Woohoo! Fastest response ever!! Thanks
Hehehehe yes, I read about that tip *after* I had burned the fudge But I will absolutely have another pan ready for attempt #2, thanks!
We only have an electric hob, not gas, I *hate* not having better control of the temperatures when cooking

Has anyone ever tried using an electric beater instead of beating with a wooden spoon?

Originally Posted by Scubabe

Woohoo! Fastest response ever!! Thanks
Hehehehe yes, I read about that tip *after* I had burned the fudge But I will absolutely have another pan ready for attempt #2, thanks!
We only have an electric hob, not gas, I *hate* not having better control of the temperatures when cooking

Has anyone ever tried using an electric beater instead of beating with a wooden spoon?

i haven't , i use me grans old rotary, all i would say is if you try it, be sure its up to the temprature? and be very carefull not to splash yourself

I only have an electric hob too, the answer is to move the pan on and off the ring while waiting for it to cool. If your fudge is catching on the bottom, you have the temp too hot, you're not stirring it enough, or your pan doesn't have a thick enough base. Possibly a combination of all 3
I know the recipe says "stir occasionally", but really, you need to stand with it and stir it most of the time. You will get darker brown flecks rising up and being stirred back in, if they are bigger than flecks, then move the pan off the heat temporarily, mix it vigorously, and turn the heat down a tad. Just common sense really, if it's burning on the bottom, it obviously needs moving round more

As for the beating stage, well, you just do it til it's too stiff to beat any more, you don't want it setting in the pan I'm not sure what would happen if you didn't beat it, I think it'd be more like that 'rubbery' sort of fudge that you get in seaside gift boxes. I think if you did it with an electric whisk, you might end up with air bubbles in it? Give it a go

If you use a mixer to beat fudge, be careful, because there is a risk that the fudge will get too solid to beat, which might burn out the motor. Alternatively you could cheat, and make the one I invented by adapting the Waitrose 'no cook coconut ice' recipe. You can sometimes buy tins of 'caramel' condensed milk, but if those are not available, boil an unopened can of the ordinary type for about 2 hours, then let it cool before opening. Have the stuff warm (I warmed it in a bowl over very-hot water) and stir in icing sugar until it simply becomes too stiff to stir. You can add whatever flavour you like after a little of the icing sugar.
Pour the finished mixture into a foil dish lined with greaseproof paper or baking parchment, leave in a very dry (and slightly warm helps. Airing cupboard recommended, if you have one) place for a couple of days, then 'mark out' into squares. Leave a few more days. Turn out onto a layer of greaseproof or baking parchment, peel off the paper from what was the bottom, leave a bit longer (another 2 days should be OK unless it is a thick layer), then break into pieces, and there it is. Takes quite a long time, but no risk of burning!

I made this today (from Olive Magazine) in my new maslin pan.

It tastes lush, set properly, and didn't need any beating

Baileys Irish Fudge

500g golden granulated sugar (I used soft brown sugar)
500ml whipping cream
50ml Baileys I added a dash of Scotch for a stronger flavour
150g white chocolate
a maslin or thick bottomed big pan

1) Butter and line a 22cm x 22cm tin with baking parchment, leaving a small overhang.
2) Put sugar, cream and Baileys in a large pan and, stirring, bring it to a simmer. Make sure the sugar is dissolved (it will stop feeling grainy on the base of the pan), then turn the heat up to a rolling boil

3) Adjust the heat until the mixture bubbles without getting too near the top of the pan. Keep bubbling for about 45 mins, stirring occasionally, until a small amount of mixture dropped into a glass of cold water will form a soft ball that you can pick up on the end of a teaspoon.

4) At this stage, the bubbles will have gone from being large and unruly to smaller and more even. Stir in the chocolate and pour the mixture into the tin. Cool and cut.

this makes a pale brown fudge, so use white sugar if you want a paler colour, and it doesn't taste that much of Baileys either, but it's ever so nice

To make chocolate-coconut fudge, add a 50g sachet of creamed coconut, chopped, when melting the chocolate.

what's the difference between "fudge" and "tablet" (as a Scot, I know what I think but I'm interested to read others opinions so I can figure out a couple of recipes I have!!)

many thanks

Originally Posted by Scottishnewbie

what's the difference between "fudge" and "tablet" (as a Scot, I know what I think but I'm interested to read others opinions so I can figure out a couple of recipes I have!!)

many thanks

A matter of texture isn't it? (quite often I start out to make fudge, but it ends up tablet......) If you don't manage to beat it enough while it is cooling, it sets a bit firmer, and becomes tablet (at least that is the impression I get).

