So, this week’s bake was something I massively underestimated, fudge. I’m not even ashamed to say that it took it 4 attempts to get it right. It was the first thing in ages I’ve come close to giving up on and just leaving it for a bit until I tried it again, it really tested my patience. I honestly didn’t think that making fudge could be so difficult and I can safely say I won’t be making it again in a hurry. So I had every intention of making it and adding different biscuits like custard creams, bourbons and party rings. The main problems I encountered were not heating it long enough so it was too runny and burning it. I said I would always be honest on this blog and that includes talking about when things don’t always go to plan.
Let’s start with the fudge that was too runny. I’d never made it before so I got my mam’s opinion when I was making it. The recipe was pretty simple, to start just melt all the ingredients together. I added a tin of Carnation condensed milk, 450g demerara sugar, 115g butter and 150ml milk. I just melted it on a low heat, and then once it was melted I brought it to the boil. I let it simmer for 10-15 minutes scraping the bottom to make sure it didn’t burn. I used my thermometer I bought a while back and kept heating it until it got to 115-118 degrees. I think was where the mistake came for the first custard cream and party ring batch. I didn’t realise that heating it to 115 degrees was so important. I think when we took it off the heat it was only just over 110 degrees. I had lined the tins with baking paper and spooned the fudge into the tins. It was clear it was really runny. I left it to cool for 5 minutes and tried to beat it but it was too runny. I added crushed biscuits to the top. It was extremely hot so I let it cool a little before I put it in the fridge. The fridge although made it slightly harder, didn’t solidify it enough to be able to take it out of the tin. It still tasted really nice but you had to eat it with a spoon, it didn’t go to waste my grandparents added theirs to ice cream.
For the next disaster on my fudge story, we have the burnt one. I left it a day and was determined not to be beaten by the unset fudge. So I tried again, luckily my mam got me enough to be able to try it twice, as if she knew something was going to go wrong. I repeated the steps above, but heated the pan slightly hotter. I was more confident this time to heat it for longer and get it up to 115degrees. I had a little more patience, when I stirred the pan I must’ve missed one corner because it burned. When I stirred it the burned mixture just made it lumpy and I knew it wouldn’t work. When I started on the last batch I was adamant it was going to be my last try.
I heated it slower and made sure I stirred the part I missed last time. A good test for it being ready is to drop a ball into a glass of cold water it just solidify. When I did this batch if I’m being honest I lost all hope it was going to work but tried it anyway. I heated it to 115 degrees and then took it off the heat for 5 minutes to cool slightly. I then beat until it was a little thicker. I spooned it in a tin and added some crushed custard cream biscuits. I did not expect it to work. I let it cool and put it in the fridge. I left it for about an hour and went to see if it had hardened, completely not expecting it to have worked. To my utter surprise it actually had. I took it out of the tin and cut it into squares. I spent about 20 minutes trying different photo angles just hoping for the best. I was happy with the ones I managed to get considering the struggle I had.
This was probably one of the most frustrating things I’ve done recently. I’m just happy I actually got some fudge out of it in the end. It was certainly an experience and I think I’ll leave my fudge making for now and still to other sweet creations. Next week’s blog, will be showing you the afternoon tea we made for my grandparents. It was actually my grandparents wedding anniversary yesterday and my grandad’s birthday today. Happy Birthday Grandad! I go to Canada on Monday and I can’t wait to see what sweet treats inspire me when I’m there. I hope you have a lovely week.
Lots of love,
Hannah x
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