn out and lightly score where you want to cut then cut the fudge into chunks.