carbon14 Blog

I've never tried to make fudge before. I've never got round to acquiring a sugar thermometer, so I've always been scared to try anything that involves setting sugar.

The thing is, grandmothers have been making fudge for years without the benefit of fancy brass thermometers, and I know that grannies have super-powers, but really, how hard can it be.

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1 tin of condensed milk (375-400g sort of size)
50g unsalted butter
250g caster sugar.
1 tsp vanilla essence.

Stick it all in a pan and stir over a low-medium heat until all the sugar dissolves. You need to get the sugar dissolved before the mixture reaches the critical temperature. Once the mixture stops sounding crunchy, turn up the heat to med or med-high and get the mixture up to temperature. A lot of recipes say, boil rapidly up to the temperature, but it's very difficult to boil rapidly AND keep the mixture an even temperature throughout, so I say not too rapid.

The temperature you need is 114-116°C. Without a thermometer you need to do it by checking the colour. Basically it's going to be ready when it's reached a rich fudge colour. The colour of Caramac. Test the fudge by taking a teaspoonful and dropping it into a bowl of cold water. Fish it out and it should form a soft ball, not hard and brittle, and not liquid.

A heavy pan will probably help to keep the temperature even, but stirring is the most important thing. If parts of the mixture get too hot, they will go a dark brown colour, and take on a toffee texture. If this happens, there's no going back, your fudge will have brown flecks in it until the day you die. (or until you finish eating the fudge, it still tastes mighty good!)

Once it's got to the right temperature / colour, take it off the heat and beat it thoroughly until its smooth while the temperature drops a little. Pour it into a greased 20cm square tin, lined with baking parchment. Keep your sticky mitts off it until it's cold.

This will make about 36 pieces that are each just a little bit too big.