Fudgeilicious

Howdy! Been a while since I last updated this, I've been really busy lately.

However, seeing as I'm home for Christmas now I thought it was about time I put something seasonal on here. And fudge is something anyone can make and you can put an infinite amount of variations and twists on this recipe for loads of occasions.

I got this particular recipe from my good friend Olivia who lives in the beautiful Nova Scotia. She's also a fan of the culinary arts and has put together a rather witty collection of Nigella quotes onto a twitter account here: http://twitter.com/ShitNigellaSays

Anyway, I digress. To make a big slab of vanilla fudge you will need:

• 235ml milk
• 470g caster sugar
• 40g butter
  
• 3tsp vanilla essence
• half a tin of caramel (nestle do a really good one, it's in their range with evaporated and condensed milk.)
  

A lot of people like making fudge with a sugar thermometer as it's quite tricky to get it hot enough to set at the perfect, creamy point without over-heating it and making it crumbly. So if it doesn't turn out the first time, don't worry, as this is one of those recipes that takes practice until you really get an eye for exactly what you're doing. To figure out if your fudge is done, I use the soft-ball method. To do this, fill a cup or a little bowl or something with cold water. Then drop a little bit of fudge into it. If, when you pick it out, you can roll it between your fingers without it dripping all over your hand, then it's done.

Anyway. Start by adding the sugar to the milk in a reasonably large saucepan.


Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then add the butter. It shouldn't take too long to melt, although it won't combine fully for a while and will remain a little seperate so you can see the yellowey butteriness in there.


As you stir it and it combines, you'll notice it starts to bubble. This is because the mixture has to reduce, in Olivia's words: "a whole bunch".



Which is entirely accurate. You'll be stirring this for a while as all the liquid in this evaporates and leaves you with a noticeably thicker mixture in your pan. As you're stirring it, you'll notice a colour change too; from white, to a creamy yellow, to a darker sort of fudgey, toffeeish colour. As it gets really gloopy, like a thick glue, you'll want to try doing the soft-ball test to see if it's done. If it passes the test, stir in your caramel and vanilla essence, and once it's combined...


...Get it in a tin or onto greaseproof paper pretty quick as this stuff sets fast. I mean really fast. It takes a while to cool entirely though so make sure it's set all the way through before you handle it too much. I also heartily recommend getting a spoon and digging the leftover bits out of the pan, as it's delicious warm. But be careful, as the sugar in this gets VERY hot while it's cooking.


Et voila. You should end up with a slab of delicious, treat-yourself homemade fudge. Cut it up into chunks or use cookie cutters, serve it however you like but be prepared for this stuff to disappear quickly.


I'm not sure how much I'm going to update before Christmas, although I would love to get a proper seasonal recipe up here. If not, then have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy yourselves. I'll be trying my hand at a gingerbread house this year, so fingers crossed all that goes well! Enjoy, and happy cooking.