Recipe Revision: Vanilla Fudge Recipe

Last year I published a recipe for soft vanilla fudge, which is no doubt delicious, but can at times be very temperamental. Recently I've been finding out ways of making fudge a little easier to make, and this is the resulting fudge!

Beautiful isn't it?

It turns out that the first thing I discovered is that condensed milk is actually really useful. My original recipe didn't use condensed milk, because it's quite expensive and at the time I couldn't justify the cost of using it when it's perfectly feasible to make fudge without it. But when I discovered a really simple 2 ingredient condensed milk cheat, it suddenly became a lot cheaper. So, I'm reconciled with it.

The second thing is that traditional fudge is too sugary for my liking and not rich enough. I remedied this by upping the butter amount in the recipe. Very simple, but now the flavour is a lot fuller and not as one-dimensional.

This fudge is really soft and melts in the mouth. Depending on how long you beat it for is how firm and grainy it gets: the less you beat it, the softer; the more you beat it, the firmer.

I'm going to be adapting all my previous fudge recipes using this new improved version. Stay tuned!

INGREDIMENTS

This is a large quantity that will make about 1 pound (450 grammes) of fudge, but I've found it can be easily halved or even quartered. Just be really careful when making small batches because it can burn or crystallise easily.

• 8 ounces (225 grammes) condesned milk
• 8 ounces (225 grammes) light brown sugar
• 4 ounces (115 grammes) butter
• 2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) milk
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla or other essence

HOW-TO

• Prepare an 4 by 6 inch (10 by 15 centimeter) loaf tin by lining it with non-stick baking paper. You could also use a silicone baking tin, which needs no lining.
• In a heavy-based large saucepan, heat the all the ingredients in a heavy bottom saucepan the sugar has completely dissolved. Using a pastry brush dipped in hot water, wash the sugar crystals from the side of the pan. Alternatively, you can just pop the lid on the pan for a minute to allow the steam to wash it all away instead.
• Once the sugar has dissolved and there is no evidence of sugar crystals left, bring the mixture to the boil and once boiling clip a sugar thermometre to the side of the pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the whole thing reaches 118°C (245°F), stirring occasionally to prevent the dairy from burning to the pan.
• Once the fudge has reached temperature, take the pan from the heat and add the vanilla essence. B beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until thick, creamy and opaque. The mixture will slightly lose its shine and become more matte, and the consistency will be like freshly made Mr Whippy ice-cream. 
• Pour into your prepared tin and allow to cool at room temperature overnight.

Do not even think of setting it in the fridge: you can store it in the fridge once set, but setting the fudge in the fridge will cause crystallisation. Store in an air tight container to avoid it catching any unwanted odours or flavours.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: The Grand Christmas Cake Creation of 2013 (Part 2)