Chocolate Coconut Fast Fudge

150g-200g bar white chocolate
½ of a 397g can sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp unsalted butter
50g sachet of creamed coconut


Line a square tin measuring about 20cm x 20cm with baking parchment, creasing it into the corners. * I used a silicone ice-cube mould for heart-shaped fudges

Break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add the condensed milk and melt in a saucepan of boiling water (bain marie).

Heat gently, stirring the chocolate until completely melted, stir in the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in the creamed coconut.

Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface with the back of the spoon. Chill for at least 2 hours until the fudge is firm.

Lift out of the tin and remove the paper. Using a sharp knife cut the fudge into small squares.

Store in freezer until needed

I feel a fudge session coming on ....

I'm intending on making some to put in my Christmas hampers this year - all the jams, chutneys, liquers, puddings and cakes are done so just fudge to sort and am thinking it will make a nice change from the truffles I did last year. Never made it before so will have to see how it goes

I've always used a bain-marie to cook fudge, as my mother often burned it before she thought of doing it this way.

Ah. Fudge time again. I'm having a bash tomorrow *pans fling themselves screaming out of windows* so no doubt I'll be asking for help again very soon.

I've still got Janeyo's lovely no-cook recipe, actually. I think that's probably my best bet.

So i set myself a mission this week, how to make fudge without any dairy. My family is bloody awkward & over half of us are lactose intolerant which means we miss out on so many treats. After attempting a 'vegan fudge' which turned out like royal icing i decided to adapt a traditional recipe with amazing results. Perfect texture, taste you would'nt know that it was dairy free so i thought i'd share with you lovely people.

Fudge
400g condensed soya milk(see recipe)
1/4 pint soyal milk
1lb demerara sugar
4oz soya spread

Heat over low heat until sugar dissolved, then turn up heat to boil. Keep on rolling boil for 10-15 min stirring constantly, to test if ready drop some mixture into a glass of cold water it should form a 'soft ball'. Take off heat and beat constantly for 10 min, texture will change & start to look like fudge. Add any flavourings(i used vanilla & some left over glace cherries) and pour into a greased & lined 8inch square tin. Cool completely, cut into squares, ENJOY

Condensed Soya
4 cup soya milk
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Put milk & sugar in a pan heat to dissolve, then simmer over medium heat for about 20 min until it has reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Take off heat stir in vanilla & salt. Can be kept in fridge for 7 days. Use as a replcement in most recipes

I hope this can be useful to someone, as i know it's not easy to find tasty dairy free recipes.

Next i'm tackling almond free marzipan made from semolina, oh how i love my family and it's allergies

Thanks for that, notgreenfingers - its hard work when people have dairy allergies. (eggs are not dairy) but I usually adapt my favourite chocolate recipes sucessfully using cocoa powder and oil....I am sure I have listed some on here somewhere

Well done with the dairy-free recipe.
I don't like the taste of ground almonds, but at one time you could get hazelnut marzipan, and once I found walnut marzipan. The hazelnut one I could make (if I could be bothered), I did it twice, and it worked, but it was a lot of bother, when you can perfectly well cover a cake just in roll-out icing.
You need
liquid glucose (from the chemist) 3 or 4 tablespoon-sized dollops (like golden syrup, it wraps round the spoon!)
ground hazelnuts (they sold them one year, the other time I had to fine-chop them in the blender, producing a slightly gritty) 50 gr, or thereabouts
icing sugar never measured it, but quite a lot!
put the glucose and the hazelnuts in a bowl over a pan of very hot water (best just below boiling) until the glucose gets really runny, stir in the ground nuts, thenstart adding icing sugar. After a time it will get stiff and really difficult to stir, tip out of the bowl onto an icing-sugar covered worksurface (be generous with the icing sugar at this stage) and knead it as it cools.
When cool and getting very firm, it is ready to roll out like shop marzipan. It will be easier to work when warm and also gets even harder to work when allowed to rest too long.