Vanilla fudge recipe manual#

It will possibly be the creamiest confection you’ve ever had. If you want to be extra decadent then you could use a small pot of clotted cream (usually 227g each) and make up the volume with double cream or milk. It makes the fudge only ever so slightly less rich but let’s be honest, it otherwise plenty rich enough with all that sugar and butter! I go off piste only to add a little milk to my double cream, mostly because cream is sold in 300ml pots in England and it makes me happy to not have to open another pot.

Vanilla fudge recipe manual#

If you have a stand mixer, the manual labour intensity is minimal – use the flat beater/K-beater attachment and if you have a metal bowl, use that rather than a plastic one as fudge is hot, hot, hot! You can simply beat it with a wooden spoon if not, scraping up the bottom and sides to make sure every last little bit gets a sound thrashing or you will have grainy bits in your fudge (grains make Hulk angry!). This helps align the sugar crystals and lays the groundwork for a perfectly set fudge. You heat it to the soft ball stage, which is between 113-118˚C (I take it off at 116˚C to prevent it overheating) then allow to cool down a touch before you beat the bejeezus out of it. Traditional fudge is a mix of demerara sugar, double cream, a little liquid glucose and butter. Now it isn’t to say that these aren’t delicious sweet treats, it’s just that after you’ve made as many batches as I have that you’ve had to give away after your first chunk as the texture is all wrong for you, then you’ll see why the pedant in me emerges and I become rather fussy! Problem is, the word “fudge” has been sullied and now is awarded to confections which include microwaving chocolate and condensed milk together then leaving it to set, or doing the same in the slow cooker or adding a few extra bits like butter and more sugar on the hob. If you have ever Googled or rooted around Pinterest looking at glorious images of fudge of every possible flavour, with additions such as chocolate, crumbled cookies, marshmallows, fruit, nuts you name it, the combinations have been well documented. Fatal mistake, there is no such thing as onlyone more chunk of fudge… I want my fudge to melt in the mouth like butter, but have more substance – it should be creamy, rich and make you groan with pleasure as you eat just one more chunk. Problem is, if flaky, crumbly textures make your teeth itch like mine, then you are going to be disappointed in the extreme! There are plenty of recipes out there for tablet and many, many lovers of the stuff but for me, the perfect fudge is soft and luscious, without a grain in sight.

Tablet is a Scottish confection which uses double the quantity of sugar that fudge does but otherwise, the method is often very similar. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have made that mistake when searching for the magic method to deliver creamy fudginess so let me explain. One thing to be clear about from the start is this is fudge, not tablet. It’s taken a lot of time and a lot of flaky, grainy, unpalatable batches of supposed fudge to find the winning recipe. Proper, traditional, soft & creamy real vanilla fudge.