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Granny Tilly’s vanilla fudge
Makes 25 squares Desserts and puddings
Ingredients
- 200ml whole milk
- 450g caster sugar or demerara sugar (see Cook’s note)
- 110g salted butter, plus extra to grease
- ½ x 397g can sweetened condensed milk
- seeds from 2 vanilla pods
- pinch sea salt flakes
- 1tsp vanilla extract
Method
Line a 16cm square tin with a double-thickness strip of tin foil, wide enough to extend over the sides by about 5cm. Then place a square of either waxed or greaseproof paper over the bottom of the tin.
Put the milk, sugar and butter in a 2.5 litre, heavy-based pan and set over the lowest heat possible for 20 minutes.
When the mixture is smooth and just beginning to bubble, stir in the condensed milk and vanilla seeds. Increase the heat very slightly and continue to let it bubble gently for another 20 minutes, stirring every few minutes and fluctuating the heat as necessary. During this time it will gradually start to form darker crystalline pieces, so it’s important to stir these into the bubbles so nothing sticks on the bottom of the pan.
Give it a further 8-10 minutes over the heat as it darkens further, stirring continuously until thick. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.
Grease a 12.5 x 12.5 x 4cm- deep baking tin. Using electric beaters, whisk the mixture in the pan for around 8 minutes until thick and fudgy. Tip into the prepared tin and leave for 10 minutes, then score the surface into 25 squares.
Let it cool, then put in the fridge to set overnight. Remove from the tin and cut through the scored squares. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
To freeze, tightly wrap in greaseproof or waxed paper, then double foil, and put in a container with a tight-fitting lid or freezer bag (to ensure no moisture gets inside the wrapping) for up to 3 months. To defrost, take out of the freezer bag or container and leave in the fridge, in the rest of its wrapping, for a few hours.
Cook's Note To use the whole can of condensed milk, make 2 batches, using caster sugar for one and demerara for the other, which gives a slightly darker colour. You can freeze any extra fudge – it makes a great gift.
This recipe featured in the October 2022 issue of Food and Travel. To subscribe, click here.
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